Career Development and Counseling PSYG 542
Career Information, Career Counseling and Career Development,
Duane Brown, (2016)
Chapter 1
Objectives
Articulate an understanding of the impact of the global economy on work in the U. S.
Explain how people view work as a part of their lives and the lives of others.
Form a personal view of their own career development.
Show familiarity with the basic terminology used in career development.
Demonstrate the role career development programs can play in the drive for social justice in the U. S.
Demonstrate knowledge of the historical roots of career development.
Brown adopts Sears’s (1982) definition of Career development: a lifelong process involving psychological, sociological, educational, economic, and physical factors as well as chance factors that interact to influence the career of an individual. Brown also adds culture to Sears’s list of factor that influence career development
Career Interventions Defined
Career intervention is the broadest term and subsumes individual, small group, large group and organizational career development instruments. It’s a deliberate act aimed at enhancing some aspects of a person’s career development.
Career Guidance –organized, systematic efforts designed to influence various aspects of the career development of a client group such as high school or college students.
Career Education is a systematic attempt to influence the career development of students and adults through various types of educational strategies.
Career counseling occurs both individually and in groups and may deal both with personal issues and specific career problem. Career counseling is more likely to be regulated by codes of ethics and legislation at the state level.
Career information is sometimes referred to as labor market information (ONet – online system developed by the U.S. Department of Labor).
Career coaching is, usually a one on one intervention and is often initiated by managers to improve individual employees functioning and for the business to identify the talent it needs to be successful.
Chapter 2
Ethical and Legal Guidelines and the Competencies Needed for Career Development Practice
Learning Objectives
Identify ethical principles that govern career development practitioners’ work
Outline the requirements for the Master Career Counselor, Master Career Development Professional, and Career Development Facilitator credentials
Identify the major competencies needed by career development professionals.
NACE’s Principles for Ethical Professional Practice
Are designed to provide everyone involved in the career development and employment process with two basic precepts on which to base their efforts: maintain a recruitment process that is fair and equitable; support informed and responsible decision making by candidates.
1. Practice reasonable, responsible, and transparent behavior
2. Act without bias …
3. Ensure equitable access …
4. Comply with.
Career Development and Counseling PSYG 542Career Information, .docx
1. Career Development and Counseling PSYG 542
Career Information, Career Counseling and Career
Development,
Duane Brown, (2016)
Chapter 1
Objectives
Articulate an understanding of the impact of the global economy
on work in the U. S.
Explain how people view work as a part of their lives and the
lives of others.
Form a personal view of their own career development.
Show familiarity with the basic terminology used in career
development.
Demonstrate the role career development programs can play in
the drive for social justice in the U. S.
Demonstrate knowledge of the historical roots of career
development.
Brown adopts Sears’s (1982) definition of Career development:
a lifelong process involving psychological, sociological,
educational, economic, and physical factors as well as chance
factors that interact to influence the career of an individual.
Brown also adds culture to Sears’s list of factor that influence
2. career development
Career Interventions Defined
Career intervention is the broadest term and subsumes
individual, small group, large group and organizational career
development instruments. It’s a deliberate act aimed at
enhancing some aspects of a person’s career development.
Career Guidance –organized, systematic efforts designed to
influence various aspects of the career development of a client
group such as high school or college students.
Career Education is a systematic attempt to influence the career
development of students and adults through various types of
educational strategies.
Career counseling occurs both individually and in groups and
may deal both with personal issues and specific career problem.
Career counseling is more likely to be regulated by codes of
ethics and legislation at the state level.
Career information is sometimes referred to as labor market
information (ONet – online system developed by the U.S.
Department of Labor).
Career coaching is, usually a one on one intervention and is
often initiated by managers to improve individual employees
functioning and for the business to identify the talent it needs
to be successful.
3. Chapter 2
Ethical and Legal Guidelines and the Competencies Needed for
Career Development Practice
Learning Objectives
Identify ethical principles that govern career development
practitioners’ work
Outline the requirements for the Master Career Counselor,
Master Career Development Professional, and Career
Development Facilitator credentials
Identify the major competencies needed by career development
professionals.
NACE’s Principles for Ethical Professional Practice
Are designed to provide everyone involved in the career
development and employment process with two basic precepts
on which to base their efforts: maintain a recruitment process
that is fair and equitable; support informed and responsible
decision making by candidates.
1. Practice reasonable, responsible, and transparent behavior
2. Act without bias …
3. Ensure equitable access …
4. Comply with laws …
5. Protect confidentiality of …
4. National Career Development Association (NCDA)
The fundamental principles of professional ethical behavior
include:
• Autonomy, or fostering the right to control the direction of
one’s life;
• Non-maleficence, or avoiding actions that cause harm;
• Beneficence, or working for the good of the individual and
society by promoting mental health and well being;
• Objectivity, or treating individuals equitably;
• Accountability, or honoring commitments and keeping
promises, including fulfilling one’s responsibilities of trust in
professional relationships; and
• Veracity, or dealing truthfully with individuals with whom
career development professionals come into contact.
NCDA Competencies
Career Development Theory
Individual and Group Counseling Skills
Individual/Group Assessment
Information/Resources
Program Management and Implementation
Coaching, Consultation and Performance Improvement
Diverse Populations
Supervision
Ethical/Legal Issues
Technology
Master Career Counselor Criteria
Member of NCDA for 2 years
Master’s Degree in Counseling or related field from accredited
institution
3 years of post Master’s experience in career counseling
NCC credential or state-level license as a counselor or
5. psychologist
3 credits in each of 6 NCDA competencies
Supervised practicum or 2 years of post master’s experience
under a certified supervisor
Document that at least 50% of current job duties are directly
related to career counseling
Master Career Development Professional Criteria
Member of NCDA for 2 years
Master’s Degree in Counseling or related field from accredited
institution
Complete 3 years of post-master’s experience in career
development experience, training, teaching, program
development or materials development
Document that at least 50% of current job duties are directly
related to career counseling
Career Development Facilitator
Complete 120 hours of training in a specified course of study
Possess one of the following:
graduate degree plus 1 year of career development work
experience
Bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of career development work
experience
High school diploma plus approximately 4 years of career
development work experience
ACA Code of Ethics
Principle 1: Above All, Do No Harm
Principle 2: Be Competent
6. Principle 3: Respect Clients’ Rights to Chose Their Own
Directions
Principle 4: Honor Your Responsibilities.
Principle 5: Make Accurate Public Statements
Principle 6: Respect Counselors and Practitioners from other
professions
Principle 7: Advocate for Clients in Need
Chapter 3
Person-Environment Congruence (PEC) Theories: Frank Parson,
Theory of Work Adjustment, John Holland, a Values-Based
Approach, and their Applications
The theories in this chapter are traditional theories
Once characterized as trait and factor theories because needs,
values and personality types were derived via statistical
techniques know as factor analysis.
Theories of career choice and development serve 3 functions:
Facilitate the understanding of the forces that influence career
choice and development
Stimulate research that will help to better clarify career choice
and the development process
Provide a guide to practice in the absence of empirical
guidelines
John Holland created a hexagonal model that shows the
relationship between the personality types and environments
7. Those whose career concerns appear to be limited to identifying
a major, an occupation, a job, or leisure activities
Those who do not appear to have barriers to exploration and
decision making, such as irrational beliefs, poor self-efficacy,
poor self-concept or ineffective decision-making styles
Those who are in need of assistance at specific choice points
(such as needing to declare a major, get a new job, or choose an
occupation) but not long-term, developmental work
Holland’s approach is most appropriate for:
According to Holland, personality develops as a result of the
interaction of
inherited characteristics
the activities to which the individual is exposed
and the interests and competencies that grow out of the activity
Holland posits the following personality types:
Realistic people deal with the environment in an objective,
concrete and physically manipulative manner
Investigative people deal with the environment by using
intellect—manipulating ideas, words and symbols.
Artistic individuals deal with the environment by creating art
forms and products.
Social people deal with the environment by using skills to
interact with and relate to others.
8. Enterprising people cope with the environment by expressing
adventurous, dominant, enthusiastic and impulsive qualities.
Conventional people deal with the environment by choosing
goals and activities that carry social approval.
Holland’s Theory of Types
Step 1
Gaining Self - Understanding
Assess a person’s ability, interests, values, and personality by
examining six types.
Step 2
Obtaining Knowledge about the World of Work
Holland’s six categories provide a means for classifying and
learning about occupations (the environment).
Step 3
Integrating Information about Self and the World of Work
Differentiation
Some people may resemble one Holland Type, whereas others
may be quite
undifferentiated and have interests and competencies across all
6 types
Consistency
The closer the types are to each other on the chart, the more
consistent their
characteristics
9. Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA)
(Dawis and colleagues)
This model first describes the person’s (worker’s)
characteristics followed by a description of the work
environment's characteristics. The third part deals with the
result of the interaction between the person and work
environment
The major value of TWA for career practitioners is to gain a
better understanding of the interaction between workers and
their place of employment
Not widely practiced because of its complexity
Person Characteristics
Three types of abilities:
Visual acuity—speed and perception of detail
Cognitive –comprehension, memory and reasoning with words
and numbers
3. Motor or psychomotor—dexterity, speed, eye-hand
coordination.
Maintenance and Adjustment
Once person takes job, correspondence between work and the
work environment begins. The worker responds to demands of
workplace with what Dawis terms:
Celerity (quickness of responding)
Pace (intensity of response)
Rhythm (pattern of response)
Endurance (duration of response)
The result of this process is varying degrees of job satisfaction
10. Basic Assumptions of TWA
People have 2 types of needs
Biological (or survival)
Psychological (social acceptance)
2nd assumption is that work environments have “requirements”
that are analogous to the needs of individuals.
When the needs of individuals in an environment (work) and
those of the environment are satisfied, correspondence exists.
