Introduction:
The development of critical consciousness by children is a key aspect of
career construction. The importance of critical consciousness is that it
helps to recognize personal potential and the opportunities and barriers that
arise in the immediate and wider context. Providing career interventions
that enhance critical awareness introduces intentional learning that allows
children to develop a higher level of career awareness and increase their
aspirations for the future, as well as the development of a collective
agency, in which guidance agents must become advocates for equity and
social justice. System Theory Framework (STF) of career development
assists this purpose.

Purpose:
To reflect on the importance of critical career guidance and the use of
qualitative multimodal career assessment to promote critical awareness. A
reflection will be carried out taking the STF as a reference. We base our
arguments on a study carried out with children aged 5 to 7.

Method:
Multimodal career guidance techniques facilitate participants to 'own' the
whole process of career learning. All tools address the principle of
researching "with" and not "on "participants, and seek to further develop
equity, social justice, individual and collective activism, and
sustainability. The use of qualitative career assessment and arts-based
tools facilitates a learning process for a critical career construction.

Results:
The study underscores how the application of multimodal tools produces
added value to the career guidance process by facilitating critical
consciousness. The findings illustrate the process of critical meaning
making of the children's system of influences in low-income contexts.

Conclusions:
An empowerment of the individual is observed. The use of culturally
sensitive procedures allows children to raise critical consciousness in their
career construction.