Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice

By Nancy Arthur, Roberta Neault and Mary McMahon

This edited international collection of contemporary and emerging career development theories and models aims to inform the practice of career development professionals around the globe. In addition to serving both new and seasoned practitioners, the book is intended to be used as a text for undergraduate and graduate career counselling courses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CERIC
• Release date: Jan 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781988066363

Nancy Arthur

Dr. Nancy Arthur is a Professor in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. She co-developed the model of Culture-Infused Counselling, which was the basis of an award-winning text.

Book preview

Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice

Copyright © Nancy Arthur, Roberta Borgen (Neault), Mary McMahon, Editors (2019)

Published by:

CERIC

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Suite 300, 2 St. Clair Avenue East

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Website: www.ceric.ca

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ISBN

Paperback - 978-1-988066-34-9

ePDF - 978-1-988066-35-6

Design and layout: Lindsay Maclachlan, White Walnut Design

Cover illustration courtesy of iStock Photo

This material may be used, reproduced, stored, or transmitted for non-commercial purposes. However, the authors’ copyright is to be acknowledged. It is not to be used, reproduced, stored, or transmitted for commercial purposes without written permission from CERIC. Every reasonable effort has been made to identify the owners of copyright material reproduced in this publication and to comply with Canadian Copyright law. The publisher would welcome any information regarding errors or omissions.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1

Active Engagement: Answering the Call for Imagination

Chapter 2

Understanding the Career Development of Children With Dyslexia: The Cultural Preparation Process Model of Career Development

Chapter 3

Culture-Infused Career Counselling: Connecting Culture and Social Justice in Career Practices

Chapter 4

Life Course Theory: Ideas for Career Counsellors

Chapter 5

Implementing the Synergistic Theory of Organizational Career Development

Chapter 6

Sociological Career Theory: Reframing Choice

Chapter 7

The Psychology of Working Theory: A Transformative Approach to Work and Career

Chapter 8

Narrative Career Counselling: The Storied Approach

Chapter 9

Career Self-Determination Theory in Practice

Chapter 10

Decision-Action Model: Overview and Application to Career Development

Chapter 11

Cultural-Historical Activity Theory: Group Career Counselling for Social Justice of Racialized Women

Chapter 12

Career Counselling Using Contextual Action Theory: Key Concepts for Practice

Chapter 13

Schlossberg’s 4S Model of Life Transitions: Assessment and Intervention Planning

Chapter 14

My Career GPS: A Self-Orienting Career Model for People and Organizations

Chapter 15

My Career Chapter: The Dialogical Self as Author and Editor of a Career Autobiography

Chapter 16

Children’s Reasoning about Career Development: The Conceptions of Career Choice and Attainment Model

Chapter 17

KIPINÄ: SPARKS Career Counselling

Chapter 18

Poetic Creativity: The Career Writing Method for Professional Reflexivity in the 21st Century

Chapter 19

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Fuels Innovation of Career Counselling

Chapter 20

Coherent Career Practice: A Framework to Organize Career Development Concepts and Practices

Chapter 21

Career Construction Theory and Its Application

Chapter 22

Conceptualizing Athletic Career Transitions With the Holistic Athletic Career Model

Chapter 23

The Systems Theory Framework of Career Development: Applying Systems Thinking to Career Development Theory and Practice

Chapter 24

Solution-Focused Theory and Career Practice

Chapter 25

Holland’s Theory of Career Choice: Matching Personalities and Environments

Chapter 26

Career Engagement: A Conceptual Model for Aligning Challenge and Capacity

Chapter 27

Hope-Action Theory: Creating and Sustaining Hope in Career Development

Chapter 28

Cognitive Information Processing Theory: Applying Theory and Research to Practice

Chapter 29

Career Development Practices from the Capabilities Perspective of Social Justice

Chapter 30

Hope-Filled Engagement: New Possibilities in Life/Career Counselling

Chapter 31

Relational-Cultural Theory: Exploring How Relationships Influence Career Development

Chapter 32

The Career Counselling With Underserved Populations Model in Practice

Chapter 33

Chaos Theory for Career Counsellors

Chapter 34

Counselling/Psychotherapy: Bringing a Vocational Perspective Into Psychotherapy Practice

Chapter 35

The Continuous Participation Model: The Ever-Evolving Perception of Work

Chapter 36

Social Cognitive Career Theory: Overview and Practical Applications

Chapter 37

SocioDynamic Career Counselling

Chapter 38

Ecological Career Counselling Model: Enhancing Accordance of Person and Environment for a Meaningful Life

Chapter 39

The Space Model for Intrapreneurship: Facilitating the Development of a New Career Role

Chapter 40

Taking Care of Oneself by Taking Care of One’s Work: A Clinical and Critical Perspective on Work and Mental Health

