In the final assignment for this class you have a choice of topic, depending on your interests.
- Option 1: Career Counselling Paper
- Option 2: Career Education Paper
Both topics will require you to integrate material from the entire course. Please remember, this final paper is like your final exam. It is your chance to show what you have learned. If what you are saying relates to what we have discussed in class, please make this connection obvious in your paper!
Regardless of the option that you choose:
- Your paper should be max 8 pages, double spaced, have 12-point font and 1-inch margins, and all sources should be cited and referenced according to APA Style Guidelines.
- You have flexibility in terms of how you approach the writing of this paper. You can write either in the future tense (i.e., describe a plan you are developing about what you will do with this client/student group) or in the past tense as a case study (i.e., describe a series of counselling sessions that you have conducted with this client or describe an educational program that you have used with a student group).
You are encouraged to write in the first person and to take the perspective of the counsellor for Option 1 and the teacher for Option 2.
Option 1: Career Counselling Paper
If you choose this option you will imagine that you are a counsellor working with a client (either yourself or a fictitious character from a book or a famous person whose personal info is in the public domain) who has come seeking your help for career issues. You will demonstrate your knowledge of material covered in this course by explaining how your client’s career-related issues can be conceptualized and addressed. Your paper should include:
- Client Background: Provide an overview of the client’s background and presenting issue(s). Explain why your client came career counselling, describe the career development stage of your client (with reference to the developmental theories we have covered in class), and identify any contextual factors relevant to this case e.g., gender, class, culture, religion, disability status.
- Theoretical Orientation: Provide a brief description and rationale for the theory (or theories) you will use to guide your practice/plan.
- Counselling Plan: Describe counselling approach taken and, if relevant, community plan (as per JustTherapy) implemented in order to address the client’s presenting concerns. Your counselling plan should make evident your knowledge of theoretically informed counselling practices as well as some best counselling practices that also are relevant to career work (e.g., develop and maintain a working alliance with your client). You are welcome to incorporate material from review questions and activities into this assignment.
Option 2: Career Education Paper
If you choose this option you will pick a grade and a school location and develop a Career Education plan for the students in this grade. You will demonstrate your knowledge of material covered in this course through the plan you develop. Your education plan should make evident your knowledge of theoretically informed career education practices. Take the perspective of the teacher in your writing. Your paper should address the following:
- Background Information: In this section you will include a summary of the BC curriculum requirements for the grade you have chosen, a general discussion of the developmental characteristics that you expect students in that grade level to display (with reference to developmental theories discussed in this class), and list any pertinent contextual factors relating to the school population (e.g., cultural, economic, political considerations you will take into account).
- Theoretical Orientation: Describe the theory (or theories) you will use to guide your plan and rationale for this choice.
- Unit Overview and Example: Provide an outline of the units you will cover in the course. The connection to topics covered in the Background Information section should be clear.
- In this section, include a more thorough description of one of the units you have outlined, in which you will delineate learning objectives, a description of how material will be taught (e.g., lectures, activities, field trips), and a plan for assessment.
Marking Scheme (30% of final grade)
Total marks: 30
Content (22 marks):
- Background Info (6 marks)
- Theoretical Orientation (6 marks)
- Counselling or Education Plan (10 marks) – Here I am looking to see that the plan you have developed follows logically from the background info of your client/students and theoretical orientations you have identified. In other words, you should use the background and theoretical orientation to guide the plan.
For each of the above sections I will be evaluating the following:
- Completeness (Have you addressed all of the required points in the section?)
- Links to course material (Have you made connections to the relevant material from the course, have you demonstrated understanding of the course material, and have you integrated this material accurately and in a way that makes sense?)
- Support (Have you adequately supported your points through use of theory, research, logic and, where appropriate, personal experience?)
- Cohesiveness (Have the various points in each section been pulled together? Does each section relate to the rest of the paper? Taken together, do all of the sections present a cohesive whole?)
Quality of Writing (8 marks):
Structure (3 marks)
- Introduction – Clear thesis statement and outline of points in body of paper
- Body – Easy to follow. One main idea per paragraph, which is introduced in a topic sentence. No repetition. Clear and smooth transitions. You may use subheadings if you wish.
- Conclusion – Flows logically from body of paper. Summarizes points in body of paper.
Style/Clarity (3 marks)
- Main criteria: How well do you express your ideas? Do I have trouble understanding your paper? Marks will be deducted for technical errors where their cumulative effect detracts from the quality of the paper.
- This is influenced by: appropriate wording, economy of language (e.g., not excessively “wordy” or repetitive), academic tone, spelling, grammar, and sentence structure.
APA citations (2 marks)
- References– Sources are identified throughout paper and citations are listed on separate reference page. All citations are done using APA style.
