Teaching Children About Career and Work

This is a continuation of the my graduate paper 'Teaching Children About Career and Work'. This part starts with the developmental theories that help with teaching these two ideas. Hope you can use some or all of it somehow.

Developmental theories

Reading various developmental models like Piaget, Erikson, and Holland this is a way of looking at work and career education. After they learn to trust or mistrust and do things on their own children will usually want to work on things that are new and build on their interests. It is also a chance to continue their skills and knowledge that will stay with them through adulthood and more improved ideas and lifestyle they would like. Children when young usually go with their reflexes till learning better ways to get what they want. They need to learn to solve problems and learn how to get along with others as children and as adults later in life. They use images, symbols and words to logically classify events so sometime in the future they can remember and make more concrete plans they may have to implement decision-making. The children or students can choose ideas and change them when they feel they are ready.

While in the schools the teachers and parents, and even the counselors can see what values, interests, and skills the children possess or not. The children will be able to show or tell them possible career choices as their school career continues. According to Holland children will follow the RAISEC model. They can be realistic, enterprising, conventional, social, artistic, and investigative. When they are in the classroom and for the following example the children will be Preschool and Kindergarten levels where the children will play with blocks, work in the art center, the kitchen (housekeeping) area, the drama center the children will show what they may be interested in doing for the many career choices that may be out there for them. In the art center they show how imaginative they can be or even how strict in how they do things and accomplish them. Children in the art center maybe artists or even architects; in the kitchen area they could be chefs or even scientists; in the drama center they could be actors, maybe they will become designers or writers; in the block area they could become construction workers or maybe even some sort of engineer. All of these possible career choices use this model in some way.

They can still pick traditional roles like teaching for girls even though some boys like to teach, and engineering for boys and girls too. This is where the basics of Erikson comes in and ideas of automony, identity, and initiative versus dependence, confusion, and guilt. In dealing with these various ideas you can be watching them and how they interact with each other; are they working alone or in a group. If they do work alone do they usually end up working with others and share the ideas they came up with in the various areas offered to them in their current situation. We all have to make choices in what we do and solve whatever problems that could arise. With all the above theorists what seems important is the matter of giving choices. Even in the early childhood stages one can learn a lot from just observing them in what they are doing. The children will also be observing you and how you do things as well (Santrock, 2005).

Articles for decisions on careers

The articles will show you how job, career, along with parents, teachers, and the communities can help make career choices somewhat easier. The first article was about how schools would involve more parents in the school and do educational activities they learn at the school and also do them at home. The parents can get the materials from the school from and area called the Parent Place and the teachers instructing the parents in the correct ways to use these materials to illustrate how these activities will increase parent and child involvement in and out of school. The article also mentioned several choices they (children and parents) could make for the future and the decisions they will make for each other (Romano, 2001).

The second article was about how and what to teach about what skills should be involved and how detailed they should be for the students. This story was for students and children interested in the world of business careers. They could start their own business and learn about checking accounts, the stock market, and making investments. They will use the core subjects to learn the basics and apply them to the project. This could lead them to various employment resources like on-the-job-training programs, technical schools, and even colleges that appeal to them whatever socioeconomic status that are at the present time (Teaching PreK- 8, 2001).

The third article that I picked was about a teacher that picked a class project that would bring into the classroom many community workers and professionals to give practical information and experience on several job choices. This class had a project that involved construction personnel, business investors, even lower management supervisors to participate in this class' class project. The students had to learn about all the pre-employment forms like employment applications, writing resumes, going through and interview process and getting letters of reference. They had to prove that they could use their basic skills to understand these various forms. This teacher's class project showed the children how to use basic school skills in a practical way and still gave them some general interests and to use the aptitudes of the students in the class. It showed where they could fit in the community. Once again it is about making choices in what you want to do with your life (Rose, 1995).

The fourth article was all about using basic classroom chores or jobs to teach responsibility to the students. These jobs can be related to real world careers, for example the child that likes to keep records could help the teacher collect lunch money and could hand out tickets when it was lunchtime. Another classroom job in the early years could be taking care of the class pets and plants. Still another choice of class job could be class librarian who would be responsible for collecting books for the class and to take back to the library. These class jobs could lead to positions in the community like bookkeeper, secretary, and even jobs in animal care. The article ended up saying about how skills and interests of the child can lead to various achievements in adult life (Bloor, 1995).

The fifth article was all about how to use service opportunities to help them learn social and interpersonal development skills and values. In using service projects in the classroom you can improve the idea of career development in the community to improve confidence and self-image. Projects that could be used could be working with churches, the elderly, and if the class is junior high or high school they can help the younger children with their school work. This would take them out of the comfort zone and learn some new skills (Learning, 1996).

