DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING

Defining the Self: Language, Literature and Career Planning Grade 11 Kendra Anderson University of Lethbridge

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Defining the Self: Language, Literature and Career Planning Introduction Erik Eriksons model of psychosocial development defines eight stages of development.

The individual encounters a developmental crisis at each stage of development. These crises can be resolved either positively, or negatively, and the resolution of each crisis has long-term effects on that individuals perception of personal identity (Woolfolk, Winne and Perry, 2012, p. 87). According to Eriksons model, the fifth stage of psychosocial development occurs in adolescence. This is the stage in which the individual faces the conflict between identity and role confusion (Woolfolk et. al., 2012, p. 89). During this stage individuals need to explore their drives, abilities, beliefs, and history and develop a consistent image of self (Woolfolk et. al., 2012, p.89). It involves deliberate choices and decisions, particularly about work, values, ideology, and commitments to people and ideas (Marcia, 1987; Penuel & Wertsch, 1995). This means that adolescence is an ideal time for career planning to be implemented in schools. Adolescence is an especially impressionable time in an individuals life where learning career planning skills can be of immense value (). Students can begin to understand the complexity of their own personal identities by exploring themes of identity and empowerment in literature. If the concept of identity is further developed through self-reflection and expression, the students self-perception become more clear and concrete. It is important that activities planned for self-exploration engage students in a meaningful way (Magnusson, 1992, p59). Once students have engaged in meaningful development of their perception of their identity, they need to become familiar with career opportunities and demands in order to make a well-reasoned career choice (Parson, 1909). The

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING

goal of this unit is to provide an opportunity for students to know themselves, and understand the opportunities and demands of the workplace so that they will be prepared to choose an appropriate career. Context of the Teaching Environment The school is located in a small village in southern Alberta. Students K-12 all attend school in the same building. Average class size (one class per grade) is between twenty and thirty students, making a total of two hundred and ninety-four students in the entire school. The grade eleven class is much smaller than most other classes and has eleven students. Eight of the students are boys and three of the students are girls. Grade eleven students are ages fifteen to seventeen. All students come from families in the middle-class range. The grade eleven students are English 20-1 and 20-2 level combined. The range of ability in regards to language arts is widely varied. Some students struggle with the curriculum, and some students are very proficient in necessary skills. The intervention was integrated into the language arts curriculum. Activities and assignments were designed to meet the needs of career education while also meeting ELA outcomes at the same time. The intervention met the needs of the students because many of them had very little direction for what they want to do after high school. Most students were unsure of what they wanted to do as a career. I hoped that the unit would help students to learn about themselves, and be better prepared to make career related decisions in the future. I also hoped to gather formative assessment information in regards to student ability in Language Arts. Unit Plan Objectives: Cross-Curricular Integration

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING The unit plan is designed to meet objectives specific to career education, as well as curricular objectives in English Language Arts (ELA) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This unit plan was intended to meet the following objectives for career education: 1. 2. 3. 4. Students will learn about themselves. Students will learn about careers. Students will be excited about what they can do in their lives. Students will want to learn about different careers.

The unit was integrated into the curriculum for English Languages Arts (ELA) 30-1 and 30-2. Outcomes from the Alberta Education Program of Studies that were met in this unit are: 3.1 Determine inquiry or research requirements 3.1.2 Plan inquiry or research, and identify information needs and sources 3.2 Follow a plan of inquiry 3.2.1 Select, record and organize information 3.2.2 Evaluate sources, and assess information 3.2.3 Form generalizations and conclusions 4.1 Develop a variety of print and non-print texts 4.1.2 Consider and address form, structure and medium 4.1.3 Develop content

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING 4.1.4 Use production, publication and presentation strategies and technologies consistent with context 5.1 Respect others and strengthen community 5.1.1 Use language and image to show respect and consideration 5.1.2 Appreciate diversity of expression, opinion and perspective 5.1.3 Recognize accomplishments and events

(Alberta Education, 2003) In addition to ELA outcomes, the unit also meets Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Outcomes: C7: Students will use electronic research techniques to construct personal knowledge and meaning. 4.1 Use appropriate strategies to locate information to meet personal needs. F2: Students will understand the role of technology as it applies to self, work and society. 4.7 Use current, reliable information sources from around the world. F3: Students will demonstrate a moral and ethical approach to the use of technology 4.2 Record relevant data for acknowledging sources of information, and cite sources correctly.

