Working as a Dual Professional

 

As outlined in my teaching philosophy section, the origins of my thoughts, beliefs and practices around education can be traced back to my early childhood and my family. I began working as a teacher in the late 1980s and about ten years later, I became interested in Career Development and commenced the Careers Advisor's role at the High School at which I was teaching. Thus a new stage of my career began, in which I trained as a Career Practitioner and subsequently worked for 13 years in various Career Development roles - mostly within the tertiary and secondary education sectors. 

 

So, in addition to a learning and teaching philosphy, I also have a model of practice relating to the Career Development profession. This model encompasses a range of theories, philosophies, tools and strategies which inform my practice. Perhaps not surprisingly, this model has been influenced substantially by my teaching experience and philosophy. As a Career Practitioner and Professional member of CDANZ (Career Development Association of New Zealand), my career practice model is an eclectic one, calling on theory and practices from authors and practitioners such as John Holland, Donald Super (1996), Carl Rogers, John Krumboltz, Norm Amundson (2003), Douglas Hall, Richard Bolles (2011), Heather Carpenter (2010), Mason Durie and a raft of others. 

 

What is an eclectic model? As I see it, an eclectic model of practice draws from a wide pool of resources the theories and practices that most suit the specific client or client group. As a career practitioner, I first get to know my client and then adapt my approach to suit that person. At one time I called this 'chameleon career counselling' - i.e. matching my style to that of the client. More recently I describe it with a cooking analogy. As someone preparing a meal, I need to consider what my guests want to eat (person-centred) but I also have to take into account the ingredients and equipment available to me in my kitchen. There is knowledge about recipes but there is also a degree of creative flair involved in combining ingredients in ways that will appeal to my guests. I also believe it works best if we work on the meal together (collaboration). 

 

 

Now that I am in the early stages of the Tertiary Educator strand of my career path, I find there is much crossover and cross-pollination between my teaching philosophy and my career development model of practice. For example:

• Carl Rogers wrote about both counselling practice/therapy and education. His person-centred approaches remind us who, as practitioners/educators, we are actually doing our work for

• The Three W's/Three E's  of Mason Durie are just as relevant and useful for teachers as they are for career practitioners who are working with Maori clients/learners

• Donald Super's Developmental concepts of Age and Stage and his focus on Identity are equally helpful in both professions