Chapter 41

The Living Systems Theory of Vocational Behaviour and Development

Chapter 42

The Career Development Assessment and Counselling Model of Donald Super

Chapter 43

The Theory of Work Adjustment: Seeking and Maintaining Satisfaction and Satisfactoriness

Knowledge Champions

Praise for Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice

Tables and Figures

List of Tables

Paradigmatic Principles of Life Course Theory

The Central Issues of Organizational Career Development

Participants’ Journey

Interventions According to Levels of Reasoning in the CCCA

Norm Scores of HAI Based on 676 Undergraduate Students in Canada

List of Figures

Schematic of the Functional Process Underpinning My Career GPS

The Compatibility Matrix

Excerpt From Step 4 of MCC Showing the Sentence Stems For One Career Influence

SPARKS Chart

Transformation Through Writing

The ACT Hexaflex

Concepts for Coherent Career Practice

The Systems Theory Framework

The Career Engagement Model

Hope-action Model

Client Version of the Pyramid of Information Processing Domains

The CASVE Cycle: A Guide to Good Decision-making

A Two-dimensional Model of Decision-making Readiness

The Capability of Finding One’s Path

Model of Person, Contextual, and Experiential Factors Affecting Career-related Choice Behaviour

The Space Model for Intrapreneurship

Preface

Who needs theory? Who uses it? What are some new theories and models? How do they apply to practice? Career practitioners may have had a little or a lot of theory in their training, but we invite you to consider which theories and models inform your career practices. Although we certainly value the contributions of our early theorists (e.g., Holland, Super), many classic theories have been updated and new and emerging theories and models have been developed in many different countries around the world. Career practice in contemporary times requires practitioners to be equipped with the latest developments in the field – this includes knowledge about current theories, and models and strategies for applying that knowledge in their work with clients who seek career support. We take this point further to emphasize that ethical career practice requires practitioners to be up-to-date with their knowledge about theory and how theory informs practice.

The impetus for this project came from several crossroads in our collective experiences. The three of us have been involved in curriculum development and instruction of pre-service and post-graduate education, through face-to-face and distributed learning, and we have practised for many years, directly in the field. Looking back, when we were students, we found that the theory texts assigned in our career development courses were very dense and difficult reading, and we were left wondering how to apply theory in practice. Some things have changed a lot since we were students and some things have changed very little! Students in our classes have also commented on the challenges that they have found in understanding and relating to career development theories. They have been keen to learn about how to apply concepts and ideas with their clients. We have also noted that the programs of most professional conferences in career development focus on strategies and techniques, with limited attention paid to theoretical perspectives, and theory-based practices. We wanted to address these gaps with a unique edited collection on the practical applications of career development theory and models.

In 2011, Dr. Roberta Borgen (Neault) led an initiative to update practitioners about theories and models through bringing together colleagues to contribute to the Thoughts on Theories special issue of the Journal of Employment Counseling – the result was a readable summary of the highlights of current theories and models in the developers’ own words. Since that time, contributors to that special issue, in various combinations, have presented their work on panels and workshops at several regional, national, and international conferences. The responses to the journal articles and audience-packed conference presentations were extremely positive – practitioners told us they were excited to hear from leaders in the field and to learn about the classic and emerging theories and models, and they appreciated the tips for practice that were included in the presentations. We heard from the feedback that theory is interesting and useful!

We were also aware of the tendency in the literature towards privileging some theorists and the lack of recognition given to others across many countries. Consequently, we intentionally sought to include colleagues’ work from several different countries. To that end, we received overwhelming support as this edited collection presents the work of authors from four continents and nine countries: Australia, Canada, England, Finland, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. These multi-country perspectives represent a major contribution to the internationalization of the field of career development. We are grateful to our colleagues for supporting the project and for lending their expertise, time, and commitment to writing about the practical applications of their work.

Time passes quickly and here we are in 2019, the year this edited collection was launched at the national career development conference, Cannexus, in Ottawa, Canada. We have compiled a resource with 43 chapters, each addressing a different theory or model relevant to a wide range of career development practitioners across diverse settings. The chapters are organized into three parts. Part I of each chapter provides an overview of the theory or model and the main tenets/principles that are important for practitioner knowledge. Part II of each chapter provides an original case vignette that the authors created to demonstrate the application of their theory or model. Part III of each chapter provides a 1-page summary of practice points, or takeaway notes for use in practice.

The format of the chapters allows for flexibility in the ways that readers might use the content (e.g., a comparison of theoretical premises for approaching a case; using the case studies as stimulus for examining presenting issues and approaches; trying out the practice example and comparing results or discussing how to adapt it to a local setting; comparing the practice points of one or several perspectives). The materials in the book can be used flexibly, selecting and customizing them for individuals, staff groups, or course curricula.

We look forward to hearing about the ways that you have applied the theories and models at work. We hope that you enjoy revisiting classic theories and models to see what is new and what has stood the test of time, being introduced to theories and models you may not have been exposed to, and gaining practical ideas to help you translate concepts from theories and models to your practice settings.

