School to Work and Career: Preparation, Transition, Integration

School to Work and Career:Preparation, Transition, Integration Mike Nakkula University of Pennsylvania

A Working Identity • The developmental role of work in adolescence and emerging adulthood • Competence, Confidence, Contribution • Halpern: Neurological readiness, societal need • How do work skills relate to school skills? • Theory to practice, real-time decision-making • How do work skills relate to career skills? • Assessing fit, role of planning, capacity to commit

The Impact of Transitions • What are the major life transitions? • What’s learned from them? • What’s risked? • How are they (un)supported? • What’s unique about the school to work and career transition?

Social Class • What roles does social class play in the transition from school to career? • Nature and meaning of work • What traditions get ritualized? • Graduations, paychecks, security • What gets assumed? • Who pays? What’s owed? • How can we/should we help?

“Not working is not an option.” • The necessity of work in the lives of many poor and working-class youth • To contribute to the family (instrumental assistance) • Moral need to work, “be responsible” or “help out”: “Wouldn’t be right for me to go to college only, while my mom works two jobs…” • To pursue higher-education or advanced training goals necessitates working to pay

Integrations of Learning and Work • Learning to Work • Skills, Commitment, Balance • Working to Learn • Relevance, Direction, “Reality” • Learning at Work • Application, Negotiation, Decision-Making • Working toward a Career • Gratification, Fit, Trajectory

Learning to Work: Balance • “I was working two jobs while I was in high school and I cheered and I was doing college courses and my high school work, so I learned how to balance a lot of things. So when I got here (college)…I have been involved in about three organizations and I had three jobs and I was fine because of that preparation. And it was necessary because I needed the funds to keep me here, and I needed the activities to keep me interested - instead of just constantly doing schoolwork. Yeah, I’m pretty happy.” - DECA Student in her last semester of college

Work and Survival • “I had a lot of personal things going on with family, so I ended up I guess you would consider it homeless…finding a place to stay, working a ton of jobs. I sacrificed a lot of schoolwork so that I could survive personally. That wasn’t the best decision that I made. Don’t get me wrong, to get to the place that I am now, I would redo everything again. Going through that, growing spiritually, growing physically, mentally and emotionally, all of that, you learn a lot about yourself when you’re at the bottom, I guess. - JC, DECA Grad, Part 1

From Survival to Renewal • “Then learning who I was academically or restoring who I was academically, a lot of times you can lose yourself when you’re becoming an adult. Not lose yourself as sacrificing standards, but for me I was working four jobs. Yeah, it was a lot. I would leave one job, go to the other. It took a lot out of me. I was really drained…I cut back…I started regaining my strength, regaining my health and ultimately, I ended up graduating.” -JC, DECA Grad, Part 2

Hard Lessons, Big Gains • “There was a time when I literally fell asleep peeing because I was so tired. I woke up just in time to go to another job. That’s how bad it was…I got really sick and Ms. B told me I needed to see a primary care physician because I was still going to my pediatrician. She referred me to Dr. Cheryl and that woman has been, man, a great influence for me. She pretty much was very forward and I appreciated that. She told me that I was sacrificing my health in order to just stay afloat and that wasn’t what I was called to do.” --JC, DECA Grad, Part 3

Beyond School and Work • Mentoring and Mentoring Readiness • JC now has her bachelor’s degree in biology, is completing a masters in Public Health and applying to med school • Influenced by her pediatrician and primary care physician • Positioned through work, school, and life’s lessons to receive their support

Deepening Exposure, Gaining Experience • Effective career development in adolescence begins with exposure • through contact with others • through abstract learning about careers • through direct involvement • Work and apprentices deepen exposure through real-world experience • Allows for more realistic, grounded decision-making • Assessments of likes and dislikes, fit & non-fit

From Garbage Man to Apprentice Health Inspector • Andrew’s story • “I wanted to be a part-time garbage man because my dad had a friend who made more money doing that than my dad made full time on his job.” • “I’m going into engineering because I got tested and I’m really good in math” (10th-grade) • “I got a part-time job and we got shut down by the health inspector…good thing, cuz the restaurant was unsanitary.” • “I’m an apprentice health inspector in Portland, OR.”

Wrapping Up Our Work Day:It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere • Work is developmentally critical to grounded learning and life planning in adolescence and emerging adulthood (Halpern and others) • Work teaches us what we need to learn • Work teaches us what we know and don’t know • Good work can inspire deeper formal and informal learning • “Bad work” helps set new directions

School to Work and Career: Preparation, Transition, Integration