WORK ADJUSTMENT THEORY
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS
Minnesota Importance Questionnaire
Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire
Minnesota Satisfactoriness Scales
Values
Beliefs that are experienced by the individual as standards of
how he or she should function
2 types of values:
Cultural and role related
Norms are a group’s counterpart of an individual’s values.
Work groups develop norms (standards of behavior)
Norms have 2 dimensions: public and private
Some research has indicated that cultural values seem to be
more prevalent in some racial and ethnic groups than in others.
11. Contrast the impact of culture, family, and neighborhood on
career choices of the following groups:
a. Average middle class, American family
b. Urban single parent, low income family
c. Recent Asian American immigrant family
d. Wealthy suburban professional family
e. African American youth (middle class)
f. Native American woman (rural)
g.Recent Mexican American immigrant (undocumented)
Chapter 4
Developmental Theories and Their Applications: Donald Super
and Linda Gottfredson
Focus on the biological, psychological, sociological and cultural
factors that influence career choice
https://oitecareersblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/25/career-
development-theory-review-supers-life-span-life-space-theory/
Donald Super
Super’s Five Life and Career Development Stages
1. Growth (Age: birth – 14)
Characteristics: development of self-concept attitudes, and
general world of work
2. Exploration (Age 15 – 24)
Trying out classes, work, hobbies; tentative choice and skill
development
3. Establishment (Age 25 – 44)
Entry-level skill building and stabilizing work experience
12. 4. Maintenance (Age 45 –64)
Continual adjustment process to improve position
5. Decline (Age 65+)
Reduced output, preparation for retirement
Super’s Propositions
People differ in their abilities and personalities, needs, values,
interests, traits and self concepts
People are qualified, by virtue of their characteristics, for a
number of occupations.
Each occupation requires a characteristic pattern of abilities and
personality traits
Vocational preferences and competencies, the situations in
which people live and work and their self-concepts change with
time and experience.
5. This process of change may be summed up in a series of life
stages:
Growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and decline
The nature of the career pattern is determined by the
individual’s parental socioeconomic level, mental ability,
education, skills, personality characteristics, career maturity
and by the opportunities to which he or she is exposed.
Success in coping with the demands of the environment depends
on the individual’s career maturity.
Career maturity is a hypothetical construct.
13. Development through the life stages can be guided.
The process of career development is that of developing and
implementing occupational self-concepts
The process of compromise is one of role playing and learning
from feedback.
Work and life satisfactions depend on the extent to which the
individual finds adequate outlets for abilities, needs, values,
interests and personality traits.
The degree of satisfaction people attain from work is
proportional to the degree to which they have been able to
implement self-concepts.
Work and occupation provide a focus. If peripheral or
nonexistent, leisure activities ad homemaking may be central.
Gottfredson
Theory of Circumscription and Compromise
This theory is concerned with how career aspirations develop
Predicated on 4 basic assumptions:
Career development process begins in childhood
Career aspirations are attempts to implement one’s self-concept
Career satisfaction depends on the degree to which career in
congruent with self-perceptions
People develop occupational stereotypes that guide them in the
selection process
14. According to Gottfredson people develop cognitive maps of
occupations that are organized along 3 dimensions:
Masculinity/femininity of the occupation
Prestige of the occupation
Fields of work
GOTTFREDSON’S VIEW OF FACTORS AFFECTING
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Circumscription – Ideas about gender and prestige influence
and limit career choices.
Compromise – Career choices are modified due to
environmental and other factors. Individuals give up interests,
prestige, and sex type when compromising.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROCESS OF COMPROMISE
Not knowing how behavior of individuals affects their access to
occupational or educational information
Need to know which factors young people are most and least
willing to give up when they can’t get their first choice
Not knowing enough about how to enter an occupation or get
educational information
Gottfredson identified
4 developmental stages:
Ages 3 to 5: Orientation of size and power
Ages 6 to 8: Orientation to sex roles
15. Ages 9 to 13: Orientation to social valuation
Ages 14+: Choices explored
Chapter 5
Career Choice Theories
Based in Learning Theory
Krumboltz
Theory of Happenstance
Unplanned and unexpected events that have influenced the
course of your life
Krumboltz’s approach to career counseling has considerable
merit, particularly for disenfranchised and marginalized groups
in our society.
Krumboltz identified 4 factors that influence individual
development and ultimately the career decision-making process
and choice:
Genetic endowment and special abilities
Environmental conditions and events
Learning experiences
Task approach skills
HAPPENSTANCE LEARNING THEORY
FUNDAMENTAL GOALS FOR CAREER COUNSELING
1. To help clients learn to take actions to achieve more
satisfying and career and personal lives – not to make one
decision.
16. 2. Career assessments are used to stimulate learning, not to
match traits with occupational characteristics.
3. Clients learn to engage in exploratory actions to develop
beneficial unplanned events.
4. Counseling goals are measured by the client’s
accomplishments outside the counseling session.
APPLYING HAPPENSTANCE LEARNING
THEORY TO CAREER COUNSELING
Skills needed to deal with opportunities that arise by chance:
Curiosity – Explore opportunities resulting from chance events
Persistence – Learn when there are setbacks
Flexibility – Change attitude to deal with chance events
Optimism – Pursue new events; find that actions can pay off
Risk taking – Responding to new events
APPLYING HAPPENSTANCE LEARNING
THEORY TO CAREER COUNSELING
Four counseling steps:
1.Normalize planned happenstance in client’s background.
2.Help transform curiosity into learning and exploration
opportunities.
3.Teach clients to produce desirable chance
events.
4.Teach clients to overcome blocks to action.
Social Cognitive Perspective on Careers
Based in the sociocognitive theory of Albert Bandura
17. Central propositions of Social Cognitive Theory:
Interactions between people and their environments is highly
dynamic
Career-related interests and behavior are influenced by several
aspects of the person: gender, sexual orientation, race,
ethnicity, disabilities, behavior, self-efficacy beliefs, outcome
expectations, goals and genetically determined characteristics.
Self-efficacy beliefs and expectations of outcomes interact
directly to influence interest development.
Gender, race, physical health, disabilities, and environmental
variables influence self-efficacy development, as well as
expectations of outcomes and ultimately goals and performance.
Actual career choice and implementation are influence by a
number of direct and indirect variables.
Performance in educational activities and occupations is the
result of the interactions among ability, self-efficacy beliefs,
outcome expectations and the goals that have been established.
Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) was first published by
Lent, Brown and Hackett in 1994.
The results of reviews and research studies suggest that SCCT-
based career counseling is useful with a variety of client groups
ranging from adolescents to the disabled.
Self-efficacy and interests are linked and that interests can be
developed or strengthened using modeling, encouragement and
most powerfully performance enactments.
18. Lent and colleagues (2002) recommend 2 career counseling
applications of SCCT.
The first begins with gathering traditional test data regarding
needs, values and aptitudes similar to that proposed by Dawis
(1996)
The second application involves the use of a modified
vocational card sorting of occupations representative of the
occupational structure.
Career Information Processing (CIP)Model of Career Choice
(Peterson and colleagues)
First presented in 1991
Revised in 2002
Relied on branch of learning theory that focuses on information
processing
Understanding CIP Theory
Development of self knowledge involves the interpretation of
past events and a cognitive reconstruction of those events.
The decision making process (deciding) can be subsumed under
the acronym CASVE—communication, analysis, synthesis,
valuing and execution.
Of greatest concern to career counselors and counseling
psychologists is the client who is not a good decision maker.
The Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) was developed to
diagnose various aspects of decision-making problems.
19. CTI has items relating to each compartment included in a
pyramid:
Apex: Thinking About My Decisions
Mid-Level: Knowing How I Make Decisions
Base of Pyramid: Knowing Myself and Knowing My Options
Peterson and colleagues outline a 7 step model for career
counseling
Conduct initial interview
Conduct preliminary assessment
Mutually define problem and analyze causes
Formulate goals
Develop individual learning plan
Implement individual learning plan
Evaluate goal attainment
Chapter 6
Contextualist and Chaos Theories and Their Applications:
Young and Associates, Savickas and Bloch
Learning Objectives
Identify and describe the philosophical basis (postmodernism)
of the theories in this chapter.
Articulate each theory presented in this chapter and describe its
applications.
20. Basic Tenets of postmodern thinking:
Post modern thinking, often referred to as constructivist
theories, are a relatively new addition to the theories of career
choice
These theories depart radically from the assumptions of the
theories based on positivist philosophy
Assumptions that underpin these theories:
Human behavior is nonlinear and thus cannot be studied
objectively
Cause and effect relationships cannot be determined
Individuals cannot be studied outside of the context in which
they function
Research data cannot be generalized to other people or groups
Research is not a value-free process
The stories (or narratives) that students tell are legitimate
sources of data
Research is goal-free
Career counselors focus on the stories, use qualitative
assessment procedures and help clients construct career goals
The self develops in continuous interaction between the
individual and her or his contexts
Some postmodern theorists accept the idea of the objective self;
others reject the idea
Young, Vallach and Collin (2002)
A contextualist theory of career
Contextualism for these theorists is the process of weaving parts
of one’s context (environment, reference groups, etc.) into the
21. structure of self.
Career-related behaviors are goal-directed results of the
individual’s construction of the context in which he or she
functions.
Goal oriented series of behaviors
Young et al break action into 3 parts:
Observable behavior
The internal processes that cannot be observed
The meaning or results as interpreted by the individuals and
others who observe the action
Joint actions, such as those in career counseling, occur between
people
Actions take place in a series of sequential steps that occur in a
social contact from which the actor cannot separated.
Young and colleagues indicated that an essential aspect of
career counseling is interpretation, which involves making
sense of the client’s experiences.
Savickas’ Career Construction Theory
(1995, 2002, 2013)
Incorporates portions of Holland’s and Super’s theories giving
them a constructivist interpretation.
