Career Development and

Career Guidance
Much has been written in recent years about the concept of career development
and its applications in various settings. These writings are scattered in a variety
of books, professional journals, conference proceedings, and unpublished pa-
pers and reflect a diversity of opinion. Because of this, the American Vocational
Association and the National Vocational Guidance Association felt the need to
bring together in a position statement the basic elements of career development
and examine its potential for all of education, from kindergarten through
adult hood.
To accomplish this, the associations established a joint commission in 1971
to prepare a position paper on career development. Commission members
included W. Wesley Tennyson, chairman, William Bingham, Harry Drier,
Charles Foster, Kenneth Hoyt, Doris Jefferies, David H. Pritchard, Robert A.
Williams, Norman C. Gysbers (unofficial), Allan J. Miller (unofficial), Harold
Reed (unofficial) and Donald Severson (unofficial). The group's recommended
paper was reviewed and modified by the AVA Guidance Division's Policy and
Planning Committee and the NVGA Board of Directors.
The resulting paper is a partial response to the need for a coherent policy in
that it describes the concept of career development in general terms, but
discussion of its application is limited specifically to the school setting. In
discussing the application of career development to the school, however, it is
important to understand that details, such as the nature of the delivery systems
needed to implement this concept, are not covered in this paper. Such discus-
sion is needed but is not within the scope of this paper.
The paper was officially adopted by the Board of Directors of the National
Vocational Guidance .4ssociation in May 1973. The Board of Directors of the
American Vocational Association officially adopted it as an American Voca-
tional Association Guidance position paper on career development in July 1973.
.4 position paper such as this is the result of the work of many people and
thus may not represent the opinion of any one individual or group. It was
written to stimulate thought and discussion. Among the many uses this docu-
ment has are the following:
I t can serve as a rationale for state and federal legislation on career
guidance, counseling, and placement.
I t can serve as an aid in developing new programs or improving and
extending existing programs a t the state and local level.
I t can be used by federal, state, and local educational personnel in
preservice and inservice education.

A National Vocational Guidnnce Aaociation and American Vocational Armciation Joint Parition Paper.
Reprintedpennirsionof National Vocational Guidance Apociation. Reprints availablefrom American Ptrsonnel
and Guidance Armciation Publications Sakssforjjly cents. ,
JUNE1975 73
 PART I

Tbe Process of Career Development

In order to be whole persons, men and women naturally must engage in

activities they consider to be significant. The need to make judgments about
using time and assuming roles recurs throughout life. .A person formulates a
career by continuously evaluating both what he wants to do with his life and the
actions that will enable him to achieve his personal goals. Career development
occurs as educational and vocational pursuits interact with other life pursuits. It
continues throughout life.

Career Development as Part of Human Development

As with other normal aspects of human development, career development is not
totally dependent upon external forces or programs. Rather, it reflects a per-
sonal growth pattern that, in some respects, differs for each individual. How-
ever, certain common patterns of growth, coupled with individual variations,
allow generalizations about normal developmental patterns and career sequ-
ences.
Certain basic principles regarding human development apply whether one
speaks about physical, emotional, intellectual, social, or career development.
These are as follows:
1. Development occurs during the lifetime of an individual. It can be
described in maturational terms denoting progression through life stages and
the mastery of developmental tasks a t each stage. .LUthough research e r~T'dence
is lacking, it seems unlikely that intervention can substantially shorten this
maturational process.
2. Individual development is influenced by both heredity and environ-
ment. Psychological, sociological, educational, political, economic, and physi-
cal factors affect development. .Appropriate intervention strategies which focus
upon these factors can influence the quality of individual development.
3. Development is a continuous process. Individual development can
best be facilitated by intervention strategies that begin in the early years and
continue throughout the life of the person. Programs which focus only a t certain
points or at certain stages in the individual's life will have limited effectiveness.
4. .Although development is continuous, certain aspects are dominant a t
various periods in the life span. Programs designed to facilitate career develop-
ment should account for the dominant aspects at given stages.
5 . Individual development involves a progressive differentiation and in-
tegration of the person's self and his perceived world. Intervention strategies
need to be designed to assist individuals during normal maturational stages of
career development rather than to provide remedial assistance to individuals
whose development has been damaged or retarded.
6. While common developmental stages can be observed and described
during childhood and adult life, individual differences in progressing through
74 JOURNALOF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
these stages can be expected. Intervention programs should provide for these
differences, making no assumption that something is “wrong” with those who
progress at atypical rates.
7 . Excessive deprivation with respect to any single aspect of human
development can retard optimal development in other areas. Optimal human
development programs are comprehensive in nature, not limited to any single
facet. It is recognized that those who suffer from deprivation may require special
and intensive assistance. Where deprivation is long term, short term interven-
tion is not likely to be sufficient.
Building upon such principles as the foregoing offers the only assurance
that a program of career guidance will have a constructive and educative
influence in shaping human potential and providing the means for its exprssion.

