Career guidance as a creative process

With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union
CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
CENTRES
CAREER GUIDANCE IN SCHOOLS AS A CREATIVE PROCESS
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This paper is the second of three e-learning modules created under the auspices of the CENTRES project. The pilot activity in the Czech Republic was focused on the training of career counsellors in schools in the field of creative
entrepreneurship and creative career guidance.
Annotation
The training module is intended for educational counselors and represents a new dimension of career counseling in primary and secondary schools as a creative process that can influence students' attitudes significantly and develop desired competencies for life. The module is not methodological instructions. The ambition is to encourage counselors to think about how their school can turn into open, modern institutions and under local conditions develop and improve career education.
Graduate profile
Graduates will have gained knowledge about current trends and the effectiveness of career guidance and activate appropriate teaching methods that will lead students towards their future careers. In light of the current knowledge about the labour force requirements, graduates are aware of the need to develop and support student' flexibility, creativity and entrepreneurship through available ways and means.
Keywords
career guidance, career education, guidance services, educational counsellor, students, school, education, labour market, labour force
Content
To the heart of the matter…
Lesson 1 – Career guidance brings changes
Lesson 2 – Why prepare for life in schools
Lesson 3 – Current model of career guidance in schools and the new role of the educational counsellor

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Lesson 4 – Challenges of career guidance in schools
Lesson 5 – Systemic measures to support career guidance
Lesson 6 – Tips for career guidance
In conclusion
…food for thought
To the heart of the matter…
Today, the earlier model, where vocational choice in secondary schools more or less determined individuals´ lives and professional career has developed within one single occupation until retirement, is no longer relevant. Presently, many people work in other fields than those that they studied in schools. An upper secondary school graduate survey, carried out by the National Institute of Education, discovered that three years after graduation, almost 40 % worked outside of the field of education.
 Employers say that graduates are not adequately equipped with general skills, such as responsibility, ability to solve problems independently and creatively, and that they lack a proactive approach.
The proportion of people with upper secondary education has increased significantly. In addition to initial education, where it is about 70 % each year, upper secondary education is also sought by people in adulthood, via continuing education.
 According to statistics, about half of adults do not complete their studies. The reasons are many, but many former students report that the main obstacles to education are poor competences to learn, poor time management and ability to work independently. They are talking about skills that should have been acquired in the course of initial education.

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Lesson 1 - Career guidance brings changes
The development of the labour market requirements highlights the importance of career guidance. Modern trends of guidance services have high expectations and require a change of mindset and approach of all stakeholders - providers and beneficiaries. In the Czech Republic, career guidance is a relatively young discipline. It is based on the traditions of educational counseling, but is gradually coming into its own.
The very concept »career guidance« is in use since about fifteen years ago. For some time the content was somewhat unclear and not always understood as a process that begins in primary school and accompanies us throughout our life.
Career guidance is not a one-off assistance, but a lifetime service. It is necessary to build a network of professional services that would also be available to individuals outside the education system.
The essence of career guidance
Generally, career guidance are guidance services assisting individuals in the following areas:
• personal and vocational development
• education and success on the labour market
Comprehensive profile of career guidance
Given its breadth and scope a more accurate term is »lifelong career guidance« which
includes:
• a new view of the human being and human potential that keeps evolving
• all aspects related to the individual's life
• issues related to personal career management and development
• areas of education and training
• acquisition of competences
 seeking employment and related further education

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Trends of career guidance
Currently, career guidance focuses on personal responsibility for one´s own career
and the use of required competences. Largely, it is about two topics:
 Career management
 Career management skills
The current definition of career guidance focuses primarily on those areas:
Career guidance is a system of comprehensive services that support individuals of all ages and at any time of their life in the management of their own careers.
Users of career guidance services
Anyone can be interested in guidance. There is a wide range of different groups - career guidance knows no boundaries. Services can be sought by:
• pupils and students
• school graduates who have not yet entered the labour market
• adults wanting further education
• adults who are seeking jobs, changing jobs or those returning to the work process after
some time
Cloudy!

