Principles, Theories, and Models in

Career Education

By

David Agnew

Arkansas State University

Objectives• Define terms related to CAREE EDUCATION• List key principles associated with Career Education • Describe the Theories and Models associated with

Career Education• Describe how goals and practices in Career Education

varies at different levels.• Develop a theoretical basis for teaching CO at the 7 or

8 grade level. • Explain how CO is to be taught.

What do these terms mean?

• Career• Career Education• Career Orientation• Vocational Guidance• Job• Work• Occupation

Your Text Defines Career as:

• Work done over a period of years in one area of interest.

Career Education as Defined by Kenneth B. Hoyt, Director of Career

Education, in USDE Policy Paper• "Career" is the totality of work one does in his or her lifetime,

"Education" is the totality of experiences through which one learns. Based on these two definitions, "career education" is the totality of experiences through which one learns about and prepares to engage in work as part of her or his way of living. "Career" is a developmental concept beginning in the very early years and continuing well into the retirement years. "Education," as defined here, obviously includes more than the formal educational system. Thus, this generic definition of career education is purposely intended to be of a very broad and encompassing nature. At the same time, it is intended to be considerably less than all of life or one's reasons for living.

The US Office of Career Education Defines Career Education as:

• "An effort armed at focusing American education and the actions of the broader community in ways that will help individuals acquire and use the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for each to make work a meaningful, productive, and satisfying part of his or her way of living."

Your Text Defines Career Education as:

• Career Education - A process utilized in both the school and community which enable individuals to make choices leading to success in lifelong developmental patterns of living, learning, and working. It includes a sequence of educational experiences, throughout education, consisting of development of self awareness, self concept, career awareness, exploration of options, decision making and preparation in one or more alternatives to achieve the individual's career objective.

Your Text Defines Vocational Guidance it as….

• Vocational Guidance - Those guidance and counseling programs, services and activities for individuals of all ages to increase their educational, occupational and other career development opportunities, and to facilitate their vocational development

How did Donald Super Re-define Vocational Guidance?

• The process of helping a person to develop and accept an integrated and adequate picture of himself and of his role in the world of work, to test this concept of reality, and to convert it into a reality, with satisfaction to him and society.

Definition of Job, Occupation and Work

• Job, Being employed by a person or company to perform certain tasks and being paid for the work

• Occupation is a collection of jobs, involving similar tasks.

• Work is productive activity resulting in something useful.

Your Text Defines Career Orientation as,

• An overview of major categories or clusters of occupations from the perspective of worker skills, attitudes, and career patterns. It may involve simple exploratory activities in a laboratory setting to enable a student tentatively to identify career interests, aptitudes, and abilities.

Which is Narrow? Which is Broad?

• Career Education or• Career Orientation

Beliefs about Career Education

• What are they?– Eight key concepts or beliefs associated with

Career Education according to Hoyt.– Deals with when, where, how, who teaches,

scope, etc. of Career Education

KEY CONCEPTS RELATED TO CAREER EDUCATION

AS DEFINED BY HOYT AND ASSOCIATES

• Preparation for successful working careers shall be a key objective of all education

• Every teacher in every course will emphasize the contribution that subject matter can make to a successful career.

• “Hands-on" occupationally oriented experiences will be utilized as a method of teaching and motivating and learning of abstract academic content.

KEY CONCEPTS continued.. (4 & 5)

• Learning will not be reserved for the classroom, but learning environments for career education will also be identified in the home, the community, and employing establishments.

• Preparation for careers will be recognized as the mutual importance of work attitudes, human relations skills, orientation to the nature of the workaday world, exposure to alternative career choices, and the acquisition of actual job skills.

KEY CONCEPTS continued... (6 & 7)

• Beginning in early childhood and continuing through the regular school years, allowing the flexibility for a youth to leave for experience and return to school for further education (including opportunity for upgrading and continued refurnishing for adult workers and including productive use of leisure time and the retirement years), career education will seek to extend its time horizons from "womb to tomb."

• Career education is a basic and pervasive approach to all education, but it in no way conflicts with other legitimate education objectives such as citizenship, culture, family responsibility, and basic education.

KEY CONCEPTS continued…… (8)

• The schools cannot shed responsibility for the individual just because he/she has been handed a diploma or has dropped out. While it may not perform the actual placement function, the school has the responsibility to stick with the youth until he/she has his/her feet firmly on the next step of his career ladder, to help him get back on the ladder if his foot slips, and be available to help the person onto a new ladder at any point in the future that one proves to be too short or unsteady.