Acknowledges the influence of Alfred Adler
Believes that the construction of self occurs primarily through a
reflective process
Savickas’ 5 step approach to career counseling
Construction
Deconstruction
Reconstruction
22. Co-construction
Action
Chaos Theory of Career Development and Spirituality
Although chaos theory is a field of mathematics, psychologists
and counselors may rely upon this theory to suggest approaches
to dealing with families, work groups and organizations.
Assumptions of Chaos Theory
Small effects can cause large reactions
Complex open systems are unpredictable, primarily because we
cannot know the initial conditions from which these systems
evolved
Open systems are characterized by turbulence which adds to
their unpredictable nature
Feedback about the system to the participants in a open system
makes it more unpredictable.
Fractals are complex patterns that repeat themselves
recursively—that is, the new pattern grows out of the old.
Bloch’s (2005) ideas to illustrate chaos theory –elaborated by
listing the characteristics of adaptive entities (clients)
Have the ability to maintain themselves even though their
shapes (life spaces) may change
Are open systems taking energy from the environment
Are parts of networks
Are parts of other entities
Are dynamic and ever-changing
Go through transitions
Behave in non-linear ways
React so that small changes may bring about large effects
Move through transitions
23. Chaos Theory and Career Counseling
Bloch and Richmond (2007) identify 7 themes that clients may
manifest during the counseling process.
They are change, balance, energy, community, calling, harmony
and unity
Brief
Solution
-Focused Career Counseling (BSFCC)
Relationship development – counselors may describe themselves
as coaches or facilitators
Client presentation of issue
Search for exceptions
Client identifies personal strengths and past successes
In follow-up sessions, revisit the goal and develop a plan to
move toward resolution
Ask second order questions
Chapter 7
Gender as an Issue in Career Counseling
24. Issues that negatively impact the career development of women
Pregnancy – planned or unplanned
Inequities in salary, sexual harassment and various forms of
discrimination
Time spent away from job because of child bearing
Willingness to sacrifice advancement so that a spouse can
advance
Tradition and sex-role stereotyping may have persuaded women
to stay away from STEM fields
This is information is helpful to remind career counselors of 2
types of obligations:
Make clients aware of what lies ahead in the work environment
and help them develop coping skills
Assert ourselves to ameliorate oppressive forces in
organizations
Sociological Perspective (Women)
Occupational sociologists have long recognized the influence of
scholastic ability, family status and community variables in
occupational success.
Since 1982 women earn more college degrees than men. In
25. general, women are now better educated than men.
Family roles impact the career development of both men and
women but have a greater impact on women than men
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals
Barriers placed on these individuals by mainstream society
Coping with discrimination may result in lower self-esteem
Virtually ignored in the literature
Career counselors should begin with soul searching about their
own beliefs
21 states plus the District of Columbia have laws that prohibit
sexual orientation discrimination in both public and private
jobs.
Pope and colleagues suggest that career counselors need to
become advocates for the GLBT clients
Pope and colleagues point out that “coming out” in a 2-pronged
process
First accepting one’s own sexuality
Second coming out to others
Career Counseling:
Models and Methods
26. Most counselors tend to be eclectic borrowing from several
theories
Brown believes that the age of the clients, nature of the clients
served, the number of people to be served and the context (large
group vs. individual), will influence your choice of an approach
to career development
Spokane, Luchetta and Richwine (2002)
Does the approach allow for the development of the social
support needed to move forward into the future?
Social support is important in shaping career aspirations and
may be more important for clients from groups marginalized by
societal bias
Does the approach allow individuals to gain information about
themselves and their work environment?
When working with children, Gottfredson’s theory of
circumscription and compromise should be incorporated to
make children aware that they may have eliminated some
occupations from their thinking prematurely based on sex-role
stereotypes, social status and other factors.
Does the approach provide a framework for decision making?
Cognitive Information Processing Approach (Peterson, et al)
27. Super
Holland
Does the approach allow for crystallizing and cognitive
rehearsal of vocational aspirations?
Does the approach mobilize the individual to move ahead in a
constructive manner?
Chapter 8
A Values-Based, Multicultural Approach to Career Counseling
and Advocacy
“In a diverse culture such as ours, all counselors, regardless of
race, ethnicity, or worldview need a multicultural approach to
career counseling” (Brown, p. 143)
Gysbers, Heppner and Johnson (2003) developed a taxonomy of
tasks that occur within career counseling simultaneously with
the process of developing a working alliance.
Identifying the presenting problem
Structuring the counseling relationship
28. Developing a counselor-client bond
Gathering information about the client including information
about personal and contextual restraints
Goal setting
Intervention selection
Action taking
Evaluation of outcomes
Foundations of the values-based approach
3 aspects of culture
Universal dimension – refers to similarities among all groups
General cultural dimension - refers to the characteristics of a
particular group and typically refers to ethnicity
Personal dimension – reflected in the individual’s worldview
and is based on the extent to which the general cultural values
and worldview have been adopted by the individual. The
process by which this occurs in called enculturation.
Some leading researchers (Fouad and Kantamnemi, 2013) have
concluded that cultural values may be a greater source of
influence in the decision-making process than traditional career
planning variables.
29. 8 Steps of Values Based Multicultural Career Counseling
(VBMCC)
Step 1: Assessing Cultural Variables
Step 2: Communication style and establishing the relationship
SOLER approach in counseling – non verbal behavior has
different implications across cultures
5 basic cultural values: importance of self-control, time,
activity, social relationships ad relationships in nature
Step 3: Selecting a Decision-Making model – who will make
the decision?
Step 4: The identification of Career Issues (Assessment)
Pattern identification -focus on an activity from one life role
(enjoyable or not)
Achievement profiling
Lifeline –ask clients to chart their future from present to
retirement
Ask questions regarding limitations due to diverse background
Steps 5 and 6: The establishment of cultural appropriate goals
and the selection of culturally appropriate interventions
Step 7: The implementation and evaluation of the interventions
used
Step 8: Advocacy
30. Application of VBMCC to Group Career Counseling
Can be used in a group setting as long as counselors
accommodate the cultural values and preferred communication
style of clients and consider the impact of both of these
variables on group dynamics.
Screening groups is the first step in the group leadership
process.
The screening process is also the best time to determine whether
group members have biases that will preclude them from
interacting in a positive manner with other group members.
Chapter 9
Career Counseling for Clients with Unique Concerns
Disabled workers
Displaced workers
Economically disadvantaged workers
Delayed entrance to workforce (retirees, military, ex-offenders)
Older Workers
Individuals with Disabilities
31. Over 80% of disabled people are either not in the workforce or
are underemployed
Vocational rehabilitation has been referred to as the process of
returning a disabled worker to a state of re-employability
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) passed
initially in 1975 and last amended in 2004—school
counselors/students in special education
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination
against disabled clients in the hiring and worker-retention
processes.
Other legislation – Workforce Investment Act and Ticket to
Work program
Rehabilitation services are provided by a number of
professions: psychology, counseling, medical, nursing, social
work and others.
Kosciulek (2003) suggests that effective career counselors can
empower clients with disabilities by fostering inclusion in the
broader workforce and in society.
Career Counseling for Individuals with Disabilities
Process of career counseling should begin before the clients
arrives in the counselor’s office by arranging the office to meet
the physical, mental and psychological needs of the clients.
32. Traditional assessment devices may be useful with many
disabled clients, but counselors should proceed with great
caution and possibly conducted by a person with unique
assessment skills.
Qualitative assessment devices may be more useful than
traditional instruments.
Work samples and job tryouts may be much more significant
indicators of the client’s potential than many assessment
devices.
Effective career counselors can empower clients with
disabilities by fostering inclusion in the broader workforce and
in society.
Appropriate information and experiences such as work-based
assessment, internships, job shadowing and sheltered workshop
can do much to offset some of the experiential deficits of the
disabled.
Displaced workers
Millions of workers have been displaced throughout time due to
technological innovations and the relocation of businesses
outside the U.S
The U.S. economy has been undergoing its second structural
change, the first being from agriculture and farming to
33. manufacturing the second structural change began in the middle
of the 20th century as an emphasis on manufacturing goods
shifted to one based in offering services. Now we are in the
information age.
Career counseling:
Displaced workers may experience depression and loss of self-
esteem.
Locating suitable educational and training programs that
prepares displaced workers for employment often becomes an
important priority.
Economically Disadvantaged
Chronically poor
Unemployed or new disadvantaged
Underemployed
Immigrant (undocumented)
Disadvantaged people need career development programs that
address both short-term and long-term goals. Many career-
related problems can be confronted with this 4 part program:
Access to basic adult education and specific vocational training
Personal and/or career counseling
Information about the world of work along with the skills to use
34. this information in decision-making
Placement
Career Counseling
Counselors should be prepared to deal with low self-esteem and
depression.
Jacobs and Blustein (2008) suggested that clients may be
benefit from mindfulness.
Atypical Time of Entrance to the Labor Force
Former Military Personnel
Ex-offenders
Older Workers
Former Military Personnel
Can be divided into 3 groups:
Those who serve 20 to 30 years before retiring from military
duty and drawing a pension
Those who incur a service-related disability that prevents them
from continuing in the military service
Those who leave after a relatively brief period (3 to 6 years)
Many military occupations have equivalent counterparts and can
35. transfer with little difficulty from military to civilian jobs.
Those who elect not to reenlist or are not eligible to do so and
had military assignments that provided no opportunity to
develop transferable skills are most like to need career
counseling.
The downside for some enlistees many need help learning how
to make their own decisions as a result of having lived in a
tightly structured environment.
Career Counseling for Former Military Personnel
Be prepared to deal with the same range of problems
encountered with any client such as low self-esteem, lack of
self-understanding, etc.
Veterans who have been in combat positions may also be
suffering form PTSD or depression.
