chapter 12: promoting educational and career planning in schools transforming the school counseling...

CHAPTER 12:Promoting Educational and Career Planning in Schools

Transforming The School Counseling Profession

Fourth EditionBradley T. Erford

Bradley T. Erford. Transforming The School Counseling Profession, Fourth Edition. © 2015,2011,2007,2003 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Background for Educational and Career Planning Interventions in Schools

Providing career assistance to students has always been an integral part of the work performed by professional school counselors.

During most of the 20th century, professional school counselors fostered students’ career decision making by administering and interpreting interest inventories and aptitude tests.

In the 1950s Donald Super proposed a developmental perspective emphasizing career development as a lifelong process.

Super suggested that development through the life stages could be guided, “partly by facilitating the maturing of abilities and interests and partly by aiding in reality testing and in the development of self-concepts.”


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Background for Educational and Career Planning Interventions in Schools

Changes in the economy, population, and technology have enhanced the need for professional school counselors to focus on the area of educational planning and career development.

Increased globalization has altered job titles, roles, and structure within the workplace.

Markets are calling for skilled workers over unskilled workers and employment has become less stable.


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Education and Career Planning Today

The National Standards (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) specify three important areas of student development:

• Standard A. Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions.

• Standard B. Students will employ strategies to achieve future career success and satisfaction.

• Standard C. Students will understand the relationship between personal qualities, education and training, and the world of work.


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Educational planning is the means through which linkages are forged for students, as well as stakeholders, between academic achievement and postsecondary options.

The educational planning process can help students become aware of how their school performance relates to post-high school goal achievement, thereby increasing their motivation to work hard in school.

An effective educational planning process eliminates making a career choice by chance.


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In elementary school, students should first become acquainted with education and career planning through learning about the relationship between school performance and the world of work and postsecondary education.

When students reach middle school, the stage will be set for them to start thinking in more concrete terms about their educational, career, and life goals.

The goals students set in middle school will form the basis for making choices about the courses they take while in middle school, as well as help them to create a tentative blueprint for their high school course taking.

This sequential process provides students with many and varied opportunities to learn about themselves and engage in mindful planning and preparation.


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The Integrative Contextual Model of Career Development (Lapan, 2004) highlights primary career development constructs such as positive expectations and identity development

The Hope-Centered Model of Career Development (HCMCD) (Niles et al., 2010) emphasizes the central role of hope in career development

Savickas (2012) proposes a new paradigm based on constructivist and narrative therapy approaches that empowers students to become the author of their own lives


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Life-span, life-space theorists define career as the total constellation of life roles that people engage in over the course of a lifetime.

Career development tasks include developing the skills necessary not only for selecting and implementing an occupational choice, but also for selecting, adjusting to, and transitioning through a variety of life roles.


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Implementing Systematic and Well-Coordinated Career Planning Programs

Helps students acquire the knowledge, skills, and awareness necessary for effectively managing their career development (Herr, Cramer, & Niles, 2004).

It is important to clearly connect career development interventions to student academic achievement.

Making sure to market a program to the school personnel is vital to the success of the program.

Use a team approach to reach goals.

Help teachers communicate to parents the ways in which career development programs enhance student achievement.

Professional school counselors are often the only professionals in the school system with training in career development, as well as the primary figure for helping students with educational planning.


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Career Assessment

It is through formal and informal assessments that students begin to learn about themselves and their interests, skills, and values related to the world of work.

Results from assessments provide professional school counselors with a starting point for guiding students in the career planning process.

School counselors must remain current in their knowledge about which career assessments are suitable for use with school-aged youth, as well as possess a general understanding of assessment so they can make informed decisions about which assessments to use.


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Career Assessment

Types of assessments available to professional school counselors:

• Kuder Career Search with Person Match

• Kuder Skills Assessment

• Super’s Work Values Inventory

• Self-Directed Search

• Strong Interest Inventory

• O*NET Interest Profiler

• O*NET Ability Profiler

• O*NET Work Importance Profiler

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator


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Career Assessment

Professional school counselors must use emerging technology to sustain an educational and career planning system.

