Learning Theory on Career Counseling - Essay Example

Learning Theory on Career Counseling Loredana Pampinella (CSDV 603) March 12, 2008 Learning Theory on Career Counseling I. Introduction Choosing a career is one of the major hurdles that most people face. In fact, many people go through life jumping from one career to another, not really quite sure where they fit it. Such inability to choose the right career path can be quite stressful and counterproductive. People who would otherwise have made it big in certain fields continue to lag behind others simply because they made the wrong career choice. Fortunately, such bleak scenario can easily be avoided through career counseling. Career counseling affords a person a better perspective of his or her abilities, potentials and career opportunities in life. Technically, career counseling is a dominantly verbal process between a career counselor and counselee which focus on the counselees goals and aspirations in life (Bandura, A. (1989). The process of career counseling generally involves four elements namely (1) to help the person attain greater self-awareness in the areas of values, abilities, personality style and work interest, (2) to connect the person to resources that can help them be more prepared to tackle certain types of jobs and occupation (3) guide the person towards a decision-making process to choose a career path that suits their values, interest, abilities and personality style and (4) to help the person become an active manager of his or her career path and become lifelong learners in professional development through his or her life (Herr & Cramer, 1996). There are a number of counseling theories that are used by career counselors today. One of the first and perhaps simpler ways to explore career opportunities and learn problem-solving behavior is through Krumboltzs learning theory pf career counseling (Krumboltz 1979). The social learning theory of career counseling suggests that the interplay of factors such as the genetic endowments and special abilities of the person, the environmental conditions and events, the learning experience of the person and the magnitude of the task at hand has significant impact on the career choices of a person (Krumboltz, 1979; 1994). The perception of the person of his or her abilities can shape his or her choice of a career and may contribute greatly in establishing his or her career beliefs. In some cases, career beliefs become so deeply ingrained in the culture of a community that it now guides the career choice of the person who belongs to such a community (Krumboltz, 1994). A good example of career belief can be seen in the way family members decide to become doctors because their forefathers were doctors and they believe in continuing the family tradition. In this case, even those family members who are exactly predisposed to become doctors are encourage to enter into the medical profession to continue the long family tradition. Of course there is really nothing wrong with following family traditions as long as the person who is doing it is wholeheartedly sold out into the idea of adopting the same career path as his or her forefathers. However, if that person is just forced by circumstances to adopt a career path that he or she ill suited to, thats when the problem begins. When a person does not fit into the career that he or she has chosen, he or she may not experience satisfaction in what he or she is doing. The lack of job satisfaction may eventually affect his or her work performance and reduce his or her productivity rate. Since job satisfaction is an important factor in career development, it is therefore very important that one is guided properly in choose the right career path. To do this, we need to look deeper into the learning theory of career counseling. Note that learning theory of career counseling focus more on the behavior of the person and the factors that such behavior ((Krumboltz, 1976; Krumboltz & Thoresen, 1969). II. Four Factors Involved In The Learning Theory Of Career Counseling As mentioned earlier, there are four very important factors involves in the learning theory of career counseling. All these factors are meant to be considered at the same time to help the counselee find the best career path. The first one is genetic endowments and special abilities. Each of us has a certain range of abilities. These abilities can be traced to genetic inheritance as well as through practice. As a career counselor, one must delve deeper into the counselees genetic background and find out what the counselee is innately capable of. The race, gender, physical appearance and the general characteristics of the counselee may give the counselor a good idea of abilities and potentials of the counselee (Arulmani, G. (2000). Yes, most types of careers are now open to both gender and any forms of discrimination in the workplace has bee outlawed by law but the point here is that certain people tend to perform better on certain types of jobs or occupations and the same group of people may not really do well in other types of jobs or occupations so there is a need to differentiate if not discriminate when it comes to setting career paths for different people. The key here is to help the counselee discover his or her innate potentials and then help him or her develop these potentials (Arulmani, G. (2000). Aside from looking into the genetic background of the counselee, a career counselor must be taken into considerations the acquired abilities of the counselee. Acquired abilities are those things that a person develops through practice (Bandura, A. (1986). For instance, where a person is exposed to playing the piano at a young age, he or she may develop the ability to play the instrument through constant practice. Knowing the acquired abilities of the person is very important to chart the career course of that person. Note that people tend to be more comfortable and productive when they are put in certain familiar surroundings. The second factor that plays a big role in career development according to Krumboltz learning theory is environmental conditions and events. Accordingly, we are all affected by what is going on around us. Our environment plays a vital role in discovering our abilities and potentials. The many changes in the social, political and economic conditions around us affect our career choices (Bandura, A. (1989). Relevant to this situation is Williamsons observation that people tend to favor those career decisions that may bring about personal satisfactions as well as social contributions to society Williamson (1950). You see, the events around us open avenues for us to participate in certain events that could change our lives and the lives of the people around us. It is therefore up to us to choose the correct career path and fulfill our personal goals in life. It is important to note that we do not necessarily have control over the events around us but since these events may influence our career preferences, it is important that we take these things into consideration during career counseling. For instance, our economic status can be drastically affected by the events around us and in turn our economic status can facilitate or hinder our ability to discover our true potentials. By understanding the