10 Lessons in How to Build Relationships and Relevance in Career-Connected Learning

Presented by Rachael Keaouhi Aquino, Ph.D., Founding Executive Director, Hawaii Workforce Pipeline, Inc.; Robert Markle, Ph.D., Education Research Project Manager, The Christensen Institute; and Julia Freeland Fisher, Director of Education Research, The Christensen Institute

Sponsored by The Christensen Institute

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While most K-12 schools are increasingly focused on career exposure and work-based learning, these career-oriented activities and lessons focus solely on skills. It’s time schools harness the full potential of career-connected learning by pairing skill building with network building.

In an 18-month pilot program led by the Christensen Institute—in partnership with three intermediary organizations representing 20 pilot sites—career-connected learning practitioners revealed the challenges and successes experienced in beginning to strategically implement network building through lessons and activities. Featuring leaders from both research and practice, this edWebinar reveals 10 key lessons learned in this implementation and highlight specific strategies schools can implement in the coming year.

This recorded edWebinar is of interest to K-12 teachers and school and district leaders.

About the Presenters

Dr. Rachael Keaouhi Aquino is the Windward Career and Technical Education (CTE) Intermediary. She supports the Windward Department of Education, specifically the Windward Academy for CTE. She aims to provide a variety of work-based learning opportunities for K-12 public school students on the Windward side of Oahu. As a Native Hawaiian, Dr. Aquino is passionate about providing educational opportunities for students from the local community and encouraging them to pursue careers that will provide them with a sustainable, living wage.

Robert Markle, Ph.D. is a Research Manager at the Christensen Institute. His work focuses on increasing awareness and adoption of emerging practices for expanding students’ access to opportunity, economic mobility, and personal well-being. Given Dr. Markle’s background in implementation science, he is interested in how relationship-based initiatives can be optimized for local contexts to maximize their effectiveness.

Julia Freeland Fisher is the Director of Education Research at the Christensen Institute. Her work aims to educate policymakers and community leaders on the power of disruptive innovation in the K-12 and higher education spheres. Julia’s writing has appeared in outlets including Education Week, The 74, EdSurge, Work Shift, USA Today, and The Boston Globe. She is the author of Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students’ Networks.

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The Christensen Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to improving the world through Disruptive Innovation. Founded on the theories of late Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, the Institute offers a unique framework for understanding many of society’s most pressing problems.