 In schools focusing on only one area of career guidance, i.e. the transition from lower secondary to upper secondary education, the services are significantly limited to the detriment of their beneficiaries - the students.
 Narrow focus is further highlighted by terminology still in use today such as occupational choice, vocational orientation, vocational path, educational counseling.

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Lesson 2 - Why prepare for life in schools
One of the goals of initial education is to consistently prepare students for lifelong learning, dynamic career paths, the likely variability in employment and related labour mobility. The education system as a whole must lead to the acquisition of competences so that the student is able to apply them in their work and in adverse situations, such as the loss of work.
The reason is the situation on the Czech labor market, which is influenced by the link between the markets and economies in the world:
• employers need to ensure competitiveness on the local and transnational level
• job descriptions often go beyond the original character of the given profession
• skill requirements of the labour force are increasing
• demands for flexibility in work and greater labour migration are growing
• more flexible retraining courses and further education are sought
• increasing importance of key competences for both employees and employers
Flexicurity
Under the new conditions, there are growing demands on education, which should meet the »flexicurity« principles (a combination of English words - flexibility and security). The labour market guarantees mutual security and benefits to both employees and employers, which are based on:
THE EMPLOYER obtain a flexible and well prepared employee – a graduate, who can quickly succeed in new job
THE EMPLOYEE
is equipped with transferable skills that can protect him, e.g. when he loses the job

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Creativity and Albert Einstein: »Imagination is more important than
knowledge.«
Employers often seek creative people. They need people who can bring something new, who are inquisitive, open, look for interesting information and are able to use them and have a feel for crisis management.
Although it seems that this can only apply in arts, creativity in work can be used by virtually anyone. Good ideas on how to improve the working environment or upgrade equipment and technology and to streamline work processes are welcomed by all employers.
Pablo Picasso: »Everything that you can imagine is real.«
Creativity is referred to as ability, through which a person can find new and original solutions that are useful and acceptable by the society. It may also go against convention, it knows no barriers. However, certain conditions are needed:
• spontaneity
• trust
• respect
• discussion
• time and space
• combination of fun, discipline and commitment
According to one member of »Monthy Python«, John Cleese, creativity is not a unique talent, but a way of thinking (from the presentation of research results on creativity in which he participated).
Paul Allaire: » To be able to do things differently , otherwise you have to see it.
«
A amall child goes through certain stages of development. After the destruction phase
(e.g. repeatedly and with gusto, the child tears down a house of bricks) comes curiosity,

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exploration and creative enthusiasm. Later, in an older age however, some people´s creative approach is stifled. This is due to the absence of suitable conditions, such as working in an environment where creativity is undesirable. Some experts say that even the school environment is not inclined towards creativity. At the same time, it is one of the most important competences for life and students should develop it throughout the entire initial education.
Linus Pauling: »The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.«
Schools should create an environment for students in which they are able to learn, see and do things differently, generate ideas and implement them, experiment and discuss freely. In recent years, instruction is linked with arts disciplines that support alternative approaches.
In this sense, the first and foremost expectation is a creative approach and a change in thinking by the guidance counselors and teachers. Only by changing the overall atmosphere of the school will it be possible to set such conditions for students.

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Lesson 3 - the current model of career guidance in schools and the new role of the educational counsellor
The school headmaster is responsible for the provision, range and quality of school´s
guidance services. These services are evaluated by the Czech School Inspectorate.
Actors of career guidance in schools:
In career guidance processes the following actors are involved:
• students and their parents
• educational counsellors
• class teachers
• other teachers
• prevention methodologists
Many schools also employ a school psychologist or special needs educator. Their presence is appreciated by teachers due to the increase of special educational needs and also social pathological phenomena.
School guidance office
In accordance with the concept on guidance services in schools (2004) and the respective legislation introduced in to the Education Act, some schools have set up the so called school guidance offices (skolni poradenska pracoviste - SPP), which include the services of the educational counselor, prevention methodologist, school psychologist and special needs educator. The plan is to implement these offices in schools with student numbers of 500 and more.
A team of school experts divided their responsibilities as follows:
• educational counsellor works solely on career guidance
• other specialists deal with behavioral and educational needs of students
The new role of the educational counsellor