- Nancy, Roberta, and Mary

Acknowledgment

Funding was provided through a Learning and Professional Development Project grant from CERIC.

Dedication

To clients, who have shared hopes, dreams, and possibilities in their lives. To practitioners, who have shared dilemmas, creative practices, and commitment to the field of career development.

Chapter 1

Active Engagement: Answering the Call for Imagination

Norman Amundson

The basic tenets of active engagement were developed over many years, in reaction to changing economic, political, and social contextual variables and the need to be more imaginative and effective with career counselling interventions (Amundson, 2018). For example, broader environmental challenges affecting all contexts included expanded globalization, technological and informational advances, demographic shifts, global terrorism, and financial upheaval (Amundson, 2005, 2006). At a personal level, these challenges resulted in greater unpredictability, overlapping work/life issues, and an ever-increasing pace of life. As people tried to deal with these challenges, they often found themselves feeling uncertain, with what appeared to be limited options. In many respects, they were facing a crisis of imagination and were hopeful that career counsellors could broaden their perspective and guide them in negotiating new pathways.

Traditional career counselling methods seemed stuck and inadequate in the face of these multiple challenges. As a personal response, perhaps a mid-career crisis, I took time to reflect upon my own learning of career counselling methods. A few things had changed over the years, but change was progressing at a snail’s pace. Counsellors were still operating in drab offices, fitting individual clients into standard time slots, and relying primarily on verbal discussion methods. It seemed time to propose a change—time for a more actively engaged approach to the career counselling process. In this chapter, I provide an overview of concepts that support active engagement and a case vignette that illustrates its power in practice.

Overview of Active Engagement Principles and Methods

Crisis of Imagination

As counsellors, it is not enough for us to just give people information or directives; people have to be encouraged to expand their own imaginations so that they will have more options. Given that I conceptualize problems as often residing within a crisis of imagination, it is not surprising that solutions have to be found within the same domain. If we are indeed in the business of helping people become more imaginative, then we need to use our own imaginations also. We need to become more flexible, curious, relational, and inspired, with the courage to take risks.

Being As Well As Doing

Coming alongside this call to action is the need to be aware of being, as well as doing (Hansen & Amundson, 2009). We need to ground our being with a quietness of spirit and have the patience to listen to our small inner voice. There are many times in counselling sessions when I have felt confused, without any great clarity about what to do next. In these moments it is usually important to slow down and focus more on the process, rather than trying to push ahead. We can become more familiar with this quietness of spirit through philosophy, art, nature, and meditation. We can take this more reflective stance and apply it within our career counselling role.

Mattering

The starting point for every type of intervention is the establishment of a mattering climate—a relational environment where clients feel that they are important, that counsellors are taking time to listen to their concerns, and that counsellors are viewing them as something more than just another client in an impersonal system. The expression of mattering comes through a counsellor’s words, but also through small actions such as meeting people at the doorway, offering a drink of water or coffee, and attending to issues of discomfort. Creating a feeling of mattering helps to increase a client’s self-confidence and build the working alliance. Mattering is ongoing and helps to fuel the career counselling process.

Dynamic Metaphoric Interventions

The active engagement model allows for a broad array of interventions. What stands out is the dynamic nature of many of these interventions. Malcolm Gladwell (2000), in his book, The Tipping Point, refers to the importance of creating relevant, memorable, and transformative experiences (the stickiness factor) as a driver for change. One way to create memorable experiences is to focus on storytelling and the metaphors embedded within stories. Metaphors are malleable, they bring in the visual dimension, and they help to refine thinking as well as provide guiding images for making changes and moving forward. Metaphors can be used to create separation from problems (also called externalizing the problem) after which counsellors and clients can explore, extend, and change images to create the possibility for more-positive outcomes. As an illustration, picture a golfer and think of career counselling as providing the backswing: in order to move forward, one first needs to go backwards. Many people in solving problems want to jump right to the solution, but there are advantages to taking a step back before moving ahead. The movement backwards is a time for reviewing past accomplishments; it is also a time for setting new priorities, and building hope and positive energy. The backswing is short, focused, and energy producing. It sets the stage for movement forward with a release and follow through. In many ways, as career counsellors, we are in the backswing business, helping clients to review strengths, priorities, and opportunities, and then helping them to launch forward with renewed energy and gusto.

Metaphors occur naturally as part of our conceptual system, and we can also ask people to think about their problem situations using visual imagery. Observing or creating a visual image sets the stage for further exploration and discussion. It is important here to recognize that these metaphoric images are only a reflection of reality and as such can be changed and, in some cases, even substituted. I remember working with one young woman who described herself as a floor mat that people wiped their feet on. I told her that when I looked at her I saw a wall hanging; I took the rug off the floor, recognizing its intrinsic beauty and making it a piece of art. This shift in perspective went a long way toward creating a mattering climate and supporting the client to develop a more positive view of herself.

