How can you connect this new skill to the student’s priorities? How can you assure ownership by making the development of this skill the student’s goal rather than just your goal for the student?
What if the student is not motivated to apply for a paid or volunteer position? If so, perhaps there are other goals that might motivate the student to engage in the process of obtaining and organizing information for the application: Does he or she plan to attend a post-secondary setting? Does he or she plan to live independently? Does he or she plan to get a credit card? Does he or she plan to adopt a pet?
As you introduce this skill, how will you incorporate (visually, thematically) the student’s unique interests?
Can you make it visually clear to the student who is resistant to change that his or her assumption is only one way of looking at things? Can your use of visual supports help get agreement that there is a problem, get agreement on the solution, and create the motivation for change?
Some students may be rightfully concerned about sharing personal information or may not understand why an employer would require it. Some students may be motivated by seeing an actual job application for a position of their choice to help establish the true need of this information. Also, showing an example of a real application can help illustrate the level of private information requested by employers; knowing and providing date of birth and a social security number are essential, while other information (e.g. religious affiliation, political beliefs, sexual orientation, relationship status, medical history) is off limits.
Priming is a form of negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
Obtaining and Organizing Information
Interspersal is a proven technique involving the presentation of familiar, higher success tasks with the new, more challenging task. When it is appropriate, are you varying the activities to maintain the student’s confidence and focus?
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to gather or locate information for the application, how do you help the student prepare? How do you orient him to the materials he will use (as well as the ones he has already developed)?