Career Assimilation Unit

Introduction to the Career Development Units These four units were created in conjunction with the

Bolin's (1996) four stages of career development. Each unit addresses one of these stages to help teachers develop and implement a quality career development program, in the classroom and beyond.

Career Awareness Career Exploration Career Preparation Career Assimilation

Intro to the Career Development Series…

Exposure to why people need to and want to work; contributions to lifestyle and life choices

Exposure to a wide range of careers and jobs across the OOH 10 career categories

Exposure to work expectations, education/training and skill requirements, and social/communication skills

Career Awareness

Career Exploration

Career Preparation

Career Assimilation

Intro to the Career Development Series…

Job shadowing and trial work experiences to narrow choices from 4 to 1-2

Matching career requirements with personal abilities, skills, aptitudes, and preferred lifestyle; assessing careers for “best-match”

Developing plan to meet requirements and achieve “best match” career; continuing and extended work experience to ensure “best match” reflects stable interests and skills

Career Awareness

Career Exploration

Career Development

Career Assimilation

Intro to the Career Development Series…

Narrowing and confirmation of one career field; may still explore a range of positions in this field

Increasing work experience opportunities to prepare for full-time work in the community; involvement in vocational rehabilitation services as needed

Interview and job seeking skills for work experience positions; use of job maintenance skills social/communication skills to keep one’s position; identification of potential career advancement self-advocacy opportunities

Career Awareness

Career Exploration

Career Preparation

Career Assimilation

Intro to the Career Development Series…

Implementation of job seeking, interviewing, and related skills to locate and obtain a job of choice, in location of choice

Ongoing match of work conditions and environment with personal lifestyle preferences and needs; use of problem-solving skills and employment resources (including vocational rehabilitation) if needed

Participation in work culture and employee activities, on and off-the-job to support satisfaction between career and worker

Career Awareness

Career Exploration

Career Development

Career Assimilation

About This Unit:This Career Assimilation Unit will be the last of the four units. It is geared toward high school or the postsecondary years depending on the student goals and focuses on work experience in preferred careers.

Students will be exposed to real life situations regarding:

Labor union participation Communicating with co-workers through

formal and informal modalities Awareness of legal rights and how to develop

self-advocacy skills in the workplace Work culture Creating a portfolio

Key Learnings (A synthesis of Career Assimilation goals.)

Maintaining a job by meeting job requirements and meeting personal needs and preferences (Minn Work Adjustment Theory: job satisfaction and job satisfactoriness) Adjusting to the work culture, work expectations

and conditions, and changes over time Problem solving, OJT, use of employment

resources, participation in work-related activities

Meeting personal needs and preferences through work, and adjusting as these change over time Problem solving, use of community and

personal resources

Teacher’s Section:Using the three stages of Understanding by Design

Stage ONE:* Identify external standards and overall unit goals that are relevant to the students strengths and needs* Incorporate these standards and goals to create relevant, authentic questions that “hook” students and address and key misunderstandings

Stage TWO:* Develop assessments that demonstrate thorough unit learning by the six facets of understanding

Stage THREE:* Develop learning activities that develop the knowledge and skills needed to successfully complete the assessment and demonstrate thorough unit understanding

Stage ONE:Applying Content Standards to the Unit:Ohio Department of Education High School Standards

Language Arts- Write reflective compositions Write functional documents (e.g., requests for

information, resumes, letters of complaint. memos, proposals).

Write informational essays or reports, including research.

Deliver persuasive presentations. Demonstrate understanding of the grammatical

conventions of the English language.

Content Standards Continued…

Mathematics Provide examples and explain how a statistic

may or may not be an attribute of the entire population; e.g., bias.

Evaluate different graphical representations to determine which is the most appropriate

Science Describe examples of scientific advances and

emerging technologies and how they may impact society.

Content Standards Continued… Social Studies-

Work in groups to analyze an issue and make decisions.

Apply the processes of persuasion, compromise and negotiation to the resolution of conflicts and differences.

 Build consensus within a group. Analyze the reasons for the rise and growth

of labor organizations in the United States Analyze instances in which the rights of

individuals were restricted

Unit QuestionsThese questions are the result of the standards and the description of student needs.

How do job requirements and personal need coincide? How will changes in the work environment affect

personal life? In what ways can I maintain job satisfaction? How can I become a self-advocate for myself in future

workplaces? Am I aware of the differences between formal and informal

communication? What technology is available to promote my success in the

workplace?

Stage TWO:Understanding By Design’s Six Facets of Understanding(Wiggins & McTighe, 1998)

Facet Activity Performance/

Criteria Facet 1: Explanation

Sophisticated explanations and theories

1. Describe “work culture” or workspecific beliefs and practices, both formal and informal, that vary between positions or careers. Include examples of formal (or stated) policy and how this is interpreted on a daily basis, and the degree and manner to which these are enforced.