Recommended Web sites

• GENERAL– Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) (http://www.bls.gov

/OCO); OOH for children (http://www.bls.gov/k12)– O*NET (http://online.onetcenter.org/find/)

• JOB SEARCH– Quint Careers (http://www.quintcareers.com/job-seeker.html)– The Riley Guide (http://www.rileyguide.com)– JobHuntersBible (http://www.jobhuntersbible.com)


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Career Assessment

• JOB SEARCH (continued)– Career Builder (http://www.careerbuilder.com)– Monster (http://www.monster.com)– Simply Hired (http://www.simplyhired.com)– Indeed (http://www.indeed.com)

• COLLEGE ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID– Peterson’s (http://www.petersons.com)– U. S. News and World Report (http://www.usnews.com)– College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com)– Quint Careers (http://www.quintcareers.com/student.html)– U. S. Department of Education (http://studentaid.ed.gov)


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Elementary Schools

In elementary schools children begin formulating a sense of identity outside of their immediate family.

Television often provides children with gender-stereotyped roles and occupations, and limited perceptions of careers for people of color.

The use of non-traditional models, such as a male nurse or female engineers, help expose children to a broad range of occupational possibilities.

Children naturally express curiosity through fantasy and play which can provide a foundation for exploring careers such as firefighting, nursing, and teaching.


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Elementary Schools (cont)

When students are encouraged to participate in activities that are related to their interests it helps develop a sense of autonomy, an anticipation for future opportunities for exploring, and the beginning of playful behaviors.

When these interests connect with skills and capacities, a positive self-concept emerges, providing the foundation for the future career development tasks of adolescence.

Students in elementary school also can engage in career exploration by developing and understanding the importance of educational achievement.

The primary focus of career development interventions for elementary school children is awareness, in its many facets.


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Elementary Schools (cont)

Educational planning in elementary school is also essential.

• Raising student awareness about the training and educational requirements for occupations that interest them may serve to heighten their motivation to do well in school.

• Students at this age should become aware of how the skills they are learning in school are used in various careers.

• Students’ performance in elementary school can have a significant influence on their future course taking and postsecondary options.


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Practical Ideas for Career Development Activities

Ask students to identify and discuss the jobs that they have observed in their communities and then add to their knowledge base by introducing a few new ones.

Encourage students to identify the “jobs” they currently have as students and sons or daughters. They can use this self-knowledge to create a “Me and my Job” booklet that highlights their interests, as well as their “job” responsibilities at school and home.

Fill paper grocery bags with two to five items that are associated with a specific career. Take the items out of each bag one by one and have students guess the type of worker that uses those items. For example, one bag could be filled with a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff to represent a doctor.

Ask students to draw a picture of a job they might want to have when they are older.


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Give each student a letter of the alphabet and ask them to select a job that begins with that letter, draw a picture of the job, and write three tasks or activities that are related to that occupation. Bind the students’ work together to create an “Alphabet Career Book” for the school’s library.

Read a developmentally appropriate story (e.g., Worm Gets a Job by Kathy Caple for students in 2nd grade and below) to a classroom and then have the students identify the various jobs that were discussed in the book.

Expose students to women who work in traditionally “male” occupations and men who work in traditionally “female” occupations.

For students in grades 3 to 5, require each student to complete an interview with an adult about his or her career. Questions should focus on what the adult does and the schooling needed to prepare for that career. After interviews have been conducted, students can share their findings with the class.


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Challenge students to look into the future and think about how the jobs they are currently interested in might be different in 15 to 20 years. Using a computer lab, provide students with time to research the education, training, and skills they will need to be successful in these “future careers.”

Host a career day or career week where students’ parents and members of the community visit the school to talk about their occupations.

Arrange field trips to nearby businesses to help students get a sense of the types of occupations that exist in those fields (e.g., hospital, grocery store, library, bank, etc.).

Provide parents with links to any Web sites used in the career development program so that they have the chance to explore these sites with their children at home and reinforce the learning that occurred in school.


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Middle Schools

At the middle school level the interventions are more complex and focused.

