Linking Interests and School to Career Options

Pat Hall                                                                   Matthew May

Elementary School Counselor                                  MSUM Intern 1998-1999

Washington Elementary                                           Washington Elementary

Mankato, MN                                                        Mankato, MN

Description of the Lesson

Linking Interests and School to Career Options is a lesson developed by Matthew May with information derived from the Nebraska Career Guidance Program Handbook (NCGPH). The lesson is a combination of two lessons within the fourth grade curriculum as suggested by the NCGPH. This lesson must be done in conjunction with a career guidance unit presented to fourth through sixth grade students. This lesson is designed to last about 30 minutes and can be performed within the elementary classroom as well as in small groups and individually.

The lesson should be delivered as followed with personal modifications to fit the classroom or counselor's needs.

Procedures: 1.) Have the students make a list of 5-10 hobbies or interests that they have on a sheet of paper. 2.) On the back of the same paper have the students list their favorite subject in school. 2.) Have them list the subject in which they feel most confident (for many children these two may be the same, that is OK). 4.) Put those lists aside. Allow no more than 5-7 minutes for these. 5.) Explain that careers can be divided into many different categories but that today we are going to divide them into "inside" and "outside" careers. 6.) Into categories labeled "Inside" and "Outside" on the board, have the children list jobs that people do inside and outside (5-10 for each category depending on time). 7.) The counselor can at this point mention careers that may not be common to the students. 8.) Have the students note on the sheet of paper on which they made their lists whether they think they would like and inside career or an outside career. 9.) Have the students choose from the lists, or on their own, five jobs for which they are interested. 10.) Have the students determine whether or not their hobbies/interests and favorite/best school subjects match the careers of which they are interested. 11.) Depending on the time and the students share all or a few examples of what students found. Check to see if they found matches between their interests, school subjects, and careers they were interested in.

It is very possible that this lesson may need to be broken into two class sessions. It may be very difficult to process and give the students adequate thinking time if this lesson was completed in one session.

Connections to Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains

This lesson does not link into the Minnesota Graduation Standard Decision Making for Primary and Intermediate levels because there is no career standard at these levels. It could be vaguely linked to the Inquiry Learning Area at the intermediate level as the students are investigating themselves and at the Primary level as the students are categorizing and classifying jobs into "Inside" and "Outside" careers.

This lesson is reflective in both the Personal and Social and the Career Domains of the Minnesota School Counselors' Model of Developmental Guidance and Counseling. It meets the Personal and Social Domain by allowing the student to develop self-awareness about the things they do well, the activities they enjoy and how that relates to the things they not only like about school but also what they are good at in school. Through this self-awareness, the students will develop positive attitudes toward themselves. The lesson meets the Career Domain by allowing the students to develop an awareness of the career planning process by considering factors that are important in the students personal career decision-making process; and how different life roles are interrelated, especially as students consider careers.

The lesson also meets two NOICC Guidelines, as established by Carl Perkins. VI. 3: Identify work activities of interest to the student; VI. 4: Describe the relationship of beliefs, attitudes, interests and abilities to careers.

Resources

Cafferty, E., & Lavaty, E. (1989). Nebraska Career Guidance Program Handbook. Lincoln, Nebraska: Department of Education.

Rief, J. M. & Enestvedt, J. K. (1993). The Minnesota School Counselors' Model of Developmental Guidance and Counseling. Minnesota School Counselors' Association.

For Further Information

Matthew May

MSUM Intern

(507) 344-8058

email: mmay4@aol.com