Chapter 1

I too found myself a little overwhelmed and confused with all the different terminology and different organizations that were formed throughout the history of career development. As the chapter went on however I really began to get an idea of the purpose of career development. It is ironic that the Unites States as stated by Brown, has the world’s largest economy but yet our unemployment rate has increased dramatically since 2008. It is a little scary to think of what the economy and job market will look like in just a couple of years. When I am ready to graduate with my master’s degree, will there even be a job out there for me? My husband works in a field where he gets laid of quite frequently and it is stressful during those times and I can only imagine what it is like for those who are on long term unemployment.

            In this chapter brown talked about Blustein’s approach to a new model to career development. He believed in emmancipatory communitarianism, “the belief that the focus of practice should be on both the individuals and the systems in which they function” (Brown, 2012, pg. 7). I agree with this statement because it is important to understand the environment in which individuals grew up and how those environments affected certain skills that they may or may have not acquired. On page 8 of this chapter it gives you an idea of the types of different backgrounds a person can come from. One example is student 1 lives in a single income family, where the father stopped paying for child support and the mom is making $9 an hour. Student 2 comes from a family where both parents have a stable job and are together. Both are of equal intelligence but may not have the same amount of opportunities as one another (Brown, 2012, pg. 8). This is how it is for many kids. I worked at a daycare for over 5 years and there are a lot of single moms and dads that are working for minimum wage trying to keep afloat, but there are also two family incomes that have trouble as well.

            On another note I enjoyed reading the part of the chapter that talked about the different types of interventions and positions that are intertwined with career development. It was nice to see it spelled out for you what the differences are between career education, career guidance, career counseling and career coaching. It seems to me that they are all connected but tweaked to a specific client or group of people. Career development is important and it is important the school counselors know how to help and guide children and young adults as well as those that are already in work enhance their own abilities and know what they are capable of doing and want to do in life.

 

Brown, D. (2012).  Career Information, Career counseling, and Career development. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.