The Career Carnival
Theme: Career
Grade: 8-12
Introduction
How many times have you been asked, "What do you want to do when you matriculate?" It's not an easy question to answer unless you have taken the time to evaluate your values, interests, aptitudes, abilities, personal traits and desired future life style. An understanding of self will help you to evaluate the best educational options and career alternatives suited to you.
If you entered the workforce today, you can expect to have at least four or five career changes during your working life. The ever-changing advancements in technology will require you to continually upgrade your skills and knowledge. Assessing your skills and interests according to various theories, methods, or systems, will assist you in determining your future options and choices.
Task
Your class / grade are going to organise a career carnival. At this carnival you will play the role of someone who is employed in a job that interests you or suits your personal profile. At the carnival you and your peers will be identifiable in three ways.
Firstly, you will wear colours according to your interests and styles colour code (established by means of the Birkman Method). Secondly, you will prominently display one to three of the RIASEC code letters that correspond with your personal interest. Thirdly, and this should be fun, you have to dress up as if you are going off to a day at work in a profession that best ailgns with your combination of interests and style.
You will then invite learners from your school and neighbouring schools to visit the carnival (at which food and refreshments can be served as well - let your imagination loose on ideas for the carnival). The important thing is that you must have researched information about your career so that you can answer questions posed by other learners. You are an important cog in a class/grade effort. Your team and the patrons will rely on you. If other learners have the same interest colour and RIASEC code as you, you can collaborate with them and support each other in your research.
By the time the carnival happens you must have the following:
- a few large posters displaying Birkman Method classification and the Holland Code RIASEC descriptions. Visitors will use this to narrow their focus.
- a complete career database.
- a few computer workstations at which visitors can
- access your class career database
- go online and do the Birkman or Holland tests (if this is possible)
- fully researched information on your career.
Process
For this assignment, you will work on your own initially, but as a team in preparing for the carnival:
Establish your interest and style colour code
Establish your RIASEC Code
- Click here to use this exercise that will guide you through the process of finding your RIASEC code.
Briefly research job clusters and options
Find one or more job clusters that best describe the 6 jobs that were recommended to you in the last exercise. Briefly research the 6 jobs and prepare the information or the database.
Prepare a database and posters
As a class you should work in groups and produce a few posters of the Interest and Style Colour Code and the RIASEC Code. These will be displayed at the career carnival. Each individual should add his/her 6 briefly researched jobs to the class career database.
In-depth career research
Research one career in your profile in depth so that you are ready to answer questions about it at the career caarnival. If someone else in your class has the same interest and style colour, RIASEC code and in-depth career choice, you may cooperate in your research.
Conclusion
Finding out about careers should have been great fun for you, but you have also made some researched at least one career in some depth. Your individual efforts, and those of your class have contributed to the education of friends and possibly peers from another school. You have participated in a knowledge-sharing exercise.
