A Community Partnership Project: Rewriting Elementary School Career Education in Marion, Ohio
Historically, partnerships among businesses, communities, and educational institutions have taken a number of forms. For instance, Junior Achievement has been a mainstay for upper elementary students for many years (Van Scotter, Van Dusen, and Worthen 33). Some programs focus specifically on aspects of career education. One example is the Feinstein Foundation’s “I Can Make a Difference” Good Deed Program, which promotes career–related values through continuous interaction between individuals in the community and students in elementary classrooms (Brown 3). These and similar organizations strengthen communities through collaborations between business people and educators. This kind of collaborative effort exists in Marion, Ohio.
Marion Area Partners in Education (MAPE) is an organization that has been promoting educational opportunities in Marion and its surrounding communities since 1995. Formed by a consortium of local businesses, service agencies, and educational institutions, the organization’s mission has included the support of lifelong learning initiatives, full service schools, and career development at all levels. To date, one of MAPE’s primary accomplishments has been the establishment of partnerships between businesses and their local elementary schools. The goal of these partnerships is to provide hands– on career education to children in grades two through five by means of career guidance lessons implemented in the classroom by business volunteers.
Although MAPE’s elementary school career education program was based on a prepackaged model, the MAPE board wanted to create its own curriculum, one that would be more appropriate for local children and more responsive to local needs. This paper will provide a rationale for including career topics in the elementary grades, outline the process of creating a viable new career guidance program for primary– and intermediate–level students, and describe the ways in which this program addresses the needs of all stakeholders.
Rationale for Career Guidance at the Elementary School Level
Career guidance, often referred to as “The World of Work” (Parker and Jarolimek 110) is part of economics education which falls under social studies. As such, it is already a legitimate part of the school curriculum. Experts maintain that children of every age, ability, and socioeconomic level can benefit from learning economic principles if teachers use “appropriate strategies and materials [and] … a variety of instructional methodologies” (Kourilsky 198). Thus, economics can be part of the content–rich curriculum recommended even for early childhood classrooms (Bredekamp and Copple 142).
Until recently, however, many workplace skills were imparted through daily life within the family and community (Abbott 6; Swick 37). Not so long ago, Americans could point to generations of children who had received their primary career guidance at the hands of their parents. Boys worked beside their fathers, planting barren fields in spring and harvesting the crops a few months later. Girls were instructed by their mothers in the domestic arts of hearth and home (Harkins, “Developmentally” 169). “Living, working, and learning [was] a single interconnected entity” (Abbott 6) that gave rise to certain expectations. Children believed they would follow in their parents’ footsteps, and parents anticipated that same outcome. However, those expectations no longer hold true.
Change has come to the workplace. With family farms rapidly disappearing (Williams 6 D), boys whose career plans are modeled on parental experiences may look to manufacturing for long–term high– paying jobs. But these expectations are invalid. Mechanization has adversely impacted industrial employment (Gayle 12) to the extent that within a few years only an estimated twelve percent of America’s workers will be employed on the factory floor (Rifkin 30).
At the same time, relationships between work and home life have been altered. According to 1999 U. S. Bureau of Labor statistics, 78% of mothers who have school–age children, and 64% of mothers who have preschoolers are employed outside the home (Smith and Colker 78). Rising divorce rates have left increasing numbers of children in homes with single parents, many of whom must balance both domestic and career demands. In many traditional families the need for two paychecks has forced both mothers and fathers to work outside the home. Parents who work long hours then try to manage household tasks at night do not always have time or energy to teach their children work skills.
Research suggests that children’s career aspirations are related to the jobs held by adults they know well (Trice, Hughes, Odom, Woods, and McClessan 317). Though children know many adults who have jobs, in many cases they neither see nor understand what happens at work. The jobs children hear about may be too abstract or have titles that are unfamiliar (e.g., risk manager), or parents simply may not discuss their work at home. Children then turn to television for information. Unfortunately, the electronic baby sitter is often not a very good teacher. Networks in pursuit of high ratings portray unethical behavior as a fact of life in the workplace, and children remain confused (Harkins, “Developmentally” 169). If children are to receive consistent, reliable help in making career plans, it must come from the school. Career education must move outside the family circle to become part of the curriculum.