Models or Theories on Career Development

• Three Major grouping– Trait Factor, Parsons

– Developmental, Super and Ginsberg

– Social Cognitive, Bandura

Trait Factor Theory

• People have traits• Occupations/jobs/careers require certain traits• Job of career educators/counselor is help match

people with right job.• Trait factor Theories are congruence theories.• Assumption is that humans wish to be congruence

with the work environment• Incongruence will motivate people to change.

Developmental Theory

• Stages of life

• Certain things taught at certain ages– i.e. Motor skills, CO, Language

• Needs and aspirations change as one matures

Social Cognitive Theory

• People have personalities

• People search for the environment which best suits their personality.

• Happiness in a job/career is related to the personality traits.

Herr, states that two models serve as a synthesis of thought

about career education• Occupational Model - concerned principally with

insuring that students, when they leave school, have highly developed skills in rather narrowly defined occupations.

• Career Model - conceives of the individual as moving through the educational system along a number of pathways that have different options.

What difference does it make as to what model is adopted?

• Almost all theories or models have some weaknesses or short comings (someone or some situation is left out or not explained)

• What theory we adopt provides the rationale for our actions.

• Models and theories provide a context in which to frame our questions or decisions.

• Bottom line……

Thinking About the Hierarchy in Career Knowledge/Skills

• Can we place that which we teach about careers in a model that goes from simple to complex? Do we do this for other subject areas?

• What is at the low end in career education? What do we consider to be simple ?

• Likewise what is at the high end of career education?

LEVELS OF CAREER EDUCATION

• Career education focuses on the performance of manipulative skills of a practical arts nature.

• Career education focuses on the performance of manipulative skills plus the development of cognitive and effective learning (job-oriented and present oriented)

• Career education focuses on the performance of manipulative skills plus the development of cognitive and effective learning -- same as 2 except it uses a multidisciplinary approach -- the entire curriculum of the school is integrated

LEVELS Continued...

• Career education focuses on consideration of the relationship between the individual "off the job" existence and his or her life as a worker and as a citizen.

• Career education focuses on education for living and earning a living in the present and immediate future.

• Career education focuses on development of the individual capabilities for coping with the present and the future -- it is education for living and earning a living now and in a future society.

LEVELS Continued...

• Career education focuses on individuals in relation to their physical, social, and technological environment.

• Career education focuses on the development of leadership behavior that recognizes the need to provide learning and work environments that reinforce life styles and evolving world views -- it is decision-implementer-oriented.

• Career education focuses on individuals in relation to their total environment, including the political environment, this level is public-policy-maker-oriented.

Summary of Levels

Manipulative skills1st + cognitive & effective Multidisciplinary approachIndividual on & "off jobEd. for living & earning (p & f)Ind. capabilities to cope w/future

Relationship to p/s & tech envir.Leadership that reinforces world viewsInd & total envir. public-policy-maker.

1

2

3

4567

8

9

So How do We Implement Career Education and CO?

• Where ?

– In which courses

• Who teaches?

– Anyone with the training?

• When is it taught ?

– What age or grade level? And why?• What is taught and How is it taught?

-- Methods and Curriculum

• Duties of a CO teacher

Where or in Which Courses?

• Two Basic Models of Delivery–Infusion

–Stand alone course

What is Infusion?

• The terms infusion, threading, and weaving are often used to suggest that career education is not separate, but is infused within the total school program.

• Examples -- International agriculture, ethics, computers, math, Principles of Technology, special needs pop

Comparison of Infusion and Stand-Alone Course Model

• Pros of Infusion– Does not require more

resources or time to teach

• Cons of Infusion– More than one person is

responsible

– More administrative problems when it comes to accounting for what is taught

• Pros of Stand-Alone Course– Know who sis responsible for

teaching content– Less likely for content to be

overlooked or left out.– Content person has special

training

• Cons of Stand-Alone Course– Takes more resources– Takes time out of the curriculum – If content not taught we know

who to blame – Still must incorporate an infusion

strategy.

Arkansas Model

• We have a stand-alone course model

• But infusion is still expected

Five Principles of an Infusion Strategy for Career Education

• Educational leaders must be convinced of career education's value as a conceptual framework.

• Career education should be integrated into the present curriculum, not treated as a separate additional program.

• Every teacher should be a career education teacher even though this would require extensive in-service training.

• Community involvement is an essential part of career education.

• Teacher involvement is important in the early planning and curriculum development efforts.

Who Teaches?