Work Values as Part of Human Values

Just as career development is a part of human development, the values a person
formulates with regard to work and to himself as a worker are a part of his larger
value system. Human values, including work values, begin to develop early in
life. These values are influenced by society and by the attitudes and values held
by family, associates, and peers. The educational institution, as an instrument
of society, plays a decidedly important part in value formation and clarification,
particularly in the clarification of previously formed values that may not be fully
understood. Through the clarification and formulation of values, an individual
finds meaning, direction, and purpose in life and participates as a responsible
citizen. The values a person formulates about workers and their work is a topic
which needs the attention of those who set goals and priorities for education.
The United States was founded when the classical work ethic was univer-
sally held. The ethic embraced a number of work values, including the follow-
ing:
1. .\I1 honest work possesses worth and dignity.
2. A man is known best through his achievements and what he contrib-
utes to society.
3 . .A task well done is its own reward.
4. .A worker should do his very best at all times and not quit a job until it is
finished.
5. Hard work is the best and surest route to occupational success.
6. The pride an individual can find in himself is derived, in large part,
from the pride he finds through achievement in his work.
7. A man deserves nothing that he has not earned through his work.
These values and beliefs have played a fundamental part in national prog-
ress. In recent years, the emergence of some new values and a change in the
relative importance of others is markedly altering the nature of jobs and o r g h -
zations, and for many persons, their career development. These changes lead to
a recognition that the United States is experiencing the evolution of a new
epoch: the post-industrial era. In this present period of transition, it is difficult
JUNE1975 7!5
to speak with assurance about values and value positions. Several observations,
however, seem to have validity.
First, for many workers, the classical work ethic no longer constitutes a
viable set of work values. Illthough this ethic was eminently appropriate in the
agrarian period when work was viewed as an essential prerequisite to individual
survival, its base has been somewhat eroded. Today, technology increasingly
provides for material needs and banishes somewhat the fear of scarcity.
Second, technological advances in industrial productivity, stimulated by
both automation and cybernation, have created working conditions that have
further eroded the basis for the traditional work ethic. This is particularly true
for individuals engaged in assembly line jobs where tasks and responsibilities are
narrowly defined and the worker is viewed and treated as an operating unit.
While most employers would be pleased if the classical version of the work ethic
were still regarded as meaningful by all employees, it is a fact that management
decisions and assembly line techniques have affected worker motivation.
Third, the continuing substitution of mechanical and electrical energy for
human energy in performing work will lead eventually to a somewhat greater
emphasis on new careers calling for adaptability, self-expression, and inter-
dependence. With machines increasingly absorbing tasks and activities that are
programmable, future industrial workers will function in situations a-here
programming is not feasible and where a high degree of variability exists. For
those who wilI pursue production-oriented careers, this change in job functions
may lead to a revitalization of the traditional work ethic, though in modified
form.
Fourth, as the nation moves into this post-industrial period, the provision
of services will become increasingly important. An expansion of occupational
opportunities in services is a natural consequence of automation and cyberna-
tion. T h e formulation of work values deeply rooted in a desire to help fellow
humans may well motivate the career development of many individuals. Work
viewed as service may assume a set of values that diverges considerably from
those which underlie work conceived as a means to society’s maintenance. Such
services may still be offered for profit.
Many of the values which characterize the classical version of the work
ethic remain alive and viable in the post-industrial period. Achievement, self-
control, independence and delay of gratification are values that continue to hold
great importance for many individuals, directing their vocational behavior and
molding their career development. For others however, and particularly for
some young people, values of self-expression, interdependence, service, and
search for meaning in work are playing a more prominent role in the way they
structure their work lives. In facilitating career development, educators should
not attempt to impose any particular set of work values on all. Yet education
must provide each student with the opportunity to develop a comprehensive set
of personal values upon which he can rely when making career plans and
decisions. Today more than ever before, there is every reason to allow students
to explore their own basic natures and to formulate career plans in keeping with
76 JOURNAL OF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
their own values. Perhaps the single most important characteristic of the post-
industrial era will be the tolerance it accords to the individual’s human values.

