SALA Pathways

Overview

SALA Pathways is a bilingual Khmer-English career guidance prototype designed to help Cambodian secondary students explore academic pathways, career options, TVET routes, language learning, scholarships, and realistic next steps after school.

The project now includes four active portfolio artifacts: Learner Persona, Student Journey Map, Sample Pathway Report, and Instructional Design Portfolio Alignment Checklist.

What I Designed

Design Problem

Many Cambodian students face academic and career decisions with limited access to structured guidance, especially students in rural or public-school contexts. Students may know they need to choose between STEM, social science, university, TVET, language study, scholarships, or work pathways, but they may not have enough personalized support to connect their interests, strengths, grades, family context, and realistic opportunities.

Target Learners

• Cambodian secondary students
• Grade 9-12 students
• Rural and public-school students
• Students deciding between STEM, social science, university, TVET, work, or language pathways
• Students who may need Khmer-first guidance with English support
• Students considering dual degrees, scholarships, or practical job pathways

My Role

Founder, learning designer, content strategist, prototype planner, and culturally responsive education designer.

Prototype Purpose

The prototype explores how a bilingual guidance tool could help students reflect on interests, school performance, preferred subjects, language goals, career sectors, and next steps. The goal is not to replace counselors, teachers, parents, or official academic advising, but to provide a structured support tool that makes guidance more accessible.

Cambodia-Specific Design Considerations

• Khmer-first language support with English as a bridge
• TVET reframed as practical and stackable
• Career sectors relevant to Cambodia, including tourism/hospitality, construction/real estate, garments/manufacturing, agriculture, banking/finance/accounting/audit, digital/IT, health, education, and public service
• Rural and public-school realities
• Dual-degree planning cautions around cost, workload, timing, and realistic sequencing
• Language pathways including English, Chinese, French, Korean, Japanese, or Thai depending on learner goals
• Scholarship and affordability awareness

Accessibility and UDL

The design direction uses simple language, clear navigation, bilingual support, a large readable interface, multi-step guidance, student-friendly feedback, and options for both visual and text-based support. Future phases may explore audio support and a more formal WCAG/UDL-informed accessibility review.

Relationship to Instructional Design

SALA Pathways treats career guidance as a learning design challenge. The goal is to help students make sense of choices, compare pathways, reflect on their strengths, and identify next steps through structured, culturally responsive guidance.

Current Status

Phase 1 prototype available. The project now includes four active portfolio artifacts: Learner Persona, Student Journey Map, Sample Pathway Report, and Instructional Design Portfolio Alignment Checklist. Future review is planned with students, counselors, and education reviewers. Full materials are available upon request for interviews, academic review, or professional collaboration.

This prototype is an educational concept only. It is not official academic advising, not a scholarship guarantee, not a university placement tool, and not a replacement for counselors, teachers, parents, or official school guidance.

Current Outcome

This project now includes a Phase 1 prototype and four portfolio-ready artifacts that demonstrate learner analysis, journey mapping, pathway feedback design, bilingual usability, accessibility planning, and recruiter-facing portfolio alignment. Future phases would require student, educator, and local-context review before implementation.

Phase 1 Prototype

Supporting Artifacts

These four active portfolio artifacts document the learner profile, student journey, sample pathway output, and instructional design portfolio alignment behind the Phase 1 prototype.