Teachers and Schools Please note: This workbook is supplied in lots of 30 as for an average class - there is one Facilitator Guide included in the package....cost per workbook is $16.50 and Guide $25.00, but If you wish to order a different amount of workbooks to match your school classes, please let us know.  There will be a discount of two free Facilitator Guides with 60 Workbooks and other discounts will apply.  Please contact us with your requirements and numbers so we can let you know.

About the author

Dr Lee-Ann Prideaux

PhD., B.Psych (Hons)., B.Ed., Dip. Gestalt Therapy, MAPS, MCDAA. 

Lee-Ann Prideaux began her career as a teacher. She worked with students from early childhood to adolescence in a variety of school settings for fifteen years. Following this she studied full time at Griffith University and gained her First Class Honours degree in Psychology in 1998. 

Lee-Ann went on to complete her PhD at the same university in 2003. Her thesis reported on the evaluation of a theoretically derived career education program for adolescents. For the past five years Lee-Ann has held the position of Student Counsellor at a co-educational independent school where she is applying her knowledge of career and personal counselling. 

She has a passion for breaking the schism between theory and practice and her academic interests include contemporary career theory, career decision-making, career indecision, school to work transition, school achievement and career development, as well as childhood anxiety, relational bullying and adolescent depression. Lee-Ann is also a qualified Gestalt Therapist.

FACILITATOR GUIDE PREVIEW:

This Facilitator Guide contains everything teachers need to implement the Career Choice Cycle Course (CCCC). Materials, objectives and evaluative strategies for each unit are listed clearly for ease of reference. Additional information, specific instructions and revision questions are also supplied so teachers can use this guide as a ‘one stop shop’ for the course. Classroom activities, pedagogical procedures and homework assignments are provided in each of the six detailed unit plans.

Preface

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) has been chosen as the theoretical foundation for this course for several reasons. First, SCCT has utilised well-defined constructs that have undergone rigorous consolidation through a prolonged history of research and testing in a variety of psychosocial domains. Second, SCCT was chosen because it is a contemporary career development theory that has been formulated from an integrative perspective. Third, SCCT ascribes to constructivist epistemology, acknowledging humans as active agents or self-constructing living systems. This basic approach, considering people as active rather than passive agents, underpins the cognitive revolution that many contemporary theorists are embracing. Essentially, the developers of this theory view career development as a process of adjustment to and influence between active agents and their environments.

Finally, SCCT was chosen because of its emphasis on the importance of contextual variables. Career choices are made within unique conditions that have diverse effects on personal agency. Contextual factors ranging from financial, educational, and physical characteristics to political and social conditions help shape the learning experiences that engender personal interests and choices. These factors also comprise the real and perceived opportunity structure within which career plans are devised and implemented[1].

Social cognitive career theorists have adopted Albert Bandura’s conception of interaction called triadic reciprocal causation to explain how human agency operates. Internal personal factors, behaviour, and the external environment are the three determinants posited to influence each other bidirectionally. The personal sector of the triadic reciprocal causation model represents the cognitive, affective, and biological factors that operate as co-determinants of behaviour. SCCT specifies three principal social cognitive mechanisms that are used to conceptualize these personal elements, namely: a) self-efficacy (task-specific confidence), b) outcome expectations, and c) personal goals. These key variables are considered to be the most relevant factors to explain how people assert personal agency in relation to career development. They are referred to as the building blocks of career development.

Self-efficacy develops under the influence of four main sources; experiences of success, vicarious experiences provided by social models, verbal persuasion, and judgements about one's reactions to stress and tension. Of these, Bandura (1995) contends that the most effective means of developing a strong sense of efficacy is via mastery experiences. Once people have successfully engaged in a particular activity they are provided with convincing evidence concerning their capabilities to perform it in the future. However, failures operate conversely by undermining efficacy beliefs. Strong efficacy expectations are considered essential for the initiation and persistence of behaviour in all aspects of psychological functioning. Furthermore, self-efficacy is considered the most influential factor mediating the process of human agency.

The second personal causal mechanism within the triadic reciprocal model is outcome expectations (OE). This variable relates to the perceived consequences that people believe will result from the performance of certain behaviours. Goals are characterised by a resolve to engage in a particular activity or to achieve a particular future outcome. According to Social Cognitive Theory, it is through the setting of goals that individuals co-ordinate, guide and sustain their own behaviour.

Due to the strong theoretical basis of the Career Choice Cycle Course, it is important that the following elements sustain prominence throughout the course.

Ø      Be aware of the four sources of self-efficacy (task specific confidence) and take every opportunity to create these conditions for students:

*        performance accomplishments or mastery experiences - by setting activities that are slightly challenging, yet achievable you are giving students an opportunity to experience success and therefore you  will foster the development of higher self-efficacy for the task, also help students to review previous performance accomplishments to help them benefit from past experiences

*        vicarious learning or observation of models - the more students get to see others achieving or talking about past achievements the more opportunity you will be giving them to enhance their self-efficacy for approaching such activities themselves (however, models' similarity to those observing them is important - the more the model resembles the student themselves, the more believable and convincing they are)

*        verbal persuasion and encouragement - when checking off homework assignments or monitoring students' group discussions etc. try to make statements that exhibit belief in students' ability (e.g., I know you'll manage this well), and give performance feedback that signals progress in learning (e.g., See, you thought you wouldn't find this information for yourself but you did!) - this type of feedback validates students' beliefs that they are acquiring skills, and can enhance motivation for further learning. Beware, feedback must be viewed as credible - e.g., effort feedback for success on a task that students believe is easy will lead them to wonder whether the teacher thinks they are low in ability.

*        anxiety management techniques - where possible, assure students that feelings of nervousness are to be expected when facing some difficult tasks, help them to recognise when they are becoming overly stressed and suggest techniques such as relaxing tense muscles and taking some slow, deep breaths to alleviate symptoms

Ø      Help students to construct developmentally appropriate performance standards and learn to reinforce themselves for developmental progress rather than for ultimate performance

Ø      Keep the cognitive emphasis at the forefront of all units - that is, get students to actively assess and monitor their own thoughts when approaching tasks (metacognitive skills). Give lots of examples and practice to become aware of self-statements, recognise whether this self-talk is either adaptive (helpful) or maladaptive (unhelpful), learn how to challenge maladaptive thoughts, and restructure thinking patterns.

Ø      Encourage students to be more optimistic about outcomes, to feel more competent, and become more impervious to setbacks