The Meaning of Career

One may view “career” from several perspectives. In general, the term is defined
differently depending on whether the viewer seeks to relate it to institutions,
organizations, and occupations, or whether he intends to relate it to persons. At
one extreme is the equation of career and occupation, including the advances a
person makes in his occupation. At the other extreme is the view that career
denotes a general life pattern which includes virtually all activities. Some
writers would delimit the latter interpretation by suggesting the major life
domains which engage the individual in multiple roles-e.g., worker, family
member, community participant, and leisure-time participant.
Between these two extremes, some sociologists and psychologists have
used the term “career” to refer to the sequence of occupations, jobs, and
positions held during the course of life. This definition may be applied in
considering developmental movement through societal structures, but it con-
veys no sense of an active person interacting with his environment.
The position taken in this paper is that the term “career” means a time-
extended working out of a purposeful life pattern through work undertaken by
the individual. Career can easily be differentiated from the term “career de-
velopment,” which refers to the total constellation of psychological, sociologi-
cal, educational, physical, economic, and chance factors that combine to shape
the career of any given individual.
The meaning of the word “career” then, is directly dependent upon the
meaning attached to the word “work.” Work, as conceived for this paper, may
be defined as an expenditure of effort designed to effect some change, however
slight, in some province of civilization. It is not simply an arbitrary or gratuitous
action, but something which, from some viewpoint within society, ougbt to be
done. The concept carries the intention that human effort will lead to an
improvement of the individuals’ own condition or that of some element of
society.
Viewed in this way, work is not directly attached to paid employment. It
may also include efforts of an educational or a vocational nature. Thus, educa-
tion for work, as well as certain elements of leisure undertaken to benefit society
or which contribute to a sense of individual purpose and achievement, are
included in this definition.
While these definitions provide a framework for the educator who will
facilitate career development, it must be emphasized that a person’s career does
not unfold independently of other areas of his development.’ Ultimately the
educator, whatever his title, must concern himself with the total developmentof
a person, and this implies a consideration of how work and career mesh with
other life pursuits in a reasoned style of living.
JUNE 1975 77
Freedom to Choose
I\basic value, rooted deeply in moral heritage, political philosophy, and the
traditions of society, is the concept of individual freedom and responsibility.
The strength of this nation in the past has rested in part upon the natural
differences in individual talents and the freedom of each individual to develop
and express his talents in a unique way. The theory underlying career develop-
ment is consonant with this fundamental democratic value. Preservation of the
individual’s integrity disavows any type of prescriptive guidance which com-
mits the individual to particular directions. Individuals, however, must be made
aware of the values society places on different talents and the relative demand for
different kinds of talents.

PART I1

Career Guidance IF an Intervention Process

The Need for Career Guidance

Today there are many social factors which converge to stimulate an interest in
the career development needs of persons of all ages. Some of these are as follows:
1. Growing complexity in the occupational and organizational structure
of society which makes it difficult for a person to assimilate and organize the data
necessary to formulate a career.
2 . Ever more rapid technological change demanding human adaptability
and responsiveness.
3. Increasing national concern with the need to develop all human talent,
including the talents of women and minorities.
4. An ardent search for values which will give meaning to life.
5 . The need for specialized training to obtain entry jobs.
6 . T h e apparent disenchantment expressed by students who have diffi-
culty relating their education to their lives.
Each of these factors impinges on the individual in ways that make achieving
self-fulfillment more difficult.
In the past, some managerial personnel in business and industry have held a
“non-careerism” attitude which viewed the typical job as an isolated event in a
person’s life. Whether this attitude is tenable in the post-industrial period is
seriously questioned today. The evolving view is that a job should be considered
a stage in an integrated, life-long career-a step on a career lattice which involves
both horizontal and vertical dimensions. O n the horizontal level it involves
patterns of choice at one point in time, such as: “Should I combine employment
with study? Or should I engage in volunteer work along with my employment?”
Vertically, it involves choices along a time line, such as: “How do my options or
behavior at this point relate to options or behavior in the near, intermediate or
distant future?” As new questions are raised about the opportunities work
78 JOURNALOF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
provides for learning and self-development, the need for expanded programs of
career guidance becomes apparent.

