Life Centered Career Education

Life centered career education address the needs of students with learning disabilities, students with mild mental disabilities and students at risk. The curriculum includes various training programs that provide education and training to develop skills useful to this challenged segment of society. These programs teach students to function independently and productively as family members and citizens. The process of learning incorporates training in liaison with family members or available friends.

The first step in the training process is to assess individuals and determine whether such training would be beneficial to them. For this purpose, there are various verbal and non-verbal tests.

On the basis of these assessments and certain observations, a student is accepted in the correct type of training program. The present level of competencies is determined and an individual educational program (IEP) is prepared with a set of objectives. This plan is a program of education for the particular student. Systematic instructional content is prepared and elaborated into a curriculum in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Life centered career education allows society to address the needs of the physically or mentally challenged segment of population. The main components of this training are daily living skills, personal-social skills, occupational guidance and preparation.

The curriculum focuses on reaching the goals with a lot of flexibility provided to the trainer and the student.

Daily living skills segments teach students to manage day-to-day tasks such as personal activities, food preparation, household management and personal finance management. ""Personal social skills"" segments focus on relations with other people. These enhance the self-confidence of the student and hence improve his decision-making skills. Lastly, a very important part of the training is to find a suitable job for the candidates. Life centered career education addresses this concern by training students and providing occupational guidance according to the specific competency skills.

Assessment is a very important part of life centered career education. It includes various assessment devices along with the requirements for testing. Overall, life centered career education opens up opportunities for growth and personal satisfaction to the people who participate in these programs.