Ontario Career Studies and Xello
In this article

This comprehensive course package provides a complete course syllabus with detailed activities for the revised (July 2019) Guidance and Career Education course (GLC2O), that can be delivered face-to-face, through remote learning, or in a blended learning environment. All of Xello’s features are woven into the units - including interactive Lessons, Matchmaker, and Plans - which are accompanied with financial planning resources, rich assessment tasks, and student friendly rubrics.

FYIFYI: To learn how Xello’s course package meets the ministry expectations, what the student experience will be like, tips on how to set up your Xello lesson sequence to meet GLC2O and Ontario IPP, and best practices from Ontario Career Education teachers, watch this short recording:Ontario Career Studies and Xello webinar (21:15)

This course package references the revised and updated curriculum expectations for the compulsory Grade 10 Career Studies course (GLC2O). For further guidance and information about the curriculum expectations outlined in this document please refer to Career Studies, Grade 10, Open (GLC2O) – Revised Course: Advance Release of the Curriculum Expectations, 2019 new tab.

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Course Breakdown

This course teaches students the skills and strategies needed to achieve their postsecondary goals in any pathway (further learning, apprenticeship training, workplace, military, and community living). In Unit 1, students will begin by developing foundational skills and strategies for decision making and goal setting. Then in Unit 2, they’ll investigate how their skills, interests, and values will impact career choices. Followed by Unit 3, where students will re-examine their options to help them confidently identify future pathways for themselves. Unit 4 guides students to refine their postsecondary plan and budget for their first year after high school based on what they’ve learned about themselves during this course. In the Culminating project, students will consolidate their learning by talking with a trusted adult about their postsecondary goals and presenting their plans in a form of their choice.

Breakdown of units
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Instructional Tips

These best practices were provided by Ontario educators who piloted and reviewed this course package.

  • Share your career journey and build your demo student Xello About Me profile with your students. Your personal story will help your students feel comfortable to imagine and express their own goals and plans.
  • Access your Xello Demo Student account to explore the interactive lessons before assigning them to your students, so that you can see how learning objectives will be achieved and how lesson vocabulary is used.
  • Use the lesson inquiry prompts to create engaging discussions before or after the Xello interactive lessons as a way to set up learning objectives and introduce vocabulary.
  • Work with your school’s Xello lesson administrator to set up the Xello lesson sequence before day 1 with your students
  • Introduce the culminating project early on to initiate ways to make trusted community relationships and to collaboratively build the discussion guide template with your students over time.
TipTip: Keep an eye out for this icon in the lessons plans for way on how to integrate the culminating project throughout the course.

“There was a student that had no idea what she had wanted to do after high school, career wise, and then just seeing her go through the lessons... she was able to discover what she really wanted, what she was mostly interested in, and [I was] able to see what careers she had saved and what she might want to pursue later on. I think that was really nice to see.”
- Xello Educator, Career Studies Teacher, Toronto, ON

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Unit 1: A Foundation for My Future Success

In this unit, students will gain important self-knowledge through exploration and reflective activities to help them identify possible pathways for themselves and develop important skills that will equip them with tools and strategies for decision making and goal setting.

Specific Curriculum Expectations Addressed Lesson Plans
  • A2.2 Decision-Making Strategies and Goal Setting
  • B1.1 Exploring Work Trends
  • B2.1, 2, & 4 Preparing for Future Opportunities
  • B3.2 Identify Possible Destinations and Pathways
  1. Decision Making new tab (75 min)
  2. Explore Career Matches new tab (120 min)
  3. Career Demand new tab (90 min)
  4. Career and Lifestyle Costs new tab (120 min)
  5. Professional Networks new tab (75 min)
  6. Discover Learning Pathways new tab (75 min)
  7. Time Management new tab (75 min)
Assessment of Learning Task: My Career Prospects
Students will evaluate and reflect on 3 possible careers of interest, gathering relevant resources to support their ideas about career related skills, impacting trends, and career networks.
  • B1.1
  • B2.1
  • B2.4
 My Career Prospects new tab (180 mins)
Unit 1 Tasks (7 lessons) 10.5 hrs
+ AoL Task: My Career Prospects 2.75 hrs
Total unit hours = 13.25 hrs
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Unit 2: Me in the World

In this unit, students will investigate how their skills, interests, and values will impact career choices and analyse how they will contribute to their success in the future.

Specific Curriculum Expectations Addressed Lesson Plans
  • A1.1 & 2 Skills, Strategies, and Habits That Contribute to Success
  • B1.2 Exploring the Importance of Transferable Skills
  • B2.1, 2, & 3 Preparing for Future Opportunities
  • C2.1 Budgeting and Financial Management
  1. Personality Styles new tab (90 min)
  2. Interests new tab (90 min)
  3. Skills new tab (115 min)
  4. Work/Life Balance new tab (80 min)
  5. Resilience & Perseverance new tab (105 min)
  6. Budget Basics new tab (135 min)
  7. Digital Media Presence new tab (150 min)
Assessment of Learning Task: My Place in the Game
Students will be given scenario-based challenges to discuss, and explain ways they might overcome them and persevere, based on a profile of their experiences, skills, and strategies for success and balance.
  • A1.1
  • A1.2
  • B1.2
  • B1.3
 My Place in the Game new tab (180 mins)
Unit 2 Tasks (7 lessons) 12.75 hrs
+ AoL Task: My Place in the Game 2.5 hrs
Total unit hours = 15.25 hrs
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Unit 3: What I Want for Myself

In this unit, students will re-examine earlier decisions in the course and apply decision making skills to help them confidently identify future pathways for themselves.