The Nature of Career Guidance

The nature of guidance for career development cannot be viewed as a static,
tradition-based set of related services that assist individuals in making single
occupational choices. The content of any career guidance program must be
developed from initial assessment of the present and future career development
needs of the individual; it must also account for impinging environmental factors
that could affect the development and fulfillment of career expectations. Career
guidance content can be organized in many ways to facilitate the individual’s
development. Whatever its form, the program should encourage the individual
to assume responsibility for his own career development.
.Icareer guidance program assists the individual to assimilate and integrate
knonledge, experience, and appreciations related to the following career de-
velopment elements.
1. Self-understanding, which includes a person’s relationship to his own
characteristics and perceptions, and his relationship to others and the environ-
ment.
2. Understanding of the work society and those factors that affect its
constant change, including worker attitudes and discipline.
3 . Awareness of the part leisure time may play in a person’s life.
4. Understanding of the necessity for and the multitude of factors to be
considered in career planning.
5 . Understanding of the information and skills necessary to achieve self-
fulfillment in work and leisure.
An illumination of these content areas may include career guidance experi-
ences to insure that each individual:
0 Gathers the kinds of data necessary to make rational career decisions.
0 Understands the necessary considerations for making choices and ac-
cepts responsibility for the decisions made.
Explores the possible rewards and satisfactions associated with each
career choice considered.
0 Develops through work the attitude that he is a contributor to life and
the community.
Determines success and failure probabilities in any occupational area
considered.
Explores the possible work conditions associatied with occupational
options.
Shows an understanding of the varied attitudes toward work and
workers held by himself and by others.
Recognizes how workers can bring dignity to their work.
Considers the possible and even predictable value changes in society
which could affect a person’s life.
JUNE1975 79
 Understands the important role of interpersonal and basic employment
skills in occupational success.
Classifies the different values and attitudes individuals may hold and
the possible effects these may have on decisions and choices.
Understands that career development is lifelong, based upon a sequen-
tial series of educational and occupational choices.
Determines the possible personal risk, cost, and other related conse-
quences of each career decision and is willing to assume responsibility for
each consequence.
Systematically analyzes school and nonschool experiences as he plans
and makes career-related decisions.
Explores the worker characteristics and work skills necessary to achieve
success in occupational areas under consideration.
Identifies and uses a wide variety of resources in the school and com-
munity to maximize career development potential.
Knows and understands the entrance, transition and decision points in
education and the problems of adjustment that might occur in relation to these
points.
Obtains necessary employability skills and uses available placement
services to gain satisfactory entry into employment in line with occupational
aspirations and beginning competencies.

Responsibilities for Facilitating Career Guidance

Effective implementation of career guidance in an educational setting necessi-
tates that guidance leadership identify not only what has to be accomplished,
but who has the capabilities for coordinating and delivering specific program
elements. This is of particular importance if the education establishment is to
reduce the past confusion and misinterpretation of who holds responsibilities for
career guidance and when it should be accomplished. T o some, career guidance
means merely a body of content in which volunteers participate at will; others
see its functions as solely those of the professionally prepared school counselor.
Obviously, neither of these viewpoints is correct. iZ clear identification of those
persons who have primary, secondary, and shared roles and responsibilities in
meeting student career development needs is urgently required.
T o assure program quality, consistency and sequence, some one person
must be assigned responsibility for overall coordination of the career guidance
program. The competencies needed by that person include the following:
1. A thorough understanding ofcareer development theory and research.
2. Group process, human relations, and consultative skills.
3. A knowledge of curriculum and how curriculum is developed.
4. An understanding of the relationship between values, goals, choices
and information in decision-making.
5 . A knowledge of the history of work and its changing meanings.
6 . An understanding of the changing nature of manpower, woman-
power, and economic outlooks.
80 JOURNALOF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
 7. Familiarity with various strategies and resources for facilitating career
development, including the utilization of the school, the community, and the
home.
It is the position of this paper that the guidance specialist possesses many of
these qualifications and is in a position to coordinate the career guidance
program. Other educational personnel having these qualifications also are in a
position to coordinate the program.
The advent of career education has focused the interest of school people
upon the career development needs of young people and has provided an
opportunity for all educational personnel to extend their involvement. Career
guidance, to be functional in meeting the career development needs of today’s
population, must be planned only after accounting for the needs of those to be
served and the impinging environmental conditions that exist. This means,
then, that the combined skills of the guidance team, vocational educators,
academic teachers, administrators, parents, peers, and others in the individual’s
environment need to be identified and appropriate learning experiences pro-
vided to make full use of the contributions they can provide. For descriptive
purposes these role definitions will be discussed under the headings guidance
specialists, vocational educator, academic teacher, principal, peers, and
employers and other community members.