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING 4.3 Respect ownership and integrity of information.

(Alberta Education, 2000-2003) Detailed Description of the Unit Plan Lesson 1: Identity This lesson had a two-fold purpose. The first was to help students begin to think about who they are. The second was to help the instructor become more familiar with the students. The lesson consisted of two in-class activities, and an assignment. The first activity was intended to help students think positively and specifically. This would be important for the second activity. The assignment was designed to encourage deeper and more thoughtful exploration of each students identity. Activity #1: Gratitude. Gratitude is a positive feeling and is connected with things that are important to individuals. This activity was intended to encourage students to begin thinking about things that have meaning or importance to them, and to ensure that their thinking was framed in a positive way. This activity began with a story to introduce the theme of gratitude. Students were then asked to close their eyes and imagine the things that they are grateful to have. This was conducted as a guided meditation. The instructor prompted students to consider: their homes; their families; their friends; their country; nature; pets or animals; presence of necessities of life; personal abilities and talents; and perception of available opportunities. Following this exercise, students were handed a blank sheet of paper, and asked to write down at least one hundred things that they are grateful for. These things could be represented or grouped in whatever way students

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING thought was appropriate. Students were encouraged to be as specific as possible. When students had completed their lists, they were instructed to chose five things that they felt were the most

important on their list. They chose a partner, and discussed why they chose each of the five items from their gratitude list. Activity #2: Ninety-Nine Years Old. Students were asked to turn their gratitude page over, or take out a new sheet of paper. They were given a scenario (Appendix A) and were asked to respond with a list of things they hope to have accomplished by their ninety-ninth birthday. They were encouraged to be as specific as possible. Students then chose a different partner than they worked with for the first activity, and shared their five most important accomplishments. It was difficult for students to decide what was important for them to accomplish before the end of their life. The instructor made suggestions regarding marriage and family, education, work, and travel to help students begin to think about what accomplishments might make them feel selffulfilled. Homework Assignment: Photo-Essay. (See Appendix B for student handout.) The purpose of this activity was to encourage more self-reflective thought. Students were given four prompts and asked to choose a photo (sources must be given for photos found online) and write a short story or description to accompany the photo. The photo needed to be a meaningful representation of the prompt. The following prompts were used for this assignment. See appendix A. Choose a photo and write a brief story to describe: 1. 2. A time when you were happiest. A time when you were saddest.

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING 3. 4. A time when you felt the most proud. A future goal or dream.

Lesson 2: Role Models and Attributes In order to show students how examining the qualities and characteristics of people they admire could help them determine qualities that they want to develop, the class spent time discussing role models and positive attributes. Identifying people and things that help them feel inspired and motivated helped them further explore their beliefs and values. Activity #1: Role Model Brainstorm. The purpose of this activity was to help students be aware of people who inspire or motivate them. They were divided into small groups and asked to share names or titles of people who are personally inspiring to them. The list consisted of parents, friends, celebrities and historical figures. Students wrote collaborative lists on chart paper then shared their combined list with the class. Some students were unfamiliar with people that their classmates had written down, so students were able to explain or introduce their role models to the class. Activity #2: Attribute Brainstorm: Students were asked to return to their groups and turn their page over. They were then asked to make a list of attributes for each of the people on their list. This was intended to help them carefully think about and consider what about a person makes them admirable. Students were encouraged to reflect on how they could develop these positive traits in themselves. Homework Assignment: Students continued to work on their photo essays. Lesson 3: Deriving Meaning

