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Career counselling - a perspective

Students who are not properly guided may not know what they need to do to make their plans for the future a reality, thinks LATA L RAO.

Adolescence is defined as a phase of life characterised by rapid physical growth and development. They experience many new emotions. They are moving from concrete to abstract thinking as they progress in their studies. Young people who are most likely to think about their future careers and believe that they have a variety of career options, have high self-esteem and are able to understand and evaluate complex career information.

Students who do not get proper guidance may not know what they need to do, which courses they should take, in order to make their plans for the future a reality. They are least likely to think that wrong course choices can limit their career plans later.

It is obvious that all students are not mature enough to make the proper choices, on their own. So who has to help them to make the right choice?

Parents role

It is important that parents understand their responsibility in planning the career of their children. The following points may be borne in mind while guiding the child:

Take the child in to confidence

Never ever force your views on the child.

Closely observe the interests of the child and get to know his preferences.

Keeping in mind his/her interests, suggest the options;

Create an environment which will instill confidence and boost his morale.

Consider the individual needs of your child; develop the goals to meet those needs.

The earlier children are exposed to different activities, the better prepared they will be to make choices and decision about their future. By age fourteen a decision must be taken about the course to be taken at + 2 level.

Many school programmes can help students plan for a career even if they do not provide specific training for a vocation. The most effective programmes combine school education strategies with vocational education by doing the following:

nExplore with students how they can successfully live and work in a culturally diverse world.

nHelp students recognise their interests, aptitudes and abilities, and understand adult roles.

nHelp students understand the broad scope of work and career possibilities available currently and in the future.

nHelp students broaden their aspirations beyond the stereotypes of gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity.

nIntegrate vocational and academic education to promote intellectual development, and the acquisition of higher level think and problem-solving skills.

nAssist with students' development of social skills, personal values, and self-esteem.

nWork with families to support their children's career aspirations.

Career provider

The primary role of the career provider in the school is to inform students of the need for education and career planning and equip them to navigate through this process.

It is imperative that career providers educate and enlighten teachers, parents/guardians, and the community about the importance of these activities and solicit their assistance.

As a result, teachers should be able to relate their curriculum to careers in the field and provide relevant career exploration opportunities. If students are going to successfully move through their career-planning process, they must have the support of their parents/guardians.

A patent programme, explaining the importance of the career-planning process and how they can help their children by working with the career providers and other educators in the school, is imperative. The community can be an extremely valuable resource by providing validation to the career-planning process (offering speakers, business industry tours, employment/salary information, etc,) and by offering hands-on experiences (Shadowing opportunities, internship experiences, summer employment, etc.), wherever possible.

Setting up this system is increasingly important since students must make a choice about the course they will peruse at the beginning of class XI. Students should be ready to select the course based on the careers in which they are most interested rather than on arbitrary choice.

The writer is Headmistress, SJR Primary and High School, Rajajinagar, Bangalore