Research Paper on:
Stuent Work Preparation and School Counselors

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR WORK , October, 2001 properly! Over the last twenty-five years, the thoughts  and perspectives regarding career guidance in schools has shifted from career and vocational development only during the high school years to a much broader view. The most recent perspective is  that career development is appropriate throughout the childs schooling years. The role of the school counselor at different grade span levels is to coordinate and act as a consultant in  "developing a continuous, sequential, and integrated program" (Marino, 1998). Career counseling and guidance programs in most public schools are founded on specific processes that include: 1. Classroom instruction 2.  Counseling 3. Assessment 4. Career information 5. Placement 6. Consultation 7. Referral (Marino, 1998). The importance of these seven areas is the not the process  itself but the specific content each area includes. This is where the school counselor can be of particular help. McIntosh stated: "School counselors at every academic level play a  significant role in promoting personal and career development of students that will continue throughout life. In elementary school settings, counselors focus on each student developing healthy self esteem, successfully relating  to others and beginning career awareness. In middle and high school settings, counselors focus on the increasingly complex integration of personal and career knowledge to facilitate student decision-making" (2000, p.  621). This is an especially important premise in the goal of helping students make wise and thoughtful career decisions. The focus at the elementary years is not to attempt  to move children into any sort of choice regarding the career or occupation they would want to enter as adults but rather to prepare them by developing self-esteem and decision