Career Development Interventions

5th Edition
Spence G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey

Publisher to insert Chapter 11

cover image here Career Development
Interventions in Middle Schools

Developed by:
Jennifer Del Corso

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Developmental Tasks of Middle
School

• Achieve new and more sophisticated

relations with peers
• Achieve emotional independence from
parents and other adults
• Set vocational goals
• Prepare for marriage and family life
• Develop skills for civic competence

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 Developmental Tasks of
Middle/Junior High School continued

• Acquire a set of values and an ethical

system as a guide to behavior
• Set realistic goals and make plans for
achieving these goals

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 Career Development in Middle
School
• Career assistance provided to middle school students
must be sensitive to the contextual, physical, and
emotional transitions that students experience
• Akos, Konold, and Niles (2004) found that middle school
student exhibit distinct patterns of needs regarding their
readiness for career decision making: from career
indecisions to premature career identity foreclosure
• Data from the National Assessment of Education
Progress indicate that adolescents experience mixed
success in coping with the career development
tasks they confront in middle schools

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 Middle School Student Attitudes
• Currently 93% of middle school
students report that their goal is to
attend college;
• Only 44% eventually attend college,
and
• Only 26% graduate with a college
diploma within six years of enrolling
(Conley, 2012)

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 ASCA National Standards
• Acquire skills to investigate the world of
work in relation to knowledge of self
and to make informed career decisions
• Employ strategies to achieve future
success and satisfaction
• Understand the relationship between
personal qualities, education and
training, and the world of work

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 Career Development Goals for
Middle School

• Enhance self-understanding
• Learn how to engage effectively in
education and occupational exploration
• Career Planning

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 Career Development Goals for
Middle School Students (cont.)

• Herr, Cramer, and Niles (2004) offer four career planning

considerations for middle school school students.
 1. Provide students with a broad opportunity to explore their
personal characteristics as well as those educational options
 2. Provide a wide array of methods to accommodate
differences due to career maturity, interests, values, and
abilities
 3. Provide concrete hands-on direct experiences
 4. Provide career programs to help students explore their
feelings, needs, and uncertainties as they search for a
personal identity.

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
Career Development Interventions
in Middle Schools
• Thematic consideration of middle school-level
career development competencies reveals the
importance of students acquiring the necessary
knowledge, skills, and understanding to
advance in their career development
• Important to help students understand issue
related to equity and access to career choice
• Interventions should help students construct
their ideal future life and then discuss how
prepared they feel for taking on those future
tasks

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
Career Development Interventions
in Middle School (continued)

• Psychoeducational activities for middle

school students include:
• Classroom guidance lessons on careers and
personal identity
• Job shadowing
• Attending career fairs
• Occupational Information Interviews
• Small groups
• Exposure to real world work experiences
Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson
Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
Career Development Interventions
in Middle School (continued)

• Clustering systems can be used to guide career

exploration by using the clusters to organize career
information resources.
• Patterns of life-role salience can be addressed by
helping student reflect on the various life roles they
have or they can create a life-role portfolio
• Middle school students need assistance in career and
educational planning.
• An educational and career planning portfolio is one
technique that school counselors can use to help middle
school students plan effectively.

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved
 National Association of State Directors of Career
Technical Education Consortium (2015) Clusters
• Agriculture, Food, and Natural • Hospitality and Tourism
Resources • Human Services
• Architecture and Construction
• Information Technology
• Arts, A/V Technology, and
• Law, Public Safety,
Communications
Corrections, and Security
• Business Management and
Administration • Manufacturing
• Education and Training • Marketing
• Finance • Science, Technology,
• Government and Public Engineering, and
Administration Mathematics
• Health Science • Transportation,
Distribution, and Logistics
•

Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2009 by Pearson

Career Development Interventions, 5th Edition
Education, Inc.
Spencer G. Niles and JoAnn E. Harris-Bowlsbey
All Rights Reserved