THE GUIDANCE ORIENTED APPROACH TO LEARNING

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THE GUIDANCE- ORIENTED APPROACH TO LEARNING
Presented by Sandra Salesas, Provincial GOAL
Coordinator and Nancy Battet, GOAL Coordinator,
LBPSB LEARNING PARTNERS SYMPOSIUM February 9th,
2009
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A Little Reminder

• GOAL is a concerted action between the school
  team and its partners, in which objectives are
  set and services (individual and collective),
  tools and pedagogical activities implemented to
  guide students in their identity development and
  career planning. These activities and services
  are integrated into the schools success plan and
  its educational project (1)
• (1) Making dream come true, MEQ, 2002, p.18

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GOAL

• When students are engaged in authentic
  learning situations
• they are more aware of their own identity
• they have career aspirations and academic plans
• they choose an appropriate academic path, applied
  or general, POP, professional exploration
• they are motivated and are more successful or
  more self-efficent (Bandura)

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What GOAL is not?

• Not a series of isolated actions or activities
• Not an add-on  to existing programs
• Not the sole responsibility of the counsellor
• Not limited to specifically identified student
  groups
• Not a course, rather a career culture which is
  school-wide and supported by administration and
  by the teaching personnel.

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The Schools Mission

• To instruct, to socialize and to qualify are all
  taken into account with GOAL
• To qualify links directly with GOAL and the
  broad area of learning, Personal and
  Career Planning
• Cross-curricular competencies reflect those
  required by most employers
• Qualification is essential to prepare students
  with the necessary competencies for the
  school-to-work transition as indicated in
  numerous ministerial reports
• References Final report from the Commission on
  the estates general (1996, p. 23), MELs
  Strategic Plan
• 2000-2003 (2000, p.16). Quebec Education
  Program at the Secondary School Level
• (2003, p.6) and the Education Act (EA, art.36,
  al.2)

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The Importance of Providing Qualifications
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CONSENSUS FROM THE ESTATES GENERAL IN 1996 AND
THE QUEBEC YOUTH SUMMIT IN 2000

• With regard to Career-Life Planning, students
  receive
• Too little support
• Too late in students schooling

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The Consequences

• 75 of students in Secondary 5 admit to having
  no idea of their career plan at the beginning of
  the school year (Landry 1995)
• Before the age of 20, the dropout rate is 33.3
  (2002-2003)
• 22.2 of students dropout without any
  professional qualification, either because they
  do not have any diploma such as a High School
  Leaving or a CEGEP diploma (2005-2006)

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Provocative Statistics

• 65.8 of Quebecs youth under 20 years of age
  obtained a secondary school diploma in 2004-2005.
• 59 of Quebec secondary graduates move directly
  on to CEGEP. Only 38 of those actually complete
  a pre-university CEGEP DEC. Only 78.6 of that
  small percentage continue on to university.
• 60 of Quebecs anticipated labour force needs
  will require graduates of our vocational and
  technical programs, while less than 10 of
  anticipated jobs will be filled by university
  graduates.

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Why students drop out

• Lack of a sense of school relevancy is the
• most commonly cited reason for
• at risk youth
• Source Statistics Canada

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Meeting the Challenge

• BASIC SCHOOL REGULATION
• Educational Services
• Social integration
• Personal career goals
• Complementary Services
• Success in learning
• Team-building with Complementary Educational
  Services
• Academic career counselling and information

• QUEBEC EDUCATION PROGRAM
• Broad Areas of Learning
• Personal Career Planning
• Citizenship Community Life
• Personal Development
• Cross-Curricular Competencies
• To construct his/her identity (Elementary)
• To achieve his/her potential (Secondary)
• To use information
• Exercises critical judgment
• Communicates appropriately

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Why GOAL?What are the benefits?

• Success for all.
• Students
• understand relevance of school
• are more aware of their own identity
• are less disruptive in class
• choose a more appropriate academic path
• have career aspirations and supporting academic
  plans
• are more motivated and achieve more success.

