The Career Pathways Effect, chapter 12, Career Guidance and Counseling, page 271:
“Working together, the members of the counseling community can follow these steps in helping students prepare for their careers:
* Help students find their passions — The system should help students figure out what is important to them. Students will need to figure out their interests, values, skills, and strengths.
* Crosswalk passions to Career Clusters(TM) — Match interest and strengths (passions) to the broad career clusters.”
Huh? Did I miss something? When did “strengths” get translated to “passions”?
Merriam Webster defines strength:
1: the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance
2: power to resist force : solidity, toughness
3: power of resisting attack : impregnability
4 a : legal, logical, or moral force
b : a strong attribute or inherent asset
5 a : degree of potency of effect or of concentration
b : intensity of light, color, sound, or odor
c : vigor of expression
6: force as measured in numbers : effective numbers of any body or organization
7: one regarded as embodying or affording force or firmness : support
8: maintenance of or a rising tendency in a price level : firmness of prices
9: basis —used in the phrase
Passion, meanwhile is defined:
1 a : the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death
b : an oratorio based on a gospel narrative of the Passion
2 obsolete : suffering
3: the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces
4 a (1) : emotion (2) plural : the emotions as distinguished from reason
b : intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction
c : an outbreak of anger
5 a : ardent affection : love
b : a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept
c : sexual desire
d : an object of desire or deep interest
“Pathways” goes on to say, on page 273:
“Some observers feel that delivery of career guidance and counseling in
K-12 may now be less effective than at any time in the past half
century.”
Imagine that.
Then, on page 275 “Pathways” states “First, career guidance and counseling is still not taken seriously enough in K-12 education.”
Again, imagine that.
Recently I was honored to give a keynote for a graduation ceremony. I admonished students against following their passions. Instead, I recommended that they start serving their communities, OVER DELIVER no matter in which roles they found themselves, and that passion would follow them.
Passion is external (“the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces”). Passion is not a strength, as strengths are internal. Anyone who has been walked through a basic SWOT analysis knows that.
We are living in times that do not afford young people the luxuries of following passions. What is wrong with PRAGMATISM?
M-W defines PRAGMATISM:
1 : a practical approach to problems and affairs
If career guidance as a profession and career counselors as professionals wish to become more effective, and hope to be taken seriously, a switch in vocabulary and practice is an absolute must.
Let me be clear, there are times and places for passion; let us be passionate about PRAGMATISM.