Using Drawings and Physical Activity

Working with metaphors leads naturally to the use of drawings and physical activity. Rather than just talking about a situation, one can create a physical representation of what is happening. This can be a drawing on a flip chart or a physical exercise that helps to draw out the important elements of the metaphor. In solution-focused counselling, one technique that is used extensively is called the miracle question (de Shazer, 1985). This technique invites clients to situate themselves in the problem space and then look ahead to possible solutions. A miracle allows them to move to the solution space, from which they can look back at what needs to occur in order to make the move forward possible. Metaphorically speaking, they start their problem solving from the top of the hill looking down rather than from the bottom looking up. This change in perspective helps to generate a more positive stance and supports greater flexibility. One can approach this exercise at a strictly cognitive level, but one can do so much more by adding a drawing, visualization, or even having people get up and walk their problem from one side of the room to the other. Something special happens when we go beyond simply talking about a problem.

Strength Affirmation

Another important component of active engagement is its emphasis on actively communicating and supporting clients through strength affirmation. One active engagement exercise, Story Wheels (formerly the Circle of Strength), starts by asking clients to recall stories of achievement, of career flow, or of times when they were able to successfully navigate a life or career challenge. The career counsellor then asks for more details and encourages a full telling of the story. Once the story is laid out, the focus shifts to analyzing the various components, and identifying the strengths that are embedded within the story. Clients are encouraged to begin this process, with the career counsellor actively contributing their own observations. Within a group context, the other group members join the career counsellor in providing feedback. This type of structured strength affirmation is very powerful because it has its roots in the story as told by the client. This type of active affirmation is more than just being positive; it is a behaviour-based affirmation process that is harder for the client to deny. This affirmation strategy is certainly appropriate for the Story Wheels exercise, but it can also be used at a broader level (del Corso & Briddick, 2015). Within active engagement, counsellors are encouraged to express the strengths they observe at every opportunity.

Evidence-Based Evaluation

There are innumerable exercises and strategies embedded within the active engagement approach. In recent years I have been focusing my attention on illustrating the impact of these dynamic exercises through various program development and evaluation projects (evidence-based practice), often in conjunction with those researching hope-action theory. More information about hope-action theory and practice is included in Chapter 27.

In searching out evidence-based practice, I have broadened my approach to include arts-based evaluation as well as a more-traditional evaluation approach (Simons & McCormack, 2007). The results from both formative and summative evaluation have been encouraging with a wide range of clients (e.g., immigrants with professional health training, Syrian refugees, unemployed clients, university alumni, and so on). Some of the activities that have been evaluated include Walking the Problem, Story Wheels, Career Flow, Overcoming Challenges, Workplace Attractors, My Life as a Book, and Two- and Three-Chair Problem-Solving. The results have been very encouraging and clearly point to the effectiveness of interventions with an actively engaged focus.

Case Vignette and Analysis

The case that I would like to highlight comes from an arts-based evaluation project, where I attempted to demonstrate on video various active engagement exercises (Amundson, 2009). One of the volunteers was a 44-year-old university student who was completing her master of counselling degree, and was unsure whether or not to continue on to a PhD program. The student in question, Lulin (pseudonym), was a single parent who had come to North America from China with 10 years of experience as an English teacher and entrepreneur. Lulin had been in North America for 10 years, and she was thoroughly enjoying her studies in counselling. Now that she was coming to the end of her program, she was looking ahead to what was possible for her. She loved teaching and wanted to get her PhD so that she could work with college-aged students. However, Lulin was concerned that she was too old to be carrying on with her education.

In starting my work with Lulin, I asked her to use a metaphor to describe how she saw her situation. She indicated that she was like a butterfly wanting to fly, not very high. From there we went on to an exercise where I asked her to draw the butterfly on a flip chart. After some initial hesitation (feeling that she was not very artistic), she drew the butterfly and we discussed how she saw her situation and how she was feeling. Lulin was confident that she wanted to pursue the doctorate and become a college-level educator; however, she also had some fear because of her age and health concerns. At that point I asked her to do the Walking the Problem exercise with me. To start, I asked her to get up out of her chair and move to one side of the room. In this position she was in the problem situation, and looking ahead to what was possible out there. In an ideal future she would be flying high in the sky with her doctorate completed and a teaching position with postsecondary students. But then I informed her that a miracle had occurred and she was now able to move to her ideal future on the other side of the room. I encouraged her to shift her position, not worrying about how she was going to get there—to just accept the miracle and move to the other side of the room. From this new perspective, she was smiling and was obviously very pleased with how things had worked out. I asked her to look back at where she had come from, and what advice could she offer to herself. After a brief reflection she stated, "just go; take a step." I then assumed the role of her fearful self, indicating that I was afraid to move ahead. She assured me that everything will be fine; you have gone so far and done so much, and you have more support. Lulin elaborated the steps that would need to be taken, starting with finishing her thesis, then getting some work experience, and finally applying for the PhD program with increased confidence and a great deal of support from her partner. This summary seemed like a perfect place to end this part of the exercise.

