SC Career Guidance Model
Standards and Competencies, Grades K-2 • SC-CGM Home • Career Exploration Home •  EEDA and Personal Pathways Resources for Educators
STANDARDS AND COMPETENCIES
GRADES THREE THROUGH FIVE

STANDARD 1

Students will understand the relationships among personal qualities, education and training, and the world of work.

Competency Indicators, Third Through Fifth Grade

    1. Explore career interest and related occupations.
    2. Explore nontraditional career choices.
    3. Explore personal skills and talents

(South Carolina Comprehensive Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program Model, October 1999)

Minimum Career Activities
Recommended Career Activities
Career Resources and Exercises
  • Utilize formal career inventories to explore careers (C. 1)
  • Invite career speakers that will facilitate and explore non-traditional career choices (C. 2)
  • Utilize formal assessments to explore skills and talents (C. 3)
  • Conduct informal/formal career and interest inventories (C. 1,3)
  • Introduce career clusters (C. 1,3)
  • Provide gender diversity in career activities (C. 2)
  • Conduct informal/formal learning styles inventories (C. 3)

Supporting Research and Literature

Hansen(1972) Exploration of self, particularly in educational and vocational pursuits, enhances vocational maturity

Miller (1977) Stresses the importance of addressing gender-role stereotyping in careers

Minimum: Career Activities: all students at this grade level should be exposed to these activities prior to advancing to the next grade level.

Recommended Activities: these activities are recommended by the South Carolina Career Guidance Advisory Committee for schools seeking to achieve an ideal career guidance program.

STANDARD 2

Students will demonstrate decision-making, goal-setting, problem-solving, and communication skills.

Competency Indicators, Third Through Fifth Grade

    1. Know how to use decision-making, problem solving, and goal setting processes.
    2. Identify possible solutions to a problem.
    3. Develop effective coping skills for dealing with problems.
    4. Identify and recognize consequences of decisions.

(South Carolina Comprehensive Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program Model, October 1999)

Minimum Career Activities
Recommended Career Activities
Career Resources and Effective Exercises
  • Provide and implement a career decision-making model (C. 1,2,3,4)
  • Introduce career decision-making processes (C. 1)
  • Implement processes designed to solve problems, identify solutions, and set goals as related to school and workplace settings (C. 2,3,4)
  • Introduce and model effective ways to cope with problems (C. 2,3)
  • Explore the consequences of making decisions (C. 4)
  • Introduce and practice career decision-making skills (C. 1)
  • Provide opportunities to employ career decision-making processes (C. 1)
  • Provide opportunities to use the skills of goal-setting, problem-solving, and formulating solutions to problems (C. 2)
  • Introduce and model effective techniques for coping with problems (C. 3)
  • Allow students to experience the consequences of their decisions (C. 4)

Supporting Research and Literature

Nelson (1980) Importance of techniques that assist elementary children become aware of the choices they make and the impact of the choice.

Minimum Career Activities: all students at this grade level should be exposed to these activities prior to advancing to the next grade level.

Recommended Activities: these activities are recommended by the South Carolina Career Guidance Advisory Committee for schools seeking to achieve an ideal career guidance program.

STANDARD 3

Students will explore careers and the connection of school to work.

Competency Indicators, Third Through Fifth Grade

    1. Identify career clusters.
    2. Identify and describe skills learned in school that are applied at home and in the community
    3. Identify resources for career planning.
    4. Identify how personal activities and interests influence career choices.
    5. Explain why people choose certain careers and leisure activities.
    6. Recognize that flexibility in career choices is necessary in the career planning process.