Specific Curriculum Expectations Addressed Lesson Plans
  • B2.1 & 2 Preparing for Future Opportunities
  • B3.1 Identifying Possible Destinations and Pathways
  1. Exploring Career Factors new tab (75 min)
  2. Biases and Career Choices new tab (75 min)
  3. Work Values new tab (80 min)
  4. Entrepreneurial Skills new tab (75 min)
  5. Career Path Choices new tab (95 min)
  6. Career Backup Plans new tab (90 min)
  7. Defining Success new tab (80 min)
Assessment of Learning Task: My Career Bucket List
Students will create a career bucket list they aspire to accomplish, explaining the factors that may be influencing their career pathway decisions and suggest how they can start working towards their career aspirations while still in school.
  • A2.2
  • B2.2
  • B3.1
  • C1.1
 My Career Bucket List new tab (135 mins)
Unit 3 Tasks (7 lessons) 9.5 hrs
+ AoL Task: My Career Bucket List 2.25 hrs
Total unit hours = 11.75 hrs
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Unit 4: Making It Real

In this final unit, students will apply various decision making strategies to help them refine their goals and develop a financial budget for their first postsecondary year and revise them, where necessary, based on what they’ve learned about themselves during this course.

Specific Curriculum Expectations Addressed Lesson Plans
  • A2.1 & 2 Decision-Making Strategies and Goal Setting
  • B1.1 & 3 Exploring the Importance of Transferable Skills
  • B3.1 & 2 Identifying Possible Destinations and Pathways
  • C1.1, 2 & 3 Creating a Postsecondary Plan
  • C2.2 & 3 Budgeting and Financial Management
  1. Program Prospects new tab (75 min)
  2. Choosing a College or University new tab (75 min)
  3. Paying for a Pathway new tab (90 min)
  4. Getting Experience new tab (75 min)
  5. Workplace Skills & Rights new tab (75 min)
  6. Resume Writing new tab (75 min)
  7. Job Interviews new tab (90 min)
  8. Goal Setting new tab (75 min)
Assessment of Learning Task: My Career Bucket List
Students will develop a “toolbox for success” to express how they’ve refined a goal for their first postsecondary year, and the steps and strategies they’ll use to get there, including a financial budget for their first year after high school.
  • A2.1
  • C1.1
  • C1.2
  • C2.3
 My Toolbox for Success new tab (180 mins)
Unit 3 Tasks (7 lessons) 9.5 hrs
+ AoL Task: My Career Bucket List 2.5 hrs
Total unit hours = 11.75 hrs
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Culminating Task: Talking About Career Decisions

A performance based task that provides students the opportunity to connect with real-world industry professionals. Students will discuss their career/life goals to a professional in a prospective industry/pathway for feedback and guidance to help them bridge the gap between themselves and their postsecondary life.

Specific Curriculum Expectations Addressed Lesson Plan
  • A1.1 Skills, Strategies, and Habits That Contribute to Success
  • A2.1 Decision-Making Strategies and Goal Setting
  • B3.2 Identify Possible Destinations and Pathways
  • C1.3 Creating a Postsecondary Plan
 Talking About Career Decisions new tab (120 min)
4 Units 53 hrs
+ Culminating Task 2 hrs
Total course hours = 55 hours
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Xello Lesson Sequence Setup

Xello’s interactive lessons can be assigned to multiple grades, which gives your school or district the flexibility to create a lesson sequence that meets both the 10th grade Career Studies Course (GLC2O) and the Individuals Pathways Plan for grades 7-12. You’ll need to work with your Xello administrators at your school or district to complete the lesson sequence setup.

For the Career Studies course, we’d recommend you assign these 24 lessons to grade 10 in the following order:

Unit 1: A Foundation for My Future Success Unit 2: Me in the World Unit 3: What I Want for Myself Unit 4: Making It Real
  1. Decision Making
  2. Explore Career Matches
  3. Career Demand
  4. Career and Lifestyle Costs
  5. Job and Employers
  6. Discover Learning Pathways
  7. Time Management
  1. Personality Styles
  2. Interests
  3. Skills
  4. Work/Life Balance
  5. Study Skills and Habits
  1. Exploring Career Factors
  2. Biases and Career Choices
  3. Work Values
  4. Entrepreneurial Skills
  5. Career Path Choices
  6. Career Backup Plans
  7. Defining Success
  1. Program Prospects
  2. Choosing a College or University
  3. Getting Experience
  4. Workplace Skills and Attitudes
  5. Job Interviews
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Full Course Package

Download the full course package as a zip file (last updated Oct. 5, 2020), or access all the Google Doc worksheet to download and edit as you see fit:

zip fileON_OCS-GLC20.zip
zip fileXello and Ontario Career Studies Worksheets