Question A

Discuss the sources of information that a Life Orientation teacher can use to assist
learners with career matters. (30)
Professional bodies
- Professional bodies include associations, federations, institutes, societies and similar
institutions that can be approached to obtain advice and information about potential
career opportunities within their respective fields. Some qualifications require for
learners to be members of professional bodies and students have to register with
these bodies before commencing their studies. It is therefore important for educators
to check such requirements with the body concerned or with the relevant educational
institute prior to the enrolment.
Institutions of higher learning
- Universities, technikons, colleges of education, colleges of agricultural science and
technical colleges are institutions for higher learning. Such institutes usually have
specific information on careers or subject information on the course they offer. This
information is presented in the form of subject information leaflets. These leaflets can
be useful for the career information library, as they cover the outline of a subject or
career, giving information on the required personality, entry requirements, duration of
the course, curriculum and job prospects. The calendars and a prospectuses of
tertiary institutions also provide important information on rules and regulations, entry
requirements, fees for tuition and closing dates for applications.

Companies
- Companies have a wealth of information that could benefit learners who have to
make a career decision or who have completed their studies and are looking to find
employment. Information usually covers the nature of the company, job opportunities,
benefits for their employees, prospectus for different positions available and their
advantages over their competitors. Such information can be useful to a student as as
it gives them an indication of where job opportunities lie and which companies may in
future be considered as possible employers. Some companies are willing to sponsor
learners with bursaries. This is always an advantage for the student and most
companies that offer bursaries prefer to hire the students they have been sponsoring
upon completion of their studies. It is important for educators to inform learners that
bursaries are mostly given out only to learners who excel in school.

Career Centres
- These are non-governmental organisations who are highly respected for their
experience and dissemination of information on career guidance. Career centres may
be contacted for information that could benefit both educators and students alike. In
order to know what particular information a career centre provides, the educator
should request for that centre to send a catalogue as well as information on other
services they offer.

Educational magazines and newspapers

- Educational magazines and newspapers can also be used as a source of Information
to learners as they often have columns and articles on career related matters.
Examples of magazines and newspapers with such information may include
Educamus and The Sowetan.
Embassies
 - Sometimes, students will want to know about international studies which is why it is a
good idea to gather information on overseas institutes as well. Such information can
only be supplied by the embassies of the respective countries.

Question B
Differentiate between aptitudes, abilities, talents and skills and give examples of
each. (20)

Aptitudes- Aptitudes should be seen as specific personalities or abilities, innate as

well as acquired, which are at a persons disposal at a certain stage and will enable
him to develop certain skills and proficiencies.
It is the ability for doing or learning certain kinds of things with ease and quickly.
Aptitude tests are commonly done to identify peoples natural abilities.
E.g. some people are great speakers but are slow when doing paperwork

Abilities- Something that an individual has become good at doing by applying effort.
One tends to gain ability merely by working hard at something but it takes a lot of
effort as they do not really have the aptitude.
E.g. A learner who has been coached from a young age may develop great passing
and shooting abilities in soccer.

Talents- Talent can be defined as a special aptitude. It refers to the natural abilities
that you are born with and the ability to do something without really thinking about it.
A learner may build a career on a field such as sport, but your interests in this field
also needs to be high
E.g. you are playing tennis for the first time but you do not have a problem keeping
the ball in play.

Skills- According to a dictionary, skill refers to expertness, practised ability, facility in

action, dexterity or tact.
Skill is something that you acquire after putting in a lot of hard work. Unlike talent, it
is not inborn, but learnt. Not everyone is talented, but if you make the effort, you can
learn a new skill.
E.g. A young boy may not be able to serve the ball with a tennis racquet, but after
months of practice and hard work, he has developed a skill to serve the ball with
pace and accuracy.

Question C
What are the advantages and disadvantages of interviews as they relate to Life Orientation?
 (10)

Advantages
- Allows us to gain a better understanding of the person
- There are many opportunities for asking questions.
- Probing is possible, which allows us to get deeper into the matter
- It is personal, therefore we are able to get pure insight from the interviewee
- The interviewee needs not to be able to read and write and may express
themselves better.
- It has greater depth than with other methods of information collection.

Disadvantages
- It is a time consuming method of gaining information.
- Only one or a few people can be interviewed at a time.
- Reliability is limited
- Direct interaction may be a disadvantage as interviewee may not be able to fully
express himself
- It may be prone to subjectivity and bias on the part of the interviewer.

Question D
Discuss 4 general guidelines that a Life Orientation teacher can use in conducting career
counselling within a cross-cultural context. (8)
- Help learners who are culturally diverse to understand the impact of
discrimination on their behaviour, especially as it relates to career decision
making.
- Possessing the requisite career and general counselling skills as well as cultural
and self-awareness in order to effectively intervene in the career development of
culturally diverse learners.
- Strive to help learners who are culturally diverse to realise the relationship
between career decisions and the consequences thereof.
- Be able to discern the differences between career behaviour resulting from socio
economic class and career behaviour resulting from being part of a specific racial
group.

Question E
Explain the four factors that could be used as guidelines in establishing career
possibilities. .
(20)
Technological development
- Technology has a profound effect on education, training and job requirements. In
addition to the necessary skills for the job, other qualities such as communication,
problem solving and computer literacy have become more and more important in
the workplace. Workers need to be well educated and once employed, will need
constant training and retraining to keep up with the changing technology. Even
though employment opportunities have decreased due to mechanical technology,
some industries (e.g. I.T) have because of technological advances.
Social and political conditions
- South Africa is facing enormous political changes and different opportunities are
becoming available. Due to urbanisation, more housing will be needed which in
turn leads to more jobs for builders and town planners.
Economic recession
- The worldwide recession has forces companies to focus on one main (core)
business. This has led to subcontracting in which large firms transfer particular
tasks to smaller firms who carry the overhead costs and employ unskilled/semi-
skilled workers. This has caused growth in the service sector and an increase in
employment opportunities.
Portfolio careers
- Even though many companies focus only on the core tasks of the business,
many of the tasks which are non-core still need to be maintained. Thus includes
things such as cleaning, maintenance and security to mention a few. This means
a person who is an expert in security protocol might be able to offer his services
to a variety of companies that require the service. Since security is not their core
business, they are please to pay a contractor to do the job. Portfolio careers such
as the above mentioned are increasing throughout the country.

Question F
List 6 critically important skills in determining the levels of occupational and educational
success that culturally different learners may attain. (12)
- Handling evidence
- Analytical skills
- Human relation skills
- Learning skills
- Career development skills
- Adaptive skills