Hello everyone. I’m excited to be joining the MALAT cohort for two of the LRNT courses, 524 and 525. As many of you already are familiar with each other, I’ll take some time to introduce myself and how I’ve ended up here with you all. I work in a small career consulting organization where I support individuals, employers, and career service providers through research, resource development, and training. I’m deeply committed to supporting the advancement and professionalization of the career development sector.
You may be asking yourself, what even is “career development”? Similar to how our instructor shared that not many people identify themselves as “Instructional Designers,” but they are doing instructional design work (L. Gedak, personal communication, November 4, 2026), the same is true for Career Development Professionals (CDPs). It is a largely hidden sector but pervasive. It encompasses a diverse set of professionals working across a wide variety of settings not all specifically identifying with the CDP title, but all doing career work nonetheless (Blanchard & Taylor, 2024). You can find CDPs as employment counsellors, disability advocates, elementary teachers, human resource professionals, recruiters, and academic advisors. Really anyone offering supports or resources to individuals along their career journey.
In one way or another, instructional design has been part of my job my entire professional career. Partly because career development is what I like to call “education adjacent,” and partly because a large portion of my work centres on supporting CDPs directly in their skills development and knowledge enhancement. I don’t necessary identify as an “instructional designer, but rather I see myself as a:
- career educator, advisor, and coach
- facilitator, trainer, researcher, and writer
- program coordinator, collaborator, and connector
Above all else, I’m a curious individual and a life-long learner so I am excited to have the opportunity to learn alongside the rest of you. I am currently enrolled in the Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS), which allows me to explore a broad range of subjects. I recently wrapped up the Graduate Certificate in Values-Based Leadership so purpose, meaning, and values alignment are fresh in my mind.
As I reflect on my emerging “design identity” and what I value when creating learning experiences, I think of how my own positionality has impacted my viewpoint, preferences, and experiences. I am a cis-gendered, heterosexual, middle-class, white Canadian women, wife, and mother. I am a settler here with English heritage. Born into a family with deep military roots, I am also a part-time caretaker to my aligning mother with Huntington’s disease (a progressive hereditary neurodegenerative disease, for which I am “at risk” and essentially manifests itself with a collection of symptoms that mirror Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and even Schizophrenia). I am an educated and employed individual who values wisdom/truth, collaboration/connect, but also efficiency/accuracy. It is as important for me to be heard and understood, as it is for me to hear and understand others. I like to run, but I am as slow as a turtle.
In almost any endeavour, I take a very systems-based approach to my work which recognizes the impact and influence of contextual factors outside of the self (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Interestingly, Bronfenbrenner’s work actually stemmed from the exploration of the factors that facilitated (or constrained) the success of young students within traditional school settings.
My design identity comprises 3 components: People, Purpose, and Passion.
I strongly believe that instructional design needs to keep the human at the centre. The people who engage or are otherwise impacted by the learning experience expands beyond just the student or participant to include the instructors and administrative staff. It may include a variety of other key stakeholders from the academic institution, corporate entity, professional association, or credentialling body. This informs the design process from needs assessment and conceptualization, all the way through implementations and evaluation.
Next, instructional design needs to be purpose driven. What exactly are we trying to accomplish . . . and why? Keeping the goals and objectives in mind throughout the process helps keep the design focused, customized, and engaging. It enables the selection of methods that match the needs for multiple people, and gives permission for ongoing adaptations and refinements. I also believe this gives space for adult learners to find their own purpose and meaning within the learning context.
Lastly, passion . I like to design for motivated learners – people who want to be engaging in learning and are actively seeking to connect/apply their learning within their own context. I don’t want to design learning that is strictly compliance driven. I want to design training on topics that I myself am passionate about and have knowledge of. I believe engaging with others in the design process who share a similar passion for learning and the topic or learning focus.
It will be interesting to revisit this list at the end of the course to see what shifts or deepens.
I am looking forward to reviewing the blog contributions of others. I have actually been blogging my own learning journey throughout my studies. You can check out my most recent one, Being a Good Consumer and Contributor to Research, if you are interested.
References:
Blanchard, T., & Taylor, L. (2024). Hidden sector, hidden talent: Mapping Canada’s career development sector. Challenge Factory. https://ceric.ca/publications/hidden-sector-hidden-talent-mapping-canadas-career-development-sector/
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press. http://www.dawsonera.com/depp/reader/protected/external/AbstractView/S9780674028845