Guidance Specialists

The guidance team has appropriate understandings and competencies to serve

as facilitator and change agent in (1) assisting in school curriculum development
and instructional methods, (2) assisting the individual in his career develop
ment, and (3) communicating with parents and others. The guidance team is
composed of a number of specialists including, but not limited to, education
personnel with the following titles: Elementary Career Development Specialist,
Elementary Counselors, Junior Career Exploratory Teacher, Orientation and
Group Guidance Specialist, Occupational and Educational Information
Specialist, Job Placement Specialist, Post-Secondary Student Personnel Work-
ers, Guidance Counselor, Cooperative Work Experience Coordinator, Voca-
tional Appraisal Specialist.
The responsibilities of the guidance team can be classified as follows:
A. Program Leadership and Coordination
1. Coordinate the career guidance program.
2. Provide staff with the understandings necessary to assist each student
to obtain a full, competency-based learning experience.
3. Coordinate the acquisition and use of appropriate occupational, educa-
tional and labor market information.
4. Help staff understand the process of human growth and development
and assess needs of specific individuals.
5 . Help staff plan for sequential student learning experiences in career
development.
JUNE1975 81
 6. Coordinate the development and use of a comprehensive, cumulative
pupil data system that can be readily used by all students.
7. Identify and coordinate the use of school and community resources
needed to facilitate career guidance.
8. Coordinate the evaluation of students’ learning experiences and use the
resulting data in counseling with students, in consulting with the instructional
staff and parents, and in modifying the curriculum.
9. Coordinate a job placement program for the school and provide for job
adjustment counseling.
10. Provide individual and group counseling and guidance so that stu-
dents will be stimulated to continually and systematically interrelate and ex-
pand their experiences, knowledges, understandings, skills, and appreciation as
they grow and develop throughout life.
B. Student Direction
1. Help each student to realize that each person has a unique set of
characteristics and that, to plan realistically, each must appraise himself fairly.
2. Enable each student to make use of available assessment tools and
techniques in examining his personal characteristics.
3 . .4ssist students in identifying realistic role models.
4. Assist students in developing the employability skills necessary for
entry into employment where opportunities exist.

Vocational Educators
Vocational educators carry many of the same responsibilities as guidance
specialists in facilitating the career development of students who are enrolled in
vocational education courses. Their unique contributions to a comprehensive
career education program may include the following:
1. Provide realistic educational and occupational information to students
and staff based on knowledge of occupational fields and continuous contact with
workers and work settings.
2. Identify and recruit resource persons in the employment community
to assist in the school program.
3. Provide exploratory experiences in vocational classrooms, labs, and
shops for students not enrolled in occupational preparation programs and assist
those teachers who wish to incorporate “hands on” types of activities in their
courses.
4. Identify basic and academic skills and knowledge needed to succeed in
the occupations of their field and communicate this information to academic
teachers and guidance specialists.
5 . .4ssist academic teachers and guidance specialists in designing appro-
priate occupational exploration experiences.
6. Provide students with information about vocational offerings and
guidance specialists with information about the kinds of careers for which
students are prepared.
7 . .4ssist students enrolled in vocational programs to analyze and inter-
82 JOURNALOF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
pret their learning experiences for better understanding of self in relation to
occupations and the world of work.
8. Plan and provide vocational instruction which prepares students to
enter, adjust, progress and change jobs in an occupational field.
9 . .4ssist students in identifying a wide range of occupations for which
their vocational instruction is applicable.
10. Encourage employers to assist in expanding student awareness of
career opportunities.
11. Arrange observation activities or part-time employment for students
and school staff to help them learn more about occupations and work settings.
12. Participate in the planning and implementation of a comprehensive
career education program.

Academic Teachers
The academic teacher also has a vital set of responsibilities in career guidance
which require the ability to accomplish the following:
1. Provide for easy transition of students from home to school, from one
school environment to another, and from school to further education or
employment.
2. Provide students with curriculum and related learning experiences to
insure the development of basic concepts of work and the importance of those
who perform work.
3 . Provide group guidance experiences, with appropriate aid from guid-
ance specialists and vocational educators, to regularly demonstrate the relation-
ship between learning and job requirements.
4. Help parents understand and encourage the career development proc-
ess as it relates to their children.
5 . Provide opportunities within the curriculum for students to have
decision-making experiences related to educational and vocational planning.
6 . Assist students in synthesizing accumulated career development ex-
periences to prepare them for educational transitions.
7 . Provide career exploratory experiences to help students gain an under-
standing of worker characteristics and work requirements.
8. Provide experiences to help students increase their understanding of
their own capabilities, interests and possible limitations.
9 . Provide for career preparation experiences that will enable the indi-
vidual to acquire skills necessary to enter and remain in the world of work at a
level appropriate to his capabilities and expectations.
10. Provide, as an extension of the in-school learning experiences, oppor-
tunities for the individual to experience work first-hand in a non-threatening
environment.