Some might suggest that career guidance is more appropriate for students in the upper grades. It is true that the topic has more immediacy for older students, but that does not preclude its introduction in the early grades. It is also true that primary graders should not make career decisions (Parker and Jarolimek 110). Nevertheless, constructing strong concepts occurs over time. By offering work–related experiences in the elementary grades, teachers provide a framework for more advanced learning and sound decision making in middle school and high school (Harkins, “Developmentally” 170; Harkins, “Using” 29; Secretary’s Commission 19). This practice is consistent with the learner’s need to experience concepts concretely before thinking about them in a more abstract or formal manner (Piaget, in Sternberg and Williams 50). Early career education also supports children’s attainment of competency and industriousness, important developmental goals for learners in the elementary grades (Erickson, in Sternsberg and Williams 82). For all of these reasons, it makes sense to begin when children are young.
Foundations of MAPE’s Career Education Program
In 1995, MAPE initiated a career education program with its local schools and business partners. The organization used a prepackaged curriculum which had been prepared by a professional organization and disseminated to communities across many states and several foreign countries. Of necessity, it had been designed for typical children living in generic neighborhoods. Though age appropriate for the target grade levels (one through six), the program was less sensitive to issues of culture and ability differences. This mismatch was an issue for some MAPE constituents who felt the program was too far removed from local children’s experiences. Board members were also concerned about the high cost of materials and the lack of support offered by the distributor.
Although the overhaul of MAPE’s elementary–school career guidance program began with the unanimous vote of its board members, that was only a first step in the process. The project was referred to the organization’s professional development committee for further action. Serving on the committee were interested business people and representatives of service providers, as well as educators who worked at all levels—elementary and vocational schools, the local technical college, and The Ohio State University’s regional campus at Marion. Of the committee members, an Ohio State faculty member who had been heavily involved with the existing career education program volunteered to begin planning the new program. Soon the committee asked her to write two new curriculum guides (one book for grades two and three, another for grades four and five). She agreed to do so and asked a colleague to assist her.
Now in its first year of implementation, MAPE’s new career education plan rests on four pillars: 1) mandates from the professional development committee; 2) results from a survey that had been distributed to participants of the previous program; 3) academic standards at local, state, and national levels; and 4) findings from a variety of research sources. The new career education curriculum draws insight from and is supported by all four pillars.
1. Professional Development Committee: MAPE’s professional development committee represented the entire community. As is true of any group enterprise, this project demanded a certain amount of consensus–building. During a series of meetings, the committee proposed some general characteristics they wanted to see in their new program.
First, they wanted the career guides to serve the children of Marion and its surrounding communities by providing sound information and worthwhile experiences that would expand children’s knowledge of the world of work. Preferably, children would build on their own experiences by learning about community jobs as well as generic job categories. Second, to satisfy local teachers who held classroom time as a precious commodity, the committee wanted the program to be educationally worthwhile and up–to–date, assured by matching curriculum to academic standards and by offering a new lesson topic—technology. Finally, the committee wanted a flexible program that could meet the diverse time constraints of business partners who would teach the lessons in the schools. Ultimately, the members agreed on a format that allowed for choice in the number and order of the lessons.
2. Survey Results: In giving voice to the local educators and business partners who execute the career education lessons in the schools, MAPE initiated an evaluative survey which became the second foundational support of the new career guidance program. Surveys were distributed to more than one hundred individuals, including both business volunteer instructors and the classroom teachers who host them. The objective was twofold: first, to determine each respondent’s length of service in career education and familiarity with the current prepackaged career education model; second, to identify enhancements that could make the program more effective. The instrument consisted of eleven questions. Its first section asked respondents to rate the quality, on a scale of percentages, of the curriculum materials currently in use. The second section requested free response descriptions of the strengths and weaknesses of that program.
