Abstract
The shift in career development in recent years towards a lifespan developmental concept of career behaviour (Watson, McMahon, Foxcroft & Els, 2010) where career development is viewed as occurring in stages, beginning in childhood and continuing throughout one’s life (Auger, Blackhurst & Wahl, 2005; Gottfredson, 1981), has meant that it has become increasingly more important to explore the career aspirations of primary school learners in order to assist learners in fulfilling their career goals. Studies show that children’s career aspirations are a reliable indicator of their future careers (Schoon, 2001; Seligman, Weinstock & Heflin, 1991; Trice & McClellan, 1993), and this contradicts the common misconception that children and adolescents are incapable of comprehending the world of work (Porfeli, Hartung & Vondracek, 2008).
Given the scarcity of literature on the career aspirations of primary school learners, there is a growing demand for research in this area in both an international and local context (Patton & Creed, 2007). Furthermore, research on the career aspirations of South African children from low socio-economic backgrounds is needed as the career research that has been done focuses on white, middle-class learners, and the relevance of this research to learners from differing socio-economic backgrounds is not clear (Arulmani, Van Laar & Easton, 2001; Venter, Watson & Fouche, 2006). The implications of such research could include the implementation of contextually-relevant career guidance programmes and support in order to assist learners to experience continuity in their career development and achievement of their long-term career goals.
Therefore, this research aimed to explore the career aspirations of grade seven learners at a community school. Set within an interpretivist paradigm, this research utilised a qualitative approach in order to conduct an in-depth exploration of the research topic. A generic qualitative research design was used to explore the career aspirations of the research participants because this design allowed for thorough exploration and included elements of description, interpretation and understanding (Merriam, 2009)...
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)