Development Specialist
Subject: [EDEQUITY Career Dialogue]Opening Statement June Termain
Sender: owner-edequity@mail.edc.org
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: edequity@mail.edc.org
I'm honored to be able to participate in this discussion on equity in
school
to careers. I have been a teacher at the first grade, high school and
college level, as well as a counselor and administrator. I was
Career/Equity Education Specialist with Portland Public Schools for nearly
ten years and am now Career Development Specialist for the Oregon
Department
of Education.
As a girl, the only three occupational choices I knew for women, "if they
chose to work outside of their home," were nurse, secretary or teacher. My
mother was a teacher and that seemed the best choice for me, since I had no
interest in being either a nurse or secretary. I took shorthand in high
school because girls were supposed to and learned I was horrible at it. As
an elementary and middle school student, I dreamed of being a veterinarian.
When friends and family asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I
replied, "a veterinarian," the conversation ended abruptly. That answer
was
not appropriate. When I answered, "teacher," I received praise and
support.
Subtle and overt messages from adults do influence children's career
choices. I enjoy education, but I do wonder if I had career guidance what
I
might be doing. I work now to create options for children.
One of my first jobs was being a counselor at a women's college. It became
evident that many students had arrived on campus with the sole goal of
"going to college." Their focus in high school was getting into college
and
they hadn't thought about what they would study or even what they would do
after completing college. Many had very little information about
occupations or employment.
It was at that time that I took a Career Development Counseling class from
Dr. Norman Gysbers. I learned that career development is a lifelong
process
that goes from womb to tomb. The person we are at birth is the core of our
career development. Our race, sex, health, personality, abilities,
interests, aptitudes, family history, and time period into which we are
born
are all factors that contribute to our uniqueness. Our career development
is further influenced by our environment, experiences and circumstances
throughout our lives. Dr. Gysbers is a leader in the field of
Comprehensive
Counseling and Guidance. When fully implemented, his models serve all
students and empower them to make informed choices from a world of options.
There are excellent national models for career counseling and guidance.
NOICC National Career Development Guidelines have provided age appropriate
indicators for all levels of career development, elementary, middle school,
high school and adult since 1989. In 1997, the American School Counseling
Association developed National Standards for School Counseling Programs,
including: personal/social, academic and career development. The National
Consortium for State Guidance Leadership has provided leadership and
support
for state and local level to develop comprehensive guidance programs.
There
and many other state and local career development and guidance programs
that
could serve all students, if fully implemented and equitable.
With all these models and programs, many, if not most, students are not
receiving adequate career education and guidance.
Educational equity must be integral to any career guidance model for it to
effectively meet the needs of each student. Too many girls and women are
unfairly limited in their career and life choices. One of my frustrations
is that we have had non-sexist job titles for more than 25 years, yet I
still hear teachers say, "policeman," "fireman," and "mailman."
Stereotypical pronouns are used referring to people in occupations:
principal - he, teacher - she, doctor - he, and, nurse - she. Racial
references are sometimes linked to academic achievement or occupations.
Words send powerful messages to children about which activities and jobs
are
open to them - or not. Children need positive examples showing all kinds
of
people doing all kinds of work. Language can be changed today without any
cost. Non-sexist, unbiased language is simply a matter of awareness and
choice.
In my experience, one of the most effective educational equity training
programs is Generating Expectations for Student Achievement (GESA) by Dr.
Dolores Grayson. GESA is based on decades of research identifying
disparities in teacher-student interactions and trains good teachers to be
even better by consciously using their best teaching practices and
interactions with each student. Equity Principal is related training for
administrators and there is GESA for Parents. I believe we would have
much
greater educational equity if every teacher, counselor and administrator
were GESA trained. The website for GESA is http://www.graymill.com. The
National Coalition for Sex Equity in Education (NCSEE) is a professional
organization dedicated to ensuring equity for ALL students. NCSEE has
existed for 22 years and there is still much work to be done to achieve
equity.
Issues related to career development of girls and women include: the
achievement gap between groups of students; disparities in teacher-student
interactions; enrollment in higher level math, science and computer
classes;
clustering of girls and women into academic programs and occupations; entry
and retention in nontraditional occupations; disproportionate numbers of
women working in low-paying jobs; the prevalence of bullying and sexual
harassment in classrooms and the workplace; media messages; sex-role
stereotyping; and, the struggle to balance family and work.
My opening statement is longer than I intended, but it reflects my passion
for equity in career development. I hope something I've said will elicit a
response.
June Tremain, Ed. D.
Career Development and Human Res. Specialist
Oregon Department of Education
Office of Professional Technical Education
Public Service Building
255 Capitol ST. NE
Salem, OR. 97310-0203
Phone (503) 378-3600 x2238 Fax (503) 378-5156
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Apr 12 2002 - 15:16:53 EDT