When Lulin and I sat back in our chairs, we concluded the exercise with some reflection and changes to the original butterfly drawing. She expressed her passion for teaching and desire to move in that direction. It was also obvious that there was a second butterfly that needed to be accounted for, namely her partner. Lulin indicated that her partner was flying higher than her and looking straight ahead. Her partner was determined, unhesitating, and ready and willing to offer his full support. Lulin added this second butterfly to her drawing and indicated that her partner had been encouraging her in this direction ever since they had met 6 years ago.

To conclude the session, we did some debriefing and focused on what would happen if Lulin didn’t take these steps. Lulin stated that she would be living with regret for the rest of her life. This was a high price to pay for inaction. Lulin was so passionate about her goals; she needed to move forward with them.

In many respects, this first session was ideal in that it demonstrated the power of a dynamic counselling process. There was a clear action plan and everything seemed in place. However, this was only the beginning of the story. Lulin did finish her master’s degree and obtained a counselling position in a college; however, she also found herself in turmoil when the relationship with her partner shattered (an event that chaos theorists would refer to as the impact of a strange attractor, see Chapter 33). Suddenly, everything needed to be re-evaluated.

This re-evaluation started with reassessing her goal. Lulin was still keen to seek out work where she could teach, run small groups, do advising, and personally counsel postsecondary students. The big question was whether a doctorate was absolutely necessary to work in this capacity. Perhaps there were other pathways leading to the same goal. This broader reflection and exploration led to the realization that a master’s degree was all the academic qualification she needed to work at a college counselling centre. In this role she would be able to do some teaching, individual and group counselling, and advising. At a personal level, she found greater happiness with a new partner and a more balanced lifestyle. With all these changes, the little butterfly became stronger and more self-confident about next steps. Lulin crafted a work position within the college where she was employed that was satisfying and fit all of her needs. She continued to work through the Walking the Problem metaphor, and took steps in accordance with the new career pathway. It would be misleading to indicate that there were no regrets about giving up on the doctorate degree, because Lulin recognized that the doctorate also carried with it a great deal of prestige. However, when everything was considered, Lulin decided that it made good sense to focus on her job at the college.

Conclusion

Active engagement offers an effective and efficient approach to career development. It starts with a client-counsellor relationship founded on mattering, from which counsellors and clients creatively explore themselves and the labour-market possibilities using a flexible and dynamic set of interventions. There is an attempt through this process to create memorable (sticky) experiences that can be a driving force for change.

Within the active engagement model there is a strong focus on elaboration, exploration, and extension of the metaphors that are embedded within stories. The manipulation of visual imagery includes drawings and physical movement. There also is an emphasis on providing more-extensive feedback based on stories of flow, achievement, and challenge. While the client and counsellor work collaboratively, the counsellor takes every opportunity to affirm a client’s strengths.

As counsellors move forward with clients, they have to establish a sense of direction, and for this I have found it helpful to use the hope-action model of career development (see Chapter 27). This approach provides a framework for assessing what areas need to be developed further. An active research program is currently examining a variety of active-engagement exercises being used within a hope-action model of career development. These evaluation studies are focusing on many different groups, and the qualitative and quantitative results are illustrating the power of the hope-action theory and model in conjunction with some active-engagement intervention strategies.

References

Amundson, N. E. (2005). The potential impact of global changes in work for career theory and practice. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 5, 91–99. doi:10.1007/s10775-005-8787-0

Amundson, N. E. (2006). Challenges for career interventions in changing contexts. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 6, 3–14. doi: 10.1007/s10775-006-0002-4

Amundson, N. E. (2009). Active engagement in action [DVD]. Richmond, BC: Ergon Communication.

Amundson, N. E. (2018). Active engagement: The being and doing of career counselling, anniversary edition. Richmond, BC: Ergon Communications.

De Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to solution in brief therapy. New York, NY: Norton.

Del Corso, J. J., & Briddick, H. S. (2015). Using audience to foster self narrative construction and career adaptability. In P. J. Hartung, M. L. Savickas, & W. B. Walsh (Eds.). APA handbook of career intervention, Volume 2: Applications (pp. 255–268). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. London, England: Abacus.

