Elementary School Career Education – The Need, Basics, Examples, and Guidelines

According Ediger (2000), elementary school career education is essential. Ediger stated that “the elementary school years are not too early to start to obtain a vision of what one desires to do in life contributing to the world of work”. Without career education, students have unrealistic perceptions of careers due to a lack of expertise and poor decision producing. Students have limited expertise and exposure to careers. (2,3) When students look at the various industries e.g. sports, media and entertainment, most students underestimate the abilities and time necessary to have effective careers. (3)

The Basics for Elementary School Career Education Programs

In career awareness programs, students do not make premature career selections. Elementary school career education is not career exploration or career preparation. Elementary students stay open to new career ideas and possibilities. (7,8,13,15) Elementary students create awareness of self, personal interactions, school, and the workforce. (2,15) Elementary school counselors and teachers construct self-awareness, family awareness, school awareness, community awareness, career/ work awareness, attitude development, skill development, choice making strategies, and self-worth. (2,4,11)

Career awareness programs use age appropriate materials that match the developmental levels of the students. Age proper activities expose students to a assortment of diverse jobs, career data sources, and the factors why men and women work. Programs also incorporate academic career pathways into classroom activities. According to CareerTec (2000), the preliminary career education skills serve as foundations for future skills. As the students progress, previous skills are reinforced, developed, and expanded. (2,4,11)

As elementary students get older, the students modify career visions and goals. After completing an elementary school career awareness program, students have higher grades, higher academic achievement, improved school involvement, as well as an boost in career awareness exploration, personal, and interpersonal abilities. (1,15) In addition, the students total a lot more complex courses and have a higher graduation rate from high school. (9)

In summary, in career programs, students:

Find out and apply the academic material

Know and value self

Build self-esteem and confidence

Identify interests and create relationships between the school environment and the work force

Build academic, communication, dilemma solving, and social abilities

Enhance awareness of the require for future jobs abilities

See the connections between studying in school, academic abilities, job related abilities, and careers

See career possibilities

See themselves as a future contributor to the job force

Receive empowerment

Construct self-determination (2,7,9)

Examples of Elementary School Career Education Resources

Career awareness programs widely use tools are the Individual Career Strategy (ICP) and the Individual Career Develop Portfolio. According to the Ohio State Department of Education (2000), Individual Career Plans (ICP) are essential for the development of self-awareness, employability skills, decision making and goal setting, community involvement, economics, and the reduction of bias. Students use the Individual Career Plans as they identify and explore initial career goals and educational plans. Elementary students use Individual Career Plan (ICP) to develop skills and to prepare to make future educational and career decisions. (12)

Yet another essential tool is the Individual Career Develop Portfolio. Individual Career Develop Portfolios are collections of the career awareness activities and experiences that have occurred in the course of the school year. (12) Other elementary school career awareness activities consist of:

Artistic displays

Career Days

Career Fairs

Career investigation

Career videos

Collages, murals

Community speakers

Educational games

Family members group discussions

Field trips

Info interviewing

Job shadowing

Library book report

Mentors

Poetry

Phonics

Pictured dictionary

Puppets

Role playing

Scrapbook

Story reading

Student group discussions

Word search and comprehension activities (8,9,11,12,16)

Elementary school programs assist students create connections between academics and actual life situations. (9) Teachers and counselors use career education principles to stress the significance of language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. Language arts have a lot of uses in the workplace: Reading, writing, and listening abilities. The uses for Mathematics include: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills to solve problems. In Social Studies, students gain understanding about other countries, languages, cultures, and the aspects of living in a global marketplace. Students discover the importance of Science having skills to solve issues as well as understanding how science is involved in distinct industries, such as food, media, agricultural, and automotive industries. (8)

Guidelines for Elementary Education Career Resources – National Career Development Guidelines

The NCDG Guidelines is a career expertise, abilities, and decision-making framework. The NCDG framework has three domains, objectives, and indicators. Teachers and counselors use the domains, goals, and indicators as guidelines to style and generate career resources. The 3 domains are: Personal Social Development (PS), Educational Achievement and Lifelong Studying (ED), and Career Management (CM). Every domain represents a developmental location in a career education program. Under each and every domain are objectives or competencies. Under every objective, indicators highlight the expertise and abilities required to obtain the goal. The National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) is the foundation for career education merchandise, analysis development, tests and tools. (14)

Summary

Elementary school career education programs construct self-awareness, loved ones awareness, school awareness, community awareness, career/ work awareness, attitude development, skill development, choice creating strategies, and self-worth. Elementary school career awareness programs use age proper materials that match the developmental levels of the students. As a results of career education, schools reported that students had greater grades and academic achievement, improvement in school involvement and performance, as well as an improve in career awareness exploration, personal, and interpersonal abilities. Career awareness activities contain Individual Career Plan (ICP), Individual Career Develop Portfolio (ICDP), Career Days, Career Fairs, Field trips, info interviewing, and library book report.

References

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2. Angel, N. Faye Mooney, Marianne. (1996, December). Work-in-Progress: Career and Work Education for Elementary Students. (ED404516). Cincinnati, OH: Paper presented at the American Vocational Association Convention.

3. Benning, Cathleen Bergt, Richard Sausaman, Pamela. (2003, May well). Improving Student Awareness of Careers through a Assortment of Techniques. Thesis: Action Analysis Project. (ED481018). Chicago, Illinois: Saint Xavier University.

4. Career Tec. (2000). K-12 Career Awareness &amp Development Sequence [with Appendices, Executive and Implementation Guide]. (ED450219) .Springfield, Il: Author.

5. Carey, John. (2003, January). What are the Expected Advantages Linked with Implementing a Comprehensive Guidance Program. School counseling Research Brief 1.1. Amherst, MA: Fredrickson Center for School Counseling Outcome Research.

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9. Gerver, Miriam, Shanley, Judy, O Cummings, Mindee. (2/14/02). Answering the Question EMSTAC Extra Elementary and Middle Schools. Washington, DC: Technical Assistance Center, (EMSTAC).

10. Hurley, Dan, Ed. Thorp, Jim, Ed. (2002, Might). Decisions without having Direction: Career Guidance and Decision-Generating among American Youth. (ED465895). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Ferris State University Career Institute for Education and Workforce Development.

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12. Ohio Department of Education, Division of Vocational and Career Education, Ohio Career Development Blueprint, Individual Career Program, K to 5 (ED449322). Columbus, Ohio, 2000

13. Splete, Howard Stewart, Amy. (1990). Competency-Based Career Development Techniques and the National Career Development Guidelines. Information Series No. 345. (ED327739). Columbus, Ohio: ERIC Clearinghouse on Education and Training for Employment &amp Ohio State University

14. U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (1994, 2004). National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG). Washington, DC: Author.

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