Parental Involvement in Career Exploration |
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Parental involvement continues to be critical to the career decision-making process in middle school. According to Wherry (2002), the research evidence is now beyond dispute. When schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to succeed not just in school, but also throughout life. The most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which the family is able to create a home environment that encourages learning; expresses high, realistic expectations for their children’s achievement and future careers; and becomes involved in their children’s education at school and in the community (Henderson, 1994). Parental involvement research provides documentation for the following benefits for students:
When parents are involved in their children’s education, their children do better in school (Gysbers and Henderson, 1994). The family provides the child’s primary educational environment. The benefits are not confined to early childhood or elementary level, but expand to exhibit strong effects from involving parents continuously throughout middle and high schools. Involving parents in their own children’s education at home is not enough. To ensure the quality of schools as institutions serving the community, parents must be involved at all levels in the school. All kinds of parents are interested in their children’s education (Moles, 1991). As students move from career awareness to career exploration, they begin keeping career planners and making important decisions when developing their four year plans for high school. Counselors need to provide information so that parents are involved with the career planner and know what to expect during the middle school years. The Governor’s Workforce Education Task Force report, Pathways to Prosperity (2001), requires that all middle school students have a comprehensive career plan that is developed with the participation of parents, counselors, and teachers. Information must be provided to parents about the career planner (School-to-Work Transition Act, 1994), career activities, and career assessments, which ones will be used, and how the results can be used in career decision-making (interpretation). This plan is not just for career exploration and development however. It is intended to be a comprehensive portfolio of the student’s academic achievements, interests, aptitudes, work-based learning experiences and a record of the planning process that occurs annually with participation of the guidance counselor, student and their parents. Parents must be made aware of guidance standards and what to expect at each grade level as well as the workplace issues that will affect the job market their children will enter. Counselors and educators need to continuously involve parents in career exploration. Technological resources need to be made available to parents as they gather information that will prepare them and their children for the next step of planning in high school. As a result of this collaboration, parents will be knowledgeable participants in guiding their children through this process. Parents are a vital part of career planning for students. Counselors can assist parents by encouraging them to help young adolescents at the middle school level to explore career clusters and careers in several important ways (Schwartz 2002):
The Career Guidance Model provides numerous links to resources that can assist counselors in involving parents in career guidance. The PACE Tech Prep Consortium (www.yourchildscareer.org) has created an interactive website on Parental Involvement that includes information for counselors, interactive exercises for parents to use with their student, and links to other valuable websites. Parental Involvment Websites for Grades 6-8
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SC-CGM Home • Career Exploration in Grades 6-8 |