Larry Cochran: Narrative and Emplotment Story provides a structure within which experiences of career can be described and analysed. A four phase cycle is proposed. 1/ Incompletion 2/ Positioning 3/ Positing 4/ Completion

An example of the four phase cycle: ‘New Kid on the Block’ Incompletion Something happens which directs me towards completion e.g. I cast myself as the ‘new kid on the block’ in a job. Positioning Preparing for action e.g. I want to make new friends and stand my ground. Positing Action is taken e.g. I meet some colleagues for coffee, and resist a manager’s demand to work late one night. Completion Negative or positive closure e.g. I sense I am accepted in my workplace.

Types of story Following Cochran, at least three types of stories may be relevant to career development Complete stories Incomplete stories Untold stories

Mark Savickas: Narrative and Life Theme Three key concepts: occupation, life theme and preoccupation. Occupation (plot or potential solution in the objective domain) ‘I will become a vocational psychologist’ Life theme (connecting thread of continuity) ‘So that I can help others choose careers’ Preoccupation (the felt problem, subjective experience) ‘And in the process, I may help to resolve my own difficulties with indecision’

John Holland: Matching Psychological and Environmental Types Holland claimed that there are six types of personality and work environments: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C). A key Holland concept is that people search for a good match between personality type and environment type. An individual’s overall vocational personality consists of a range of personality types e.g. Social and Enterprising and Artistic (SEA)

Psychological and Environmental Types An individual’s overall vocational personality consists of a range of personality types e.g. Social and Enterprising and Artistic (SEA). Similarly, work environments can be classified using a range of types e.g. Petroleum Geologist (RIE) Fashion Designer (ASR) Accountant (CSI)

The Six Personality Types Realistic Likes to work with objects, tools, machines or animals. Sees self as practical, mechanical or realistic with focused interests. Investigative Likes to engage in scientific or scholarly activities. Sees self as analytical, curious, scholarly and having broad interests. Artistic Likes to do creative activities like art, drama, crafts, dance, music or creative writing. Sees self as expressive, original and independent.

The Six Personality Types Social Likes to do things with people. Sees self as helpful, friendly and trustworthy. Enterprising Likes to lead and persuade people, and to sell things and ideas. Sees self as energetic, ambitious and sociable. Conventional Likes to work with data, numbers, records or machines in a systematic way. Sees self as an expert, hard working and orderly.

Further Holland concepts Consistency The degree to which an individual’s personality types are related or unrelated e.g. an individual with strong S and E preferences would have high consistency because these types are closely related. Congruence The degree of fit or match between a person’s RIASEC profile and her prospective or actual environment e.g. an RI person would be poorly matched to an SE environment.

Further Holland concepts Differentiation The relative strengths of a person’s RIASEC profile e.g. a peaked or low profile. Identity The relative overall strength of consistency and differentiation e.g. a person with a high level of consistency and differentiation would be well positioned to make career decisions.

Donald Super Super’s work is very wide ranging. In this presentation, we will focus on two major areas: 1/ Life Space approach 2/ Life Span approach

Life Space Four Principal Theatres: Home, Community, Work, Education Eight Major Roles: Child, Student, Leisurite, Citizen, Worker, Spouse, Homemaker, Parent. He envisaged other roles: pensioner, worshipper, lover, patient, criminal, reformer.

Life Span Growth ‘Becoming aware of an impending career decision….’ Exploration ‘Pursues a plan on exploratory basis..’ Establishment ‘Pursues a plan…with a more definite but still tentative commitment’ Maintenance ‘Pursue evolving plan’ ‘data collection’ ‘evaluation of outcomes’ Decline or disengagement More ‘data collection’ and ‘evaluation of outcomes’, then new decision point begins to emerge. (Super 1981: 34-5)

Life Span: Substages According to Super, each stage has a series of substages. Taking Exploration as an example, the substages are: Crystallising: clarification of interests, abilities and values Specifying: choosing between occupations Implementing: making plans, applications, deciding between employers.

Maxi-cycles, Mini-cycles and Recycling The above stages and roles can be applied both to the life course in general, a Maxi-cycle; and part of a life, a Mini-cycle. Super claimed that individuals can recycle at times of change and transition such as graduation, redundancy, new job, dropping out and so on. Recycling takes place via a mini-cycle of re-engaging in re-growth, re-exploration, re-establishment, re-maintenance and re-disengagement. Recycling can take place when: 1/ Moving from one stage to another through the life course. 2/ Moving through life roles such as student and worker roles. 3/ Moving from one life role to another life role. 4/ Moving through a sub-role within a life role such as the sub-roles of engineer or undergraduate student. 5/ Moving from one sub-role to another sub-role e.g. UG to PG student

Bill Law and Community Interaction In the process of community interaction, the community: Transmits motivation Modifies social functioning Influences via expectations, feedback, support, modelling and information Communities can constrain as well as enable.

Krumboltz’s Learning Theory of Career Choice and Development (LTCCD) Career is influenced by: 1/ Genetic endowments and special abilities 2/ Environmental conditions and events 3/ Learning experiences 4/ Task approach skills Learning experiences can result from: Instrumental Learning (person acts and positive reinforcement or punishment takes place e.g. receiving praise in geography class) Associative Learning (event happens and an affective association is made e.g. a hospital visit)

Learnt Generalisations The interaction of all four areas results in two forms of learnt generalisations. 1/ Self-observation generalisations (i.e. people’s beliefs about themselves) ‘I am good in maths but lousy in English’ ‘It’s hard for me to concentrate when I study’ ‘I must select a prestigious university’ 2/ World-view generalisations (i.e. people’s beliefs about wider world) ‘To succeed in show business, you have to know the right people’ ‘Counselling is only for those who are naturally warm and intuitive’ ‘All doctors think they are God’ ‘Auto mechanics are out to rip you off’ ‘Peace Corps volunteers really care about people’ ‘All lawyers are sharks’ ‘Those who can, do; those who can’t teach; those who can’t teach, teach teachers’ All may be more or less accurate, stereotypical or profound.

John Holland personality type: Nicola McKidd http://icould.com/videos/nicola-mckidd/   Donald Super and life course development: Dave Davis http://icould.com/videos/dave-davis/ Bill Law’s community interaction theory: Alison James http://icould.com/videos/alison-james/ Krumboltz’s learning theory of career choice and development: Gabby Logan http://icould.com/videos/gabby-logan/ Cochran and Savickas’s narrative perspectives: Martin Popplewell http://icould.com/videos/martin-popplewell/