Suicide rates are on the rise and should be a concern for career
counselors helping this group.
Psychological problems may be exacerbated by the veteran’s
inability to secure employment.
Added complications may be encountered because of stressors
in the family and simply returning to the routine of civilian life.
Stein-McCormick and her colleagues (2013) suggest that career
36. counseling draw heavily on the Career Information Processing
(CIP) model.
Ex-offenders
State and federal penal institutions vary widely in fundamental
philosophy with respect to the goal of rehabilitation versus
custodial care.
We must conclude that very few inmates acquire significant
occupational training during their imprisonment.
Career Counseling
Many prior offenders need extensive personal counseling before
effective career counseling can be initiated.
California Log Model: Evidence-Based Rehabilitation for
Offender Success:
Assess risk and target offenders who pose highest risk of
reoffending
Assess need by examining factors that are the best predictors of
reoffending
Develop a behavior-management program
Deliver cognitive behavioral programs that target offenders’
needs
Conduct periodic measures of progress toward the objectives
37. Prepare offender for reentry
Reintegrate offender in collaboration with community agency
Follow-up and collect outcome data
Older Workers
Based on a number of surveys and discussions the number of
persons older than 60 will continue to increase (the first cohort
of baby boomers turned 64 in 2010)
The recession that began in 2007 diminished the funds that
many workers approaching retirement planned to use during
their retirement years.
Many older retired workers have reentered or are attempting to
reenter the labor force. Many of them have discovered that
retirement is an unsatisfactory experience.
Changes in Social Security and Medicare are making it
mandatory that more workers stay in the work force to protect
their economic well-being.
The decision to stay in the workforce is not purely economic—
desire to improve the quality of their lives and others,
38. fellowship with other workers, social status, desire to make a
contribution to society, maintaining a sense of self worth or
simply having something to do are all factors that contribute to
people staying in the workforce beyond retirement.
Career Counseling for Older Workers
Career counselors need to help clients dispel the myths
surrounding older workers (health issues, inflexibility, less
productive, diminished strength and learning capacity)
First task is to help older clients identify and eliminate some of
their own beliefs about themselves.
Older workers may require assistance with the development of
employability skills.
They need to develop interviewing skills that can help them
counteract the misconceptions about older workers.
Chapter 10
Assessment in Career Counseling and Development
39. Personal-Psychological Characteristics
Most researchers call these traits
Aptitude- defined as specific capacities and abilities required of
an individual to learn or adequately perform a task or job duty
9 abilities identified by the O*Net development team
Verbal ability
Arithmetic reasoning
Computation
Spatial ability
Form perception
Clerical perception
Motor coordination
Finger dexterity
Manual dexterity
Interests
Likes or preferences or the things people enjoy
Super described 4 types of interests:
Expressed interests: verbal statements or claims of interest
Manifest interests: Interests exhibited through actions and
40. participation
Inventoried interests: estimates of interests based on responses
to a set of questions concerning likes and dislikes (e.g., the
Strong Interest Inventory)
Tested interests: Interests revealed under controlled situations
Personality
Typically defined as the sum total of an individual’s beliefs,
perceptions, emotions and attitudes
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator appears to be the personality
inventory most often chosen by career centers on college
campuses
MBTI yields 4 bipolar scales:
Extroversion________________Introversion
Sensing____________________Intuition
Thinking___________________Feeling
Judging____________________Perceiving
Contains 16 personality types
Assessment and Career Counseling
Has long been a part of the career counseling process
41. Arguments for and against the use of traditional and
nontraditional assessment procedures falls along theoretical and
philosophical lines
Hansen (2013) asserts use of traditional interest inventories can
be of assistance in developing self-understanding and as one
guide to occupational selection
Hansen suggests that assessment should provide a partial guide
to decision making
Expected outcomes of Career Assessment
Develop a readiness to make a career decision
Develop confidence (self-efficacy) that she or he can make a
wise decision
Develop self-awareness (interests, values, abilities, etc.)
Develop a future orientation
Assess clients decision-making approach
Assess client’s satisfaction wit the career counseling process
and the career counselor’s effectiveness
Clinical, Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches to
Assessment
Clinical Assessment
42. occurs whenever a career counselor applies information
gathered through training and experience to classify, diagnose
or predict a client’s behavior or problem (Gregory, 2006)
is at best an adjunct for use with other types of assessment
Quantitative Assessment
Most familiar to clients because they have taken achievement
battery tests as they’ve progressed through school
Qualitative Assessment
Bound by less rigid parameters
Scoring is more subjective
Tend to involve clients more actively than standardized or
objective tests and inventories
Examples of qualitative assessment devices according to
Goldman (1990) including card sorts, values clarification
exercises, simulations such as the use of work samples and
observations.
Qualitative Assessment and Constructivist Theory
Major difference between logical positivists (Holland) and
constructivists (Savickas)
Positivists rely heavily on traditional measurement devices such
43. as interest and personality inventories.
Postmodernists, such as constructivists, believe that each
individual constructs his or her own unique reality. They use
assessments designed to elicit the individual’s perspective.
Positivists search for fit and postmodernists search for meaning.
Examples of post modern assessment strategies: Career-O-
Grams, role play, card sorts and genograms.
Qualitative and Objective Assessment Devices
Some assessment devices can serve as either qualitative or
objective assessment devices although most are used as one or
the other.
Self efficacy assessment measurements can serve in either
capacity. Self efficacy has traditionally be measured by
First, identifying a task to be performed
Second, asking clients to estimate the degree of difficulty of the
task and the extent of the confidence to perform the task
Third, estimating their performance in related situations
44. An interesting trends is assessment in the past decade is away
from assessing self-efficacy qualitatively and toward
quantitative measure of perceived self-efficacy.
Pairing self-efficacy data with information about interests
provides a better predictor of occupational choice than using
either assessment alone.
Values Inventories
Values are learned or may row out of needs and are assumed to
be a basic source of human motivation.
4 inventories:
Super’s Work Values Inventory
Work Importance Locator and Work Importance Profiler
Life Values Inventory
Career Orientations Placement and Evaluation Survey
Interest Inventories
Hundreds of thousands of interest inventories are administered
each year. Typically inventories that are used in career
development programs to promote awareness use either the
normative or the raw score approach.
45. Some examples:
Career Occupational Preference System; Self-Directed Search;
Career Decision Making System; Strong Interest Inventory and
Skills Confidence Inventory; Kuder Occupational Interest
Survey; O*Net Interest Profiler
Research supports the continued use of these inventories.
Personality Inventories
Few personality inventories have captured the interest of career
counselors perhaps because many were developed to measure
abnormal behavior
Two examples: Myers Briggs Type Indicator; Sixteen P.F.
Personal Career Development Profile For other options consult
A Counselor’s Guide to Career Assessment Instruments (Wood
& Hays, 2013)
Multiple Aptitude Test Batteries
These test measure what has already been learned which is an
indicator of future performance. When taken as one indicator of
potential aptitude, tests can be of assistance to clients
46. attempting to make career plans or can simply be one way of
promoting self-awareness.
Some examples: Differential Aptitude Test (DAT); Armed
Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); O*Net Ability
Profiler
Diagnostic Inventories
Have been developed to measure certain career development
“problems”.
Some examples: Career Decision Scale; My Vocational
Situation; Career Beliefs Inventory; Career Thoughts Inventory
Multi-Purpose Tests and Inventories
Measure more than one construct (e.g., interests and aptitudes)
They have been developed for specific purposes, typically for
use with special populations.
Some examples: McCarron-Dial System; PESCO 2001/Online
47. Selecting Assessment Devices
Once the client’s needs and the purpose of the instrument are
aligned, the technical characteristics of the instrument should be
examined.
Reliability and validity issues and the representativeness of the
norm groups deserve special consideration and are of the utmost
importance in the selection of tests and inventories.
The ethical principles developed by the American Counseling
Association (2005) and American Psychological Association
(2010) should guide these considerations.
Counselors must be competent in the use of the any assessment
device selected and the welfare of the client must be
maintained.
Gender and Cultural bias
It is probably fair to say that tests and inventories are biased to
come degree, but that most counselors attempt to use these
products in a nondiscriminatory fashion.
Many of the bias issues can be summed up in a single word:
language.
Other issues: the time needed to take the test or inventory; the
48. cost; the reading level; the availability of computerized or hand
scoring and the counselors preference are all factors to take into
consideration when selecting tests or inventories.
Interpreting Test and Inventory Results
The interpretation of test results, along with selection and
administration is one of the most important steps in the
assessment process.
5 approaches to interpretation of quantitative assessment
devices may be used:
Computerized interpretations
Self-interpretation using materials provided by the publisher
Interactive approaches in which the client leads
Interactive approaches in which the counselor leads
Combinations of these approaches
Steps in the interpretation process:
Counselor becomes thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the
instrument
Review the results of the tests and inventories prior to meeting
with the client
Interpreting the results of tests and inventories is to consider
the clients involved
49. General steps in the interpretation process (Prince and Heiser
(2000)
Check to see if any unusual factors influenced the client during
the administration of the test.
Check to see if the client was motivated during the test.
Provide an overview of the instrument to be interpreted.
Give a brief description of the scale and what they mean.
Check for understanding.
Explain how scores are presented (e.g., percentiles) and present
scores.
Check for agreement with the results.
Interpret the scores or allow the client to make his or her own
interpretation.
Compare assessment results with information gained
qualitatively in the interview. Are the results consistent with
real-life events?
Troubleshoot as necessary (flat, low interest inventory profile;
too many options; conflicts in the family or group; bad news).
Complete interpretation with a summary of the results and by
providing self-interpretation material that can be used for future
reference by the client.
50. Chapter 11
Using Information to Facilitate Career Development
Occupational and educational information is an essential
ingredient in a comprehensive career development program and
as a tool in career counseling.