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The educational counsellor´s role has undergone some changes recently. The new activities reflect the current needs of students and their parents, development of opportunities in education and the labour market and other societal contexts. The counsellor should actively assist in the creation of a positive school climate and, together with the class teacher, offer and coordinate the provision of school services. In the process of career guidance the counsellor has a guiding role.
The need to improve the quality and attractiveness of school guidance services results from the research in this area, according to which the students are dissatisfied with the range and level of services provided. In their view, they play a very small role in their career decision-making process and the students don´t seek them out. Each school would benefit from a reflection of the current needs of the students and their parents
and adapt their services accordingly.
Cloudy!
 The term "educational counsellor" is a somewhat misleading concept today and it seems that it does not encourage young people to make contact.
 The significant role of psychologists in school guidance gives the impression that it is a service for students with more serious problems and not a normal part of everyone's life (OECD recommendation on the system of career guidance in the Czech Republic and conclusion of the international project Review of Career Guidance Policies, 2005).
 To date, higher requirements for the performance of educational and career guidance are not dealt with satisfactorily, be it the system of further education and acquisition of competences by counsellors or the increase of time allocated to tasks and financial rewards.

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Lesson 4 - Career education challenges in schools
Career guidance is very broad and can be divided into two main segments:
• career education = a long-term process that takes place in groups in the context of school education
• individual counseling = direct work with the student, depending on needs, which uses a variety of methods such as an interview, providing specific information and recommendations, diagnostics, coaching, etc.
Education Program Framework
In lower and upper secondary schools, career education is contained in documents of the education program framework, which focuses on key competences.
The scope, method and approach, in which it is projected in the school curriculum is the responsibility of the school management. It can be spread across the curriculum and is usually part of sociology and economics. On both types of schools, it is fully covered by the education area called Man and work. In secondary vocational education, it should also be reflected in vocational training and work experience.
The objectives of career education
New approaches to comprehensive career guidance services are supporting the development of human potential, mental and physical abilities, talents and creativity and recognize the uniqueness of the individual.
The aim is to help the student be aware of their own values and the need for lifelong learning, shape their attitudes towards life and learn to actively and responsibly plan for the future. This requires knowledge and experience from the world of education and work, including the risks.

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The result of the school career guidance process is when the student, on the basis of lessons learned, is able to:
• compile a personal portfolio of skills and abilities
• plan own development, be it education or entering the labour market
• make a choice independently for a higher level of education or evaluate job offers
Thematic areas of career education
In terms of initial education, career education focuses on:
• self-discovery, self-reflection
• clarification of interests, abilities, plans, objectives and values
• skills in planning education and career goals
• awareness of education opportunities, permeability of the education system, job
prospects
• preparation for entering the labour market and creation of a personal portfolio
• acquisition of key and general competencies
• the needs for lifelong learning

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Lesson 5 - Systemic measures to support career guidance
At the level of initial education
In accordance with the curricular reform, the Man and work subject has become an integral part of the education program framework for basic education.
It consists of various thematic units that can be a separate subject or implemented in other subjects in the form of education blocks. The education content focuses on practical work skills and habits while promoting creative thinking.
On the primary level, four thematic areas are compulsory, namely:
• working with fine material
• construction activities
• cultivation
• food preparation
Usually, they are taught by teachers specializing in music, art, work and citizenship studies.
On the lower secondary level, the subject is divided into seven elective areas and schools must, according to their needs and objectives, include at least one of them:
• working with technical material
• design and construction
• plant cultivation and animal husbandry
• operation and maintenance of the household
• food preparation
• working with laboratory equipment
• using digital technologies
The eighth thematic area is the World of work, which is mandatory for all students and designed to prepare them for further education and/or occupation. It can be taught