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING The purpose of this lesson was to expand upon and derive meaning from the ideas discussed in the previous lesson. Students had begun to consider things, people and attributes that were meaningful to them. This lesson endeavored to create a clearer picture of meaning for the students. Activity #1: Students presented their photo essays. They gave only brief explanations of

the photos associated with their happiest and saddest experiences as well as the photo associated with their future goal. They were asked to speak about their proudest moment in detail. Other students were allowed to ask questions to clarify parts of the story when necessary. Then the students made a list of the attributes and skills that had to be involved in order for the student to accomplish whatever it was that had made them most proud. The individual lists of attributes were then given to the student who had presented. Homework Assignment: There was no homework assignment given to follow up on this activity. Lesson 4: Exploring Careers By this point, the students had had a chance to explore their perceptions of themselves. They had been encouraged to consider what is meaningful to them through focused activities. The next step was to begin exploring careers. This lesson was intended to help students consider career options that are less common and to begin associating specific attributes and skills with different careers. Activity #1: Unusual Jobs Jigsaw. Students were given access to online resources for the purpose of exploration. Students were divided into groups and each given a specific resource or collection of resources to investigate (See Appendix for a list of resources used). Students

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were asked to work within their group and their resource to find three jobs that they found most surprising or interesting. Once the group had chosen three careers, they conducted minor research (See appendix for organizer used). Students were required to record specific information and cite the websites where the information came from. The class spent a little bit of time looking at examples of web resources and identifying which ones are more reliable than others. Students were also encouraged to use more than one resource in order to verify the information they found. Activity #2: Career Profiling. The class chose a few of the jobs discussed in the first activity. For each job, students were asked to brainstorm attributes and skills necessary to do the job. Students were then asked to compare the attributes necessary to do each job with their own list of attributes and skills. If they found a job that required similar skills to what they had listed, we discussed whether or not they thought they would enjoy that specific job. Assignment: Students were required to choose a job that they were interested in. They needed to be prepared to do research in their next class. Lesson 5: Career Research Students came to class prepared with a career that they were interested in. This lesson was intended to help students understand the preparation and work involved in achieving career goals. Additionally, the lesson was intended to allow students to practice researching a specific career. Activity #1: Teacher Exemplar. The instructor brought an example of a completed research project to show students what was expected of them.

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Assignment: Students were required to conduct research on the career of their choice. Information required included: schooling required; schools in the province/country offering programming; yearly salary or hourly wage; description of the work environment; positive aspects of the job; and negative aspects of the job. All information had to be accurately cited. Information needed to be presented in poster format so that other students could view it in the following class. See appendix D. Student Examples in Appendix E. Lesson 6: Wrap-Up This lesson was intended to tie the career planning work together and create closure. Students handed in their Career Research projects. The instructor handed out copies of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. The class read the poem and discussed metaphorical interpretations that may relate to career education. Method of Evaluating the Units Effectiveness Formative Assessment Method: All of the assignments listed in the unit plans were methods of formative assessment.

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They allowed the instructor to see the depth of thought and reflection that students were putting into their work. In addition, classroom discussions and conversations were used to formatively assess students understanding of ideas and assignments. Assignment handouts and exemplars can be found in the appendices. Formative Assessment Results: Based on my observations of the formative assessments; I noticed a lot more engagement from some students than others. Typically, the students who felt that they had already chosen the

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING career that they wanted to pursue were less likely to be engaged in class activities and projects. In addition, perhaps because the majority of the class was made up of adolescent males, there

