From Classroom to Career: Reshaping Learner Pathways for All

Life is full of transitions—starting a new job or a new family, earning a certificate to advance your career, or moving up from kindergarten to first grade, re-learning to navigate life with a medical condition, or caring for loved ones as they age. To navigate these transitions, learners need more coherent linkages between systems and institutions and learning experiences that allow them to cultivate the personal agency and wayfinding skills they need to navigate inevitable change.

In our report, “Exponential Change Brings Exponential Choice: Navigating Life, Learning, and Career,” we present a case for rethinking how society understands pathways to success in life and career and the essential changes our systems and institutions must undergo to support this new vision. We build upon prior research and pathway design initiatives we’ve led at Digital Promise to highlight three key challenges and opportunities that, if approached collectively and in unison, can unlock more fulfilling and empowering pathways for all.

• Young people need to practice lifelong learning and personal wayfinding to navigate the future.
• School doesn’t prepare learners to travel the non-linear pathways that exist after high school and must find new ways to cultivate mindsets of agency, adaptability, curiosity, and persistence.
• Innovations in technology, learning practices, and system design can build bridges across transitions and improve learner agency and wayfinding.

The promise of data and technology innovations to build lasting bridges across siloed learning and employment systems is great, while the promise of equipping learners with the agency and skills to wayfind through uncertainty is far greater. During transitions, learners of all ages risk losing access to their learning achievements and records. For example, a second grader moving schools may have to restart a math program, a community college student may miss final exams to care for a loved one and need to repeat the semester, a graduate school applicant working a minimum wage job might have to pay for transcripts, or a manager at a retail store might need to repeat training when moving to a new location. We can ensure that all learners, regardless of background, have the skill sets and mindsets to succeed in an uncertain future by breaking down barriers within and building bridges between our organizations and institutions of K–12 schools, higher education, workforce, and communities.

The call to rethink learner pathways and to break down the gatekeeping that prevents opportunities is growing. Across our field, we see organizations such as Jobs for the Future advocating to destigmatize non-degree pathways to careers, ETS and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching partnering to rethink assessment with skills in mind, and many others moving to innovate the career pathway systems that have failed to keep up with a changing world. The Atlantic recently published a cover story about the ways meritocratic education systems have backfired since their establishment in the mid 20th century. The Wall Street Journal, as well, has recognized that traditional notions of career plans and pathways are outdated and must be preconceived.

As exponential change brings exponential choice, together we can and must create the systems that will enable every person to both find and make their most rewarding career and life. Equipping partners, empowering learners, and building pathways to a brighter future. Join us in creating a world where every learner has the support, recognition, and opportunities they need to succeed.

To learn more, read the full report, “Exponential Change Brings Exponential Choice: Navigating Life, Learning, and Career.”