Project

Project stages

Duration: 1st January 2021 – 30 September 2022

  • Stage 1: Determining entry standards for life and career skills

    To determine entry standards for life and career skills, researchers will:

    • Conduct focus groups with employers from 4 industry areas. Researchers will establish their views on the relevance of the Life and Career Skills Self-Assessment Inventory (LCSSAI) for measuring entry-level skills, and to determine minimum standards for employment readiness for each sub-domain.
    • Conduct a workshop with educators from school and VET settings will be held to identify any gaps in the LCSSAI and develop any additional rubrics. The LCSSAI will also be revised for educator-based judgements using portfolio-based assessments.
  • Stage 2: Developing teaching and learning support materials
    • Through two 1-day online workshops with teachers, the LCSPAT and its entry standards will be used to identify ways in which schools and registered training organisations can support the development of these life and career skills in young people in learning contexts, without assuming access to the workplace. Links to existing curricula and resources will be made.
    • The task specifications for students to prepare portfolios against the LCSPAT will also be developed by drawing on workplace samples from each industry area in consultation with the employers who participated in Stage 1.
  • Stage 3: Trialling the support materials in schools and VET settings

    The support materials will be trialled with 8 schools and 8 registered training organisations early in 2022, and the feedback will be used to refine the materials.

  • Stage 4: Validating the Life and Career Skills Portfolio Assessment Tool’s entry standards using the teacher-judged portfolio assessments

    Employers and educators will participate in a blind review process of a sample of students’ portfolios using the Life and Career Skills Portfolio Assessment Tool. Through social moderation, the educators and employers will participate in discussions to reach consensus on the entry standards for each industry area.

  • Stage 5: Report finalisation and project dissemination

    The report, teaching materials and assessment tool from the project will be finalised in consultation with the funding body (the National Careers Institute) and distributed to systems and professional careers advisor organisations.

    The project will culminate in a 1-day online conference hosted by the University of Melbourne to build stakeholder awareness of the project products and how they can support employability skills development in schools and registered training organisations. Attendees will include careers advisors, senior secondary teachers, and representatives of career education professional organisations, education systems, and registered training organisations. The conference will take place in September, 2022.