Hansen, F. T., & Amundson, N. E. (2009). Residing in silence and wonder: Career counselling from the perspective of being. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 9, 31–43. doi:10.1007/s10775-008-9149-5

Simons, H., & McCormack, B. (2007). Integrating arts-based inquiry in evaluation methodology. Qualitative Inquiry, 13, 292–311. doi:10.1177/1077800406295622

Biography

Norm Amundson is a professor of counselling psychology in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He also holds an honorary doctorate from the Umeå University, Sweden. Dr. Amundson is a well-known conference speaker and author. He has just published a 20th-anniversary edition of his award-winning book, Active Engagement. His publications include more than 100 journal articles, training DVDs, and books and workbooks—many of which have been translated into different languages.

Practice Points for Active Engagement

Norman Amundson

Pause. Take some time to step back and examine what is happening in the work you are doing. Are you making adjustments to fit with the needs of your clients or just following a traditional framework? Does your counselling space look like a creative space where collaborative work is being done?

Reflect on relationships. Consider the nature of your relationships with your clients. How are you helping your clients feel that they really matter? What concrete steps are you taking to pass this message along?

Respond to a sense of frenzy. In carrying out your work, do you find yourself overwhelmed with all the actions that need to be taken? Do you take time to step back from the busyness and listen to that small inner voice that is trying to be heard?

Use metaphors creatively. Are you paying attention to the metaphors you hear from your clients and also being more intentional with the metaphors that you use? Are you able to use metaphors to summarize stories? Do you know how to use drawings and physical activity to elaborate, extend, and change the metaphors that you are hearing?

Apply memorable intervention strategies. Are you employing memorable (sticky) intervention strategies? Do you have the courage to introduce activities that fall outside the traditional career-counselling box?

Support strengths. Are you using strength affirmation strategies based on stories of flow, achievement, and challenge?

Be collaborative. Are you trying to do too much by yourself? Use your colleagues for collaboration and support.

Chapter 2

Understanding the Career Development of Children With Dyslexia: The Cultural Preparation Process Model of Career Development

Sajma Aravind and Gideon Arulmani

As career counselling and guidance has established itself as an independent discipline, its reach has gradually spread to groups and populations that were once poorly represented in its purview. One such population is individuals with special needs. A review of the literature indicates that although individuals with special needs face several career-development challenges and barriers, most theories of career development do not address such populations in their formulations (McMahon, 2014). In their review of the impact of disability on career development, Enright, Conyers, and Szymanski (1996) identified factors such as decision-making ability, self-concept, age of onset of disability, type of disability, and gender to be prominent influences on the career development of individuals with disabilities.

Drawing upon a country-specific example, the number of persons in India with disabilities in 2011 was estimated to be as high as 27 million (Registrar General and Census Commissioner; http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-Common/CensusData2011.html). Hence, career guidance for individuals with disabilities is a growing need that requires attention. The cultural preparation process model (Arulmani, 2011, 2014; also known as the cultural preparedness model) serves as a useful platform from which disability and career development can be understood since it contextualizes career interventions for local contexts (McMahon, 2014, p. 23). In the next sections of this chapter, the theoretical underpinnings of the cultural preparedness model will be described and applied to a case vignette that illustrates career counselling with a student diagnosed with dyslexia.

Conceptualizations of Disability

The most current conceptualizations of disability take a biopsychosocial perspective and view it as the result of interactions between health and the psychological and social aspects of a person’s environment (World Health Organization [WHO], 2002). Cultural overtones, therefore, become a key factor in the way disability is experienced. Two persons with the same type of health impairment may experience different levels of disability depending on the manner in which their cultures interpret it. This chapter focuses on a specific type of learning disability—dyslexia—and develops its arguments around the interface between culture and dyslexia. A succinct definition of dyslexia is provided by Nag and Snowling (2012) when they describe it as a developmental disorder affecting the skills involved in the reading and spelling of words, in the absence of any intellectual impairment. Symptoms ranging from mild to severe (p. 6), and manifesting in various subtypes. The International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Version 11 Beta Draft (ICD-11 Beta Draft; https://icd.who.int/dev11/l-m/en) classifies dyslexia under developmental learning disorders, which are described as characterized by significant and persistent difficulties in learning academic skills, which may include reading, writing, or arithmetic (para.1).

The Cultural Preparation Process Model: A Theoretical Framework

The cultural preparation process model looks at career development as a culturally embedded process (Arulmani, 2014). This model highlights the impact of cultural forces in shaping the career development goals, needs, and challenges of individuals. As stated by the author of the model,

cultural preparedness results from the accumulation over time, of the learnings and experiences of a certain group of people, so assimilated and systematised into the group’s ways of engaging with the world that it can be said to exemplify that group and distinguish it from other groups. These ways of engaging rest upon a social cognitive environment typified by an interconnected system of beliefs, values, rituals, social organization and mores, that have become deeply embedded within the conventions and routines to which a given group is habituated. (Arulmani, in press)

This chapter focuses on four concepts that underlie the cultural preparation process model, namely, cultural learning, enculturation, cultural preparation status equilibrium, and acculturation. These are summarized below.