Importance of occupational information
Approximately 22 percent of the occupations in this country
require a bachelor’s degree.
Occupational information has a more extensive use than
facilitating individual choice. It is an essential ingredient in a
comprehensive career development program.
Occupational information is an invaluable tool for facilitating
the career development of children, adolescents and adults.
Important uses by category:
Children
To develop an awareness of the diversity of the occupational
structure
To develop an awareness of their parents’ occupational and the
51. nature of works in their community and beyond
To break down racial and sex-role stereotypes about people with
disabilities
To develop an appreciation for the link between education and
work
To develop economic awareness of the relationship of
occupation to lifestyle
Adolescents
To sharpen their focus on personal identity as it relates to work
To help provide motivation to complete high school and enroll
in post-secondary education and training programs
To begin reality testing by contacting and observing workers
To provide a basis for lifestyle planning
To eliminate stereotypes
To compare career opportunities in the provide and public
sectors as well as in the military
Adults
To provide information about training opportunities that will
enhance their current occupational performance
To provide information that allows them to evaluate their
earnings related to others with similar jobs
To enhance skills that will allow them to conduct job searches
52. across the nation and the world
To develop employability skills that will allow them to apply
and interview for other jobs
To provide information about the rights workers who are
disabled, older, female or minorities and how to lodge
grievances when those rights are abridged
Retirees
To identify part-time or full-time job opportunities if they
decide to return to work
To help them use the skills they have developed as workers or
as volunteers
To assist them to continue lifetime planning
Occupational and Labor Market Information
Occupational information includes educational, occupational
and psychological facts related to work.
This type of information comes almost entirely from
governmental sources and for the most part focuses on
individual jobs.
Labor market information includes data about the occupational
structure and the trends that shape it.
53. The first comprehensive database of jobs in the U.S., The
Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), was published in
1939. The information was developed using observational
strategies known as job analysis. DOT was last published by
the U.S. Department of Labor in 1991.
O*NET, the replacement for DOT, asked workers in the jobs to
rate the nature of work they perform, the abilities needed to
perform the job and the nature of the work environment.
The content model of O*NET contains 6 domains of
information:
Worker characteristics—individuals’ enduring characteristics
that influence their motivation and capacity to function in an
occupation. Three types included in O*NET: (abilities;
occupational values and interests; work styles).
Worker requirements—individuals’ attributes that influence
occupational performance across a range of activities (basic
skills; cross-functional skills; knowledge; education).
Experience requirements—pre-requisite experiences in various
types of jobs, specific job preparation, on-the-job training and
certification and licensure requirements.
54. Occupational requirements—job requirements established for
individuals across domains of work: (generalized work
activities; organizational context; work conditions).
Occupation-specific requirements (occupational knowledge;
occupational skills; tasks; duties; machines, tools and
equipment).
Occupation characteristics (labor market information;
occupational outlook; wages
Examples of Using O*NET
Not developed for use in print form, but print copies of 3 of the
online assessment inventories used in conjunction with O*NET
are available for sale from U.S. Government Printing Office
(the Ability Profiler, Interest Profiler and Work Importance
Locator)
Students and adults may view summary reports that include the
most important characteristics of the workers in various jobs
and the requirements of a particular job.
Can be used by an employer who wishes to write job
descriptions
High school or college students can either type in an occupation
of interest in the search box or complete the profiles.
Rehabilitation counselors can search for occupational options
55. based on physical characteristics.
Educational policy makers may look at the skills and
knowledges to set standards for jobs in their institutions
Business leaders can look at the data on work and
organizational context to ascertain information about high-
performance workplaces.
Additional Occupational Resources
The Occupational Outlook Handbook
Is available in print and online
Provides predictions about the future of both occupational
clusters and individual occupations
Also includes brief descriptions of the duties performed on the
job, working conditions, average salary data and information of
how to prepare for each job listed.
Information about the Military
The Department of Defense has developed a website that
provides an overview of jobs available in all four branches of
the military (http://www.military.com/join-armed-
forces/military-jobs)
56. Computer Assisted Career Guidance Systems
State Systems
Other Types of Occupational Information
Simulations – range from simple role-playing exercises (client
assumes role of the worker )to the use of highly sophisticated
programs (training of airline pilots)
Games
Interviews with Experts
Direct Observation
Job Shadowing
Career Days
Career Conferences
Work Experience Programs
Career Fairs
Children’s Materials
Educational Information
Educational Institutions
Apprenticeships
Post-High School Opportunity Programs
57. Chapter 12
Virtual and Brick and Mortar Career Centers
Design and Implementation
One-Stop Career Centers
In 1994, The Department of Labor Employment and Training
Agency (DOLETA) responded to the criticism that their services
overlapped and in some instances were difficult to access by
developing the One-Stop Career Centers
They are located throughout the country in U.S. Employment
Services offices as well as online.
The provide a full range of virtual resources and face-to-face
services to job seekers
Brick and Mortar Career Centers
Have been established in community colleges, vocational
technical schools four-year institutions, U.S. Employment
Security offices, libraries and businesses.
117
58. Establishing a Career Center (CC)
Basic Criteria for Locating and Designing a CC
Accessibility
For people with visual disabilities (well lighted areas, tactile
directions, signs and elevators, closed caption videos,
alternatives to keyboard and mouse use, audio versions of
graphics)
For people with hearing disabilities (rooms equipped with
alternative emergency notices, available telecommunications
devices for the deaf [TDD])
For people with mobility issues (wheelchair accessible
entrances, registrations desks telephone and restrooms; easy
access to buildings)
Attractiveness
Ease of operation
Covers a variety of areas including the filing system used,
storage and display of material, policies about checking out
materials and nature of assistance provided to users of the CC
Responsiveness
Reflect diversity
59. Renovating or developing a CC
The first step is to select a coordinator who understands
technology and it application
Enlist the support of organization’s leadership
Establish a steering committee that can assist in setting
objectives and designing the program that will be offered to
client groups
Basic Technological Competencies
Use available software to develop web pages
Use web-based systems to provide outreach and education
programs
Identify and evaluate web-based career decision-making
programs and assessment packages that can be used in the CC
Help clients search for career-related information via the
Internet
Help clients prepare and post online resumes and conduct
60. virtual job interviews
Apply the legal standards and ethical codes that relate to career
services on the Internet
Design social networking support groups that support job
hunters
Design and deliver ethically and legally sound web-based career
counseling programs
Evaluate the quality of a web-based career center
Evaluate the efficacy of Internet-based job listing and
placement programs
Criteria for Collecting Materials
The group that will make major use of the materials
The nature of the community
The staff who will use the materials
How the materials will be used
Auxiliary local resources
Critical CC resources
61. Who Can Benefit from Self-Directed Online Offerings (virtual
CC’s)?
CC’s need to establish procedure for screening potential users
of web-based tools to ascertain who can take advantage of self-
directed experiences and who cannot
Users should have the verbal ability necessary to use the
systems in the CC
Students with goal instability or low self-efficacy may not
benefit from the system and may need to engage in traditional
career counseling
Poorly motivated clients are unlikely to benefit
Students (clients with low self-esteem or negative thinking) are
unlikely to benefit
Anxiety and depression are barriers
Lack of information or misconceptions about web-based tools
People who have significant should not rely solely on web-
based tools.
Using the Internet to Provide Career Counseling and
62. Assessment
Two major factors dominate the decision of whether to offer
web counseling
Meeting students and counselor comfort with the process
Several options available to counselors
May use email to correspond with their clients
May use chat rooms
Webcams open the possibility of “face-to-face”
Guidelines to guide practitioners who provide web counseling
Obtain parental permission when providing services to minors
Make sure information obtained from clients is stored in a
secure place
Ensuring quality of services is the same quality provided in
person
Getting permission from clients when releasing information
Making clients aware that technical difficulties may interrupt
the service from time to time
Informing clients that miscommunication can occur when
nonverbal cues are not available
63. Finding out whether clients can contact the service provider at
times other than when services are being provided
Providing clients with hyperlinks to licensing boards and
professional associations so that ethical complaints can be
lodged if necessary
Maintaining a list of referral sources in the client’s locale in the
event that the online counseling becomes inappropriate or
nonproductive
Discussing cultural or language differences that might impact
the counseling process
Utilizing Websites as Adjuncts to Web Counseling
Before linking the CC website to another website, a careful
evaluation of the site should occur by answering the following
questions:
When was the site last updated? Useful sites are updates
regularly
Who developed and maintains the site? Can this person or
agency be contacted via email to answer questions?
Are the sources of the information on the website reputable?
Is the reading level of the material appropriate for your clients?
Can the material on the website be accessed easily?
64. Chapter 13
Preparing for Work
Phase 1 of Preparing for work begins with
Choosing a job that suits the individual’s talents
Followed by getting the best possible education or training for
that job
Phase 2 of the path to employment
Requires the development of job acquisition skills
Locating, contacting, interviewing for and negotiating for the
best offer
Occupational choice is the beginning
Accepting a job is a midpoint
Continuing to improve one’s skills and continuing in a lifelong
search completes the process
Two tasks to perform as a career counselor
First: familiarize yourself with the educational opportunities
that are available to your clients and teach them how to
negotiate the system to prepare themselves for a high-quality
65. occupation
Second: advocate for better schools, colleges and training
programs for the adolescents and adults in this country.
TRAINING TIME – can be divided into 2 broad types: general
education and specific vocational preparation.
General education includes all the general academic preparation
that develops reasoning and adaptability, decision-making
skills, the ability to understand and follow directions and the
ability to work cooperatively with others.
Also includes the development of basic educational skills, such
as math, language usage, reading and writing as well as foreign
language skills.
Vocational preparation is training directed toward learning
techniques, knowledge and skills need for a specific job and
situation.
