Career and Interest Alignment

On year 2013, the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 10533 or known as "K-

12 Program" added two more years in the curriculum of High School, also referred as

Senior High School. Benigno S. Aquino III, former President of the Philippines (2013)

states that in accordance with the mandated law, the future generation of Filipinos will be

strengthened as a result of its implementation. According to the Higher Education Act of

1994 and Commission on Higher Education, students could select and apply any tertiary

course regardless of their taken track in Senior High School. Nonetheless, the Department

of Education encourages students to apply to a track that aligns to their interest and

chosen career path. The K–12 curriculum pursues to develop graduates who are

holistically developed, endowed with 21st century skills, and ready for higher education,

middle level skill building, employment, and entrepreneurship. It will give them an

overview of their course and improve their skills and preparation for future courses by

providing sufficient knowledge and skills, allowing them to be more effective and

globally competitive.

Research from Bulacan State University was conducted that showed the

contributing factors to students' decision making regarding their tertiary courses. The

results showed that the highest factor that influenced their decision is the strong interest

or desire on the course (Panganiban et al., 2019). Furthermore, students with a strong

ambition for a career can make a much better path in college by selecting Senior High

School tracks and strands that are related with their chosen university courses.

Student’s Choice of Career

 Career decision-making and picking the right career path is becoming

increasingly important in the present time. It is a phase in every student's life. An

individual's fate can be changed by a solely one wrong decision. Thus, career selection

takes a lot of thought and consideration. When deciding for a college major, students

have to consider various factors. Parents, relatives, educators, religious figures, and any

other role models in a student's life can influence a decision. However, according to the

research of Kazi and Akhlaq (2017) the parents' impact is the most significant followed

by influence from peers, gender, print media, financial reasons, interest, and others.

Career Counseling and Guidance

Career counseling is a type of guidance, advice, and support given by career

counselors to individuals in aim of assisting people in establishing life, learning, and

career (Savickas, 2019). It is a professional engagement that usually occurs one-on-one or

within a small group. This accommodates understanding oneself, career exploration,

career decision-making, career transition management, long term career development,

and other career-related difficulties to promote career growth.

Career counseling assists in gaining a better understanding of our career

alternatives and how to pursue them. Guidance is support provided to students in school

aimed at improving the efficiency of one’s abilities. Students gain the understanding,

knowledge, and qualities they need to succeed in the industry by participating in school-

based career counseling activities.

Reggio Emilia Approach

The Reggio Emilia Approach originated in Reggio, Italy's pre-primary schools

and has subsequently influenced the ideologies of early childhood educators all around
the world. Reggio Emilia Approach includes significant fundamental components; a

major emphasis on the individual as engaged in the learning process; respect in the

student's responsibility in his or her own process of learning; the relevance of the

environment in education; the implementation of a curriculum that is first driven by the

students' interests and then defined by the instructor's expertise; the influence of

community in students' learning. In the Reggio Emilia Approach, teachers lead learning

environments by paying attention to student's ideas, providing them opportunities in the

classroom and everyday access to tools that provide them liberty and the opportunity to

explore freely (Gardner & Jones, 2016).

The focus of future coursework is on the student's interests. Student's interests are

defined to those they express vocally as well as those that teachers evaluate via attentive

observation, purposeful inquiry, and professional expertise. Teachers can attract students'

interest by granting stimulants that encourage student participation and by effectively

expressing the connections between subject and personal interests (Jones, 2009).

National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE)

The National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) is a Philippine assessment

test administered to third-year high school students before the Enhanced Basic Education

Act of 2013. Beginning 2016, NCAE is required to be taken by 9th grade students. It

evaluates a student ’s ability in various career categories. It aims to maintain the

maximum level of educational excellence in the Philippines by observing and monitoring

the passage of high school graduates into courses that are more applicable for their skills

(Tan & Balasico, 2018). Mechanical Interests, Artistic Interests, Outdoor Interests, Social

Interests, and Enterprising Interests are among the occupational interests revealed by the
NCAE results, which aids students in determining what profession they want to pursue.

NCAE provides a comprehensive assessment to graduating students as a career guide to

determine whether they should pursue higher education, study a technical-vocational

degree, or undertake entrepreneurship.