“The World We Want… Let’s All ‘Work’ Together!”: A Career Education Program for Primary Schools

The study developed and initially assessed the efficacy of a career education program for primary school children. The program stimulates children to reflect on the current context, threats related to environmental risks, and the presence of discrimination in work contexts. It also aimed at analyzing the concept of decent work, the rights of workers, and their contribution to the construction of an inclusive, sustainable, and socially just society. 10 classes (167 children, with a mean age of 9.96 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The analyses conducted found that the career education program promoted children’s critical consciousness of global social and environmental issues, a coherent understanding of work and decent work from an inclusive and sustainable perspective. The career education program also enhanced actual and perceived occupational knowledge, career exploration, and individual and social hope. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.