Since middle school students are typically preoccupied with belonging and are influenced significantly by same-sex peers, the focus of the interventions should be on helping students crystallize and articulate their ideas.

In middle school, realistic expectations should be held for students while also encouraging them to develop a realistic self-concept and learn more about possible opportunities.


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Middle Schools (cont)

The link between school activities and future opportunities that was first developed in elementary school needs to be strengthened in middle school.

Stress the process of “lifelong learning” that can lead to occupational success.

Inform students of the positive correlation between academic achievement and the amount of income workers earn.

The primary focus of career development in the middle school is on exploration.

Students must learn the skills necessary for accessing and using educational and occupational information.


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Middle Schools (cont)

For students who wish to attend college, it is essential that they begin talking about these plans with their parents and the appropriate school staff while in middle school so that they can take classes that will adequately prepare them for the rigorous courses (i.e., college prep) they will need to take once they reach high school.

Students who do not have any postsecondary plans or goals will be at a distinct disadvantage later on in their academic career if they find that they have not achieved high enough grades or taken the necessary classes to prepare themselves for the occupation or continuing education they desire.


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Administer a career interest inventory, skills assessment, and values inventory. Using the results from these inventories, help students pinpoint one or two career clusters that are of interest to them to begin exploring in more detail.

Present a classroom guidance lesson to students in the computer lab introducing them to the host of available online resources to help them learn about careers. Ask students to make a list of occupations they think women most commonly work in and the occupations they think men most commonly work in and have them share their lists with the class. Teach students about nontraditional career opportunities and how certain jobs have been stereotyped and discriminated against as “male jobs” or “female jobs.” Present common myths related to nontraditional jobs, as well as information about the realities of these jobs. End with a discussion about the implications of such stereotyping.


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Inform students about the importance of educational and career goal-setting. Create a goal-setting worksheet that asks students to list two educational goals and two career goals that they have for themselves.

Deliver a classroom guidance lesson on the connection between school and work and assign students the task of conducting one informational interview with a professional in the community.

Prepare a presentation introducing students to the wide range of postsecondary possibilities (e.g., four-year college, community college, vocational school, job training) and provide a sampling of occupations corresponding to each pathway.

Introduce students to the concepts of lifestyle and life roles and have each student write down how they currently spend their time and their current life roles, as well as what they would like their lifestyle to be like and what life roles they think will be important to them when they are adults.


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Collaborate with teachers to find ways to integrate career development activities into students’ core classes.

Host a career day or career fair where students have the opportunity to meet and hear from professionals who work in a diverse range of occupations.

Work with students to begin creating a career portfolio, either on the computer or in a binder, to house the results from their assessments, as well as any other important documents, activities, projects, or research that they accumulate throughout middle school that will aid them in the career and educational decision making process once they reach high school.


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High Schools

In the transition from middle to high school, students focus on the task of identifying occupational preferences and clarifying career/lifestyle choices.

The next step is for students to improve their skills of adjustment.

Workforce readiness is a key to successful career planning in high school because a majority of high school students go directly to work immediately following high school.

Since transitions typically cause anxiety in most people, students need emotional support to lessen the anticipatory anxiety.


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High Schools (cont)

The transition skills acquired in high school build upon the self-awareness, occupational awareness, and decision-making skills students have developed throughout their educational experience.

Acquiring information about jobs, colleges, and training programs, requires research, technology, and reading skills.

Providing career guidance is one of the most important contributions professional school counselors make to a student’s lifelong development.

Students need also to be aware of the choices they will make throughout high school and beyond.


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High Schools (cont)

Community resources are a great way to expose students to a variety of career experiences

These include local businesses, colleges/universities, and community members including parents and recent graduates

Savickas (1999) discussed the necessity of helping students to understand the decisions and tasks they will have to make in career development and suggested tools such as the Career Maturity Inventory (Crites, 1978) and others to help reinforce this concept


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High Schools (cont)

Educational planning culminates in high school—students must begin to make serious decisions about their future.

• Students should formulate an educational plan delineating the steps they will need to take to achieve their postsecondary goals.

