Junior High School Curriculum Development for the Utah Model for Career Guidance K-12
Abstract
The study was conducted to develop a process by which teachers and counselors could initiate implement and evaluate career guidance activities in regular junior high school classrooms.
The problem. Junior high school teachers in Utah were not participating with counselors in providing career guidance activities for students.
Purpose. To conduct a pilot program in career guidance in which teachers and counselors at the junior high school level could create student activities which are applicable in the classroom from a pre-designed career guidance model.
Objectives.
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To develop career guidance behavioral objectives and learning activities applicable to teaching in the classroom at the junior high school level.
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To evaluate the activities in a pilot project to determine if they reach the criterion set by the behavioral objectives.
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To publish the developed bheavioral objectives and learning activities as a guide for further program development in junior high schools throughout the State of Utah.
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To develop a contractual process for the purpose of involving counselors and teachers in career guidance activity development.
Sample. The sample involved approximately 800 boys and girls, ages 13-15, at T. H. Bell Junior High School. The staff involved included the principal, one supervisor, two counselors and 16 teachers, five ninth grade, five eighth grade, and six seventh grade teachers as determined by their homeroom assignment.
Data. The data gathered were the written and evaluated activities developed by each teacher.
Observational design. Contracts were written on each of the 56 pre-developed behavioral objectives. The contract stipulated the behavioral objective, time limitations for completion and the criterion level. The teacher, with the assistance of a supervisor or principal, developed activities which met the established criterion. Upon completion, these materials were compiled by a supervisor and final evaluation for correctness and completeness was determined. Upon completion, the teacher received a pre-arranged financial remuneration.
The completed activities were placed in book form to correspond with the behavioral objectives. This placed the teacher developed activities within the total curriculum model at the junior high school level.
Summary. Career guidance activities were written, and tested to determine if they reached criterion level specified by behavioral objectives, and these were then used in junior high school classes. The result of the process was to expand the career guidance offering at one junior high school from two counselors interacting with students to a large portion of the faculty interacting with students relative to their future career choices. It appears that the process developed in this study has merit as it pertains to career guidance activities integrated into regular classrooms. The career guidance model with the developed activities were distributed to junior high schools throughout the state for the purpose of serving as an example of expanding career guidance activities into the regular classroom.