Project 1: Employability Skills On
Line
General
Information
Project Overview
At Elwood Regional High School we have developed an
Employability Skills Portfolio Program in which all
students participate. The Employability Skills Portfolio
Program is the School’s effort to help students
achieve a higher level of Employability Skills. This
Program assists students to Discover, Develop, and
Document their Employability Skills.
The ESPP is a personalized system of external
assessment and self-assessment. It is a tool to assist
students in integrating and recording their educational
experiences. The Employability Skills Portfolio has no
limits; it does not focus on minimal skills and it does
not limit the highest skills an individual students can
achieve.
This project consist of six hours per year for each
Level whereby teacher advisors meet with a designated
group (~15) of students to investigate and document
students employability skills.
This proposed Internet project is an attempt to assist
students in reaching another level in their pursuit of
appropriate Employability skills. It will focus on the
Internet and its utilities to provide students access to
contemporary issues related to Employability Skills,
career choices, job opportunities, post secondary
educational choices and others.
Curriculum
Connections
The main curriculum areas addressed by the project
involves the Career exploration component of most
subjects, Career Guidance and student preparedness for
the transition from school to work/post secondary
training.
This project fits in with the overall curriculum plans
in our school. At Elwood High School every teacher is
committed to providing the best opportunity possible for
students to succeed in the workplace. The Employability
Skills program is administered by all teachers to all
students at all grade levels. This Internet project will
enhance the experience for students and teachers.
The intended learning outcomes of the project include;
Level 1
1. Introductory Session (introduction
to the three year program; explore the rationale
for the ESP Program; viewing the video
"Bridging the Gap"; and discussion of
how it relates to the purpose of the ESP Program.
2. Self-Assessment (guide through a
Self-Assessment activity; looking at individual
strengths and weakness regarding employability
skills.)
3. The Employability Skills Portfolio
(investigate employability skills; what they are
and how they are acquired; how they may be
recorded in a meaningful way.)
4. The World of Change (complete an
activity that emphasizes the world of change;
investigate the types of skills necessary for
today s world of work.)
5. Teamwork Skills (complete an
activity that illustrates what it means to have
good teamwork skills; discuss how having these
skills is important to potential employers.)
6. Personal Management (analyze
personal management skills; emphasize improving
and/or developing skills that are valuable in the
work place.)
Level 2:
1. Introductory Session (introduce the
second year of the program; explore some of the
occupations of the present and the future;
explore trends that have been identified in these
areas.)
2. Self-Awareness (guide through
activities designed to help identify strengths
and weaknesses; emphasize how these are important
in career planning; consider values and
priorities with which to set future goals.)
3. Goal-Setting (complete activities
that should enable students to identify strongest
career desires; look at the steps that are
necessary for students to attain these
desires/goals; develop a process to help identify
and achieve these goals.)
4. Skills, Aptitudes and Interests
Checklist (learn to distinguish among the
terms skill, aptitude and interest; guide through
an activity to help identify these attributes in
themselves.)
5. Job Clusters - Research (investigate
and develop research skills; complete inventory
surveys to assess interests, skills and values;
relate their unique pattern to careers.)
6. Decision Making (discuss how
decision making is an everyday part of life;
explore how following guidelines for effective
decision making and problem solving makes
complicated problems and difficult decisions
easier to handle.)
Level 3
1. Introductory Session(review the
whole purpose of the Employability Skills
Portfolio Program and the things that were
completed in the first two years of the program;
take a quick look at what will be covered in the
final (third) year of the program; introduce the
concept of completing a Personal Fact Sheet
and the needs that this information may fulfill.
2. Fact Sheets / Applications (discuss Employer
Application Forms and how the Personal
Fact Sheet is a real asset when asked to
complete an application for employment; practice
completing a variety of application forms.)
3. Résumé Writing (analyze the
purpose of a résumé; analyze proper résumé
writing techniques; prepare a resume from
employability skills portfolio documentation.)
4. Job Search Techniques (discuss and
roll play job search techniques; individually
plan a job search strategy for upcoming work
opportunities, i.e. weekends, school breaks and
summers)
5. Interview Skills (discuss dos and
don’ts of a successful interview, roll play
interviews, plan interview for specific rolls)
6. Bringing It All Together ( final
compilation of the employability skills
portfolio; handing over to the student; wish for
success)
This project addresses the intended learning outcomes
for Technology Education at the senior high level by
having students participate in the application of
contemporary information technologies. This experience
reinforces several of the Technology Education graduation
outcomes, namely;
Nature of Technology
Students will demonstrate an understanding of
the nature of modern technology, including the
basic technological and scientific principles
which underlie technology activities, processes,
resource utilization, technological tools and
systems.
Technological Impact
Students will demonstrate understanding of the
impact of technology and technological change on
self, society, the workplace, careers, and the
environment.
Technological Literacy
Students will read, comprehend, write, and use
the language and terminology of technological
problem solving and will make appropriate use of
technological products.
Lifelong Learning
Students will demonstrate understanding of the
role of technology to enhance the learning
process, will use technology as learning tools,
and will develop active learning strategies to
employ technology for lifelong learning.
Technological Communications
Students will demonstrate understanding of the
role of information and communications technology
in managing technological processes and
resources, and will use them to manage and
communicate effectively about technology
Resource
Connections
The STELLAR Schools Internet connection will enable
this project to reach a new dimension. Currently the
employability skills portfolio program is
student-centered and text based. That is all resources in
use have been compiled by the ESPP Committee and is
reproduced for all students and teachers annually.
Updating and remaining current is a laborious task. The
STELLAR Schools Internet connection will allow the
committee to begin compilation of a web site that focuses
on employability skills and career planning. This site
will provide links to career opportunities, educational
choices, related government sites, and any others that
will supplement the program. Students will be educated in
the use of the Internet to browse this ESPP Web Site and
in the Internet search techniques to find updated
information.
The resources which are being utilized In this project
consist of student and teacher manuals compiled by the
ESPP Committee. The documents were compiled after much
research by the team and includes the topics specified in
#3 above. All information have been written by the
Committee with financial assistance over the first two
years coming from the FORTIS Education Foundation.
Evaluation
The learning outcomes of the project as written in #3
above are under consistent scrutiny and evaluation by all
teachers at Elwood High. After each session comments are
gathered regarding the appropriateness of the information
and the reception from the students. Much revision have
taken place over the past three years and same will
continue in future. The proposed ESPP project under a
STELLAR Schools Internet connection will undergo similar
scrutiny and revision.
The impact of the project on the school and the
curriculum in general can only be evaluated by monitoring
the success of graduates from the Employability Skills
Portfolio Program. Currently a questionnaire is being
developed to solicit the opinions of former students. A
similar instrument may be used to include questions
related to the STELLAR Schools Internet connection
project.
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