(South Carolina Comprehensive Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program Model, October 1999)

Minimum Career Activities
Recommended Career Activities
Career Resources and Effective Exercises
  • Explore and discuss career clusters and what careers make-up the various clusters (C. 1)
  • Provide experiences that allow students to make the connection of how skills learned in school apply to their lives (C. 2)
  • Utilize formal career inventories to assist in career planning (C. 3)
  • Discuss leisure activities as well as personal interests and their importance in the career making process (C. 4, 5)
  • Explore the process of career choices and the building process that tke place in the career planning process (C. 6)
  • Introduce and explore career clusters (C.1)
  • Explore resources through SDE, SCOIS, local district, Consortium, and Internet (C. 3)
  • Explore the connection between careers and personal talents, likes, and dislikes (C.4)
  • Explore the relationship between character traits, job satisfaction, and time management skills (C. 1,2,3,4,5,6)
  • (School Mascot) goes to Work! (35EE-9)

Supporting Research and Literature

Stein (1991) Introduction of elementary children to occupations in an interactive manner

Thompson and Parker (1971) Importance of 5th graders developing insight and knowledge of work

Minimum: Career Activities: all students at this grade level should be exposed to these activities prior to advancing to the next grade level.

Recommended Activities: these activities are recommended by the South Carolina Career Guidance Advisory Committee for schools seeking to achieve an ideal career guidance program.

STANDARD 4

Students will demonstrate a positive attitude toward work and the ability to work together.

Competency Indicators, Third Through Fifth Grade

    1. Recognize the personal qualities of responsibility, dependability, punctuality, and integrity in the work place.
    2. Demonstrate the cooperative work habits in a group.
    3. Demonstrate being a positive team member.

(South Carolina Comprehensive Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program Model, October 1999)

Minimum Career Activities
Recommended Career Activities
Career Resources and Effective Exercises
  • Discuss and explore SCANS skills their importance in the workplace (C. 1)
  • Provide team-building activities that utilize cooperative work habits in a group (C. 2)
  • Allow students the opportunity to learn how a team functions and the importance of being a team member (C. 3)
  • Describe and model appropriate workplace behaviors that are conducive to a positive environment (C. 1,2,3)
  • Provide opportunities for teamwork activities (C. 2,3)
  • Introduce and implement a checklist that lists positive and desirable behaviors to use in team or cooperative group settings (C. 1,2,3)

Supporting Research and Literature

McGee and Silliman (1982) Encourages the usage of interest inventories to enhance awareness of differences and of ones own characteristics during these years

Minimum: Career Activities: all students at this grade level should be exposed to these activities prior to advancing to the next grade level.

Recommended Activities: these activities are recommended by the South Carolina Career Guidance Advisory Committee for schools seeking to achieve an ideal career guidance program.

STANDARD 5

Students will understand how community awareness relates to work.

Competency Indicators, Third Through Fifth Grade

    1. Describe how parents, relatives, adult friends, and neighbors can provide career information.
    2. Describe products and services of business/industries in the local community.

(South Carolina Comprehensive Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program Model, October 1999)

Minimum Career Activities
Recommended Career Activities
Career Resources and Effective Exercises
  • Career Pathways-adult speakers, including parents and business partners (C.1)
  • Counselor-Community led career activities (C. 1,2)
  • Occupational Family Tree (C. 1)
  • PTO Carolina Careers Presentation/Brochure (C. 1,2)
  • Develop survey items that students will use to interview relatives, friends, and neighbors regarding careers (C. 1)
  • Involve parents and community members in classroom career exploration activities (C. 1,2)
  • Describe the kinds of jobs necessary to provide local services and products (C. 2)
  • Identify why these jobs, services, and products are important to the community (C. 2)
  • Identify jobs that are created as a result of community services and products (C.2)
  • Interest inventory for career awareness (C. 1)
  • Parent involvement regarding career assessment results (C. 1)
  • Utilize career information delivery system (C. 2)
  • Curriculum-based classroom career awareness (C. 1,2)
  • SCANS Skills (C. 1,2)

Supporting Research and Literature

Young (1994) Positive effect of parental involvement on career development

Minimum: Career Activities: all students at this grade level should be exposed to these activities prior to advancing to the next grade level.

Recommended Activities: these activities are recommended by the South Carolina Career Guidance Advisory Committee for schools seeking to achieve an ideal career guidance program.

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