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was a low level of engagement in self-exploratory activities. The male students were much easier to engage in the actual research project. The small school environment and exceptionally small class made it difficult to engage students in self-exploratory activities. Students who have spent ten years in class with the same group of peers tend to know a lot about each other. When students were sharing their pride stories, most of the other students already knew about the event. Some of the pride stories were based on victories in basketball and rugby. Several of the students had played on the same team together. Circumstances like this made it difficult for students to be engaged in activities because there was no new information presented to them. The photo essay was one of the biggest indicators of student engagement. Unlike the classroom activities, during which some students seemed very reserved, the photo essay was done individually. Students could present sincere feelings and ideas without worrying about what their classmates think. Some of the photo essays were very thoughtful and revelatory, while others were very limited. It was apparent that some students did not engage well in the activity. Although the class discussed the idea of identity through literature, and made connections to the importance of personal meaning in choosing a career, the idea seemed to be lost on some students. However, it did appear to be more of an unwillingness to participate than an inability to understand the concept. Summative Assessment:

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING The summative assessment form for this unit requires students to consider the

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effectiveness of activities in helping them to meet the career planning objectives. The summative assessment did not address outcomes for ELA or ICT. Its purpose was only to gauge the effectiveness of the unit in terms of career planning for research purposes. See assessment form in the appendices. Part 1. Students indicated whether or not they participated in the unit activities. Table 1 Part 1: Completion of Activities Activity Gratitude List Answering the 99 year-old question Photo Essay Pride Story Unusual Job Research Career Research Project I didnt do it 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (9%) 0 (0%) I did it 11 (100%) 11 (100%) 11 (100%) 11 (100%) 10 (91%) 11 (100%)

Note: Overall on average, 98.5% of students completed all activities. Incomplete activities were a result of student absence. Part 2. Students were asked to provide feedback on their perception of the helpfulness of each of the unit activities. Table 2 Part 2: Helpfulness of Activities

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Activity Gratitude List Answering the 99 year-old question Photo Essay Pride Story Unusual Job Research Career Research 1 (9%) 1 (9%) 1 (9%) 1 (9%) 3 (27%) 3 (27%) 6 (54%) 3 (27%) 7 (63%) 7 (63%) 3 (27%) 7 (63%) Not good at all 2 (18%) 2 (18%) Good 4 (36%) 4 (36%) Great 5 (45%) 5 (45%)

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Note: Overall, 85.5% of students reported that the assignments and activities were either good or great. Part 3. The final section of the evaluation asked students to judge how well the unit plan met the objectives for Career Education. Table 3 Part 3: Evaluation of Career Education Unit Plan I Dont Agree This unit plan helped me to learn a lot about myself This unit plan helped me to learn a lot about careers 1 (9%) 1 (9%) 9 (81%) 2 (18%) Im Not Sure 3 (27%) I Agree 6 (54%)

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING This unit plan made me excited about what I could do with my life This unit plan made me want to learn more about different careers Note: Overall, on average 76.5% of students agreed that the unit met objectives related to 1 (9%) 2 (18%) 8 (72%) 2 (18%) 4 (36%) 5 (45%)

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learning about careers, while only 54% of students agreed that the unit met objectives related to learning about themselves, and 45% of students expressed that they were excited about what they could do with their lives.

Discussion of Results and Future Directions Teaching Career Education as a part of ELA 20-1 was difficult. Coming into a small school, where students know all of the other teachers made it difficult to connect with students right away. The unit was taught at the beginning of the semester so that it could serve as an introduction between the teacher and students. However, the absence of a pre-established relationship made it difficult to engage students in conversations and activities. This unit plan would be more successful if a stronger teacher/student relationship was developed before beginning the unit. Building a trusting relationship with students before the unit would encourage participation for students in discussions of personal experiences and feelings and would help students feel more comfortable sharing personal reflections and opinions.

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Many of the students in this class seemed to be strongly motivated by grades. If more of the activities were designed so they could be submitted and assessed it may increase student engagement in the activities. Many of the students in this class seemed to view the actual researching of a career to be more practical and useful to them. Although the theory behind Career Education is grounded in the idea that students need to know themselves and identify what is meaningful to them in order to choose a meaningful career, at this age, it may be a productive idea to spend more time focused on researching and learning about careers. The photo essay assignment was one of the most successful assignments in terms of selfreflection for most students. Taking time to think about experiences that made them most happy, most sad and most proud encouraged meaningful reflection for most students. Taking time to think about a future plan or dream worked as a good introduction into researching careers.

