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Career Cluster Introductory
Activities These two activities can be used in
groups to introduce the concept of career clusters.
#1 - Guess the
Cluster:
Have the audience
divide into small groups. Instruct them to organize themselves into
“obvious” clusters, such as male/female or light hair/dark hair, etc. The
small groups will try to guess the way each group clustered themselves.
Explain that many job groupings are like this – you can tell by looking at
them what cluster they belong within. Then, instruct the groups to divide
into clusters that are not so obvious; that is, you may or may not be able
to identify how they grouped themselves by looking. The groups will have to
talk among themselves to figure out how they want to cluster themselves.
Once again, each group tries to guess how the other group clustered
themselves. The small groups are allowed to ask yes or no questions of the
other group to help figure this out. Questions can be: Can we tell by
looking at you how you are clustered? Does it have to do with your jobs?
Does it have to do with where you live? Does it have to do with your
education? And so on.
#2 - Answer the
Question:
Write the career
cluster titles on a piece of paper/poster board. Place the titles on the
floor or tape them to the wall. Participants will walk to or stand by the
cluster they believe answers the question. Sample questions:
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Which cluster offers
the most job opportunities in your community?
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Which cluster does
your occupation fall into?
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Which cluster do you
think you would rather be in?
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What cluster would
your hobby or volunteer work fall into?
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What cluster do you
have the least amount of knowledge in terms of jobs in that cluster?
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Which cluster do
most of your family members’ jobs fall into?
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Teacher Scenario
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You
are a ________________ teacher. You could use help in motivating the
students in their studies. How could you use the career clusters to help
with the age-old question: Why do I have to learn this?
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What strategies can
you use to connect relevance to your subject areas?
Possible strategies:
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Review the 16
cluster models. Determine the primary cluster(s) your subject area
supports and share with your students.
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Develop or find
contextual activities.
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Bring in career
speakers.
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Set up job shadowing
experiences for your students or have them set them up.
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Incorporate work
based learning.
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Partner with other
subject areas for project learning.
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Partner with
business and industry for project learning.
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Begin curriculum
alignment with cluster knowledge and skills.
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Counselor Scenario
You are helping an 8th
grade student and his/her parent develop a plan of study. The parent is
adamant that the student pursue health opportunities, while the student
thinks s/he prefers the IT cluster. How can you use the clusters to help
with this situation?
Possible strategies:
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Review assessment
results the student has already taken, such as Explore or other interest
inventory. Use those results to see where the student’s interests and
achievement levels lie in relation to the clusters.
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If no assessments
have been taken, have the student complete the Career Cluster Interest
Survey. Also, you may have the parent take it to see where his/her
interests lie.
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Talk about the
higher level academic courses the child can take regardless of which
cluster s/he ends up in. For example, math and science are important for
either cluster.
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Are there
overlapping areas between the clusters or occupations that fall within
both clusters? (i.e. radiology technician)
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Show student and
parent the models for both clusters and the workforce stats for each
cluster in order to see the levels of education needed, the salaries, and
the job outlook for Oklahoma. Neither may be aware of the breadth in each
cluster.
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Career Cluster Interest
Survey
Have each participant
complete the Career Cluster Interest Survey
or the Career Cluster Interest Survey
(Spanish Version). It takes about 15
minutes to complete the survey. Participants can share results with small
groups or the entire group. (This survey master may be duplicated as needed
for educational purposes.)
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Your business is
looking for long-term solutions in obtaining qualified employees. You have
just heard a basic overview of the Career Clusters framework/model. How
would you answer the following questions?
- Which Career
Cluster(s) most closely align(s) with the work of your company?
- What ideas do you
have for using the Career Cluster framework/model as a tool to build a
pipeline of qualified employees? (Draw a visual model of your ideas.)
- What partnerships
would have to be formed to build an employee pipeline based on the Career
Cluster framework/model?
- What contacts could
you make in the next month to initiate discussions on building an employee
pipeline based on the Career Cluster framework/model (e.g., middle
school(s), high school(s), technical school(s)/college(s), community
college(s), apprenticeship(s), organizations/associations, other
businesses)?
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Group Reinforcement Activity
(Reproducible Handout of this scenario)
Divide
your audience into small groups. Give each group an envelope containing the
following materials related to a career cluster: pathway model, cluster plan
of study, workforce statistics, cluster brochure from
http://www.okcareertech.org/okcareerclusters/. With these materials, ask each group to
answer the following questions and report to the large group the highlights
of their discussion.
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Your
career cluster is _________________________________
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How many pathways are in your cluster and what are they?
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Give an example of a career ladder and lattice within your career cluster.
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What high school academic courses would best prepare a student who
wants to pursue post-secondary education and a career in this career
cluster?
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What technical
courses would prepare students to be successful in postsecondary education
and a career in this career cluster?
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What additional
electives would give students an edge in preparing for a future career in
this cluster?
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What college degree
plans would be appropriate for students interested in pursuing a career in
this career cluster?
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What short-term
courses, seminars, and/or certifications could a student acquire to best
prepare for postsecondary education and a career in this cluster?
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Identify an
extensive learning experience that would benefit students interested in
preparing for a career in this career cluster.
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