• Professional school counselors should help with the educational planning process by connecting students with opportunities to more fully investigate, learn about, and prepare for the preliminary goals they have set for themselves (e.g., elective classes, job shadowing, summer enrichment programs, informational interviews).


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Administer interest inventories to students that provide them with information about careers and college majors potentially suitable for them. Have students research two or three careers and college majors that sound interesting to them.

Help all students create a four-year educational plan (this is a requirement of many public schools). Use students’ postsecondary goals and results from career assessments to help guide course selection.

Inform students that different occupations require different levels of education. In a computer lab, show students a few helpful career Web sites and ask them to locate occupations that require certain degrees.

Present a lesson on decision-making to students and teach them a specific decision-making model. Inform students that sound decision-making skills will enable them to make educated choices about their postsecondary plans.


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Run counseling groups for students on topics related to career development and educational planning (e.g., choosing a college, succeeding in college, finding a job, choosing a career).

Connect with local companies and professionals to provide students with job shadowing opportunities.

Collaborate with English teachers to present lessons to 11th and 12th graders on how to write a resume and cover letter.

Host a mock interview day for 11th and 12th graders. Bring in members of the community to conduct brief mock interviews with students, as well as provide them with feedback.


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Advertise local job and college fairs, or host your own.

Invite college representatives to visit campus and hold information sessions for interested students.

Hold information sessions about financial aid and scholarship opportunities for students interested in attending college.

Offer job workshops to assist students in finding and applying for jobs.

If the high school you work at has a career resource center, create a scavenger hunt to orient students to the career and educational information and resources available to them.


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Multicultural Implications

When designing a K–12 educational and career planning program, students’ cultural backgrounds are salient and an important part of the process.

The professional school counselor must be aware of how culture intersects and influences all aspects of career and educational planning in elementary, middle, and high school to promote development that is congruent with the client’s culture.


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Developing Life-role Readiness

The life-role readiness concept is based on developmental approaches to school counseling (Myrick, 2002).

The eight content areas:

• Understanding school environment

• Understanding self and others

• Understanding attitudes and behaviors

• Decision-making and problem-solving

• Interpersonal and communication skills

• School success skills

• Career awareness and educational planning

• Community pride and involvement

These areas focus on specific life-roles that are needed to achieve life-role readiness.


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Fostering Life-role Readiness and Life-role Salience

In elementary and middle schools counselors can introduce students to the primary roles of life (e.g., student, worker, family member, citizen).

Students can talk about and decide the importance of each life-role.

Middle school and high school students can be encouraged to participate in activities that foster the development of life-role readiness.

Students can examine the relationship between their goals and their current life-role activities.

Counselors can achieve this by asking questions about what life-roles students are involved in and which are most important to them or their family.


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Fostering Life-role Readiness and Life-role Salience (cont)

Patterns of life-role salience are significantly influenced by one’s immediate family, cultural heritage, level of acculturation, economics, and environmental factors.

Counselors should make students aware of how they are influenced and help them in their decision making.

Group and individual guidance can both be helpful in discussing various cultural perspectives that are generally assigned to specific life-roles.

Borodovsky and Ponterotto (1994) suggested using a genogram as a useful tool for exploring the interaction between family background, cultural perspectives, and career planning.


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Activities to Foster Life-role Readiness

Once one has established how contextual factors influence one’s life-role salience, counselors must engage students in activities to further develop life-role readiness.

Super (1957, 1977) suggests that to develop life-role readiness we must plan for what the student is about to encounter. For instance, if a student is college-bound, one should plan for the academic tasks ahead to see if they match the abilities of the student.

Another intervention would be to plan a “life-role portfolio” where students are encouraged to plan, explore, and gather information for each of their major roles in life.


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Summary/Conclusion

A major goal of professional school counseling programs is to facilitate student development toward effective life-role participation.

Professional school counselors must initiate appropriate developmental guidance activities in elementary school (e.g., self-awareness, curiosity) and facilitate culmination of this process with assistance in the transition to school, work, and a variety of life roles.

chapter 12: promoting educational and career planning in schools transforming the school counseling...

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