Every occupation requires some combination of these 2 types of
preparation
66. High School and Preparation for Work
Some legislative efforts:
School to Work Opportunities Act of 1994
Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
The National Skills Standards Act of 1994
Every Child Succeeds Act, December, 2015 (significantly
shrinks the footprint of the federal government and hands over
much of the decision-making power to states and school
districts.)
High School and Preparation for Work
(continued)
Vocational Education – formally established in the US during
World War I
Work Experience Programs -- most secondary schools include in
their curricula some opportunities for students to combine study
in the classroom with experience in an employment situation
Academies – developed in response to initiatives from business
and industry. One of the best known was developed Cisco.
Health science academies have also been developed that provide
specific vocational preparation and introduce students to the
67. broad array of health science occupations.
Outside the Classroom
No Diploma Required
About 20% of students fail to graduate according to the U.S.
Department of Education (2013). This group is usually referred
to as dropouts but might more importantly be labeled
“pushouts” or “lostouts” .
Two possibilities are available for this group: on-the-job
training and skill acquisition through programs such as Job
Training Partnership Act.
Outside the Classroom
No Diploma Required (cont’d)
On-the-job training
Job Training Partnership Act as Amended by STWOA of 1994—
authorizes a wide range of training activities aimed at
economically disadvantaged youth and adults to prepare them
for unsubsidized employment. This act authorizes state-level
officials to designate “service delivery areas”
Job Corps – no cost, residential program with more than 120
centers throughout the U.S.
68. Outside the Classroom
High School Diploma Preferred or Required
Apprenticeship Programs
Date back to the Middle Ages
National Apprenticeship Program was established by Congress
in 1937 with the support of both labor and management
organizations. The agency is now known as the Bureau of
Apprenticeship and Training (BAT).
A basic tenet of the BAT has been that employers and
employees should jointly develop programs for employment and
training of apprentices to their mutual satisfaction.
They have established certain basic standards by which an
apprenticeship program functions.
Nearly 35,000 programs are registered for apprenticeships in
more than 1,000 occupations.
Post Secondary Schools:
Associate’s Degrees or Certificates
Trade, Vocational and Technical Schools
Community Colleges and Junior Colleges
Offer full and part time programs that include:
Traditional college related program for students who plan to
transfer to 4 year colleges
69. A technical, terminal program
Short courses needed locally for retraining
Adult basic education program
Colleges and Universities
Harvard College was the first private college to open its doors
in the U.S. and University of North Carolina was the first public
university to admit students.
There are currently tens of thousands of colleges and
universities that offer a vast array of academic possibilities
ranging from preparing students for specific careers to some
that offer more general courses of study.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a College
Type and compatibility of program
School Environment
Admission Requirements
Type of school
Size
Type of Student Body
Expenses and Financial Aid
70. Chapter 14
Facilitating the Global Job Search in a Digital Age
Individuals need a variety of traditional and contemporary job
hunting skills if they are to find suitable employment
The job search is fraught with anxiety for job seekers
Career development specialists engaged in facilitating the job
search must attend to psychological issues and the emotional
state of the job seeker.
Employability Skills
The task of developing the job-hunting skills needed in today’s
labor market is daunting.
Ideas of how to get assistance:
One Stop Career Center websites (PA Career Link); state level
Department of Labor sites and some proprietary sites as well as
the Riley Guide
Job seekers need to decide on the best means of developing the
skills needed to be successful in the job hunt—self help guides,
internet publications and tips, classes or small groups
Some studies suggest that employability skills training cannot
overcome other obstacles to employment such as substance
abuse or inadequate preparation for the job.
Today’s job hunters need to locate jobs and prequalify
71. themselves before submitting applications or resumes.
Another variable that is extremely critical is social support.
Job Search Clubs - provide support and encouragement but also
help members improve their interview skills. Local labor
market information is particularly useful to job clubs.
The process of placing people with mental and physical
disabilities is essentially the same; however the specifics of the
process vary considerably.
Executing the Job Search
Step 1:
Taking an Inventory of Self and Skills—take an inventory and
establish what one has for sale.
Step 2: Identifying and Investigating the Job Market—First
identify a geographic area and think about access to
transportation, how long and far one is willing to travel and
from work and if personal or family barriers exist.
Second identify information resources within that specified
territory—the “hidden job market” – become known through
networking activities and are never advertised unless they can’t
be filled from within the company.
Step 3: Developing Employability Skills. The top 10 needs of
job seekers, according to their own ratings are: (1) selling
yourself, (2) preparing for a typical interview, (3) writing a
72. resume, (4) self-assessment skills, (5) salary information, (6)
budgeting until a job is found, (7) legal and illegal questions
that may be posed by interviewers, (8) understanding the career-
decision process, (9) how to use skills acquired in past jobs in a
new occupation and (10) information about entry-level
requirements of various jobs and finally technology skills
needed.
Job Placement Services
Come in many forms ranging from virtual placement services
(Monster, Indeed) to brick and mortar public or private agencies
such as U.S. Employment Service offices.
Outplacement services - assist displaced workers in
transitioning to the next job.
Public Employment Services – every state has a state
employment security agency (SESA). The usually provide:
Placement
Counseling
Service to Veterans
Service to applicants with disabilities
Collection of Labor Market Information
Cooperation with Community Agencies
73. Private Employment Agencies
Secondary and Postsecondary School-Placement Services
On-Line Job Placement Centers
Chapter 15
Designing and Implementing Comprehensive K to 12 Career
Development Programs within the Framework of the American
School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model
Marland (1974) describes 8 elements of career education
identified by the Center for Research in Vocational Education at
Ohio State University:
Career Awareness
Self-Awareness
Appreciations, Attitudes
Decision Making Skills
Economic Awareness
Skill Awareness and Beginning Competence
Employability Skills
74. Educational Awareness
A Brief History
By the mid-1980’s the remnants of the career education
movement in the 1970’s had been swept from U.S. schools by
the back-to-basics educational movement.
However the failure of career education in elementary school
cannot be laid solely at the doorstep of the back-to-basics
movement. Many mistakes were made in the design and
implementation of those programs, including the following:
They were funded with monies external to the school district
They added to the workload of an already overloaded group—
teachers
The term career education was negatively associated with
vocational education by many middle-class parents who were
concerned that their children might be diverted from the
college-preparatory curriculum
Local political support among educators, parents and the
business community was not carefully developed in many
instances.
The ASCA* Model was originally published is 2003, revised in
75. 2005 and 2008
Includes the national standards and describes the process for
establishing a comprehensive school counseling program among
many other components
*American School Counselor Association
The ASCA National Model contains 4 components:
Foundation—serves as the basis for the delivery and
management systems
Delivery systems involved those strategies used by school
counselors to deliver services to students and others
Accountability consists of the evaluation of the effectiveness of
the delivery systems and the personnel and the dissemination of
the data in the form of results reports to support the
effectiveness of the program
Management system includes when, why and on whose authority
various aspects of the program are implemented
76. Standards for school counseling programs were identified that
are related to the 3 content areas
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: develop career awareness and
develop employment readiness
Standard B – Students will employ strategies to achieve future
career goals with success and satisfaction: acquire career
information and identify career goals
Standard C – Students will understand the relationship between
personal qualities, education, training and the world of work:
acquire knowledge to achieve career goals and apply skills to
achieve career goals
It is worth noting that the competencies listed are not broken
down by grade level; the competencies to be developed at each
grade level must be determined by the planning committee.
77. The Process of Program Development
Gaining Administration Support
Establishing preconditions – to be successful programs must
have the staff, budget, facilities, materials, supplies and
appropriate technology
Forming a planning committee—responsibilities include writing
a mission statement, drafting a philosophy for the program,
conducting a needs assessment, selecting the competencies that
will be developed based on the needs assessment and planning
the program.
Conducting a needs assessment—to determine what type of
program best serves the students, it is imperative that full
understanding of the characteristics of students and their
families be developed
Writing goals and objectives and establishing criteria for
success
Designing the Career Development Program
ADDRESSING THE ISSUE: PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Budgeting—money available to underwrite the career
development rarely provides all of the resources needed.
School counselors need to learn to take advantage of the
community and free resources.
78. Selecting a Management System—regardless of who is involved
on the management team, the overall approach to managing the
program should be a collaborative one.
Planning and Implementing the Guidance Curriculum—a
comprehensive program is aimed at developing academic and
personal social competencies.
PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING INDIVIDUAL STUDENT
PLANNING
Each student should have an individualized career plan which
includes career and educational goals. This plan should begin
no later than the 8th grade and should culminate when the
student graduates from high school or leaves high school prior
to graduation.
PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING RESPONSIVE SERVICES
Responsiveness include consultation, individual and small-
group counseling, crisis counseling and response to crises,
referral and peer facilitation.
The two that require the greatest attention for planning career
development programs are consultation and individual and
79. group counseling.
PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING EVALUATION AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
Evaluation is the process by which the impact of the career
development program on student development and behavior is
assessed and is, therefore, the core element of the accountability
effort.
Look at the overall impact of the program
However, the evaluation of the impact of an entire program is a
laborious task and may not provide the data needed for program
improvement as it might be difficult to establish which aspect
of the program actually produce the observed results.
PROGRAMMING PLANNING TIPS
Elementary School
Should probably be organized around a theme that parallels
what is used in social studies or other curricular areas. Themes
could be enhanced by speakers or field trips; starting and
operating a business in school; career days. The most important
tip for implementing programs is that it should be fun.
Middle School
Along with increasing students’ awareness of choices,
80. increasing their self-awareness and enhancing their goal setting,
planning and decision-making ability become important.
Organizing a theme around Holland’s RIASEC model is a good
approach. Provide Career Classes and involve parents if
appropriate
High School
The approaches listed above can be adapted to high school
Pay particular attention to students with disabilities
Target minority students to assist with occupational advice and
how it relates to earnings
Target multi-potential students (gifted)
Involve community resources—local service clubs, local labor
union reps, social agencies, churches, libraries.
