Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

The Importance of Elementary Career Counseling

Carolyn R. Frasier
Career Counseling 620
University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

There is evidence in research literature that career development is a lifelong process

beginning in childhood. Gysbers and Moore (1975) conceptualized career development as a
lifelong process that influenced and was influenced by ones life roles, settings, and events.
Elementary Career Counseling is important in the life of a student. During the elementary years,
children are formulating a sense of self through interactions with peers, teachers, parents, and
community members (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009). School counselors help elementary
students as they learn about careers and make tentative judgments about the careers they would
like to have (Auger, Blackhurst & Herting-Wahl, 2005). The implementation of elementary
career counseling will result in more successful and more aspiring futures for our students.
Without early interventions, students may aspire for less than their capabilities.
The ASCA and NCDG guidelines set the stage for the importance of elementary career
counseling. The ASCA National Model identifies career development as an essential component
in effective school counseling programs, addressing the needs of students beginning in prekindergarten. The ASCA National Model implements three career standards: 1) Standard A:
Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self
and to make informed career decisions, 2) Standard B: Students will employ strategies to
achieve future career goals with success and satisfaction, and 3) Standard C: Students will
understand the relationship between personal qualities, education, training, and the world of
work (ASCA, 2005). If children at the elementary level are making choices, or failing to make
choices, that influence their career goals and plans, the national model implies that elementary
school counselors need to become involved in helping students in the process of career
development.
Districts, school administration, staff, and counselors need to see the importance of these
career standards in elementary schools. Studies have shown if we wait until middle or high

Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

school to introduce career development, it may be too late. Research supports Gottfredsons
theory of how occupations/aspirations begin to be shaped by social influences such as gender
expectations, social prestige, and perceived difficulty of the career (Gottfredson, 1981). During
preschool to college years, particularly between the ages of 9 to 13 (beginning in grades 4
through 6) children develop an orientation to social valuation, and at this stage a childs self
concept related to social class and ability becomes an important determinant of social behavior,
including occupational aspirations (Gottfredson, 1981). As a result, the child begins to let go of
occupations of unacceptably low prestige, and rules out occupations requiring too much effort
according to the childs perceived ability level (Gottfredson, 1981). Once rejected as
incompatible with a childs ability level and perceptions of reasonable effort, an occupation is no
longer included in the childs zone of acceptable alternatives and will not be reconsidered at
later stages of development (Gottfredson, 1981, p.557). So, as early as 4th grade, childrens
inaccurate ideas about the effort required to obtain particular jobs may result in a permanent
rejection of those jobs as acceptable occupational alternatives (Gottfredson, 1981). Elementary
students may be unknowingly restricting their career options.
A research study by Auger, Blackhurst, and Herting-Wahl (2003) examined childrens
understanding of vocational preparation requirements for 15 well known jobs and participants
preferred occupations. The study suggested that by the 5th grade, students have developed the
conceptual framework necessary to understand vocational preparation requirements. By 6th or 7th
grade, students may have already begun adjusting both their aspirations and their expectations
downward. Waiting until middle school to educate students about the vocational preparation
requirements unnecessarily limits students vocational choices (Auger et al., 2003).
An appropriate goal of school counselors is to enhance students knowledge of the scope
of career choices, and to encourage students not to eliminate careers prematurely, or limit

Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

vocational preparation. Providing specific information about the vocational training required for
jobs is developmentally appropriate and necessary for elementary students to form realistic
educational and occupational goals (Auger et al., 2003). It appears important decisions are being
made by elementary students about the types of careers they want to have and expect to have.
School counselors can provide career exploration activities with elementary students rather than
waiting until middle school, helping students develop an awareness of personal abilities, skills,
interests, and motivations (ASCA, 2005, p.104). In career awareness programs, elementary
students remain open to new career ideas and possibilities (Askew, 2008). Elementary students
build awareness of self, person interactions, school, and the workforce (Askew, 2008).
Providing elementary students with career information is of utmost importance.
Counselors, also allow students to be open to the possibilities of careers by nurturing an
environment where their curiosity can grow (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009). Curiosity
prepares the student for exploring, and children show curiosity through fantasy and play, by
pretending they are firefighters, doctors, nurses, teachers, army men/women, sport players, etc.
(Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009). Counselors can guide curiosity to help students learn
information about themselves. Encouraging students to explore activities allows the student to
process what they learn about themselves as a result of participating in exploratory activities, and
it gives the student a sense of what may be possible (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009). These
activities are preparing them for the career development tasks of adolescence (Niles & HarrisBowlsbey, 2009).
Magnuson and Starr (2000) suggested that development of the skills required for
effective life career planning must begin early. As children grow into young adults they will be
prepared to pursue age appropriate occupational decision making. Life planning skills become
habit for the students. If counselors provide opportunities for students to develop skills required

Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

for life career planning, We empower them to become all they are capable of becoming
throughout their lives and in all aspects of their lives (Magnason and Starr, 2000, p. 90). School
counselors help to build connections between academics and life situations, and counselors stress
the importance of how the core classes will build the necessary skills for their future workplace
(Askew, 2008). Preliminary career education skills serve as foundation for future skills, and as
the students progress previous skill are reinforced, developed, and expanded (Askew, 2008).
The elementary years are not too early to begin to achieve a vision of what one desires to
do in life contributing to the world of work (Askew, 2008). In career awareness programs,
students become knowledgeable about themselves, other people, and the world of work and
workers (Magnuson & Starr, 2000). Career awareness experiences enable students to
accommodate and assimilate accurate information about themselves and other people into their
thinking. Career exploration experiences help elementary students process knowledge about
themselves, their skills and their aptitudes in relation to work related tasks (Magnuson & Starr,
2000). Age appropriate activities expose students to a variety of different jobs, career
information sources, and the reasons why people work. Career programs that introduce
elementary students to the world of work and help them to understand the connection between
what they are learning in school and what is expected in the work world are essential to promote
lifelong learning, a productive educational environment, and future successful transitions from
school to work to life (Palladino-Schultheiss, 2005). Students should be encouraged to
participate in activities that will encourage self and career exploration to stimulate interest in
their future.
The elementary years are a critical time in the formation of ideas and perceptions about
self and world. Career development goals for elementary school students should be directed at
helping students develop basic skills and awareness in the following areas (a) self knowledge;

Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

(b) skills to interact with others; (c) basic skills in educational and occupational exploration;
(d) awareness of the benefits of educational achievement; (e) awareness of the relationship
between work and learning; (f) basic skills to understand and use career information; (g)
awareness of the importance of personal responsibility and good work habits; (h) awareness of
how work relates to the needs and functions of society; (i) an understanding of how to make
decisions; (j) awareness of the interrelationship of life roles; (k) awareness of different
occupations and changing male/female roles; and (l) awareness of the career planning process
(Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009). With the school counselors encouragement, students will
develop the ability to consider alternatives, to set goals, to plan a course of action to meet goals
and to engage in self-assessment (Magnuson & Starr, 2000). School counselors will help them
to become active participants in their own lives, rather than passive reactors to life events
(Magnuson & Starr, 2000). Intentionality incorporating the concepts of career awareness,
exploration, and planning into students early experiences as they are making decisions about
themselves and the world will encourage the process of life career planning, which will result in
a more successful and more aspiring future for each student.

Running head: ELEMENTARY CAREER COUNSELING

References
American School Counselor Association (2005). The ASCA National Model: A Framework
for School Counseling Programs, 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Askew, M. (2008). Elementary school career education. The need, basics, examples, and
guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.selfgrowth.com/print/554284
Auger, R., Blackhurst, A., and Herting-Wahl, K. (2003). Childrens perception of vocational
preparation requirements. Professional School Counseling, 12, 58-67.
Auger, R., Blackhurst, A., and Herting-Wahl, K. (2005). The development of elementary-aged
childrens career aspirations and expectations. Professional School Counseling, 4, 322329.
Gottfredson, L. (1981). Circumscription and compromise: A developmental theory of
occupational aspirations. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 545-579.
Gysbers, N. and Moore, E. (1975). Beyond career development-life career development.
Personnel and Guidance Journal, 53, 647-652.
Magnuson, C. and Starr, M. (2000). How early is to early to begin life career planning? The
importance of the elementary years. Journal of Career Development, 27(2), 89-101.
Niles, S. and Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2009). Career Development Interventions in the 21st Century.
3rd ed. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Palladino-Schultheiss, D. (2005). Elementary career intervention programs: Social action and
initiatives. Journal of Career Development, 31(3), 185-190.