influence of these environment factors into our career, we will be able to make better decisions. The third factor that we need to consider when charter our career course under the learning theory in counseling is learning experiences. Generally, out learning experience defines out sense of self, the way we see the world and the way we associate with other people around us. All of us have different and unique learning experiences and our experiences may influence our career choices (Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). No, it is not exactly the experience that is important here but rather the way we react to certain experiences and how these experiences influence our way of thinking. Note that different people tend to react different to the same stimulus. This means that your perception of a certain event or learning experience may not be the same as that of the person sitting next to you. There are two types of learning experiences that often affect our career choices namely, associative learning experiences and instrumental learning experiences. Instrumental experiences refer to the way a person develops certain personal preferences by participating in a range of activities (Krumboltz, 1979; 1994). By observing the outcomes of the different types of activities that he or she participated in, he or she becomes more aware of his or her strengths and weaknesses (Proudfoot, J., Guest, D., Carson, J., Dunn, G., & Gray, J. (1997). He or she also learns how his or her responses to certain types of stimuli change the courses of events in his or her choose activity. Under this principle, a person is said to develop preferences towards those activities that give him or her rewards (Krumboltz, 1979; 1994; Kidd, 1996). On the other hand, associative learning experiences talk about the exposure of the person to occupations that are associated with combinations of complex values (Krumboltz, 1979; 1994; Kidd, 1996). This process often involves the idea of punishment and reinforcement. The perception of the person about a certain job of occupation tends to be affected by the outcomes of certain activities that he or she participated in (Proudfoot, J., Guest, D., Carson, J., Dunn, G., & Gray, J. (1997). This type of learning experience allows the person to see the connection between certain stimuli and his or her direct or indirect response to the said stimuli. Given this situation, occupation stereotyping occurs in some instances ((Krumboltz, 1994). The fourth factor involved in learning theory in counseling is the task approach skills. This approach is a hybrid of the three other factors previously mentioned in this paper namely, genetics, learning experiences and the environment. The task approach skills are more like the way how we approach and deal with life. Under this approach, we need to consider the persons mental sets, work habits, performance standards and values, emotional responses, perceptual and though processes and the likes (Krumboltz, Mitchell & Jones, 1978). Accordingly, we have to learn new skills as we go through life and we have to adapt to the changes around us. If we are to fit perfectly into a career, we need to be flexible. Currently, there are four fundamental trends involved in the learning theory namely, (a) expansion of capabilities and interests (b) the need to prepare for the changing work tasks (c) the need to be empowered to take action, not merely be given a diagnosis and (d) the need for career counselors to be holistic. These trends are in line the happenstance theory which was later developed by Mitchell, Levin, and Krumboltz (1999). This theory is actually about planning for the unexpected. According to the happenstance theory, people have the capacity to take advantage of and even create events that can open up career opportunities. Being open-minded towards these opportunities is very critical. Based on the happenstance theory, people who are persistent, curious, flexible, optimistic and risk-takers are more likely to achieve their goals. III. Role as Counselor As career counselor, one needs to be prepared to embrace changes. Knowing how to embrace changes is very important for a counselor to have a more holistic approach towards helping his or her clients establish their career path. To help the client decide why way to go in terms of career development, under the learning theory in career counseling, a counselor need to work within the seven stages career decision-making model (Krumboltz, J. D. (1994). First, the counselor must help the counselee define the problem. The counselor must lead the counselee in defining the areas for decision-making and then help counselee pinpoint which decisions need to be made. The second stage of career decision-making is establishment of an action place. Here, the counselor and the counselee need to work together to refine the decision made by the counselee and then formulate a plan on how the counselee can best sold the problem at hand. The third stage is the clarification of values. Here we need to look back into the four factors that affect decisions of the counselee. We need to know what is important and what is not important for the counselee. The way the counselee sees the world can have a big impact on his or her career choices so as a counselor, one should never overlook this aspect. We must understand that the goad of career counseling is to help the counselee find a career path that gives him/her a high level of satisfaction. The fourth stage in the career decision-making model under the learning theory on career development is the identification of alternatives. When trying to decide which career path is more appropriate, one should consider different alternatives that he or she can choose from. This then brings us to the fifth stage of career decision-making which allows us to create probably scenarios to discover possible outcomes. Determine probable outcomes are very important to ascertain which alternatives are workable and which are not. Scenario planning actually coincides with the planned happenstance theory which is an extension of the learning theory of career counseling (Mitchell and Krumboltz 1996). The planned happenstance theory suggests that counselors should accept the challenge posed by unplanned and serendipitous events as both desirable and inevitable (Mitchell, Levin and Krumboltz 1999). On the part of the counselee, this theory encourages the counselee to make plans of action in order to discover new learning opportunities (Kidd 1996). The sixth stage of career decision-making is the elimination of alternatives. Using the reliable information and inferences drawn from probably scenario simulations, the counselor can now help the counselee decide which career option is the most viable. Once the counselee decides which career option to take, the counselee can now plan and execute this model. The planning and execution is the seventh and final stage in the career decision-making process. References Arulmani, G. (2000). Mindsets and career choices: An intervention study for boys from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Portsmouth, England. Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs. Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. 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