Chapter 16
Career Development in Postsecondary Education Institutions
Students at all levels of higher education need the services of a
strong career development program.
81. Getting an education is important; getting an education that
prepares you for a satisfactory occupation is much more
important.
Career programs in postsecondary institutions need to be a high
priority to assure that the investment of time and money by
students is justified.
One of the primary reasons for pursuing a college education is
to train for a career.
Georgetown University Center on Education and The Workforce
We are an independent, nonprofit research and policy
institute that studies the link between education, career
qualifications, and workforce demands.
https://cew.georgetown.edu/
U.S. Department of Labor- Earnings:
https://www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htm
The Students
The stereotype of community college and college students is
that they are 18 to 22 years old and pursuing their first
82. postsecondary experience. However, the current profile is much
different.
More than half of the student population is over 25, women
outnumber men and nearly half of all students are enrolled in
community college programs.
The diversity of college students increasingly reflects the
diversity of our society.
Several authors have indicated that many students enrolled in
postsecondary institutions need specialized career development
services.
However, students share common needs and the career
development services
Available should include some of all of the following:
Career and self-awareness activities
Exploration of interests, values, goals and decisions
Realities of the job market and future trends
Practical, accurate information about careers
Workshops that deal with special needs such as risk taking,
resume development, interviewing and so forth
An academic advising system that makes it possible for students
to get the assistance they need in academic planning
83. The Institutions
3 General Types of Institutions
Vocational-technical schools – extensions of high school
vocational education programs and provide skills training in a
variety of careers ranging from semiskilled to professional
Community Colleges – often have a vocational component and
are coordinated with four year programs for transfers. Students
select community colleges for financial reasons, because of the
need for remedial study or want to explore whether post-high
school study is actually something they want to pursue.
Four year colleges are very diverse— from high prestigious to
predominately female, historically African American and
Galludet (focusing on students with hearing impairments)
Resources, philosophy, mission, size and characteristics of the
student body, curriculum offerings, location and a variety of
other factors influence the career development program.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Many issues confront career development specialists as they
plan programs for postsecondary institutions—among these are
philosophical issues
Emphasize counseling or placement
84. Send clients out on their own to collect information
Focus students on “vocational” aspects of their training
Involve significant others (such as parents) in career planning
process
Emphasize risk taking or security in the career planning process
Competencies and Guidelines
Adults Need To
Identify positive self-images
Be able to identify career information and use that information
to make informed career decisions
Engage in lifelong learning
Prepare for transitions in their careers
Understand the interaction of career and other life roles
Understand the changing roles of men and women in our society
Understand the interrelationships that exist between the needs
of society and the world of work
Understanding the nature of the global economy and its impact
on jobs
Technological competencies needed to access occupational
information, self-assessment opportunities and finding and
securing jobs.
85. Developing the Program
Florida State University has been at the forefront in thinking
about the design and implementation of career programs on
college campuses
Program design that Sampson suggests
Evaluate current career resources, service tools and services
Select, adapt, revise and develop improved career resources,
service tools and services
Integrate improved career resources, service tools and services
into existing program
Train staff to use new service tools and approaches
Conduct a pilot test of the new program
If applicable, train staff in all career centers and schools
Implement program
Conduct ongoing evaluation and continue accountability
At the end of each step, communicate with stakeholders
86. 159
The actual competencies to be developed in the program, the
processes to be used and the specific activities depend on the
overall philosophy and nature of the school itself.
Sampson breaks career services into 3 broad categories:
self help (self administered assessments
brief staff assisted (workshops, short-term group counseling and
large sections of career courses)
individual case managed
Career Program Activities
Brief Activities: Websites, Advising, Major Fairs, Career
Courses, Workshops and Seminars, Self-Directed, Information
Dispensation
Individualized Case-Managed Activities: Internships,
Consultation, Career Counseling, Peer Counseling Programs
87. Program Evaluation
It’s meant to answer two questions
Did we accomplish the objectives that we set for? and
Which activities contributed to their development
However, career development programs may have other
objectives that deal with broader institutional concerns.
Some of these objectives might be to increase the graduation
rate, increase satisfaction with the advising program, increase
the satisfaction with the internship program, etc.
These objectives would be evaluated using a variety of
techniques, such as follow-up studies and qualitative strategies
such as focus groups.
Chapter 17
Career Counselors in Private Practice: Counseling, Coaching
and Consulting
PRIVATE PRACTICE
88. Unlike mental health counseling, which is often at least
partially paid for by health insurance, the client must
underwrite the entire cost of career counseling unless there is a
coexisting mental health problem.
Private Practice is about offering career development services
to earn money.
Most career development practitioners work in educational or
governmental agencies for a salary. Career Counselors who
choose private practice do so for a variety reasons including the
opportunity to manage their own careers and increase their
earnings.
According to estimates of leaders in the field of career
counseling and vocational psychology, the demand for career
counseling is at an all time high.
Qualifications—all states have licensure, certifications and/or
registry laws that regulate the practice of psychologists and
counselors. Some states have laws that limit both the title and
practice. Some states have included career counseling as a
service that should be offered only by licensed professionals
89. counselor
Guidelines for consumers: caveat emptor or “let the consumer
beware” since the practice of career counseling is not
sufficiently regulated. The National Career Development
Association (NCDA) and the Society of Vocational
Psychologists are at the forefront of establishing professional
standards for private practitioners and in consumer protection.
Credentials: Career counselors should have earned graduate
degrees. They should have knowledge about career
development, assessment, occupational information,
employability skills, the integration of life roles and stresses of
working, job loss and/or career transitions.
Ethics: licensed career counselors follow the ethical codes
adopted by the APA, the American Counseling Association or
other professional organizations.
Career Coaching—solution-oriented approach which involves
working with clients to see what concrete steps they can take to
achieve career objectives. It is not therapy and should not
address mental health problems.
90. Establishing a Private Practice
Several questions must be answered prior to establishing a
practice:
What skills do I have that I can market?
Who are the people who might purchase my services, my target
audience?
How will I reach my target audience—that is, what is my
marketing plan?
Where will the services be offered?
Before moving on, work in pairs to make a list of services that a
private practitioner might offer the public.
Types of Services that can be offered:
Career counseling with individuals and groups
Consultations
Job placement
Testing
Outplacement
Resume development
Development of other employability skills
91. Career coaching
Retirement planning
Career/life-role integration counseling
Spousal relocation
Training
Program evaluation
Work adjustment counseling
Vocational appraisal services
Location of the office
Some use portions of their residences for their office. This
eliminates commuting, rental fees, janitorial services, etc.
Might not work in some areas due to zoning restrictions.
Image – an office located in a professional office building helps
project the professional image that many career counselors
desire.
Once the decision has been made and practice is open,
customers are wanted and advertising is key—a well placed
article in the business section of the local newspaper; a well-
designed website is a must; provide free speeches, workshops,
and seminars; social media; networking by attending and
participating in local professional meetings.
92. Marketing—advertising; networking; direct solicitation by mail
or telephone; developing a newsletter, etc. Marketing never
stops.
Budgeting
Hiring a knowledgeable accountant may be the first step in
setting up a private practice.
Utilize a software package to budget expenses and maintain
records.
Keep careful logs of expenses. Entertainment, travel, meals,
equipment purchases, furniture, malpractice insurance and
continuing education are all legitimate expenses.
Fees and Billing
Have established fees and allow clients to choose the services
they need, terminate whenever they deem it appropriate and pay
for only those services that have been provided.
Look at the fees of competitors. Charge less for group
counseling than for individual counseling. Fees may range from
$75 to $200 an hour.
Consider how to collect fees—credit card, check
Other Business Details
93. Other details include establishing a record keeping system,
considering the possibility of using an answering service
(versus an answering machine), hiring assistants and/or clerical
workers, choosing an appropriate liability insurance policy and
selecting an accountant.
Chapter 20
Trends in the Labor Market, Factors That Shape Them and
Issues for Decision Makers
The workplace in this country has always been in a state of flux
primarily because of technological advances and changes in
economic conditions
Some changes that have occurred and will occur in the future
have been quite sudden and dramatic (9/11 and Katrina in 2005)
Most change occurs far more gradually as result of economic
cycles, the impact of wage differentials in the U.S. and the rest
of the world on business decisions, the impact of technology
and business consolidations
The Impact of Technology
The first industry to experience rapid and dramatic job change
was agriculture
Other occupations that are expected to decline are, for example:
94. postal clerks, sorters; sewing machine operators, textile cutting
and weaving machine operators; meter readers; word
processors; door to door sales to name a few
Global economy and long-term job trends
75 years ago the goods and services produced in the U.S. were
consumed in this country
Although the U.S. tends to import more than it exports,
agricultural products, manufactured goods and other goods and
services produced in this country are sold abroad
Most corporations in this country are multinational which means
they not only do business with other countries but also have
investments and operations abroad
The U.S. has also been the beneficiary of foreign business
leaders’ decisions to locate a portion of their businesses in this
country.
The economies of the world are linked!
Other economic factors: current interest rates are at historic
lows; national debt has passed the $20 trillion mark; value of
the dollar in the currency exchange market also influences job
growth
95. Population Factors
Baby boomers, birthrates, influx of minority works into the
labor, illegal workers
Size of Government
Local, state and national government employ millions of people.
Arguments for and against downsizing at all levels abound
Cause of Short-Term Trends
Various types of calamities either caused by humans or natural
disasters
New directions in fashion, recreation and other activities can
also alter the occupational structure by creating new demands or
reducing old ones
Seasonal variations are also influential
Projections for the Future
The Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly issues forecasts
regarding the various aspects of the labor force and provides
up-to-date information
Holistic Approach to Life Planning
Sunny Hansen has developed a model (the Integrative Life
Planning approach) that focuses on ways to make society a
96. better place while helping individuals with their career concerns
Six critical life tasks identified by Hansen
Task 1 – Finding work that needs doing in changing global
contexts
Task 2 – Weaving our lives into a meaningful whole
Task 3-- Connecting family and work
Task 4-- Valuing pluralism and inclusivity
Task 5-- Managing personal transitions and organizational
change
Take 6: Exploring spirituality, purpose and meaning
If you wish to print this document, pull down the "File" menu
and select "Print".
