Career Investigations for At-Risk High School Students
Rick Sohler
Kathy March
Professional School Counselor MSUM Intern 1998-99
Prior Lake High School Prior Lake High School
Prior Lake, Minnesota Prior Lake, Minnesota
Description of the Lessons
Career Investigations for At-Risk High School Students is a series of 6 lessons developed to help students in an alternative school setting discern possible career choices. Using these teaching plans an instructor can guide students through a discovery process and help them clarify their interests, abilities, aptitudes, and values. This will then allow them to consider a variety of careers that would match their unique personality. Each lesson is designed to take approximately 40 minutes and incorporates individual as well as group learning.
The following are the suggested lessons to accomplish the goal of beginning the decision-making process in careers.
Lesson 1. Envisioning an ideal life
a. Engage in a classroom discussion that focuses on the importance of the students envisioning the future. Discuss the many options that students have: choices of where to live, what interests and hobbies to pursue, what kind of work to do, what makes one happy, what activities seem meaningful, etc. Emphasize that what they choose is what they now envision as an "ideal" life.
b. Have students make a list of characteristics that would help them attain this "ideal" life. Use the worksheet entitled My Ideal Life.
Lesson 2. Obstacles to an ideal life
a. Discuss the worksheet entitled My Ideal Life. Allow students to express their own interests and discuss their aspirations.
b. Have students complete the next worksheet entitled Obstacles by working in small groups of 2 or 3 students.
Lesson 3. Create resource list to overcome obstacles
a. Discuss the Obstacles worksheet.
b. List specific means of overcoming obstacles. For instance, if financial resources are an obstacle one action to take is to speak to a college financial aid officer and discuss scholarships, loans, grants, etc. Do this for only a few of the stated obstacles, then allow students to work in groups as described next in (c).
c. Have students break into small groups to make their own lists of how to overcome stated obstacles. After a period of time, as a group, create a master list for each student to have.
Lesson 4. CDM Revised
a. Distribute to each student a CDM Revised (Career Decision-Making System Revised) Survey Booklet. This is a hand-scored survey that defines career interests, job values, and abilities.
b. Have each student complete the survey; this normally takes about 30 minutes.
Lesson 5. Interpretive Folder and Summary Statement.
a. Have each student circle the subjects, values, and abilities in the Interpretive Folder that match those listed on their Summary Profile from the Survey Booklet. Complete this Folder.
b. Follow the directions from the CDM booklet Directions for Administering to lead a discussion on the implications of their choices.
Lesson 6. Create summary statements and diagram
a. Create a summary statement. After completing the Interpretive Folder, students will write a summary statement of what they have discovered about themselves in regard to career interests. In that statement they will choose two or three careers they would like to do further research on.
b. Students will draw a composite diagram illustrating what they feel are their most important interests, abilities, aptitudes, and values. On that diagram, they will draw circles representing their choices and the implications of those choices for career direction. See attached sample.
c. Students will put their CDM Revised Survey, their Interpretive Folder, their
Summary Statement, and their Diagram into a portfolio for future reference in the Career Investigation Grad Standard.
Connections to Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains
Career Investigations for At-Risk High School Students partially fulfills Minnesota Graduation Standards in Learning Area Eight: Decision Making-Career Investigation.
The lessons for Career Investigations for At-Risk High School Students meet student developmental learner outcomes in two of the domains found in the Minnesota School Counselors’ Model of Developmental Guidance and Counseling — the Personal and Social Domain and the Career Domain. The personal and social components are found in the lessons that allow students to develop self-awareness and positive attitude toward self and others through the discovery of their unique attributes: interests, abilities, aptitudes, and values. The lessons also address the personal and social outcome of developing decision-making skills. In the Career Domain, the students develop an awareness of the career-planning process, as well as develop skills in career decision-making, through the use of the CDS Revised, My Ideal Life worksheet, and the Obstacles worksheet. They also develop an awareness of the interrelationship of life roles as they pictorially diagram their interests, abilities, aptitudes, and values.
Additionally, the lessons incorporate several of the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee Standards for high schools students. Relating to the NOICC area of Educational and Occupation Exploration, students will gain understanding in the relationship between educational achievement and career planning as well as acquire a better understanding of the need for positive attitudes toward work and learning. Connecting to the NOICC area of Career Planning, students will develop skills to make career decisions and begin career planning, as well as gain an understanding about the interrelationship of life roles.
References and Resources
American Guidance Service, The Harrington-O’Shea Career Decision-Making System Revised, 4201 Woodland Road, Circle Pines, MN 55014-1796.
Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning internet site. cfl.state.mn.us/GRAD/gradhom.htm.
National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, internet site: www.noicc.gov.
Princeton Review internet site: www.review.com/career.
Zunker, Vernon. Career 5th Counseling: Applied Concepts of Life Planning. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1998.
My
Ideal Life
1. Describe the location of your ideal job:
2. My ideal job would make me feel:
3. My ideal lifestyle looks like:
4. To support my ideal lifestyle, I need a job that:
a. Has this salary range:
b. Has these opportunities for advancement:
c. Has these type of time and energy commitments:
d. Has this type of vacation and free time opportunities:
Obstacles
There are many factors that can stand in the way of achieving your career goals and ideal lifestyle. Talk with a friend about the following and then write down some specific things you can do to overcome these obstacles.
4. Will I have the money to accomplish my goals? How can I find out about financial
resources?
MY
INTERESTS, ABILITIES, APTITUDES, and VALUES