Career Exploration
Kyle D. Hornickel
Professional School Counseling Program
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Interning 2001-2002
Elementary Site: Waseca Central Intermediate School.
High School Site: New Richland (NRHEG) High School.
Students will use their knowledge and experiences to create a story using pictures ("wordless stories"). Groups should be formed. Each group should have 3 or 4 members. They should work together and pick a career. If the classroom or guidance office has other materials about job expectations, it would be helpful to have those sitting on a table for the groups to use as resources. Then they will write a simple story about what a typical day would be like for an individual in this career. After they have written the story, they will rewrite their story with-out words. They can use drawings, pictures, stick figures, and such. Students could use magazines and cut out pictures (but part of the problem solving process should be to think of their own ways to show job descriptions). They could use some words like: the, then, next, my, etc. But nouns, adjectives, and verbs should be in picture form. They can first write the story on notebook paper, and then draw it on construction paper. The students can draw the story, showing what the person does, what they wear, whom they may work with, and where they work (as a few examples).
After completing their stories, the teams will tape their Òpicture storiesÓ in front of the room. The class will attempt to "read" the story. Then, they can guess what career the groupÕs story is about. Then it is important to give the group a chance to read their story to the class, because the students most likely will not be able to understand every part of it just by looking at their drawings.
The focus of the activity is to work in groups to design their own story (and understand/read stories from other groups). This allows students to use higher-order thinking, and reading, problem solving, creating, and other processing skills.
Discuss with the class how some students were able to read the story and understand what the drawings were about. Ask them what types of skills the needed to do this. Other questions the facilitator can use (or at least keep in mind when asking other questions) could include: How did students use their previous knowledge or experiences? Did students demonstrate an ability to create stories that had a beginning, middle, and end? What was most difficult about the activity? What did you learn about your problem solving skills? What did you learn about group dynamics? What did you learn about the careers presented in class?
This activity fits into the Physical Education & Lifetime Fitness Standard. Individuals will be able to evaluate career choices on their own and then learn about other careers through classroom presentations. This connects to the Career Investigation section in this standard. The activity also allows students to apply decision-making skills to real work situations, which fits under the Occupational Experience section of the standard. These real work/world situations of group work activities include problem solving, analyzing material presented in the books about career descriptions, and presenting material. The activity assists students in two main domains. First it helps them in the personal/social domain as they must work together for a cause. They will use skills and learn more about the different roles in the group if the facilitator talks about each role (leader, recorder, reporter, group member, and collector) before the activity. They can also learn how to compromise and use their creativity. Secondly, the activity will help students in the career domain as it is a simple way of exploring the job descriptions of specific careers.
Excerpted from Beyond Rhetoric and Rainbows: A Journey to the Place Where Learning Lives ©1996 University of Illinois Extension.
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/ce/strat108.html