Perhaps a quick 15 minute method of introducing constructivism and
its applications could be achived by demonstrating it in action. You
might use the "military career and school counsellor role" as an
example. What you could do is this......
Give those present a piece of paper, on which you have already
printed three career options - options that are likely to be familiar
to them; Say, University Lecturer, Police Officer and Bartender.
Then apply a rep test - ask those present to write down some way in
which two of those careers are similar and yet different from the
third. Ask them to repeat the exercise and think of another way
in which one is different from the other two. Then ask those present
to reveal their responses, and write these up on a flip-chart or
whiteboard. Hopefully you will receive a diversity of responses.
You might then use those responses to show the different ways that
these people construed these careers, to demonstrate that they
construe on different dimensions, to highlight the individual
differences in responding, and to highlight the other corollaries of PCP.
In other words, try to condense to a very brief description of the
theory by asking the participants to reflect on the experience they
have just had, the responses they made, and how they arrived at those
responses, and why they think they construe that way.
If time, you might even ask them which pole of their constructs they
they would prefer in a career, and why and how they might find a
career like that. This way you can begin talking about the applications
of consructivism (say in life planning, career planning, values
clarification, role play etc.)
The reason I suggest this approach, is because in my work with
managers (and in class with undergraduate students), I have found one
of the best ways to introduce them to the processes and assumptions
behind PCP, is to engage them in a brief and low level exercise of
this sort - with just 3 elements, and eliciting just 2 constructs.
They seem to get the idea that if we included more elements, then
more constructs would be derived, etc.
Let us know what you do try. You might feel that my suggestion is a
little risky. You might like to pilot test it with some friends or
colleagues first.
Dr. Robin Hill
____________________________________
Principal Lecturer & Research Leader
Department of Business Studies
The Waikato Polytechnic
Private Bag 3036
Hamilton 2020
New Zealand
email: BSRAH@twp.ac.nz
Fax. NZ (07) 834-8802
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