2. Describe a problem solving process and each of the steps.

1. Contrasts at least two positions or career categories with at least three examples each of formal and informal differences (e.g. attire, interaction style,

schedule, breaks, on and off-site activities, etc).2. Each of the steps are well defined and follow an example problem so that others understand the process.

Facets Continued…

Facet Activity Performance/Criteria

Facet 2: Interpretation

Interpretations, narratives, and translations

1. Describe why it is important for workers to “fit in” to the work culture and how this contributes to longevity (meeting work expectations) and one’s own job satisfaction.

2. Describe why it is importantto use a problem solving process in work situations.

1. Provides a clear and complete example or story of how “fitting in” helps both with meeting job expectations, and feeling satisfied by work with both elements present and with 80% of details complete.

2. Provides an example of a work-focused situation and how each step would be utilized in resolving the issue.

Facets Continued…Facet Activity Performance/

Criteria

Facet 3: Application

Use knowledge in new situations

and contexts

Identifies a problem faced on the job and uses the 5-step process to solve the problem and then evaluates the outcome, and identifies other

resources to help.

Demonstrates ability to use all 5 steps, with teacher assistance only to refine and to give feedback on evaluation of solution; finds at least 2 potential resources (service agencies or individuals) who

could help.

Facets Continued…Facet Activity Performance/

Criteria

Facet 4: Perspective

Critical and insightful points of view

1. Problem Solving: Apply

the processes of persuasion compromise or negotiation to the resolution of conflicts and differences.

2. Work culture: students interview family members about different behaviors and values that represent the “work culture” of their job.

1. Students will be evaluated on their ability to accurately identify steps of persuasion, compromise, and negotiation. 2. Student’s will presentat least one thing aboutwork culture that they have learned from eachfamily member and givetheir perspective on each.

Facets Continued…

Facet Activity Performance/ Criteria

Facet 5: Empathy

Ability to get inside another person’s feelings

The students will collect and make representations of statistical data of employability rates of deaf people in certain job/career positions. Students will infer how employees may

feel based on the data found.

The student provides insights that could only be ascertained by understanding what another person is feeling.

Facets Continued…Facet Activity Performance

/ Criteria

Facet 6: Self-knowledge

To know one’s ignorance, prejudice, and understanding

The student will be able to identify their ignorance, prejudice, and understand through daily reflections of various work culture’s introduced to the student through field experience and job shadow/mentoring.

The student was able to identify likes and dislikes as well as admit if they did not understand something and that feelings may change over time.

Stage THREE: Teaching ActivitiesCareer

Assimilation Unit

Language ArtsUse reading and

writing skills to enhance

communication with coworkers

Social StudiesLocate local labor

unions and how they apply to disability rights under ADA.

WritingImprove positive

interactions through formal/ informal

information sharing (memos, reports,

notes, etc…)Reading

Provide resumes for students to read to

enhance communication skills of “selling”

oneself to an employer.

MathematicsResearch local and

national job markets to find

disability employment rates.

ScienceLocate resources to Assist students in

getting specific technology needed for student

preferred jobs.

Tips for Teachers Setting up the Career Assimilation Program:

Discuss with students their current knowledge of work culture

Contact employers to see what technological devices are available for student to experience hands on

Locate local labor unions and representatives willing to speak in the classroom

Have students discuss and list current job expectations

Discuss with the student’s parents the career expectations they have for their child.

Language Arts Lesson Plan

Activity - During the transition planning process, students will keep a personal portfolio in order to monitor the success of activities and procedures acquiring self-knowledge and advocacy skills.

Behavioral Objective - Over the course of the year, with periodic evaluation checkpoints, students will create a transition portfolio with formal and informal entries. At each grading checkpoint, the students’ self-evaluation should match the teacher’s evaluation.

Pre-Requisite Skills – Student must be aware of one’s own ignorance, prejudice, and understanding as well as appropriate communication skills.

Procedure- Students will begin by brainstorming items they would like to display in their portfolio. Suggestions might be: resumes, memos, brochures about career/technical programs, college information, a checklist of tasks to accomplish, and journal entries. The journal entries are meant to be read by others and appear in formal and informal models and provide opportunity for response model what future notes to co-workers may look like. The entries should show the students growth in the area of transition planning by examining strengths/weaknesses, new skills or abilities learned, etc. Toward the end of the year they should start writing a post-assessment paper that describes what they have learned overall throughout the year.

Language Arts Lesson Con’t … Adaptations

For Older or High Functioning Students Students will be asked to share excerpts from their journals that model

informal and formal writing as well as provide clear insight in understanding their own prejudice and ignorance.

For Younger or Low Functioning Students Permit students to create a simplistic form of the portfolio as well as

discussing which requirements they will be evaluated on and which they will not.

Benchmark Write reflective compositions Write functional documents (e.g., requests for information,

resumes, letters of complaint. memos, proposals). Demonstrate understanding of the grammatical conventions of

the English language.

