Blog 11 Chapter 12

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Blog #11 – Chapter 12

It was interesting to me in reading the chapter, how the career education movement changed over time since the 1970’s. This is a young field, in regard to application of programming. I know there is a huge difference between my education and my daughter’s education. Junior Achievement did several weeks of career programming in my daughter’s 2^nd grade class this year already. She came home talking about jobs and parents that came in to the school with presentations of their employment. It is funny to talk to a 7 year-old about career. She is definitely in the fantasizing stage, but I am starting to see a vague bridge to reality. She asks me about my job, despite not really comprehending it. She can’t imagine that anyone would talk to me about a problem or ask my advice. For her this concept only exists within families. She also “doesn’t get what people are so sad about” – a fact I am grateful for at this point.

I enjoyed reading the part about parental involvement. I didn’t know about the Junior Achievement program until Lily came home with a certificate saying she completed it. In my experience, 7 year-olds are not very forthcoming with information about their day.

I thought about a client that I worked with whose daughter wanted to attend HACC for nursing. My client was very much against the idea and preferred for her daughter to work in the same factory as her father because “he could get her a job”. I knew this mother to display extreme determination and support regarding her children. So this didn’t make sense. It was causing so much family discord, that my client brought the teen in for a session. During the session, we discovered that the concept of college eluded my client, which caused her tremendous fear. The client herself had always lived in poverty and never completed high school. She didn’t know how to help her daughter apply for college or access resources. She had no script for it. I think we can’t forget about parents. I gave the client information and spent a good deal of time helping the client help her daughter. Ultimately she reported that it helped her change her view of herself.

Another part of the chapter that stood out to me was involving community resources. (Of course, different communities have different resources and different role models. Not all are equal.) I love this idea –goes long with the African proverb about “taking a village to raise a child”. I love that approach and believe it enriches children’s lives. When I worked at the hospital, we often had high school students shadowing. It seemed like a good experience for them – at least an improvement over the “tour” we got when I was in school. I think the quality of their experience directly relates to the willingness of the adults to engage them. I get excited about working with the high school students, nursing students, and even undergraduate psych students. To me, having fresh young ideas and curiosity keeps me on my toes and challenges me.

Reference:

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th                                    ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.