Career Guidance in a Lifelong Perspective

1
Career Guidance in a Lifelong Perspective

• Tony Watts

2
International Policy Reviews

• OECD Career Guidance Policy Review (14 countries)
• World Bank (7 countries)
• European Commission (29 countries)
• European Training Foundation
• - Western Balkans (7 countries)
• - MEDA region (10 countries)
• Some overlaps 54 countries in total

3
Definition

• Services to assist individuals, of any age, to
  make educational, training and occupational
  choices and to manage their careers
• Includes services in schools, colleges,
  universities and training institutions in public
  employment services in companies in the
  voluntary/community sector and in the private
  sector

4
Public-Policy Goals

• Public good as well as private good
• Learning goals
• Labour-market goals
• Social-equity goals
• Now reframed in context of lifelong learning,
  linked to sustained employability

5
Strategic Leadership Rationale

• Need to view career guidance services as a
  coherent system
• Need for a holistic vision to be developed and
  collectively owned by a body with the breadth of
  membership to implement the vision
• Need to affirm primacy of the interests of the
  individual

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Need for Co-ordination

• Within government
• Within the profession
• Within the sector (including stakeholders)
• Regionally/locally as well as nationally

7
EC Joint Actions Programme

• Call for proposals to develop national fora
• 12 countries participated, in 2 consortia
• EC funding to cover European networking
• 10 countries have subsequently set up national
  fora

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EU Dimension

• Memorandum on Lifelong Learning (2001) European
  Guidance Forum
• In practice Expert Group on Lifelong Guidance
• Precedent under PETRA II programme in early
  1990s
• Now European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network
• Problems of representation
• National fora could provide solution?

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European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network

• Open to all countries eligible for the EU
  Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-13
• To work largely through thematic working groups
  and peer learning activities
• But to meet as a network periodically
• Biennial congress (to be interspersed with global
  symposia on career development and public policy,
  linked to ICCDPP)
• Co-ordinated and chaired by co-ordinating unit
  (initially, based in Finland), supported by a
  6-member steering group

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National Teams

• Maximum 3 members
• Able to represent lifelong perspective
• Clearly linked to relevant policy-making
  processes
• With capacity to involve relevant national
  stakeholders in education, training and
  employment sectors, including social partners and
  guidance practitioners
• Where national forum exists, could provide basis
  for composition of national team

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Possible Tasks for National Fora

• Development of strategic instruments to harmonise
  the field
• - Competence framework
• - Organisational quality standards
• - Sought client competence outcomes
• Marketing and branding of services
• Identifying gaps and ways of filling them