• Anybody !!!! just about• Must have a valid Arkansas secondary teaching

certificate or license• In Arkansas usually taught by a vocational teacher,

counselor, or most recently hired faculty.• Vocational teachers and Counselors usually make

good Co teachers because of their background and training and use of hands-on activities, career knowledge and awareness level. However, anyone with a desire to do the job right can do a great job.

When Does Career Education Take Place?

And When is CO Taught ? • In Arkansas, Co is taught at the 7th or 8th

grade level.

• But Career Education takes place over a much larger age range.

Career Education by Level

Elementary Education

6-12 13-14 15-18 18-26

Middle School

High School

Voc Sch. Collegeor work

mid 20s+

Working Life with occasional school & changes in careers

Age Span

Career Education-- Considerations by Age or Grade Level

How to ImplementGoals and Objectives Role of the TeacherFocus of the LevelLearning Habits of Pupils at this Level

When must career education begin to obtain its goals?

•In elementary school.

How is Career Education implemented in Elementary

School?

• Through a variety of experiences, such as:– interpersonal relationships,– hands-on creative expression, – problem-solving work.– Reading assignments

Suggested Objectives for Career Education at Elementary Level

• Introduce the student to the world of work and career opportunities.

• Establish the relationship of occupational skills to academic skills.

• Develop, through exploration, a self realization related to abilities and interest for future career selection.– Source: Career Development Guide for the Elementary School

(State of Maine Model)

Objectives for Career Education at Elementary Level

Continued.....• Acquaint students with problem-solving

techniques as they prepare themselves for the world of work.

• Encourage the student to understand that career selection is related to the need and abilities of the individual.

• Develop an understanding and appreciation of the interrelationship of the various careers in the world of work.

What is the role of the elementary teacher in career

education?

• They provide a role model of the working adult.

• They must understand what support systems are available to the career education curriculum.

What should be the focus of career guidance at the

elementary level?• Expanding the perceptual base of the

individual in relation to self, education, and the world of work. Experiences should be planned that help students to develop positive self-concepts and healthy interpersonal relationships.

What are the learning habits of elementary pupils?

• Imitation is a major method of learning

• Learning is enhanced through physical activities because verbal skills are still in the process of being developed.

• Concrete rather than abstract concepts are more readily learned.

What is the major thrust at the middle school level as relates to

career education?

• Having the student explore various occupational clusters and become familiar with the preparation requirements and the educational opportunities available for obtaining the necessary training.

What should the exploration phase at the middle grade level

provide?

• Opportunities for students to examine themselves, their abilities, and their goals.

What are the career guidance objectives for the middle school

level?• Exploring the relationship between student

characteristics and occupational and educational requirements;

• Learning the processes involved in planning and implementing occupational goals;

• Learning educationally and vocationally related behaviors; and

• Beginning to develop tentative plans for the future.

What are the objectives of career education at the secondary level?

• Exploring careers within a specific family of occupations

• Selecting a specific career

• Making initial preparations, and developing post-high school plans related to it

• Developing salable skills

• Continuing development, refinement, and application of basic skills and developing the attitudes, skills, and understandings that relate to the personal, family, social, and cultural dimensions of one's life.

What is the major thrust at the high school level?

• Emphasis is placed on occupational preparation activities within occupational clusters.

What is the role of the secondary teacher in Career Education?

• Same as above, and .....

• They must be ready and competent and

• Be able to participate in an organized approach to career planning and decision making.

Six Goals appropriate for Career Guidance at Secondary Level

• To continue practice and refine expertise in decision-making skills introduced in middle grades;

• To acquaint students with a variety of options available during high school and after high school.

• To assist students in evaluating short-term and long-term effects of selecting various options.

• To assist students in evaluation occupational opportunities in relation to self needs, interests, values, and aptitudes.

• To train students to locate and use information such as employment bulletins and school catalogs.

• To help students interpret and evaluate occupational and/or educational information.

Basic Assumptions Under lying a Secondary Career Guidance

Program• That an integrated cross-disciplinary program of career

guidance as part of the regular school curriculum, grades K-12, is more consonant with new and emerging contemporary knowledge about career development.

• That it is possible to plan a series of vocational relevant experiences which have meaning for the career development of adolescents and that certain kinds of appropriate experiences can be defined for students at

various levels of their growth.

Basic Assumptions, continued.....

• That the curriculum needs to be interpreted broadly to include kinds of experiences that extend beyond the school walls and beyond traditional subjects.

