K-12 experience and competencies

When reading over the competencies, there were a lot of things I experienced that I was not necessarily aware of. I always think doing discussion posts that require you to reflect make you realize more about career development then you thought occurred. Looking at these competencies, I realized that career development actually starts young and progresses as students get older. I also think these competencies show that learning does not only happen in the classroom, but also continues as the student goes home and by things outside of the classroom.

In kindergarten, personal abilities, skills, interests, and motivations are learned through things like show and tell. I also learned these things at home by the things I liked to play with or do in my free time. Motivation was also learned at home by doing things like chores to get a new toy at the end of the week or by something as small as having ice cream. Even things such as who can run the fastest at recess can facilitate abilities, skills, interests, and motivations.

Later on in elementary and middle school, I learned a lot about respecting individual’s uniqueness in the classroom. I learned that everyone is different and has different opinions and they still need to be respected whether in the classroom, at an extracurricular activity, or even at work. This also allowed me to handle conflict when arguments did occur during discussions. I also learned to work on a team when teachers would place us into groups for either discussion or for a group project. This also helped with organization skills and communication skills, because I was not always in a group with my best friends. Being in extracurricular activities and attending school allowed me to learn the importance of responsibly, dependability, punctuality, and time-management.

By the time I was in high school, it was more clear cut that all the things I was learning was geared toward career development, college readiness, and the workforce. We were required to take a senior class on career development where we would learn to write a resume amongst many other things. A part of our senior project was also to research an intended career and interview someone in the field. One of the things I found most valuable was allowing us to take college classes for credits our senior year at the local community college. It allowed me to get my feet wet and know what a college course is like on top of going to college with credits already.

Many things are done throughout our K-12 experience geared toward career development. Back then it did not seem like it, but as I approached high school and by doing this discussion post I realized that.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed., p. 14). Boston: Pearson.