About this series
From New Pathways From College to Career: Preparing Students for a Rapidly Changing Workforce
“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” was an answerable question for graduates in an era when workers started and retired from the same company. But, not only are few of today’s college graduates likely to stick with a single employer, their job responsibilities will change many times over the course of their careers. Preparing students for career exploration and flexibility is a skill they will need throughout their work lives. The challenge for colleges will be to design pathways to careers that remain navigable even as the jobs themselves morph and shift.
The Language Collaboratory’s fall sessions focus on situating language programs, language learning and instruction in the rapidly-changing world society, responding to the needs and wants of spaces beyond the classroom. Specifically, our discussants will address elevating career readiness in the language curriculum, promoting service learning and other forms of community engagement, articulating the value of transferable skills and competencies gained during one’s language-learning journey, and other ways of preparing students for success after they graduate.
Guiding questions
- How do you forge connections with life and work skills in your teaching?
- How can the language curriculum better equip students with global competencies?
- How do you prepare students for career exploration?
- How can the language classroom better connect students with career networks?
- How can the language classroom better prepare students to adjust to change and flexibility?
- How can language programs remain competitive to recruit and retain students in a changing job market?
- What role and responsibilities do language faculty have in career readiness approaches?
About the Sessions
All sessions are held synchronously via Zoom. Sessions are scheduled for Mondays or Thursdays, 3:30-4:00 (4:15) pm central, 4:30-5:00 (5:15) pm eastern. Sessions are 30 minutes in length, with additional 15 minutes of optional discussion for those interested in digging deeper into the topic.
Target Audience
While we welcome any educator to join our professional development sessions, it may be helpful to know that these discussions are specifically oriented to language research and practice in the context of higher education in the USA. As such, K-12 instructors and international participants may find the parameters of our discussions less relevant to their teaching and learning contexts.
Accommodations
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. Automated live-captions are available for every session. To request accommodations or discuss access needs please contact Adolfo Carrillo Cabello ([email protected]) from the University of Minnesota, at least a week in advance prior to the event. Requests made after that point cannot be guaranteed.
All sessions are recorded and can be viewed on the Language Collaboratory YouTube channel.
Monday, October 3: Postgraduate Success for Language Learning: Framing Questions and Undergraduate Student Perspectives. Dianna Murphy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Claire Frances, University of Iowa. Register Online.
Thursday, October 27: Designing a New Curriculum from the Ground Up. Felix Kronenberg, Michigan State University, Wonneken Wanske, University of Ottawa. Register Online.
Thursday, November 3: Marketable Language Competencies. Rebekah Pryor Paré, Associate Vice Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis. Register Online.
Thursday, December 1: Lead with Language: Putting Language Skills to Work. Kaitlin Koehler, Rising Phoenix Early College High School, Toni Landis, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Register Online.