Social Studies Lesson Plan Activity- Students will set-up a debate between those that are for and

those who oppose labor unions. The debate must address labors union issues as they pertain to deaf and hard of hearing employees including how they protect their rights and as well as provide job satisfaction.

Behavioral Objective- After a speaker presents information about labor unions, students will write five issues for debate over labor unions. Students will have one class period to debate over the joining of a labor union supporting each argued issue with at least two informative facts presented by the speaker.

Pre-Requisite Skills – Students must be familiar with the style of debate, they must understand labor unions in terms of their advantages and disadvantages to an employee.

Procedure – Students will be presented a speaker whom will share information about labor unions in the United States. The speaker will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of an employee joining a labor union. After the students determine their own perspective of joining, as a class they will formulate 5 issues pertaining to labor unions that will be subject to debate: at least one pertaining to deaf and hard of hearing employees and one relating to job satisfaction. Students will then be broken into two groups-those for and those against labor unions and each group will be given the opportunity to express their side.

Social Studies Lesson Plan Con’t… Adaptations

For Older or High Functioning Students Students will be asked to create a visual that will be presented

during the debate to support their perspective. For Younger or Low Functioning Students

In place of a formal debate, students can discuss or write reflections in terms of their perspective of labor unions.

Benchmark Work in groups to analyze an issue and make decisions. Apply the processes of persuasion, compromise and negotiation to the

resolution of conflicts and differences.  Build consensus within a group. Analyze the reasons for the rise and growth of labor organizations in

the United States Analyze instances in which the rights of individuals were restricted

Mathematics Lesson Plan Activity - Students will research and report on the population of

people with disability employed in the workplace. Behavioral Objective –Students will create a professional

looking display of statistical results showing disability employment rates in a variety based on job choices or geographical representation.

Pre-Requisite Skills – students must have: an understanding of computer programs, how to enter and manipulate statistics to create professional reports, appropriate research skills, and the ability to infer into other peoples feelings.

Procedure – Students will research different careers in a particular geographical area and report on the disability employment rates of each. Students will be encouraged to choose a geographical area based on a desired area to maintain a job. Using statistics, students will create a report using a computer program (PowerPoint, Excel, etc) that allows the information to be presented in an understandable way. Have students make connections between their results and how they might feel being placed in that environment for a job position. As a class discuss possible ways to adjust in order to make the most comfortable environment possible.

Mathematics Lesson Plan Con’t… Adaptations

For Older or High Functioning Students Students can make contact with and interview people with

disabilities working in the workplace, if possible in the area they researched and discuss whether they feel like the “fit in” in their position and how it may or may not affect their work expectations and job satisfaction.

For Younger or Low Functioning Students Have students work in groups/pairs and participate in class

discussion regarding adjustments that could be implemented to maintain job satisfaction.

Benchmark Provide examples and explain how a statistic may or may not

be an attribute of the entire population; e.g., bias. Create a scatter plot

Evaluate different graphical representations to determine which is the most appropriate.

Science Lesson Plan

Activity- Students will prepare a PowerPoint presentation of a detailed analysis of an assistive technological device available for the deaf/hard of hearing in the workplace for formal and informal events.

Behavioral Objective-After research, students will create a presentation and possible demonstration of one assistive device and how it can be used for formal and informal use.

Pre-Requisite Skills-Students must have adequate computer skills (to exercise PowerPoint and research on the web), critical thinking skills, knowledge of writing a formal letter, and general research knowledge.

Procedure-Students will do group research listing various assistive technology available for the deaf and hard of hearing. Students will then examine how these devices could be of assistance in the workplace. As a class discuss various forms of formal and informal situation that may present conflicts in communication and how devices can be used to assist. Students will each chose one device to research in depth including: cost for employer, advantages/disadvantages, prime candidates, and true scenario of someone using the device (from an article/interview). Students will organize their information in a PowerPoint format and present their information to the class.

Science Lesson Plan Con’t… Adaptations

For Older or High functioning Students Higher functioning: Students will include at the end of their PowerPoint a

letter to an employer requesting a specific assistive device in the workplace Students familiar with technology can collect all students’ PowerPoint

presentations and combine them to a disk or webpage in order for each student to have future access the information.

For Younger or Low Functioning Students Students can work in pairs Students can explain a device they may currently use and

have experience with Benchmark

Science: Describe examples of scientific advances and emerging technologies and how they may impact society.

References Brolin, D. E. (1997). Life centered career education: A competency based

approach. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children.

Koch, L. Luft, P. (2004). “Career Development Theories for Transition Planning”.  Book Title Here.  Kent, OH: publisher. 2005. 1-24.

Ohio Department of Education. “Academic Content Standards.”http://www.ode.state.oh. us/academic content_standards/

U.S. Department of Labor. 2005. http://www.dol. gov/

Wiggins, G. & McTigue J. (1998).  Understanding by Design.  Alexandria, VA: Association for the Supervision and Curriculum Development.