1 Road to the Right Choice

Introduction
Module 1 of Grade 11 Career Guidance Manual entitled “Road to the Right Choice” covers
different professions and life choices for Grade 11 learners. It provides information on the
different senior high school curriculum exits and regulated professions that will facilitate their
career decision making as they pursue college. This module also tackles the different factors
affecting learners’ life and career choices considering that deciding for career and life is not an
easy task for Grade 11 learners.
As facilitator of this module, you will help the learners identify these factors and lead
them to appreciate how these factors affect their choices of profession.
Total Time Allotment: 90 minutes (1.5 hours)
Materials
• manila paper/old newspapers
• crayons
• colored pens
• pentel pen
• scissors
• construction papers/art papers/colored papers
• glue
• paste
• staplers
• scotch tapes
Note to the Teacher: Alternative or recycled materials may be used in case those mentioned are
not available.

I. Objectives

At the end of this module, the learners are expected to:

1. enumerate the different professions and life choices;
2. explain the different factors affecting the choices in life and profession; and
3. appreciate the factors in choosing a profession.

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 II. Motivation (20 minutes)

Directions
1. Ask the learners to pick a sheet of colored paper from the box.
2. Group the learners according to the color of paper they picked.
Red – Academic Track
Blue – Arts and Design Track
Green – Technical Vocational and Livelihood Track
Yellow – Sports Track
3. Each group will be given a set of materials.
4. The group will design a simple costume representing the cluster of
profession/vocation assigned to their group. The group will choose a representative
who will wear the costume.
5. The group will then discuss about the track assigned to them including other
professions related to the track.
6. The representative will model the costume, introduce the track, and cite other
professions related to the track his/her group is representing.

Guide Questions
1. What did your group do to come up with the costume? with the introduction about
the track?
2. How did you feel while doing the different stages of the activity?
3. Do you see yourself in any of the clusters in the near future? Why?

III. Main Activity (20 minutes)

Activity 1.1: Sikreto sa Tagumpay ni Selina

1. Distribute the copies of Activity Sheet No. 1 to the learners.
2. Tell the learners to read the story.
3. Allow them to reflect about the story read and to accomplish the activity sheet.
4. Participants will go to their original groupings and share their reflections.
5. After the small group sharing, ask a representative from each group to share what
they have discussed during the small group sharing.

Guide Questions 1. What does the story

tell about?

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 2. According to the story, what factors affected the career choices of the character in
the story?
3. How did these factors help the character in her choice of career?
4. As a student in senior high school, will you also consider these factors?
5. Considering these factors, do you think you will make a good choice of career? Why?

IV. Lecturette

Factors Affecting Career and Life Options

“I am convinced that every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young
to use their own minds. For one thing is sure: If they don't make up their minds,
someone will do it for them.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
(You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life)

Ask students reflect on the quotation and answer the questions.

What or who influenced your choice of senior high school track and strand
―was it your personal decision? your parent’s decision? because of pressure
from friends?

Life is a choice. Our choices are influenced by different factors ― personal, family,
or social. These influences are unique in every individual and dependent upon the situation
the individual is in at that time the choice was made.

Personal Factors

Skills and Abilities. Are you aware of your skills and abilities? Do you know what
you are capable of doing? When individuals are in jobs best suited to their abilities, they
perform best and their productivity is highest. Parson's Trait and Factor Theory of
Occupational Choice emphasized the importance of analyzing one’s skills, values, interests,
and personality and then match these up to jobs which use these.

Interest and Personality Types. Do you know your interests and personality type?
Holland's Career Typology established a classification system that matches personality
characteristics and personal preferences to job characteristics. According to John Holland's
theory, most people are one of six personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social,
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 enterprising, and conventional. Knowing your personality will help you understand
yourself. It matters that your personality fits your career choice.

Career and Life Choices

PERSONAL FAMILY SOCIAL

Skills and abilities Parental influence Influence of friends
Interests and Beliefs and and peers
personality types traditions Influence of
Life roles Financial media/technology
Previous resources Industry demands
experiences and expectations

Life Roles. What do you think is your role in life―a leader? an organizer? a mediator? a
designer? According to Super's Lifespan Theory, how we think about ourselves in these roles,
their requirements of them, and the external forces that affect them, may influence how we
look at careers in general and how we make choices for ourselves.

Previous Experiences. Did you think of pursuing a task which you have been successful in
the past? One aspect of the Social Cognitive Career Theory addresses the fact that we are likely
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to consider continuing a particular task if we have had a positive experience doing it. In this
way, we focus on areas in which we have had proven success and achieved positive self-esteem.

Childhood Fantasies. “What do you want to be when you grow-up?” Perhaps this
frequently asked question during our childhood years may have helped shape what we thought
we would be then, as well as later in life.

Family Factors
“The matter of choosing a career in the Philippine setting is clearly a family affair.”
(Clemena, 2002)

Parental Influence. How many percent of your career decision is influenced by your
parents? Many children grow up idealizing the professions of their parents. Parents may
intentionally or unintentionally push their child towards a particular career path, especially in
the cases of family-owned businesses where parents expect their children to take over the
company. Still other parents apply pressure on their offspring to strive for particular high-
profile careers, feeling they are encouraging their children to reach high. If your parents were
uneducated or were always struggling to get by financially, you may decide not to be in the
same position. This may prompt you to pursue a totally different career path―to have a stable,
high-earning job. Likewise, if you have parents who are workaholics and were never around
when you were a child, you may decide to pursue a line of work with flexibility that gives you
more time with your children.