The sixth article was on how some skills we learn in the classroom like listening and general helping can lead to career choices that are like caring and making a difference to others in what you do for them. These skills show them that they can be involved with community. They learn that they could be counselors, nurses, mediators or any profession that helps caring children caring (Rombach, 2001).

In general all the six articles focus on are academic and social achievement to reach the goals that the child, parents, and the teachers/counselors could set for them. All the parents should be involved in the child's education both academic and social not in what they hear on the news and what the school systems are not doing. It takes a whole neighborhood to raise a child as various people have said over the generations. We have to promote learning in new and different ways. We have to look at accomplishments of everyone involved in these lives.

When learning about career choice and the world of work, you will have to make the right choices for yourself. There will only be one career choice if you are lucky, but you will make several over a whole lifetime, so as all the adults keep saying "pay attention you may learn something before your done." My major idea after all this reading was to start a Parent Education course which teach teachers and parents and even other community members about career development and making correct choices to help their children mainly at the elementary level, but it could be extended to the upper levels as well.

In the Parent Education course the general developmental levels of childhood will be covered and discussed, so the instructor can get a basic knowledge of where the child and adult stands in the understanding of what is going on with them. Discussions could involve parent and child interests this could show some connections between the two of them. Parent education could also show improvement with the community and discuss how as a community we can help children learn to adapt to economic changes with families. This is a major area where career development can be discussed with ideas for child involvement. Parent education should involve choices and activities that could give them practice in making correct choices and letting the children make their own choices for their own lives. They have to learn right from wrong and that their parents are not always going to be there. This course could teach in some ways about independence for the children and for the adults who raise them. Discussions and activities will be used. It is a course that will also review basic child care issues through the growing up stages like bathing and feeding an infant, nutrition and medical issues like the immunization schedule, preparing for school for the first time, review of First Aid/CPR. This course could also include activities to teach the parent how to teach home school parents.

In conclusion, my parent education class could also turn into a parent education text/workbook to be used in the parent education course. It will allow for many discussions on various subjects from basic care to education to career development. Other areas that the book will cover will be where does the child fit in the community now and in the future along with learning about making the right choices whether they are right and/or wrong and accepting that and be able to make changes. Parents have to learn when to keep close and when to let go. As parents and teachers you could read all the theories and everything written, but the only thing is understanding your child and to listen to them.

Here are some bulletin board activities that could be used.

1. Have the children answer the question and them draw a picture to put on the bulletin board under 'What do you like to do?' Explain what you do and draw a sketch and place it on the board. This is a good starter for possible interests and skills. Title for bulletin board- What do you like to do?

2. Making the bulletin board- have oaktag paper cut into squares and have various occupations written on them from nurse, doctor, teacher, lawyers, accountants, bankers, secretaries, grocers, sales clerks. On other pieces of oaktag paper of where these people work such as schools, hospitals, banks, office buildings, courthouses, stores. You can have lengths of yarn and thumbtacks going from the person to the place. Children will match the worker with the building where they work. Vocabulary word lesson-grocer, lawyer, etc. Title for bulletin board Workers where do I go?

3. Match the above jobs with their daily activities and explain if needed. Career skills discussed. Title of the bulletin board- Who does what at school? Make a list of Jobs (a column heading) Activities (column heading) Nurse-----------------takes temperature; first aid

Teacher--------------teaches reading, math, writing

Principal-------------keeps school in order

Counselor------------talks about skills; problems

Cafeteria lady--------cooks and serves food

Janitor----------------Cleans classrooms

4. Ask the children what each of these roles do? This is a matching game. The answers will repeat for some jobs. Discuss or act out each role and ask where some of the roles takes place. Title of bulletin board is 'Life Roles'

Mother Father Child

Farmer Banker money gives medicine

Nurse Preacher talk play

Doctor grow plants

Teacher letters, numbers

Counselor make people well

5. Activity- Complete the simple survey and explain to them how their interests and skills can effect how they will live possibly in the future. Title of bulletin board: What does the future mean to you? A survey

1. Rich Poor Comfortable

2. Inside Outside Both

3. Computers smaller or same as now

4. Teamwork Alone Both

5. Marriage Alone Family

6. On earth In outer space

The teacher can have students use tally marks for answers.

6. Activity: Have students match hobbies and jobs and discuss what is needed to complete if hobby could be possible career. Possible vocabulary lesson -actuary, botanist Title of bulletin board 'Hobbies leads to Jobs'

Hobbies Possible jobs

painting pictures Zoologist Journalist

photography Vet

coin/stamp collecting trading cards Photographer Artist

creative writing Writer Actuary

plants animals Botanist

7. Activity: To discuss how school skills are related to work skills. Have the students tell you what interests them on the right side (subjects will vary) and see what they know and like about that field. This could start decision making skills. Title of bulletin board: 'Study and Work skills' This is a matching game.

Listening Medicine Historian

Speaking Teaching Math

Reading Engineering Music

Writing Science Art

Thinking Creative writing