Chapter 12 Blog Post

I have never considered before how ASCA's National Model affected my school-age years. I know that the current ANM has a heavy focus on career awareness for all age groups beginning during the early elementary school years. Being in elementary school during the mid- to late-80's, I was surprised to read that " By the mid-1980s, most of the remnants of the career education movement in the 1970s had been swept from U.S. schools by the back-to-basics educational movement. Advocates of back-to-basics were particularly critical of career education programs in elementary schools that focused children's attention on workers, developing skills with tools through hands-on approaches, and field trips to work sites becuase these activities took time away from core subjects" (Brown, 2012, p. 257). Looking back on my elementary school years, I do not recall a huge push for us to consider various career options. I do remember a large focus in 3rd and 5th grades on academics and preparing for the standardized tests that happen in those years. Brown also notes that during that time period, "The term career education was negatively associated with vocational education by many middle-class parents, who were concerned that their children might be diverted from the college preparatory curriculum" (Brown, 2012, p. 257). This is a concept I find very interesting because I feel that times have certainly changed with the economy and rising costs of college education. Many students are finishing high school at their local career and technology centers. The modern day CTC's are not the "vo tech's" of the mid-90s. The CTC's of today help students to learn a highly technical trade and help them find gainful employment after high school or set them up to hone their skills at a post-secondary institution; thus setting them up for even greater job marketability upon graduation. 

I also found the section on program planning tips for middle school students to be interesting; especially the section on involving parents. I wish that Brown would have included this section in the elementary school tips as well, because involving parents (especially those from marginalized groups) needs to begin as early as possible so as to forge a lasting bond with the school district. More often than not, the parents who seem to be the least involved are the ones who do not know any better. Parents who are struggling financially, do not speak English, are operating as a single-parent household, or who have not done any college/career planning for themselves are often at a major disadvantage when it comes to assisting their children through this process. If schools can involve parents as early as possible in the career planning process it would take away many future roadblocks for their children. I like Brown's suggestion that, "career development be taken into the community by holding sessions for parents in community centers and churches and providing babysitting services along with refreshments. The information should be provided in English as well as the language of the participants (Brown, 2012, p. 286). A local organization in Lancaster, COBYS, provides such services in addition to other parenting lessons surrounding healthy boundaries, drug and alcohol discussions, and family bonding activities.

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