Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

Career counselling, a key strategy in assisting individuals to understand their career decision-making issues, refers to an interpersonal process which may be conducted in individual or small group settings. Career counselling adopts methods of personal counselling in exploring life career development issues and is increasing being conceptualised as a learning process, with the career counsellor as a facilitator of that learning.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to encourage you to critically evaluate these perspectives to formulate a personal position with respect to your career counselling practice. You will have the opportunity to gain experience in the application of traditional and emerging career counselling processes, and to contribute to innovation in supporting the role of career counselling in a new career guidance context of career self-management. You will develop advanced skills in communication and counselling, and develop relevant aspects of ethical practice.

Objectives

On completion of the unit you should be able to:

1. articulate theoretical underpinnings of career counselling; (A,B)

2. demonstrate an understanding of aspects of the 'helping process' and issues for the counsellor as presented by these perspectives; (A,B,C)

3. apply well developed counselling skills which demonstrate principles of diversity to a range of career issues across the lifespan; (A,B,C,D)

4. critically evaluate the components of effective career counselling - assessment, information, counselling - and the relationship between them; (A, B, E)

5. present a personal model of the career counselling process following critical reflection of personal style, career theory, and counselling theory (A,B,D,E).

Content

The unit will cover the following topics:

• an initial overview of counselling, the relationship between career counselling and personal counselling, and the role of the counsellor. Professional and ethical issues will also be discussed. An overview of the theoretical approaches to counselling will also be included, in addition to the relationship of career theory to career counselling.



• the process of counselling, including an examination of different models, aspects of counsellor characteristics and the therapeutic relationship, and stages and barriers to the development of the relationship will be discussed.



• counselling microskills, with a specific focus on career issues, will be revisited. Group counselling, and its relevance and appropriateness, will be introduced. Components of career counselling, such as labour market information and the place of assessment, will also be covered. You will have opportunity to reflect on the many roles of the career counsellor, including counselling, advising, advocacy, and facilitating. Models of supervision for counsellor professional development will be introduced. Ethical standards that guide the work of career development practitioners will be covered.



• career counselling occurs in many contexts across the lifespan. Issues in counselling particular groups, for example women, ethnic groups, unemployed, and people of difference ages will be covered.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

The unit has been developed to encourage you to interact with the topics presented through a range of readings, DVD viewings, activities, evaluation exercises, discussion forums, and assignments. During the unit you will be required to understand, critically reflect, analyse, synthesise, and to apply the presented concepts to your own career counselling practice. It is hoped that through this process you will acquire an ongoing learning approach to your practice as a career practitioner.

Assessment

There are three assessment tasks in this unit and communication will occur between students and their tutor to ensure suitable counselling clients are chosen and appropriate counselling issues used.Formative - Comprehensive feedback is provided to students throughout the semester and following each piece of written work.
Summative - You will be required to complete three assessment items for this unit. In the first assignment you develop a personal theoretical and practical framework for your career counselling practice. In assignment two, you participate in a peer review of your career counselling. Assignment three requires you to submit a video recording of a career counselling interview using the framework you developed in assignment one.

Assessment name: Research Paper
Description: Theoretical and Practical Research Discussion
Identify a client group (e.g., adolescents, adults, people with a disability) or career development issue (e.g., gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation) with which you could work as a career counsellor. Using your knowledge of theory, discuss the career issues pertinent to this group or issue. Through your reading of the literature, develop a personal theoretical and practical framework incorporating Career Development Theory (e.g., the Systems Theory Framework, the Trait and Factor approach, Social Cognitive Career Theory) and Counselling Theory (e.g., Cognitive, Psychodynamic, Solution Focused) to guide your counselling practice.
Length: Approximately 2500 words.
Relates to objectives: 1, 4 & 5
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: External
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Mid-Semester

Assessment name: Critique (written)
Description: Review and critique a peer's career counselling interview.
You are required to audiotape a career counselling interview. Exchange this tape with another student studying this unit. Your peer review partner will be allocated at the beginning of the semester. Each student is to listen to the tape they receive and provide feedback to his/her partner based on the application of career and personal counselling theory used. Each student is to reflect on his/her interview and the feedback received. Think about the strengths and weaknesses of the interview. What would you retain or omit? What additional strategies/techniques might you have included? Submit your reflections on your own interview and the feedback you received.
Length: Approximately 500 words.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3 & 5
Weight: 10%
Internal or external: External
Group or individual: Group with Individual Component
Due date: Mid-Semester

Assessment name: Self-assessment
Description: Interview and Self-Assessment
(a) Make a video recording of a career counselling interview in relation to the client group or career development issue you identified in assignment one. Your recording should demonstrate appropriate acquisition of counselling skills as well as evidence of the theoretical and practical framework you developed in assignment one.
(b) Write a critique of your interview including comment on both your counselling skills and the framework you used. Include a copy of your practice framework from assignment one. Evaluate the appropriateness of the framework for your client and make suggestions about any modifications you would use in your future work.
Length: Critique: Approximately 2000 words
Relates to objectives: 2, 3 & 5
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: External
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End-Semester

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Mandatory resources - both can be purchased from the QUT bookshop

Text

The following publication has been selected as the compulsory text for this unit. It can be purchased from the QUT bookshop.

McMahon, M., & Patton, W. (2006). Career counselling: Constructivist approaches. New York: Routledge.

DVD

The following DVD has been selected as a compulsory resource for this unit. It can be purchased from the QUT bookshop.

Niles, S. G., & Amundson, N. (2005). Career counselling: Work in progress DVD. New Jersey: Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Additional resource materials are available on BlackBoard on the CMD.

Risk assessment statement

There are no risks beyond the ordinary which need to be considered in this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 31-Oct-2012