An important construct upon which the model rests is that of cultural learning. Cultural learning refers to the unique ability of the human being to acquire knowledge through imitative learning—the way a person absorbs customs, traditions, and values by observing other members of the group. This capacity for imitative learning enables the human being to become a transmitter of knowledge, through the medium of culture, to others. According to the model, this capacity for cultural learning transforms the engagement of human beings with work into a cultural expression.

The second concept, enculturation, is defined as the process by which people learn the obligations of the culture that enfold them, assimilate the values of that culture, and acquire the behaviours that are suitable and obligatory in that culture—for specific practices (Arulmani, 2014, p. 86). Enculturation causes individuals to conform to the group’s expectations and is further characterized by three factors:

Individualistic-collectivistic social organization. The ties between individuals in individualistic societies are less binding than are relations in collectivistic communities. Freedom of choice and independence are celebrated in the former, while interdependence and maintaining group cohesion are cherished in the latter. For example, in a collectivistic social environment, interests expressed may be strongly motivated by the enculturated requirement to conform to the values and beliefs of the collective. By contrast, an individualistic society is more likely to allow greater latitude and encourage the expression of personal preferences.

Value attributions and career beliefs. Cultural preparedness is influenced by the manner in which phenomena are bestowed with worth and significance by a certain culture. The attribution of positive or negative value to occupational clusters can vary according to prevailing cultural preparation processes. Blue and white collar work may be viewed with relative equanimity by one culture, while another may view one of them as belonging to lower social classes or lower castes than the other. Such mindsets generate career beliefs which influence people’s orientation to the idea of a career and to their engagement with career development (Arulmani, 2014, p. 90). Some examples of common career beliefs are boys are better at mathematics and science than girls or children with dyslexia cannot achieve career success.

Process of role allocation. Roles define the individual’s relationship with a social group. For example, a student with dyslexia is commonly ascribed the status of a weak student, who will be able to pursue only vocational jobs. By contrast, achieved roles are voluntarily earned by a person through their accomplishments. A student with dyslexia may acquire the skills necessary to manage the difficulties posed by dyslexia and thereby deserve a change in role status. However, whether the achievement (skills for reading) transforms the ascribed status (weak in academics) can be strongly influenced by the dynamics of cultural preparedness.

The third concept, cultural preparation status equilibrium, refers to a unique state of internal balance with regard to career development that emerges as a result of the interactions between cultural learning and enculturation. This equilibrium reflects an internal stability and the mental and emotional balance that results from the habituation of doing something in a certain way (Arulmani, 2014).

The fourth construct, acculturation, refers to how an existing cultural preparation status equilibrium is influenced by other external forces. Acculturative forces can be consonant or dissonant with the individual’s cultural preparation status equilibrium. Consonance indicates that acculturation promotes or supports the existing equilibrium, while dissonance disturbs the existing equilibrium.

The foregoing descriptions of these four concepts makes it clear that for a career guidance intervention to be effective, it must be based on the realities experienced by the people for whom it is intended (Arulmani, 2011). This chapter now demonstrates the application of the cultural preparation process model to the career development challenges faced by students with dyslexia by analyzing a case study from India.

Case Vignette: The Case of JS

JS (pseudonym) is a 16-year-old boy from a middle-income home in Bangalore, India. JS’s father owns a textile shop in the city and his mother is a housewife. JS has a diagnosis of dyslexia. His most recent assessment report (conducted when he was 14 years old) states his diagnosis as learning disability with difficulties in reading, writing, and spelling. For most of his education, JS studied in the ‘regular’ education system, which caters almost exclusively to students who do not have academic difficulties. JS has a history of multiple school shifts owing to low academic achievement. He was required to repeat Grade 8 due to academic underperformance. JS joined his current school in Grade 9 and has currently completed the first year of a 2-year Grade 10 program. This is a school that addresses the needs of children with special needs such as learning disabilities. Such ‘alternative’ schools allow students to take a combination of academic and vocational subjects for Grade 10 and adapt their teaching methods to the learning requirements of each student. After having spent most of his school life in regular schools, JS has been adjusting to this new teaching environment, where he receives intense one-to-one learning support. Keep in mind, however, that there is strong stigma associated with having a learning disability; students studying in alternative schools are often tagged as having mental handicaps. Given JS’s poor academic achievements, the value placed on academic accomplishments seems to have eroded in JS’s home environment. Expectations seem to have been lowered, and JS’s father merely expects JS to complete some basic education and then join the family business.

JS was interviewed by the first author of this paper when he was in the first year of Grade 10. Their interactions showed that JS’s self-esteem and motivation were extremely low and that he had not engaged in any career exploration activities. However, his teachers indicated that his performance was gradually improving and that he was settling into the new system.

