Mark Watson - Career Exploration and Development in Childhood: Perspectives from theory, practice and research

In a sense, the content of this book prefaces lifespan career development, for it describes the foundational lifespan stage of childhood career development. It is the first book in the discipline of career psychology, a field with a history that has its origins in the start of the last century, to focus solely on children from a broad range of international perspectives. The book is long overdue. Throughout the book, chapter authors have commented on the increasing chorus of voices in recent decades for greater attention to be paid to childhood career development. The call for a more cohesive focus on childrens career development has also arisen out of the piecemeal growth of literature in this field, all of which is sited in journal articles, special journal issues, or isolated book chapters.

There have been several persistent criticisms of extant literature on childrens career development that the editors of this book were sensitive to. One criticism is the need for a more unified definition of childhood in relation to career development. In this book, authors were requested to define childhood specifically within a chronological age range that had an upper limit of 14 years. This definition helps to differentiate childhood from its present blurring with adolescent career psychology in the literature.

A further criticism of literature on childrens career development has been the predominant focus on theoretical perspectives. This book considers several perspectives on childrens career development: theoretical, research, contextual, assessment, practice, and policy. This broader range of perspectives provides the reader with a more holistic, integrative understanding of foundational career development in childhood and the relationship of this development stage to later lifespan career development in adolescence and adulthood.

In career psychology in general, and childhood career psychology in particular, concern has been expressed about the culturally skewed nature of the literature, much of which has been written in North America. In this regard, the editors invited chapter contributions from 30 authors representing 7 countries: Australia, China, England, India, Portugal, South Africa, and the United States. Among the invited authors are internationally recognised academics in the field of childrens career development. In addition, there are emerging authors who have co-authored several of the chapters a most promising development for the future of the discipline.

The book is structured in five sections. Section 1 consists of five chapters that describe both established as well as more recent emerging theoretical perspectives on childrens career development. Section 2 consists of a chapter that comprehensively reviews research on childrens career development and considers a future research agenda. Section 3 consists of three chapters that explore a variety of contexts within which childrens career development occurs. Section 4 consists of two chapters that explore assessment perspectives on childrens career development. Section 5 contains three chapters that provide perspectives on the facilitation of career exploration in childrens career development. The book concludes with an epilogue that reflects on the perspectives emerging from this first book on childrens career development.

It is the editors hope that the voices heard in this book will help lift the study of childrens career development from its present Cinderella status in the career literature to a greater appreciation of the critical foundational roots that this developmental stage provides in the study of lifespan career development. Childhood is an exciting time of exploration and imagination, a time which, if proactively engaged with by career theorists, researchers and practitioners, could help circumvent the reactive issues of later stages of lifespan career development that seem to dominate much of the career literature at present.

Anuradha J. Bakshi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development, Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science, University of Mumbai. She is the Vice-President of the Indian Association of Career and Livelihood Planning and the Career Guidance and Cross-Disciplinary Co-editor of the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling. Many of her recent publications have been in the area of career development.

Anthony Barnes is a UK Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC) and edits the Cegnet website, which supports career learning and development practitioners in schools (www.cegnet.co.uk). He is an independent consultant, trainer, and materials developer with a strong interest in career-related learning in the primary school.

Becky L. Bobek is a principal research scientist who conducts research on career development constructs and processes and investigates topics such as individual differences in interests and values, education/career exploration, decision making, and goals for education and work transitions.

Eleanor Castine is a Ph.D. student in counselling psychology and applied human development at Boston Universitys School of Education (USA). A graduate of the University of Virginia, Ellie received her M.S. in counselling psychology from Loyola University Maryland. Her research interests include childrens career development, especially among marginalised youth.

Ewald Crause is a psychologist working in private practice and senior psychologist at the Cape Winelands Education Department in South Africa. His fields of interest include career program development and using ICT within learning environments.