This study was started to be a basic research in order to support finding the right career guidance for high school students by inquiring into how personal characteristics, volunteer activity experience, and home environment have influence on course a...
This study was started to be a basic research in order to support finding the right career guidance for high school students by inquiring into how personal characteristics, volunteer activity experience, and home environment have influence on course awareness and vocational view.
For such study purpose, 286 students attending high schools of liberal arts located in Goyang-si, Geonggi-do were selected and examined with the questionnaires. Correlations of Course awareness maturity and vocational view with sex distinction, grades, departments, scores, volunteer activity, income levels, occupations and academic backgrounds of parents were analyzed. The purpose of such analysis was to figure out how volunteer activity experience of students has influence on course awareness maturity and vocational view. A course awareness maturity test and a vocational view test were used as measurements in this study and SPSS WIN 12.0 was used to perform the statistics process. Frequency analysis, reliability analysis, t-test, one-way Anova, and correlation analysis were performed for data analysis.
After interpreting, examining, and discussing results from this study in accordance with study consideration, results are as follows:
First of all, the level of course awareness maturity showed a difference in personal environment variables and home environment variables.
In determinacy, a significant difference according to departments and father’s occupations was found. Furthermore, student of liberal arts showed higher scores than student of science. That is, It is expected that they student of liberal arts had stronger will for one’s course.
In addition, with regard to volunteer activity, there was not significant difference, so it is considered not to have much influence.
In determinacy, there was a significant difference according to grades, mother’s academic backgrounds, and hours of volunteer activity. At the time of the first grade in a high school, high school students showed the strongest confidence on success of selected course of their lives. Also, as students more volunteer, they had stronger confidence of selected course of their lives than other groups.
For a sense of purpose, there was a significant difference according to mother’s occupations and hours of volunteer activity. To speak more precisely, student who had mothers working in a service industry or the others and participated in volunteer activity more than 100 hours showed higher scores than students in other groups. Therefore, they are considered to attach greater importance to own ideas than influence from surroundings.
With regard to preparation, there was a significant difference according to sex distinction, a monthly average income, and an academic background of parents. Furthermore, girls showed higher scores than boys. Also, students from a home having a monthly income of three million won and students having high school graduates as parents showed higher scores. To interpret those, students from such groups described above are preparing more and faithfully than other groups. In independency, there was a significant difference according to volunteer activity, in other words, students who had more volunteered showed higher scores. That is, such students had the stronger self-realization will about own course of life.
Second, vocational view showed a difference in connection with personal environment variables and home environment variables.
In the internal region, there was a significant difference according to a record and hours of volunteer activity. For example, top-ranking students showed higher scores in this field than middle/low-ranking students and students participating in volunteer activity more than 35 hours showed higher scores as well. Hence, it concludes that they more preferred an occupation in the internal region compared to students in other groups.
In the external region, there was a significant difference according a grade and a record. To speak more precisely, student making good marks at school showed the highest average. It was found that they preferred an occupation in the external region. It may mean that students having high records comparatively formed the vocational view in consideration of the sense of the real.
In the additional region, there was a significant difference according to a grade and hours of volunteer activity. The second year students showed higher scores than first or third year students and students participating in volunteer activity more than 61 hours showed higher scores in this field. It means that students who had more participated in volunteer activity preferred an occupation in the additional region.
Third, after inquiring into correlation between volunteer activity and the level of course awareness maturity, volunteer activity had proportional correlation with determinacy, a sense of purpose, and preparation. This means that students more participating in volunteer activity had stronger will about own course and more prepared for it.
Lastly, after inquiring into correlation between volunteer activity and vocational view, volunteer activity showed static correlation with volunteer mind and self-realization in the internal region. In addition, it showed static correlation with esteem in the external region and interpersonal relations in the additional region. It can be interpreted that students more participating in volunteer activity had stronger volunteer mind and self-realization about own course, and they preferred an occupation attaching great importance to esteem and interpersonal relations.
According to these result interpretations, three suggestions would be presented as follows:
First, this study was not performed with overall students across the country, so some limitation might be occurred with expanding and applying it. Therefore, future studies should be performed with various areas of the country in order to allow researchers to compare those.
Second, high school students should participate in volunteer activity with the reasonable purpose in order to change oneself through such activity. Also, a school or an organization should prepare a program which will not be a simply activity but a meaningful volunteer activity.
Lastly, since hours of volunteer activity was found to have influence on course awareness maturity and vocational view of high school students, participation hours of volunteer activity should be increased in order to promote course awareness maturity of high school students. For this, hours of volunteer activity should be increased in school’s curriculum and activities after school. Also, it is necessary to reinforce cooperation between schools and youth volunteer activity centers.