Pathways are about destinations. In a postsecondary context – they refer to five main areas: college, apprenticeship, university, workplace, and community living. It is important to note that pathways are fluid and non-linear, so they will shift and change many times throughout our lives. 

When we talk about pathways planning, we are talking about the conversations, experiences, and questions that support students in thinking about who they are and who they want to become.

This includes the choices students make around what activities they participate in, what courses they take, and what career/education choices they pursue, as part of their on-going consideration of who they are.

An Education and Career/Life Planning Program for Ontario Schools (2013)

 “The term career has several meanings. It can refer strictly to a person’s occupational history in a particular field or, more broadly, to the sum of a person’s experiences in a variety of roles throughout life. In the second sense, every person has a career, which includes work, learning, community engagement, and relationships with family and friends.”

What is ‘Creating Pathways to Success?’

• Ministry of Education (2013) document to support student pathway planning, K-12+

• Click here to see a summary of this document

Creating Pathways to Success

• Puts students at the centre of their own learning, viewing them as the “architects of their own lives”

• Encourages students to discover who they are, explore opportunities, pursue their passions, and design personal pathways to success through four central inquiry questions