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Where does Student Services fit?
CES Essential to Success
GOAL
QEP
Teachers
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Adding a GOAL flavour to your teaching

• Self-awareness
• Exploring the world of work
• Setting goals and taking action

Source Broad Areas of Learning, Quebec Education
Program, Secondary Cycle One, MELS
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Complementary Educational Services (CES)
Orientations

• CES at the heart of the schools mission
• Global vision with integrated services
• GOAL and community links
• Team-building for quality services
• Services Program of support services,
  assistance services, student life services and
  promotion and prevention services within a GOAL
  perspective

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A Week on Respecting Differences (CSMB)

• A multidisciplinary project with the Spiritual
  Life and Community Engagement Animator, the
  Guidance Counsellor and the behavior technician
• Working on complementary expertise to promote a
  continuum of services
• Finding that unifying project

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A team process

• Team meetings
• Finding themes and speakers
• Preparing students before, during and following
  the presentations
• Identifying team strengths
• Promoting our services to teachers
• Ensuring action plan in the educational project
  and the success plan

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Some themes explored

• A handicapped persons challenges with
  discrimination
• A blind person employability skills
• A prisoners adaptation to the real world
• A gay persons testimonial
• Self-image and obesity

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Group activities

• We intervened in class to present discussion
  topics
• Videos on self-image and nutrition
• Importance of communication skills
• Targeted groups with specific difficulties
  (Examples special needs, repeaters, etc.)

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Links with the QEP

• Cross-curriculum competencies especially
  communication, cooperation and critical thinking
• BAL Citizenship and Community Life, Personal
  and Career Planning and Health and Well-Being
• Subject areas Languages and Personal Development

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Outcomes

• Appreciation of differences
• Developing a rapport between teachers and
  professionals
• Promoting our complementary services
• Recognizing the pedagogical value of the CES team
• Increase motivation to learn and to use the
  Complementary Educational Services

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Winning Entrepreneurship Project (ETSB)

• Teamwork One Teacher and Two Special Education
  Technicians
• Art class
• Challenges
• Entrepreneurship
• Organization
• What students gained

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Art Class

• Group of multiple handicap students
• Life skills class at Massey-Vanier High School
• Art class stepping stone
• Works into marketable note cards

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Entrepreneurial venture with special needs
students

• Idea of marketing
• They liked the idea
• Understanding the vision
• Correlation idea and finished product
• Community Partners Station Knowlton

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Organization

• Table of tasks according to skills and abilities
• Committees and Departments e.g. Quality Control
  Advertising Purchasing Production Packaging
  Sales Finance
• Peer modeling and mentoring within the class

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Wheres the Black Sheep?
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Learning through Giving Project at SWLSB

• Pakistan, its people, the earthquake and the
  Canadian Red Cross became the theme which wove
  its way through English, French, Geography and
  Moral Education classes.
• At the same time the students designed and
  produced a wide range of fundraising events
• Students learned to problem solving, planning and
  mathematical skills. students to actively use and
  develop their decision-making and planning
  skills, learn more about the world as a global
  village, and build confidence, initiative and
  leadership skills.
• The students proved to themselves the impact that
  a few committed citizens can have.

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Who am I?

• Using a multimodal approach for self-exploration
• Multiple intelligences
• Learning styles
• Personality types
• Cognitive styles
• Study habits
• Essential skills
• Interests and Talents
• Extracurricular strengths

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GOAL can help us to answer our students questions
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Career and Educational Planning Influences

• Parents
• Teachers
• Friends
• Professionals
• Career Development courses (ex. POP, Explo and
  Entrepreneurship)

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GOAL is everywhere!

• Classroom
• School-life activities
• Individualized Educational Plan
• Guidance programs and activities
• School Success Plan
• Supporting Montreal Schools
• NANS Schools
• School Board Mission Statement
• In the home
• In local businesses, organizations, and other
  community agencies
• Career infusion and collaboration

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How do we achieve success?

• decompartmentalization of professional
  practices
• and
• collective, concerted action
• TEAMWORK!
• Ref. Making Dreams Come True Achieving Success
  Through the Guidance-Oriented Approach, 2002

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Show me how!

• Assess needs of school community
• Build upon established success
• Identify a complementary educational services
  need and develop a project for students at-risk,
  special needs, etc.
• Ask for support from your administration, school
  board, and community
• Use and share best practices
• Use resources that have been created to support
  your GOAL initiatives
• Build GOAL into your School Success Plan

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Personal and Career Planning Its never too
early to start dreaming!
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Practical Examples of GOAL in the Classroom

• Have students write about a fantasy job If I
  were a., draw a picture of themselves in the
  job, and identify the tools they would use.
  Discuss in class. Have students participate in a
  career dress-up day in which they wear the
  uniform connected to their occupation. 
• Have students construct a career pyramid that
  illustrates the different types of jobs in a
  career area at different levels of education and
  responsibility. For example, the variety of jobs
  found in a hospital (orderly, ambulance driver,
  doctor, janitors, etc.).
• These are the people of your neighbourhood
  students collect pictures illustrating various
  community workers (police officer, truck driver,
  salesperson, teacher, etc.). Have students give
  a job title for each, discuss the work activities
  involved, and the problems they solve.

