Introductory description

The 'Employability and Career Education: Strategy and Inclusive Design' module aims to develop confident and creative practice in shaping career and employability-related education in the higher education sector. It aims to help learners: develop strategic approaches that maximise opportunities for employability and career-related learning inside and/or outside the curriculum; creatively design a series of connected workshops or educational activities and structures relating to employability and career development; embrace student diversity through social justice-focused, critical, and inclusive educational approaches; and engage in the assessment and evaluation of related learning activities.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. Exploring participants’ prior experiences and learning in relation to employability development and career education, particularly relating to their roles and institutional contexts.
2. Using case studies to provide examples of diverse approaches to developing employability and to career education.
3. Creating a positive learning environment and developing a learning alliance.
4. Equity, social justice, critical pedagogy, and inclusivity in employability development and career education activity.
5. Examining learning theories, programme design, models, and learning outcomes for varying group sizes.
6. Assessing and evaluating employability development and career education activity.
7. Considering diverse strategic approaches for employability development and career education, inside and outside the curriculum.
8. Exploring the dynamics of co-creation and collaboration with students, staff involved in curriculum design, and other practitioners in employability development and career education activity.
9. Designing a career education programme, inside or outside the curriculum.
10. Making links with core modules (institutional and professional issues, theoretical perspectives and values relating to career education).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• 1/ Discuss a range of approaches to career education and employability development including definitions, rationale, theoretical models, and strategic positioning inside and/or outside the curriculum; and define employability and career development learning, its theoretical basis, rationale, models and delivery in practice.
• 2/ Critically evaluate existing strategies for employability and career education and investigate ways to enhance this, including co-creation and collaboration with students, staff involved in curriculum design, and other practitioners.
• 3/ Creatively design learning outcomes, teaching methods, topics, and content that develop a positive and supportive learning environment through a clear learning alliance.
• 4/ Discuss and reflect upon concepts of equity, diversity, social justice, critical pedagogy, and inclusivity in employability and career education in order to embrace student diversity.
• 5/ Develop assessment strategies and evaluation methods suitable for employability and careers education whether embedded inside or outside the curriculum or elsewhere.
• 6/ Communicate verbally by effectively sharing and disseminating good practice in the design and construction of employability and career education; and communicate in clear written form using the current course guides to presentation and referencing.

Indicative reading list

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

By the end of the module, students should have developed professional skills in employability development and the design of career education.

Transferable skills

By the end of the module, students should be able to communicate verbally by effectively sharing and disseminating good practice in the design and construction of employability and career education; and communicate in clear written form using the current course guides to presentation and referencing.