Engaging Middle School Children in Discourses of

Identity, College, and Careers

Cerise L. Glenn, Sally Mountcastle, & Crystal Sutton

Turrentine Middle School· Community Partner· Ms. Jennifer

Lombard, Guidance Counselor

· 17 7th grade students from diverse backgrounds

Middle School Students’ Field Trip to

UNCG

Purpose· To understand how middle school children

designated at risk for dropping out construct and interpret discourses of careers, college, and goal attainment

· To introduce discourses of careers and create spaces of community engagement with students, their parents, middle school staff, and students and faculty from UNCG

Purpose Continued· To examine how participation in the program

influences the students’ perceptions of academic achievement, self-identity, and goal attainment

· To provide an opportunity for students to learn about specific careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), social science, and education disciplines that connect to their current interests, strengths, and hobbies

· Program: monthly workshops at TMS and UNCG

· Career Exploration· Connection to Goal Attainment and

Planning· College· Specific careers

Our Project

Theoretical Focus

· Identity Negotiation (Glenn & Jackson, 2010)

· Vocational Occupational Socialization (Myers, et. al., 2011)

Career Exploration· Career Cruising· Connection to

current interests· Centering students’

voices & identities

Mapping the Future Activity

· Exploring careers & future

· Source messaging (family & media)

· Exposure to careers· Career framing

Career Binders

· Student interest focused

· Career exploration:· STEM· Education· Social Sciences· Creative Arts

Careers Matched in Each Category

Career Binders Cont.· Visual

representation of their interests & prospective careers

· Tangible resource to keep

Education· “job talk” from Jennifer

Lombard & Cerise Glenn

· Students’ experiences (during trip at UNCG)

· College/major exploration (at UNCG)

· Tour of Weatherspoon Art Museum

· “job talk” facilitated by Sally Mountcastle

Creative Arts

STEM· Guest Visit:

Kinesiology (at UNCG)

· Binder exploration in May

· College & major exploration (with Crystal Sutton at UNCG)

· Students’ experiences (at UNCG)

Social Sciences

Preliminary Analysis· Connection to messages from family & media· Career focus on salary initially· Foster interest in careers related to career cruising

and binders that they may explore or pursue· Goal of money with helping people also used to

explore new careers, specifically in STEM· Raised awareness of amount of education needed

for specific careers that interest them · Exploring college based on programs/majors (more

so than image and/or media portrayals)

Thank You!!!· Turrentine Middle School· Office of Leadership and Service

Learning· Office of Undergraduate Research· The Graduate School· Department of Communication Studies