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING References Alberta Education. (2003). English language arts [ELA 10-1, 10-2, 20-1, 20-2, 30-1, 30-2]. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/645805/srhelapofs.pdf Alberta Education. (). Information and communication technology kindergarten to grade 12. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/program/ict/programs.aspx Magnusson, K. (1992). Career counseling techniques. Edmonton, Alberta: Life-Role Development Group. Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Perry, N.E., Winne, P.H., and Woolfolk, A.E. (2012). Education psychology (5th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada.

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Appendix A: Ninety-Nine Prompt Imagine that after this school year, all of us lose contact with one another as we carry on with our lives and pursue our goals. When you are ninety-nine years old, your family throws you a huge party because turning ninety-nine is a big accomplishment. Everyone that you know is invited, and I come to your party. When you see me, you say, Mrs. Anderson, I did absolutely everything in life that I ever wanted to. I feel so happy, fulfilled and proud. You then begin to tell me what you have spent your life doing. You tell me everything that you dreamed of doing, and then did.

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DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Appendix B: Photo Essay Assignment For this assignment you must choose and explain the significance of four photos based on the prompts listed below: 1. 2. 3. 4. The time when you felt happiest. The time when you felt saddest. The time when you felt most proud of yourself/something you did. A dream or goal for the future.

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Step 1: Take time to choose an appropriate experience for each prompt. Step 2: Explore and brainstorm creative ways to represent the experience. Step 3: Take photos or find photos to represent your experience. Note: if you choose to use an
image from a website, please make sure to give credit to the photographer and include the url.

Step 4: For prompts 1, 2, and 4 write a brief explanation of what the experience was and why you chose to represent it with the photo you chose. Step 5: For prompt 3 write the story in as much detail as necessary. Include as many relevant details as possible. Step 6: Come to class prepared to share your photo essay with your peers.

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Appendix C: Job Jigsaw

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E20: Career Research

Choose two careers or jobs from the list you have been assigned. The jobs you choose should be: interesting to you; and unfamiliar to you. Write the official job title in the space provided. List three or four specific duties or aspects of the job. Find and record the level of schooling required to do the job. Find and record the high and low as well as average salary of a person working at that job. Make sure you write down the website and url where the information came from.

Job Title

Brief Description of Duties

Schooling Necessary

High/Low/Average Salary

Website: Article Title: Author: Url:

Website: Article Title Author: Url:

Website: Article Title Author: Url:

Website: Article Title Author: Url:

Website: Article Title Author: Url:

Website: Article Title Author: Url:

DEFINING THE SELF: LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CAREER PLANNING Appendix D: Career Research You will conduct research on the career of your choice. Please remember to consider the

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credibility of any websites that you use. You will organize the information that you gather into a poster format. Step 1: Choose a career you would like to research. Step 2: Find the following information about the career that you have chosen: Remember to record where you found the information: title of the website, author, title of article, date, URL. Does the job require post-secondary schooling? How much? o How many years of school are required? o What are the high school pre-requisites for admittance to the program? o Which schools offer the necessary programming? o How much will tuition cost? What is the yearly salary/hourly wage for the job? o Minimum, maximum and average wage. o Benefits? Describe the work environment: o Indoors or outdoors? o Independent or collaborative? (Do you work alone or with others?) o Shift work? Time off? o Will you be required to travel? o Do you work with animals? Describe three things that you think are positive aspects of the job and three things that you think are negative aspects of the job.

Step 3: Organize the information you found onto a poster. Include pictures where appropriate. Make sure that your information is clearly labeled and logically placed. Include a reference section.

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Appendix E: Student Examples (Career Research Project) The following pages contain examples of the Career Research projects that students from this class completed.