Career Development in the Schools (PB)

A volume in Issues in Career Development Book SeriesEdited by John Patrick and Grafton Eliason, California University of PennsylvaniaCareer Development in the Schools describes a dynamic process that continues to evolve in itsrationale and practice. In many schools and in a variety of scholarly writings, the status of careerdevelopment is controversial. Some observers assert that career development should be seen as aby-product of all of the knowledge and activities that are incorporated in the educational experience.In this view, career development tends to be seen as a random process that happens in anatural, almost magical way, without specific direction or structured form. However, most careertheorists would argue that the career development of students should be a major mission of theschool-a process too important to be only a by-product of scattered learning and activities thatare inherently uneven from student to student. The prevailing contemporary perspective contendsthat career development in the schools should be planned, have its own content derivedfrom research and theory, be systematically executed, and use methods that are relevant to thedevelopmental levels of students throughout elementary, middle, and senior high schools. Tofurther such ends, several national models of content and practice have been formulated by the American School Counselor Association,the National Career Development Revised Guidance Project, and by other organizations to identify the components, competencies,and outcomes that students of different ages and aspirations need to acquire as they grow in maturity. Several of these models are discussedat length in the various chapters of this book.