Twenty volunteer instructors or coordinators (about 34%) returned their completed surveys, as did 15 cooperating teachers (about 37%). Almost 63% of respondents indicated that the major strength of the existing program was its content. However, both populations favored some changes, with many respondents (also about 63%) stating that materials were not adequate to meet their needs. Of primary concern were time allocations, either from a volunteer’s work day or from a teacher’s instructional time. Some teachers expressed misgivings about the ability of business volunteers to manage classrooms effectively, while others questioned the educational strength of program content. Volunteer instructors, many with little knowledge of appropriate activities for their assigned grade levels, were concerned about the availability of support materials. Despite the desire for change, respondents were nearly unanimous in the belief that early career guidance would allow children to make a positive impact on the workforce when they reach adulthood (Beard 2).
3. Academic Standards: Academic standards provided a third support for the new career guidance program. To ensure the educational worth of the curriculum, the authors turned to local, state, and national standards. Because the world of work resides in the study of society and its people (Parker and Jarolimek 110), social studies was the curriculum area most heavily researched. However, the standards that support many other content areas were also considered. The overall goals of each career education lesson tapped into the standards at one or more levels of at least one subject area.
As much as possible, the new career guidance curriculum called for application of the academic skills children were already learning in their regular classroom lessons: reading, writing, language, mathematics, science, the arts, and problem–solving, with some lessons touching on multiple content areas. This is consistent with developmentally appropriate practices recommended for the elementary grades (Harkins, “Developmentally” 172).
4. Research Findings: The final foundational support was research. A great deal has been written about the value of career education in the elementary grades and the best ways to implement such programs. Among the most important sources was a government document known as the SCANS Report (Secretary’s Commission v), a 1991 report by the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills which outlined some educational implications related to ongoing workplace changes. Chief among the recommendations was the need for students at all levels to exceed academic competency acquisition. In addition to the basic academic skills, workers of the future would also need to possess thinking skills like problem solving, decision making, and desirable personal qualities like honesty and responsibility (Secretary’s Commission 16). Five work–based competencies were also cited as necessary: resource handling, interpersonal relations, acquisition and use of information, knowledge of systematic relationships, and technological expertise (Secretary’s Commission 12).
Research shows that career education must go beyond providing job– related facts. It has been recommended that, besides offering useful information, career guidance must afford opportunities for increasing self– awareness, developing positive habits and attitudes, investigating equity issues, and building work–related competencies (Harkins, “Developmentally” 171; Jalongo 112; Secretary’s Commission 16; Starr 19). An organized program integrating multiple curriculum areas has been suggested as preferable to occasional units spaced across the grades (Harkins, “Developmentally” 172; Parker and Jarolimek 110; Secretary’s Commission 19; Starr 10). Educators and researchers also support using workplace visits and simulations to broaden children’s concepts about the World of Work (Harkins, “Career” 222; Jalongo 112).
Meeting Stakeholders’ Needs
Stakeholder concerns were of paramount importance in the creation of MAPE’s new career education program. An early consideration was which lessons to include and how to sequence them. Committee requests and research recommendations led to the creation of ten lessons that fell under these four categories: 1) an Introductory Lesson: “Exploring the World of Work”; 2) four Core Lessons: “In the Workplace” (a work site visit), “Jobs that Match My Talents and Interests” (a self–awareness lesson), “Habits and Attitudes that Make Good Workers” (promoting positive personal qualities), and “Equal Opportunity” (exploration of equity issues); 3) four Workplace Competency Lessons: “Teamwork and Interdependence, Communication, Making Decisions,” and “Technology”; and 4) a Final Lesson: “Review and Wrap–up” (included to consolidate knowledge and provide closure).
Several formats were designed to meet the flexibility required by diverse partnerships. A “Minimal Program” would include only the introductory Lesson 1, the work site visit Lesson 2, and the final Lesson 10. This format would be used by partnerships that were unable to implement a more complete program. More typically chosen would be the Basic Program, which consists of Lesson 1, the four Core Lessons in any order, and Lesson 10. An Optimal Program is also offered for partnerships that want to do additional lessons. In this format, any or all Workplace Competency Lessons could be implemented after the Core Lessons, with Lesson 10 as the finale. The curriculum also includes suggestions for implementing the Workplace Competency topics as mini–lessons during the work site visit, a lesson which is included in all program formats. These alternative formats ease time constraints by allowing teachers and volunteer instructors to choose the number of lessons they are able to do.
