Career Navigators in Adult Education: What Experts Say About their Role and How to Support their Success
The information presented in this brief comes from exploratory research activities designed to understand the
role of career navigators; the competencies they need to be successful; and considerations for hiring,
supporting, and training them (from IES).
This brief is based on information the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Adult Education compiled when designing the Connecting Adults to Success study, a study evaluating a promising model of career navigator training. It summarizes the early work conducted for the study, which identified the key activities performed by career navigators, the competencies needed to perform those activities well, and specifications of a training that could potentially foster those key competencies.
The brief describes the four competency areas of career navigators: knowledge and skills of the adult student population, the resources available in the community, an understanding of career pathways, and what skills are needed for students to be successful. This is very helpful for creating a career pathways position and for hiring criteria.
Exhibit 4 provides examples of knowledge and skills within each key navigator competency, according to experts is a well-designed table that gives concrete strategies that navigators can use to effectively support adult learners with career exploration, career planning, and transition from adult education to postsecondary education and training or employment.
Exhibit 5 shows suggestions around professional development based on the strategies for Exhibit 4. For example, motivational interviewing is a strategy mentioned in Exhibit 4 and then in Exhibit 5 it is suggested to apply motivational interviewing to different student scenarios as a professional development activity.
This brief covers research that identifies the role of career navigators, the competencies they need to be successful, and considerations for hiring. In order to help students meet employment goals, some programs hire career navigators who help guide them with education and work skills, and help them address challenges as students transition to the workforce or higher training.
The brief uses lists of bullet points to outline the key activities, knowledge and skills that are expected of navigators, and provides examples of potential activities at two different levels: students who have less work and education experience, and those with higher levels of education or credentials. This feature provides practitioners with activities and ideas for differentiated instruction, for example, with lower levels activities include navigators sharing job listings, and at higher levels the navigator helps the student update their resume and practice interviewing skills.
Adult educators might use this resource to understand how career navigators can support the work being done in the classroom by both the teachers and the adult learners. For example, teachers and navigators can work together to reinforce skills. Navigators can work independently with students outside of class to do career exploration which could allow more classroom time to focus on contextualized instruction around that occupation of interest.
The resource could also be used by administrators to identify gaps in career exploration and career planning supports currently being provided within the adult education program. Once the gaps are identified, programs can work to implement some of the strategies mentioned in the brief to address those gaps.
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