Reading Chapter 12: “Designing
and Implementing Comprehensive K-12 Career Development Programs” was very
interesting to me because I was able to see just how difficult it may be for
schools to get approval for career development programs. When describing career programs, Brown states
“to be successful, programs much have staff, budget, facilities, materials and
supplies, and technology appropriate for their operation (2012, p. 264). Although
I believe that career development programs are important, I wonder if schools
would be willing to spend money on these types of programs since many schools
are already struggling financially to provide important materials such as
textbooks for their students.
It’s
important for students to be exposed to different types of careers at a young
age, and I especially liked the goals that were presented in the text for
children at different grade levels. However,
as I stated previously, how realistic are these goals? Can schools really
implement these types of programs when the funding is not available? Many
schools have stopped providing art and music classes because of budget cuts and
these budget cuts may make it more difficult for schools to provide career
develop programs for their students as well.
After
reading this chapter I decided to talk to my sister, who is a second grade
teacher, about how involved the guidance counselor is at her school and any career
development programs that are currently used in her district (if any). She told me that the guidance counselor is
only in her building 1-2 times a week and is in other buildings in the district
the rest of the week. My sister
mentioned that it would be beneficial to students if the guidance counselor was
there every day, but because of budget cuts it was not possible to have a
guidance counselor at each school. I
feel that guidance counselors are very important to students and it is a shame
that they aren’t always available to the children.
Career
development programs are very important to students even at young ages and I
was happy to hear that my sister used an online program for elementary school
students called “Paws in Jobland” in her classroom. The students learn about the community and
jobs such as doctors, police officers, and firefighters etc. “Paws in Jobland” is a program that my sister’s
district subscribes to. Each week her
students get on the website and select a job to listen to. The computer program tells them about the
particular job and then they watch a video related to the job. After watching the video, the students are
asked to write one sentence about what they learned, what they liked about the
job, and what they didn’t particularly like about it. I think this is a great way for students to
gain information about all the different careers that are out there.
Overall,
I think that career development programs are extremely important to schools;
however, not all schools may have the budget to include these programs in their
curriculum.
References
Brown,
D. (2012). Career information, career
counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New York, NY:
Pearson Education, Inc.
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