Amongst a group of poet-scholar friends, all of us students of the American poet Robert Bly, we often speak of our "gratitude to old teachers," the title from one of Bly's (1999) poems. We cherish a meditative awareness of deeply rooted presences holding us up, buoying us as we stride across "Water that once could take no human…

Outdoor adventure education programs often feature common elements, such as backcountry settings, small group sizes, and different levels of challenges. A mandatory outdoor experience program (MOEP), offered at a Canadian university for nearly 50 years, involved a three- to four-day wilderness canoe excursion. Research related to outdoor…

A qualitative study of 20 midlife faculty at one Canadian university suggests that while this can be a time of stagnation, it can also be the time of a "second call" to commit to working in higher education. Identifies themes of this second call, including care, community, creativity, and consciousness. (DB)

Some intervention programs have responded to the magnitude of the difficulties that career transitions present for adults. This digest examines one program which aims to improve the career adaptability of adults seeking employment. The interventional procedures outlined here are intended to accelerate vocational development by helping people…

The ideology of a feminine role is instrumental in maintaining the present economic structure that limits women's participation in the labor market. Women face special problems in their career development due to the socialization that prepares them mainly for homemaking, and a job market that continues to discriminate against them. A review of the…

School counselors are moving away from models based on psychotherapy to teaching models based on the development of normal individuals in educational settings. They are engaging more and more in instructional activities. The area of career development provides an illustration of the types of skills and values which counsellors "teach".…

The need for lifelong career development in Canada is becoming increasingly evident as more people switch jobs. To meet this need, it has been suggested that counseling services for adults should be organized in a three-tiered structure. Such a structure would ensure that individuals have access to a counselor in accordance with their level of…

Analysis of questionnaires completed by 27 successful Canadian women indicated that these women experienced satisfaction in carrying out research, publishing, and artistic and engineering production, while at the same time maintaining a healthy feeling of equality in a career path. Patterns of career growth indicated inconsistent vertical…

The advance of science and technology, the rise of mass consumerism, the deterioration of families, and other factors have enormous implications for career counseling. This digest outlines a constructivist career counseling perspective. This perspective is based on the following concepts: there are multiple realities and no single "God's…

Generations of rural people have relied on resource industries for their livelihoods. This digest examines how modern technologies allow career counselors to serve this population. In distance career counseling, four factors must be considered: (1) community characteristics, such as the informal hiring practices seen in many rural communities; (2)…

A constructivist framework can often appear vague and abstract to the novice counselor. The abstract and nebulous realm of meaning-making, which is central to constructivist approaches, can be frustrating for a linear, task-oriented counselor. This digest explains the approaches used in constructivist counseling. The need to use constructivist…

This 5-year study evaluates the first diploma nursing program in Canada within an educational institution, that of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. Various factors affecting student and Ryerson graduates performance are studied to answer two questions: (1) What type of nurse is being prepared through the Ryerson nursing program, and (2)…

Rapid and escalating changes in labor market and post-secondary educational opportunities challenge adolescents to meet their personal and career needs. A recent study found that young people left high school unprepared for current career realities and that both the career and personal areas of the lives were in a state of change and uncertainty.…

Historically, the place of career education in the educational agenda has not been clear. No shared belief exists as to how schools ought to prepare students for adult life. This digest outlines a new model of career education. Schools need to have clear and specific outcomes for each aspect of personal growth and development for students. Goals,…

A survey of 1,234 McGill University (Canada) students (entrants, graduates, alumni, and voluntary withdrawals) in a management continuing education program investigated the anticipated benefits in career development, fulfillment of imposed requirements, personal development, networking, attainment of knowledge, and personal fulfillment.…