Tomasito Is Too Big to Hold Hands
Narrator: It was early spring, and the final round of parent-
teacher conferences was over. Linda Brady, in her 6th year as a
classroom teacher, was cleaning up her classroom at the end of
97. the day. She tucked inside Tomasito’s second-grade portfolio
his most recent story, about traveling to a distant planet with his
school friends.
Like the rest of his work, this was excellent. Pausing in her
chores, she leafed through his portfolio. A smile spread over her
face. His carefully drawn self-portrait: a tall boy, looking very
big, standing proudly with his best friends in the background.
Copies of his many Good Citizen school awards. Then she came
to his math work. For the first time a shiver of concern ran
through her – his math test results seemed so erratic. Was it
possible that his math learning wasn’t that solid? Was he even
slipping in math? Yet his homework was always perfect. What
was going on with Tomasito?
Ria: (Espanol) Tomasito, mi hijo mediano, es mi hijo
maravilloso. El es noble, generoso, y no es egoista. Tomasito le
gusta tener amigos, y las personas que tienen amigos tienen
todo - si? Mi esposo Tomas, y yo pensamos que ser noble es la
cosa mas bonita en el ser humano y queremos que Tomasito sea
asi para toda su vida.
98. Ria: (English) Tomasito, my middle child, is my most
wonderful son. He is noble – kind and unselfish. Tomasito likes
to have amigos, friends, and people who have friends have
everything, right? My husband Tomas and I think being noble is
the most beautiful thing in a human being, and we want
Tomasito to be this way for the rest of his life. His teacher says,
‘If I had twenty Tomasitos in my class, I would not have any
problems.’ In meetings with her, the first thing she always says
is that Tomasito is respectful, cooperative, and knows the rules.
So maybe his personality has helped him win the teacher’s
approval?
Linda: The most distinctive thing about Tomasito is that he is
such a nice, kind, good little boy. I do not think he has ever said
anything bad about anybody in his whole life. He helps all the
kids and gets along with everyone in the room. I have at least
two kids in the room I’d call clinically misbehaving, who
demand a lot of my time, so it is a joy to have Tomasito, who is
quiet and obedient. He is probably the most popular child in the
room. Although he is the oldest in the room, he is very shy. He
never speaks in class unless he is called on, which makes him a
model student in a way.
99. He is also doing well in school academically. Most of my
students are not on grade level, but Tomasito is. He is very
conscientious and hard working in all his subjects. My sixth
sense, though, is that we need to look at him closely in able to
figure out what is going on. It is not because of his language
skills, since Tomasito is virtually fluent in English. I have not
signaled to Tomasito my concern about his math, since he is
trying as hard as he can, and sometimes his self-confidence is
not all that strong.
Ria: I call him ‘Tomasito two-side’ because he can be shy out
of the house, but at home he is so talkative and expressive. With
Tomasito, everything he sees and hears outside of the house, he
tells us about. He told us the teacher uses his work as examples
for the class. At home, what a mimic he is! But at school he
does not always participate. This is because he is reserved, like
his papa. He is not like me – I have a strong personality, I like
socializing with all people. When I went to school I loved
participating in all the social actividades.
Linda: At home, I think if I am right, Tomasito is the oldest
child. My sense is that he has a loving, supportive family that
takes wonderful care of him, getting him to school everyday on
100. time, clean and well fed. While he has parents, my guess is he
probably does not have an academic role model at home. Other
than that, I cannot really say.
Ria: We are a very happy familia. I have vowed not to be harsh
and neglectful with my children as my mother was with us in
Mexico. We tell our boys that they are nuestros munequitos, our
little dolls, the most precious thing we have in life. I try to kiss
and hug my Tomasito a lot. When I am cleaning shops part-
time, my husband takes care of the children; we have never ever
used a babysitter. It is importante that our sons have love and
attention and what pleases them. But sometimes I worry if I am
doing all the right things? Should I have rules about watching
TV? I like it when experts give me advice. Once his first-grade
teacher told me I should let Tomasito read to me everyday, and
I appreciated that. I also learn a lot from watching other
familias and analyzing what they do.
Tomasito: My teacher tells me I am good at school, and I like it
when I get a lot of homework stickers for perfect homework. I
am great at math, and my friends at school and I share our
Mario Nintendo games. I wish I had Nike shoes like one of my
friends – you know, stuff that is in style and not cheap. When I
101. grow up, I want to be a football player like on TV. Being an
eight year old is boring. You cannot go to any countries, and I
like to travel. I cannot drive a car. I cannot have a wife.
Linda: He is a pretty reserved little guy and compared to most
of his classmates, does not share anything about his home life
with me. All these second graders are pretty good talkers by
now and most of them are not self-conscious about what they
say. When we go around the room on Monday mornings talking
about what we did over the weekend, and again on Fridays when
the kids can volunteer for Show and Tell, I sometimes learn a
good bit about my kids’ life outside school. But not from
Tomasito – all he ever talks about is playing Nintendo over the
weekend, and he has never once participated in Show and Tell.
Ria: In the last conference, Ms. Brady just said that Tomasito
was doing fine in all his school subjects. But Tomas and I share
a worry about the math. Sometimes Tomasito just seems
confused or he forgets what he has learned. I just don’t know
why it is so hard for him.
Linda: Even though he doesn’t chit-chat to me, I do have my
102. special teacher radar, and it tells me that somebody at home is
following up and making sure Tomasito does his homework. It
is always very neat, correct, and thorough. I have never asked
Tomasito anything about his homework, partly because I have
never been that concerned about him, and because whatever he
is doing is looking fine.
Ria: When Tomasito does his homework, we allow him to do it
whenever he wants in the afternoon, but he is supposed to finish
it before his papa gets home. Tomasito often gets caught up
with television, or playing Nintendo, or with telling stories and
his homework just sits there. Or he is doing his homework and
he gets distracted by his baby brother who is a lively toddler
and wants to play Tomasito needs a lot of help with his math
homework. I am not much good at helping. At his school there
are special math classes for parents to explain the math
teaching, but I have not been to them. Eduardo is the one who
helps Tomasito with math most of the time. If it is still needed
help, my husband helps him when he comes home from work.
Sometimes Tomas has to explain two, or three, or four times!
Eduardo is so quick, but it seems so much harder for Tomasito
to do math. I just discovered that Eduardo had been doing
Tomasito’s math homework for him. I came so close to
spanking Eduardo! I said to Eduardo, ‘I told you to help him –
103. not do it for him.’ I put a stop to it!
Tomasito: Edward and me like to watch football with our dad.
Edward and me do a lot of stuff together. He is great at
drawing, and I like to color in the pictures that he makes. I also
like to watch him play Mario. He is so great and gets to really
high levels! Sometimes he even helps me when I play it. In our
bedroom we share and bed, and we even have our very own
VCR.
Tomas: We have children of different ages, so that really helps
us to see that children change and go through different stages as
they grow older. In kindergarten, Tomasito was delighted to
have his mama come into the classroom. Then that changed in
first grade. Now Eduardo is in fifth grade, and I am
volunteering once a week in his classroom, because the teacher
really needs help with the older kids. And Eduardo accepts this.
Linda: I was standing in the classroom doorway just before the
start of school, when an odd thing happened. Tomasito’s mother
comes running in, waving a book. It was classroom library book
that Tomasito had borrowed and was due in today. I gathered
104. his mother had just dropped Tomasito off outside, and that he
had forgotten the book. Well, I never see her in the building
like that. And I should add that parents often casually hang out
in our building – our school has a nice village-like feel.
Anyway, Ria Montero blurted out that Tomasito had been
‘careless with the book,’ embarrassing him right in front of all
his friends. Tomasito darted out from behind me, grabbed the
book, and ran back into the classroom. I tried quickly to take
advantage of Mrs. Montero being there, and suggested that she
come in sometime and chat with me. Who knows, maybe this
would help me sort out what is going on with Tomasito and his
math. But as soon as I invited her, she scurried away.
Tomas: My wife told me the other day how mortified Tomasito
was to have her come into the school unexpectedly to bring him
the book. She saw the terrible expression of embarrassment on
his face – this made her turn around and leave right away. Later
that evening, Tomasito said that his teacher and classmates
would think he was not obeying the rules because he was not
careful with the classroom library book.
Poor Ria, she feels sad that not long ago, Tomasito would
squeeze her hand tightly while crossing the street and close his
105. eyes. He was little and scared and needed his mama. But now he
leaves her in the street, while he goes into school by himself.
She thinks maybe he is ashamed of her. She herself would have
thought it a wonderful thing if her mother had ever taken her
into school. I tell her this is because of his getting older. He
does not want his mama being in school with him because this
embarrasses him in front of his friends. But I don’t think he
would want me there either.
Tomasito: Having your mom come into the school building –
that is definitely for Babies! If your dad comes in, well that is
maybe, well that is not that bad. That’s like kids’ stuff, I guess.
Both are pretty bad, though. After mom brought me this book at
school, that night I told her not to bring me any stuff when
everybody is at school. Mom brings us to our school every day,
but Edward and me now make our mom leave us off and wait for
us way over at the curb outside. Before she used to cross us, but
now I tell her that the crossing guard is there. I used to hold the
crossing guard’s hand, but since I’m in second grade I do not.
Tomas: Still, I can see that there are times when he seems
pleased that we are in the building. At open house – that is
when all the parents and little brothers and sisters come in the