• That an integrated program has as its goal not to encourage the student to make a specific vocational choice but rather to foster an understanding of the process of decision-making-the relevant factors in self and society and the variety of potentialities which might be fulfilled.

• That an effective program of career guidance must involve the cooperation of total staff and community in planning meaningful experiences to meet the emerging needs of students.

How is career guidance at the postsecondary level handled?

• It is the function of a broader area, such as _______ which is concerned with total student development– Student Personnel Services – Students Affairs– Counseling center or– Career Services

What is the major thrust of career education in higher

education?

• Career education efforts in higher education should reflect increased efforts to relate what is taught in the classroom to the world of work.

Does the Role of the two-year programs different from four-

year programs?• YES

• How?

Two-year programs have a four-fold career-education

responsibility: • (a) to provide multiple options in career education:

• (b) to work with secondary schools and postsecondary proprietary schools in the orderly articulation of career education sequences;

• (c) to work with the major producer and service units in the economy on such issues as desirable pre- and in-service training and work-study programs; and

• (d) to maintain constant contact with four-year colleges and universities to negotiate the issues of educational philosophy and academic transfer.

Four-year programs ensure that career education does not slip into the traditional mold of training solely for

the vocations and professions.

• Four-year colleges work with their extension divisions and with external degree programs to provide off-campus remedial programs in liberal arts. Four-year colleges also devise further means of providing wholeness or unity to the total educational program.

What is the role of graduate programs in career education?

• Describe professional careers and articulating the technical and paraprofessional training needed by those who wish to enter a professional field at the support level rather than at a professional level. Graduate professional schools also bear a heavy responsibility for developing leadership personnel to conduct the research and development aspects of career education.

What is the role of teacher education in career education?

• Teachers need to be familiar with career education goals, objectives, and concepts. Teacher education should provide pre-service and in-service, and staff development.

The Major Objectives of Career Education. (Arkansas)

• Provide students with an opportunity for self-analysis.• Provide students with experiences which allow

tentative selection of a career.• Provide students with a general knowledge of careers.• Develop understanding of what is required to enter a

career• Develop a plan of how to achieve that goal.

Stages of Human Development according to Havinghurst

• Infancy and Early Childhood (0-6)

• Middle Childhood (6-12)

• Adolescence (12-18)

• Early Adulthood (18-30)

• Middle Age (30-60)

• Later Maturity (60+)

Havinghurst’sStages of Human Development

0-6 years

Middle Childhood

6-12

Early Childhood

12-18 18-30 30-60

Adolescence Early Adult

Middle Adult

60+

Later Maturity

Age Span

Elementary Education

6-12 13-14 15-18 18-26

Middle School

High School

Voc Sch. Collegeor work

mid 20+

Working Life with occasional school & changes in careers

Comparison of Career Education & Developmental Stages

0-6 years

Middle Childhood

6-12

Early Childhood

12-18 18-30 30-60

Adolescence Early Adult

Middle Adult

60+

Later Maturity

The Traits of Adolescence, According to Havinghurst

• Developmentally– More mature relationship with age mates with

both sexes– Achieving a Masculine or Feminine social role– Accepting one’s on Body, growing up– Developing his/her own set of morals and

values– Moving toward independence

Educational Implications

• Help in developing social roles and culture– providing opportunities to experience age mates in a

more adult like decisions/activities, clubs, sports, recreation

• Help in developing healthy attitudes about gender differences– Teach health and hygiene

• Opportunities to apply values to various settings– More real-life situations to focus energies

Educational Implications, Continued….

• Independence is aided by successful experiences with peers

• Educators need to provide experiences which help develop esteem

• Point the way to independence through working, – first developing skills (If you were independent what would you do?)

– decision making

– making $$$$$

How is CO Taught? Two Basic Questions Every

Teachers Faces?

• Hands-on Activities• Guest Speakers• Field trips• Teacher lead discussions• Supervised study• Cooperative learning• Case study• Interviewing

1. What to Teach?

2. How to Teach?

• Shadowing• Problem Solving• The Real Game

Common Methods

• Presentation – One way communication, monolog, teacher to student, Example, lecture, video, etc

• Teacher lead discussion – Two communication, dialog, Example: questioning, problem solving, etc.

• Supervised study – Student working on his/her own, with teacher close by for purpose of supervision, Example: Worksheet, projects, etc.

• Job Instruction – Showing some one how to do something that requires a step by step process. Example: Demonstration, method and result demo.

• Cooperative learning – Group learning Example: Group project, debate teams, etc.