Analysis of the Case Vignette

Cultural Learning and Enculturation

JS’s early schooling experiences in mainstream, regular schools represent enculturative experiences that are common in the lives of most Indian students with disabilities. Students are expected to conform to the demands of mainstream education, which places a heavy emphasis on the student’s ability to read and comprehend texts, memorize, and express acquired knowledge in writing. The schools that JS attended for most of his education all had a stringent and rigid evaluation system. Meeting these academic demands and obtaining good marks are seen as crucial to success in higher education and, thereby, future career development. Cultural learning is such that personal identity and self-esteem are closely linked to being a ‘good’ student and being a good student is tied almost exclusively to obtaining high marks. Being educated in such institutions, where excellence in academics is central to social approval, is a prominent enculturative force in the lives of most Indian students. Although JS is accepted by his family, JS’s acceptance by the broader social group of which he is a part would still be intertwined with the cultural requirement of being a good student.

The impact of a collectivistic social organization on career decision-making is evident. JS is expected to join the family textile business and has been ascribed the role of taking over and continuing the business. Career decision-making is more a family decision rather than an individual decision. The collectivistic process is seen in the way the family has ‘take charge’ of JS’s career progress as best they can, given his difficulties with academics. In many ways, this adult-directed decision-making protects JS from what his parents perceive as bleak career prospects.

Cultural Preparation Status Equilibrium

The forces of enculturation within the Indian culture are such that most students are prepared to accept that academics must be prioritized over all other pursuits and that their most important duty is to consistently obtain high marks in school. In fact, most Indian languages use the same word to describe both study and read. Students, therefore, are in a state of culturally endorsed equilibrium with reference to their tasks as students and are able to meet the demands of the educational system. However, in the case of JS, the educational system—to which most of his peers have been enculturated and within which they have found a consonant equilibrium—is not synchronous with his personal ability profile. As a student with dyslexia, JS experiences difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling—precisely the tools through which education is imparted in mainstream schools. Yet, from the perspective of the broader society, he is simultaneously immersed in a career-beliefs environment where a certain form of excellence—academic excellence—is culturally valued most highly. JS’s learning disability did not allow him to conform to the demands of this enculturation. Such beliefs might have fostered poor self-esteem, as JS struggled to cope with his academics, further impeding career exploration and development. JS consistently struggled with achieving academic targets despite numerous shifts between schools. Although the schools were different, the quality of the environment remained the same and JS’s difficulties with academics continued until he was asked to repeat Grade 8. Repeating a grade in the same school can be a harrowing experience for a student whose peers have moved on to a higher grade. Thus, experiences such as these left JS in a state of dissonant equilibrium characterized by depleted self-esteem, low motivation, and a resultant downward spiral of poor academic achievement. The first author’s interactions with him showed that this dissonance had also affected his belief in his own career success.

Acculturation

Completion of Grade 10 (the final year of high school) is an important educational milestone in the life of an Indian student. Obtaining poor grades (or failing) in Grade 10 can have debilitating effects on the educational progress of any student. This prospect may have led the family to consider moving JS to an alternative school after Grade 8. JS’s move to the alternative school represents an acculturative experience. The learning methods in the new school were different from the methods that were practised in his earlier schools. The new school offered intense one-to-one support to address the difficulties resulting from JS’s dyslexia. The new school required JS to adapt not only to new learning styles but also to new academic content. While regular schools taught subjects such as English, Mathematics, Social Sciences, and General Sciences, this school offered subjects such as English, Home Science, Economics, Business Studies, and Data Entry Operations. JS also experienced other changes in his schooling experience such as moving from a large school with many students to a small school with fewer students. An important feature of acculturation in this new environment is that the new school focused on his strengths rather than his weaknesses. His improved academic performance in the new school seems to indicate that he is moving toward a more consonant equilibrium.

Conclusion

The cultural preparation process model is useful in exploring career development within the context of a person’s cultural realities. This model is particularly helpful in the context of persons with disabilities wherein the experience of disability is influenced by the social and cultural context. No two persons with a disability share the same experience. Hence, career guidance for persons with a disability would be more effective when their cultural preparedness is factored into the guidance process. In summary, this analysis of JS’s case from the cultural preparedness viewpoint helps to understand his poor academic performance in a more nuanced and individual-specific manner. It allows the identification of enculturative forces that, through the process of cultural learning, place JS in a state of dissonant equilibrium. It also shows how acculturative forces can shift the individual toward a more consonant equilibrium. Most importantly, such an analysis allows us to develop interventions whose acculturative influence can move the individual out of a downward spiral and into a spiral of positive change.

References

Arulmani, G. (2011). Striking the right note: The cultural preparedness approach to developing resonant career guidance programmes. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 11, 79–93. doi:10.1007/s10775-011-9199-y

Arulmani, G. (2014). The cultural preparation process model and career development. In G. Arulmani, A. J. Bakshi, F. T. L. Leong, & A. G. Watts (Eds.), Handbook of career development: International