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More Classroom Examples

• Read Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places Youll Go (or
  invite someone from the business community to
  read to students). Have students do a
  composition on the Places they plan or would
  like to go.
• Have students prepare an autobiography and
  address at least three ways in which their life
  is influenced by family, school, and friends.
• Have students research some aspect of change
  such as a means of transportation compile
  pictures depicting changes and occupations
  affected, and arrange a bulletin board display
  related to the project.
• Do oral reports on different occupations with the
  student pretending to be the worker in the
  report.

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More Classroom Examples

• Have students design a simple machine and build
  an assembly line to build it. The assembly line
  is set up and test in class, and everyone has a
  job to do. Students then market their product by
  writing advertisements.
• Who builds the stuff in my neighborhood? How
  many people does it take to build a house? Who
  grows my food and how does it get to the store?
  How many workers does it take to design and sew
  my jeans? What do I know about the country in
  which they are produced? Have students do a
  research project to answer many questions related
  to their surroundings.
• Plan, cook, and serve a meal while studying
  nutrition.

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Practical Examples of GOAL in School-life
Activities

• Career fair with employers from the community
• Have students interview workers concerning their
  career paths how did they decide upon the
  field, etc.
• Have students plan and carry out a Hobby Fair in
  which each student is invited to bring in an
  example of his or her hobby and demonstrate or
  describe the hobby to the class.
• Students form clubs e.g., radio club, drama
  club, Junior Achievement, etc.
• Job shadowing, job training (stages), and other
  career exploration activities
• Students organize a Talent Show or other arts
  event as a fund raiser and to develop
  creativity, cooperation, and project skills.

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The GOAL Networks mandate

• 1- To identify GOAL features and key works in
  the QEP, Secondary Cycle One and Two.
• 2- We will be preparing promotional tools for
  administrators and consultants, including
  updating the GOAL website.
• 3- We will be developing GOAL-driven learning
  and evaluation situations to embed GOAL into
  teaching practices, particularly through the
  Broad areas of learning. These learning
  situations will aim to prepare students for
  choices of paths, math sequences and
  post-secondary and vocational programs.
• 4- We are presenting GOAL at the Learning
  Partners Symposium on February 9th and 10th,
  2009 at the Sheraton Laval (www.learnquebec.ca/mak
  ingconnections)
• 5- To develop a GOAL regional plan with the
  Direction régionale of the MELS and with other
  school boards and community partners in a region.

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References

• Career Cruising, http//www.careercruising.com
• Workapedia (Canadian sector councils)
  www.workapedia.ca
• Smart Options, http//lifework.ca/home.htm
• The Real Game Series, www.realgame.ca
• Work-Study Programs, www.schooltocareer.ca
• Government of Quebec, Heading for Success,
  http//www.toutpourreussir.com/en/
• Career exploration www.jobsetc.ca
• Alberta Career Resources, www.alis.gov.ab.ca/caree
  r/cr/alberta.asp
• Québec Entrepreneurship Contest and Toolkit,
  www.concours-entrepreneur.org

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Resources

• The GOAL Post and the GOAL website
  www.learnquebec.qc.ca
• MELS documentation on GOAL Making Dreams Come
  True,
• www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/dgfj/csc/pdf/Brochure_eng.pdg
• Complementary Educational Services In Brief
  http//www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/DGFJ/csc/pdf/19-7036A.p
  df
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
  www.hrsdc.gc.ca
• Youth Canada www.youth.gc.ca
• Conference Board of Canada www.
  conferenceboard.ca
• Sector Councils www.councils.org
• www.tgmag.gc.ca/destination 2020
• www.careersinjustice.qc.ca

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Discussion Questions

• 1- In your own words, define GOAL and its aims.
• 2- Where is GOAL in your school? In your student
  services initiatives?
• 3- How would you like to develop GOAL with your
  team of professionals?
• 4- Identify one possible GOAL-oriented theme for
  your students?

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Discussion period

• Thank you!
• Sandra Salesas, c.o., Provincial Coordinator for
  GOAL, sandra.salesas_at_mels.qc.ca
• Tel[phone], ext. 5510