What is a hands-on activity?

• Where students participate individually or in groups, where learning by doing takes place

Underlying Assumption

• Doing an activity associated with a career area will be more meaningful and insightful than talking or reading about it in class.

Why is Hands-on So Important?

• Has a greater impact on learning and retention.

• Affects the emotions, feels and attitudes more that “Book Learning”.

• John Dewey said “All genuine learning comes through experience”

Is Hands-on Really a Method?

• No! Well depends on how you look at it.• Method implies a teacher action• Hands-on implies a student action/activity• Teacher chooses methods that include

opportunity for student to do an activity.• The activity is usually an extension of the

learning process.• Most teaching does not begin with activity.

Hands-On Activities is Related to Which Method(s)

• Job Instruction

• Supervised study

• Cooperative learning

Three basic characteristics guiding the development or

selection of career development strategies and resources

• Strategy must be affectively based

• Strategy must be action-oriented

• Strategy must focus upon examining people in careers, not just jobs or occupations.– Source: Yellow Brick Road

And for the Other Basic Question?

• What to teach?• We have an easy answer…….

– The Curriculum Frameworks• Short History of course content development in

Arkansas

– Cluster and Non Cluster Content• Non-cluster, Research, assessments, Personal

skills traits, Employability skills, etc.

– Other references are available

NEW -- 16 Clusters

Agriculture & Natural Resources

• Architecture & Construction

• Arts, Audio, Video. Technology & Communications

• Business & Administration

• Education & Training• Finance• Government & Public

Administration••

• Health Science• Hospitality & Tourism • Human Services• Information Technology • Law & Public Safety • Manufacturing• Retail wholesale Sales &

Service• Scientific Research &

Engineering• Transportation.

Distribution, & Logistics

Duties of A CO Teacher

• 1. Teach CO (What and How to Teach)– Administrative and non-teaching aspects of

being a CO teacher responsiblites related to CO

• 2. Teach other courses– Administrative responsibilities related to CO

• 3. General school duties– Advising, lunch duty, etc

Administrative and Non-Teaching Aspects of CO

• Forming and working with an Advisory committee

• Organizing and working with a CO Club

• Helping students develop Career Action Plan

• Administrating the State CO Assessment

• Establishing relationship with counselor

• Resources and Supplies manager

• Bulletin Board -- ONET and other online resources • Computer resources manager

• Preparing students for CO Contests

CO Teacher Of the Year Award

• If you can handle all these responsibilities and do a pretty good job you can apply for this award.

• Presented at CO conference• Application due in the late spring• Five areas

– Professional Memberships & Activities (2 parts- 10 pts.)– Professional Contributions (3 parts – 10 pts.)– Training and Experience (2 parts – 5 pts.)– Civic and Community Involvement (2 parts- 5 pts.)– Program Description (4 parts – 20 pts.)

So How do We Implement Career Education?

• Where ? – In which courses

• Who teaches? – Anyone with the training?

• When is it taught ? – What age or grade level? And why?

• What is taught? and How is it taught?-- Methods and Curriculum

• Duties of a CO teacher

Criticisms of Career Education.

• Career educators wrongly assume that :– because specialization is the key to

occupational success, then the learning experience itself must be highly specialized.

– learning must take place in one sequential order.

– a specific body of knowledge should be required of all students

Personal Opinion!

Another personal Opinion is that Some things are best taught in sequence.

The fact that there is a state test supports the belief that some of it should be fixed

The Big Picture for Career Education in Arkansas

• Career Awareness -- Elementary Education– Grades 1-3

• Career Orientation– Grades 7 or 8

• Workplace Readiness/ Workforce Technology– Grades 10-12

• Career and Technical Education internships,– Grades 11-12

• General Cooperative Education, – Grades 11-12

Reference: handout from Workforce Education

Career Decision Model

• How when do students make decisions?

• Career Decision Diamond – My way– The old way or traditional model– My modified modern version

Model for Establishing a Career Direction

Kindergarten 7 or 8th grade End of CO Rest of life

Traditional Career Decision Diamond

Collecting info

Sorting info

Coming to a decision point about a career choice

Starting with little or no information

ModifiedCareer Decision Diamond

In Beginning, Little Knowledge of Careers

Collecting info on self and broad range of career possibilities

Begin Sifting & Sorting Info

Researching & Shadowing

Narrow the Possibilitiesto a short list, develop a career action plan

Time Frame

Beginning of CO

End of CO

Early Childhood

Age 18-26or longer Closure ??

The End