CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
2.11 IMPORTANCE OF CAREER COUNSELLING
Gordon (2005) argues that career counselling is important for the mental and career development of college students. It assists them to mature and deepen their personalities. They also self-reflect and restructure beliefs. Choosing a career is a crucial step in the establishment of self-identity (Good, 2008). Career counselling entails attitude development and basic skills needed in any organization. Choosing a career is a hunt for satisfaction and self-identity (Mara and Mara, 2010). College students choose foundation phase teaching specialization but do not get satisfaction and do not want to identify with teachers of young children. Career counselling helps in creating awareness and purpose for the intended work. It also helps individuals in refining their level of work despite the challenges brought by the work atmosphere.
Most organizations do not offer important support to assist teachers to develop after they have been employed. As a result, they become incompetent. Teachers become unsettled and then leave the employment.
Career counselling and development could help teachers face the challenges and be able to solve some. When done properly career counselling can do wonders in an individual's personality and performance at work. It does not only enhance his work skills but brings out his hidden resourcefulness. Career counselling takes care of various aspects like personal insight, support and even a better understanding. Other than these, it helps in building a high motivational level by understanding the individualistic wants (McMahon, 2006). Career counselling inspires every individual to make a career for themselves in the field in which their interest and passion lie. Career counselling helps individuals to know what they are getting themselves into. Career counselling could help college students to understand their strengths and to keep their vision and values ahead of anything else.
If the person's inner needs are not being met by work, then there is no motivation except perhaps basic survival. If teachers are not motivated they are likely not to exert their best effort in their work, making the transition processes not to be as smooth as
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it should be. Even the highest abilities, without the right motivation to exercise them, are useless and potentially destructive, stultifying for the person and frustrating for the organization (Good, 2008). Gordon and Habley (2000) maintain that 'career counselling introduces individuals to theories such as trait and factor, developmental decision making and social learning theories. The trait and factor theory allow college students to project their preferences on occupational titles and roles assigns individuals to modal personality styles, including realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional.' Career counselling is the art of honing a career that is developed at a very early stage in every individual. Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad and Herman (1951) and Super (1990) as cited by Gordon and Habley (2000) argue that career development occurs generally from childhood through fantasy by young persons or adults.
Therefore, career counselling is a way of career crystallization, specification, implementation, stabilization and consolidation as Gordon and Habley (2000) put it.
Teachers who get into the specialization without undergoing these stages are likely to quit. Since theories prove that career development at a young age, students should be encouraged to pursue their careers and not change because of the circumstances.
Career counselling is not only important to students who are choosing careers but also to policymakers. Policymakers are recognizing the importance of career counselling in assisting to achieve policy goals related to lifelong learning, employment and social equity (McMahon, 2006). This statement bears testimony to career counselling as one way in which people can have lifelong employment. Policies would not be implementable if people who are expected to enforce do not have a passion for their career. In many cases people resist change and this could be the reason for being in an employment position by default.
2.11.1 Impact of lack of career counselling
In some cases, parents put pressure on college students by choosing a career for them. In due respect, students take the specialization and in the middle of the study, they realize that it is not their calling. If career counsellors were there to lead teachers, the situation would have been different. Review of literature reports that employees are unlikely to live long in any kind of employment if they have no passion for it. People who have an alternative qualification are even worse. Once they get the desired
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employment they quit. Students find it difficult to say goodbye to their past life roles as Chen (1999) maintains. This results in the shortage of teachers in the foundation phase. Sajid (2010) reveals that in Pakistan it is reported that there is a lack of career counselling. The literacy rate is so low that people are not equipped with enough education on how they can be self-guided about the career direction. The dilemma of South Africa is that even many educated people undermine this critical issue of career counselling.
Many parents forced their children to choose the field they decided for them whether they had the abilities or not, they had to conform. This would impact the entire organisation negatively. In her speech, the former Minister of Basic Education, Naledi Pandor (2005) stated that there is empirical evidence that the richer the learning environments in schools, the better children learn. The environment cannot be rich if teachers who are teaching in that phase are not passionate about their job.
Counselling learners about careers will expose facts about a particular career in question and those facts will inform the decisions to be made by the student about what they want to do. In the study conducted by Salleh and Mustapha (2010) on the influence of contextual aspects on teachers' career planning and development, the results showed that contextual factors have influenced the choice of teachers' career decisions. The authors highlight two facts such as the lack of role models in the family and lack of career information received at home which influences the respondents' career decisions.
Serving teachers may already have a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and degrees but not having a teaching qualification. PGCE is a qualification that can be completed in two years if done part-time but only a year if it's done on a full-time basis. Most serving teachers who are fresh from university apply for this qualification after having completed their main degrees. They apply for PGCE due to failed job hunting. Despite their high qualification status of holding honours and masters’
degrees in their respective field of study, students will fail to find a job for a maximum of three years. They resort to the teaching profession out of desperation after having looked in vain for a job in their specialised area of study. They opt to take up the one- year training to enter into the field of teaching without considering their true passion, moreover, choosing to be a foundation phase teacher. Serving teachers are not at any point advised on the decisions they make regarding their choice of specialization and
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regarding their choice of teaching as a career. Only their qualification for admission is considered. Generally speaking, there is inadequate counselling in the department for those who want to take up the teaching profession to become either foundation or intermediate phase teachers.