This paper has aimed to describe (1) whether experiential learning could improve the career exploration of students with impaired hearing at a special school and (2) how experiential learning as a technique for career exploration should be carried out. The research was a collaborative classroom action research divided into two cycles each of which was conducted based on the experiential learning model. The research subjects were two Grade XI students with impaired hearing at special senior high school SLB-B Wiyata Dharma I in Sleman Regency, Indonesia. Career exploration scales, observations, and interviews were used as research instruments. The data were analyzed by means of the descriptive statistics and trend analysis, and the results reveal the followings. (1) Experiential learning could improve the career exploratory behaviors of students with impaired hearing at the respective special senior high school. (2) This paper suggests that career exploration through experiential learning should go through (a) choosing a career based on the students’ needs, (b) observing the activities conducted within the career to capture the students’ concrete experience, (c) holding discussions on the career-related information to brainstorm the abstract conceptualization, (d) practicing at minimum one of the career-related tasks as an actualization of the active experimentation, and (e) discussing the acquisition of concepts and concrete career-related experience as an effort of reflective observation.
Volume 11 | 08-Special Issue
Pages: 306-310