Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Blog 2



          So as I read both the chapter and the article this week I felt like they both really applied to what we will be doing in the future as school counselors. For me personally the article was really eye opening. I had never thought about actually doing any type of career project in elementary school but I really feel like this is a good idea. It gets the children thinking about the future and about what they are good at and what their interests are. I think it also can be used as a really helpful tool to open up communication between both the child and parent about careers. I know that if I were a parent I probably wouldn’t be thinking about talking about the idea of careers with my child who was in fifth grade. I also think it is important because then the parents may have their eyes opened to how they are influencing their child’s future decision about a career. I just think that the idea of continuing this project through different stages of the child’s life is a good idea as well because it keeps them thinking about what they may want to do in the future. It also gives them a chance to see, where maybe some of their values and career choices have developed from (Gibson, 2005). Overall, I found the article extremely interesting and really easy to read this week.
            As, I started reading the chapter I first felt a little overwhelmed with all the theories we were presented with. I have never really thought about career development as a process before, I just felt like it was something that just happened and I never really paid attention to everything that contributes to it. The one part of the chapter that really interested me was the section about how values can impact career choice and possibly hinder people from choosing certain types of careers. Like, I found it interesting that a person who really values collectivism may be held back by their gender from choosing certain careers (Brown, 2012). I just couldn’t imagine not being able to enter into a certain career field, like being a doctor, because it wasn’t viewed as best for the entire group. I feel like people should be allowed to enter into whatever field they would like no matter their race or gender. As long as a person has the ability and desire to do the job why should they be denied that opportunity? I guess that is why I was also intrigued by the part in the chapter where a young man was advised that being a nurse was his best career choice and he denied that idea right away, because it was a “woman’s job”. I really feel like as future counselors it is going to be up to us, to try our best to break down the stereotypes that have been set before us and open the career playing field up to everyone.
Brown, D. (2012). Trait-and-factor and developmental theories of career choice and development
            and their applications. In Career information, career counseling, and career             development (10th ed., pp. 24-58). New York: Pearson Education, Inc

Gibson, D. M. (2005). The use of genograms in career counseling with elementary, middle, and    high school students. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 353-362

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