Intervention Strategies For Multipotentiality

Possible intervention strategies for multipotentiality at different educational levels include the following:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Provide realistic exposure to the world of work through parent sharing and exposure to parents’ working places.
Encourage career fantasies through dress-up and plays.
Encourage focusing activities such as class projects or achievement of Scout merit badges, which require goal setting and follow-through.
Use biographies of eminent people as primary career education material.
As teachers or parents, carefully evaluate skills, talents, and interests in order to help children understand possible areas of greatest interest.

JUNIOR HIGH

Discuss the meaning and value of work.
Discuss family and community values pertaining to work.
Provide for light volunteer work in several areas of interest.
Provide “shadowing” experiences in which students spend the day with an adult working in an area of greatest interest.
Discourage overinvolvement in social and recreational activities for the sake of involvement; prioritize and decide on a few extracurricular involvements.

SENIOR HIGH

Seek appropriate vocational testing from a guidance professional or psychologist.
Encourage visits to college and university classes in a few areas of interest.
Provide for more extensive volunteer work.
Explore possibilities of paid internships with professionals.
Insist on a solid curriculum of coursework in order to insure against inadequate preparation for a later career choice.
Provide value-based guidance, which emphasizes choosing a career that fulfills deeply held values.
Discourage conformist, stereotyped career choices.
Expose students to atypical career models.

COLLEGE STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS