The objective of this study is to develop a career education program for elementary school students who are in the lower, middle, and higher grade and to verify its effect.
To achieve the purpose, based on the theoretical study about the concept of c...
The objective of this study is to develop a career education program for elementary school students who are in the lower, middle, and higher grade and to verify its effect.
To achieve the purpose, based on the theoretical study about the concept of career development for children and its features and on the analysis of the existing career programs, a new career education program was developed in this study. To obtain the validity of the development of the career program, it was analyzed, designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated by the ADDIE model, with the help of six experts including a person with a doctoral degree in the field of career education, three teachers who are working in elementary schools and completed doctor's course related to career education, and two persons with master's degree.
To implement the career program for children, this study was intended for sixty students, who are in the first, third, and fifth grade of G elementary school which is located in Sihung-Si. The students were divided into two groups for the research, an experimental group and a control group. The thirty students of the experimental group were taught with the developed program directly by the researcher and the thirty students of the other group was assigned to the other class. Also, to verify the effect of the program, the ANCOVA analysis was conducted.
The main results of this study were as follows.
The development of a career program was processed by following the ADDIE model, analyzing literature, needs, and tasks, describing the purpose of performance based on the result of the task analysis. To validate the program, the developed career education program was implemented in the real school setting. The experts' examination confirmed that the components and structure of the career program are proper.
Next, for the verification of the effect of the career program, a prior and a post test were carried out using a career development test and the ANCOVA analysis was conducted. The results confirmed that the program was effective for the enhancement of career development in all the groups including the lower, middle, and higher graders. Actually, the program was effective in 'positive self-concept', 'awareness about interpersonal relations', and 'growth and change', which are subordinate concepts of the 'self-awareness' area. Also, the program was effective in 'awareness about academic achievement', 'understanding and application of career information', 'understanding about basic experiences of work', and 'positive attitude on work', which are subordinate concepts of the 'academic/vocational exploration' area. Similarly, the program was effective in all the four subordinate concepts of the 'career plan' area such as 'understanding about decision making process', 'plans for life and work', 'understanding about career planning process', and 'setting up the purpose of life'.
This study was focused on improving the career development of elementary students and tried to apply the career program, on the one hand, to the students considering their development stages, on the other hand, to the teachers. Therefore, the study will contribute to both students and teachers in that it will help students receive and participate in career education voluntarily and enjoy it and it will provide teachers with a career education program and help them guide and instruct students easily and effectively.