The new program attempts to address other stakeholder needs in a variety of ways. First, each lesson offers three or more age–appropriate activities that vary in complexity so that volunteers can select those that best meet their comfort levels. This option is especially beneficial for new volunteer instructors. Experienced volunteers may also continue to do the tried–and–true activities they have done in the past, as long as they meet the program objectives. Notes to volunteers also help them tailor each lesson to children’s developmental levels (e.g., the importance of using concrete objects with younger learners).
Because many volunteers have no knowledge of classroom organization, each curriculum guide opens with a list of general teaching tips on rudimentary classroom management. Among the suggestions are ideas on how to group children and help them take part in an orderly discussion. Each activity also includes additional suggestions that are specific to that lesson. These teaching tips are meant to minimize the disorder that sometimes followed volunteer visits.
Of primary concern is the need to assure students’ learning. Although teachers know that much learning occurs when children express their ideas aloud, volunteer instructors tend to concentrate on activities rather than lesson objectives. To help the volunteers plan discussions that could meet the specified objectives, sequenced questions are included as part of the lesson text. For example, in a lesson on equal opportunity, the program offers a series of questions to guide discussion about graphing: “Who knows what the two colors stand for? Were there any items chosen only by boys? Only by girls?” Such in–text questions are meant to ease preparation time for busy volunteers while decreasing the need for teachers to reteach concepts that might otherwise receive insufficient coverage. Although the questions target objectives, volunteers are encouraged to keep discussion short and focused so that a significant amount of instructional time is devoted to the reinforcement of learning through hands–on activities.
Two other features also help volunteers promote children’s learning. First, there are explicit connections among lessons included in the text. For example, as part of the discussion questions provided for Making Decisions, the reader will find specifically marked suggestions to aid children in seeing how decision–making skills support the acquisition of good habits and help individuals make sound career choices. Second, the text also helps children link new information to their own lives by including frequent references to local businesses. Encouraging children to build on their prior knowledge promotes stronger conceptual constructions.
Conclusion
The primary concern of the Marion Area Partners in Education in creating a new career education program was to better meet the needs of various stakeholders; committee members believe they have accomplished that mission. Because their new program was designed by community leaders, it is more likely to reflect local norms and goals. Because it is based on survey responses from experienced participants, it includes features that appeal to the business volunteers and educators who implement the lessons in the classroom. Because it employs research–based pedagogy that satisfies academic standards, it has educational value that justifies its inclusion in the school curriculum.
MAPE’s new career guidance program is just that—new. The 2002– 2003 school year has seen its first trial. Although MAPE board members have expressed initial satisfaction with the program, it cannot be judged successful until volunteer instructors have verified its ease of use and cooperating teachers have tested the appropriateness of its content. Most of all, its usefulness depends on whether it helps children learn about the world of work, and whether they enjoy the learning process. MAPE expects to collect responses from various stakeholders and adjust the program accordingly.
Ideally, a career education program should encompass “the total effort of public education and community to help all individuals become familiar with the values of a work–oriented society, to integrate those values into their lives in such a way that work becomes possible, meaningful and satisfying to each individual” (Galloway, in Jalongo 112). This principle guided the completion of this project. Insofar as the results satisfy this principle, MAPE’s career education program will also meet the needs of the most important stakeholders of all: the children of Marion County.
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Biographies
Margaret Harkins is Program Manager for Early and Middle Childhood Education at The Ohio State University—Marion. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Dayton, her MA and Ph.D. at OSU. She teaches courses on storytelling, early childhood pedagogy, and integrated curriculum at the undergraduate, MA, and M.Ed. levels. Research and publication interests include career education and developmentally appropriate practices. She may be reached at harkins.11@osu.edu.
Jonathan W. Beard was previously an Academic Advisor on the OSU— Marion campus and is now Assistant Director of Financial Aid for the College of Medicine on OSU’s Columbus campus. He earned his bachelor’s degree at OSU—Marion and will complete his M.Ed. degree there in 2003. His current research interests include career education and diversity issues. He may be reached at beard.44@osu.edu.