Principals
The principal carries ultimate responsibility in his building for the guidance
program. More specifically, his responsibilities are as follows:
JUNE1975 a3
 1. Provide active encouragement and support of the program.
2. Espouse the idea of career guidance as a responsibility of each staff
member.
3. Commit himself to experimentation and flexibility in program and
curriculum.
4. .4rrange for in-service education of staff in career guidance and human
relations.
5. Organize and encourage the development of a career guidance commit-
tee composed of staff members, students, parents, and community leaders.
6. Provide necessary personnel, space, facilities, and materials.
7. Encourage constant evaluation and improvement of the program.

Community Members
Although school staff members are extremely important in assisting youths in
their career development, there are other persons who also provide valuable
assistance. They include parents, peers, and other community members.
1. Parents-Without question parents can and should be the most influen-
tial role models and counselors to their children: Having some measure of direct
control over the environment in which their children have been reared, they
have the unique opportunity to expose them to experiences appropriate for
self-fulfillment. As their children enter public education, parents share, but do
not give up, the responsibility for their development. Parents who take full
advantage of the information given them by school staff members concerning
the interest, aptitudes, failures, and achievements of their children, can use this
background of information to provide the following career guidance and coun-
seling:
a. Assistance in analyzing their children’s interests, capabilities, and limi-
tations.
b. Explanations of the traits required, and working conditions and life
styles of workers in work areas with which they are most familiar.
c. Discussion of work values developed as a result of past experiences and
of the consequences they have experienced.
d. Discussions of the economic condition of the family as it applies to the
children’s education and training needs and assistance in planning a course
of act ion.
e. Help in using the knowledge, experience, and services of relatives,
friends, fellow workers, and other resources in exploring the world of work
and in planning and preparing for their children’s role in the work society.
f. Provision of a model and counseling to their children during critical
developmental periods of their lives in an attempt to have children establish
and maintain positive attitudes towards themselves and others.
g. Exemplification of the attitude that all persons have dignity and worth
no matter what their position in the world of work.
h. Provision of situations that allow children to experience decision-
making and to accept responsibility for the consequences of their decisions.
84 JOURNALOF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
 i. Maintenance of open communication between school and home so that
the experiences of both settings can be used in meeting student needs.
j. Provision of opportunities for children to work and accept responsibility
of the home and community.
2. Peers--t\s youths establish and experience interpersonal relationships
with their peers, they need to understand how to analyze and use these experi-
ences in their career development. .4person’s friends and associates have an
intense effect upon his values, attitude formation, and career expectations.
Opportunities should be provided to allow young persons to share their ideas
with each other.
The guidance team is in a particular strategic position to capitalize upon the
influence that young persons may have upon each other. Research is beginning
to demonstrate that peer influence can be harnessed and directed to contribute
to the favorable development of youth. The strategy involves teaching selected
youngsters certain skills of counseling and human relations and then using these
young persons in a paraprofessional capacity. T h e use of this or similar
strategies will enable youth and young adults to accurately perceive the chal-
lenges and responsibilities of being an active member of the school’s guidance
team.
3. Employers and Otber Community Members-As contemporary schools
open their doors to allow for expanded community involvement, it is appro-
priate to discuss the possible roles members of the community may play.
Employers, employees, clergy, retired workers, community agency personnel,
and others should be viewed as potential guidance team members. Educators
and parents must be ready and willing to team up with other community
members, especially when they find a child needs specialized information or
assistance related to career development. Employers should provide work sta-
tions and observation experiences and be available as career speakers for school
programs. Industry and business should demand a significant role in the educa-
tion of youth, rather than the token role they’ve had in the past. Since employers
can provide actual work settings, staff who understand the traits of workers, and
skill competencies needed for entry jobs and job retention, it would be tragic if
education failed to utilize this resource.
Career guidance specialists, working in cooperation with vocational
educators, can do much to encourage full use of all community resources
available for the career development of young people.

jUNE 1975 85