Financial Resources. In choosing a career or profession, there is a need to consider the

capability to support the course or career to be pursued. Social Cognitive Career Theory and
Social Learning address this and recognize that events that take place in our lives may affect the
choices available to us and even dictate our choices to a certain degree. When your family has
limited financial resources for instance, will you insist on pursuing medicine? Or would you
rather take up other related courses first and pursue medicine when you are capable of
shouldering the expenses yourself?

Family Beliefs and Traditions. Beliefs and traditions is another family factor to consider
when making a career choice. It is tradition for example that all male siblings in the clan take
up engineering courses. Being a family tradition, this could somehow be relevant when making
a career choise.

Social Factors

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 Influence of Media/Technology. The influence of social media may have positive and
negative effects. Nowadays, career information is available to 21st century learners.
These information may be used or may influence you in deciding for their career.

Influence of Friends and Peers. Peer pressure is common among learners. There are
learners who decide on the career to pursue based on the opinion or choice of their friends.
Who among you will choose the same course as your friends? Why? There are many reasons
for this―you want to be in, or would not want to make new friends and make new
adjustments, too much attachment to old friends.

Industry Demands and Expectations. Our career choices take place within the context of
society and the economy. Graduates have been practical in considering the demands and
expectations of the industries before coming up with their career decisions. These guide them
in deciding what to do and where to go. Changes in the economy and resulting job market may
also affect how their careers develop.

As senior high school learners, are you aware of the different choices of professions and
career? Do you know where to go after senior high school?

The Senior High School Program has four curriculum exits. You can choose to be
employed right after graduation or pursue the development of your technical and vocational
skills. You can also decide to be an entrepreneur or pursue higher education. For a clearer
understanding, the following are the senior high school curriculum exits:

Senior High School Curriculum Exits

Employment
The Senior High School (SHS) program opens up employment opportunities for graduates. SHS
graduates of the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) track may apply for TESDA Certificates
of Competency (COCs) and National Certificates (NCs). Partnerships with different companies
for technical and vocational courses expose students to the real world of work. Students also
gain work experience while studying, and companies can even hire them after they graduate.

Entrepreneurship
With the inclusion of an entrepreneurship subject in the curriculum, SHS graduates are better
equipped for small-scale business activities, such as running the family business or starting
one’s own business.

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Higher Education
By the time you graduate from SHS, you will have the standard knowledge, skills, and
competencies needed for higher education. Also, some subjects in the College General Education
curriculum have now been integrated into the SHS curriculum. These subjects will be taken out
of the college curriculum, leaving only the subjects that are more focused and relevant to your
chosen course or major.

Middle Level Skills Development

Standard requirements built into the TVL track ensure that graduates have good job knowledge
in their chosen specializations. In the same way that SHS graduates are better prepared for
college, they are also equipped for developing more specialized skills in technical-vocational
schools.

(Before presenting the list of regulated professions, let the students pick from the wall the
prepared strips of different professions and post these under the right cluster on the board. After
the activity, check whether the professions were properly attached to the right cluster or not,
then discuss.)

Regulated Professions per Cluster

Cluster of Professions Regulated Professions

Medical and Health Nursing, Medicine, Medical Technology, Radiology

Technology, Nutrition, Pharmacy, Optometry, Dentistry,
Respiratory Therapy, Physical Therapy and Occupational
Therapy, Midwifery, Veterinary Medicine

Engineering Aeronautical, Agricultural, Chemical, Civil, Electrical,

Profession Cluster Electronics, Geodetic, Mechanical, Metallurgical, Mining,
Naval Architecture and Marine, Sanitary

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 Business, Education Accountancy, Criminology, Customs Broker, Guidance and
and Social Work Counseling, Librarians, Marine Deck Officers, Marine
Professions Cluster Engine Officers, Professional Teachers, Psychology, Real
Estate Service, Social Workers

Technology Cluster Agriculture, Architecture, Chemistry, Environmental

Planning, Fisheries, Foresters, Geology, Interior Design,
Landscape Architecture, Master Plumbers
Source: Professional Regulation Commission Guide
Questions
1. Given the different career and life choices through the senior high school curriculum
exits and clusters of regulated professions, were you able to decide where to go after
senior high school?
2. Did you find it helpful to know the different professions and other life choices?
3. What is the importance of considering the different factors in choosing your
profession/vocation?
4. What is your insight about this statement from Confucius?
“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

V. Application (10 minutes)

Activity 1.2: Reasons Behind My Choices

1. Distribute Activity Sheet No. 2 to the learners.
2. Allow the learners to reflect and accomplish the activity sheet.
3. Learners will go to their original groupings and share their reflections with the group.
4. After the small group sharing, ask a representative from each group to share what
they have discussed during the small group sharing.

VI. Reflection (5 minutes)

Write your insights gained from the session. Complete the following phrases.

1. I learned that
________________________________________________________________

2. I felt
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 ________________________________________________________________

3. I would (action to be taken)

________________________________________________________________

VI. Evaluation

Activity 1.4: Knowing the Right Choice

Identify three professions/careers that you would possibly pursue, enumerate the factors
affecting your choices, and write your insights about your choices.

Profession/Life Factors Affecting Insights/Lessons

Choices the Choices Learned

First Choice

Second Choice

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 Third Choice

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