Career development learning in childhood: a critical analysis

Children are commonly asked by adults “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. Most adults can remember what they, as a child, aspired to be when they grew up. Childhood, the upper age limit for which is widely agreed to be 14 years (Watson & McMahon, 2017), has long been recognised as an important site of career development learning that may provide a foundation for subsequent life stages (e.g. Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, & Herma, 1951; Super, 1990). Aspirations develop from a young age in childhood (Flouri et al., 2017). Despite this, career development in childhood has traditionally received less attention in theory, research and practice than career development in adolescence and adulthood (Crause et al., 2017). In recent decades however, there has been an increasing body of literature on children’s career development, culminating in the publication of the first book to solely focus on this lifespan, Career exploration and development in childhood: Perspectives from theory, practice and research (Watson & McMahon, 2017). A guide for educators that focuses on career development learning for children in the early years has also been published (Cahill & Furey, 2017). In addition, recognising the important role that parents play in children’s career development and how childhood experiences can shape their futures, the Australian Government published a set of online resources for parents (Commonwealth of Australia Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2021). As reflected in the contributions to this special issue, interest in and research on children’s career development has recently taken a more international flavour and contextual and systemic factors that impact children’s career development are receiving more attention in recent research. A better understanding of children’s career development by identifying and assessing core developmental constructs has also been emphasised in recent research (Oliveira et al., 2017). Childhood is an ideal time to foster career development learning through career exploration, specifically as committing to a career choice is not appropriate for this developmental age (Porfeli & Lee, 2012). Evidence points to the relevance of career development learning for this developmental phase of the lifespan, with enhancing career development in childhood providing a strong foundation for career development across the lifespan (Watson et al., 2016). Indeed, limited career exploration in childhood and stereotypical career awareness may impede career development in subsequent life stages (Watson & McMahon, 2008). The need to intentionally assist children with their career development learning has long been recognised (e.g. Super, 1983). A focus on career development learning may encourage a more holistic perspective of the recursive interrelationship of learning, development, and experience in childhood. For example, from children’s incidental observation and interaction with people and the world around them in their everyday experience, they draw conclusions about career development (e.g. they observe jobs people do and form ideas about jobs, gender, and their ability). Unlike this informal unstructured type of learning, children sometimes participate in structured facilitated learning experiences such as career education or career programmes in schools. Thus, career development learning can be either unintentional (informal) or intentional (formal) in nature. To date however, greater emphasis has been placed on unintentional, rather than intentional, career development learning in childhood (Crause et al., 2017), possibly because childhood seems distant from the career decision making of later adolescence and adulthood. Intentional career development learning