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as a separate subject or integrated into others, usually citizenship and family education, with two-hour weekly lessons, such as the lesson in citizenship studies or career choice studies.
The world of work is usually taught by an educational counsellor who is also a teacher of one of the subjects, such as citizenship studies.
At the upper secondary level
Education program framework on upper secondary level also include Man and work, which is used to develop personal abilities of the student and the entrance to the labour market with focus on key competences. With the support of activation methods, the school should develop the students´ communication and social skills, responsibility for their own lives, work habits, encourage active and creative approaches, entrepreneurship, group work skills and tolerance.
The set of thematic units is included in standard subjects relevant to the education program. The individual units should be delivered in conjunction with the career guidance services in schools. The student should receive information about tertiary education and in the context of lifelong learning, employment opportunities and the labour market situation. Practical skills, such as job search, writing a resume and creating a personal portfolio in the sense of "what I know and can do, what I can offer", should also learned, as well as how to present oneself, conclude a contract, know the risks and about business opportunities, etc.
In upper secondary vocational education, students usually identify with the field of study in the course of learning. This process is influenced by many factors such as school climate and the structure of peer groups. One of the major influences on creating a relationship with the future occupation is work experience and vocational training. In the past, the situation was more favourable and practical training took place in the real business environment. Students were able to confront their theoretical knowledge with real workplace practice. Currently, work experience and vocational training often takes place in schools, which cannot replace the direct contact with the world of work.

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Lesson 6 - Tips for career guidance
 The career education process should include activation methods that enhance the students´ perception and help them better remember the knowledge and practical experience. Students must not be passive recipients of information, especially in
developing competences that need to be practiced thoroughly.
 Each activity must be accompanied by discussions among the students about problems, when they learn to formulate ideas, make arguments, present their views and
opinions, seek new opportunities.
 Creative approach can be exemplified by project-based learning. Under the guidance of teachers, students work on specific projects that are linked to practical activities. Simultaneously, they are learning to work in teams, communicate, solve
problems and work with information.
 Creative activity can be realised via practice firms, where the entire team of students must be active, starting from the foundation of the company, to learn new skills and try out different roles. Practice firms are established in upper secondary vocational schools, but they certainly would be beneficial also in primary and lower secondary
schools.
 Regarding the acquisition of soft skills, it pays to ensure that the training is provided by external professional services. There are many education institutions dealing with this
area.
 Any direct contact with the world of work and practitioners is an added

bonus. The so called vocational mentoring can be utilised, which requires active cooperation of parents. At joint meetings, they talk about their occupations, students ask questions and clarify the specific job. If possible, they invite one student to their workplace for a day. If

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possible, the student may go through »shadowing«, i.e. monitoring and replicating the
work. During the »short experience« the student takes notes on the findings and
presents them to classmates followed by an open discussion.
 Upper secondary school students consider vocational training and work experience in the real environment the school of life. Direct contact allows the student to identify with the field of study and create a clearer idea of their future career. Throughout formal education, they learn new skills in an informal way. For many
students, this form is more acceptable and more efficient than learning theory.
 Acquiring knowledge is brought about by activities outside of school, such as participation in regional secondary schools exhibitions, the so called school fairs,
exhibitions of crafts, discussions with experts from different sectors, etc.
 Current career guidance cannot survive without the Internet. It is somewhat risky due to the large amount of unverified information in the online environment. Therefore, students should learn about both searching for information and also comparing,
evaluating and be able to sort and assess their credibility.
 One of the most important competences for life is the art of learning. Learning techniques and learning styles are taught in primary and lower secondary schools. According to experts, the main causes of learning failures are.
• low motivation for learning
• poor study habits
• weak learning skills
• long-term failure, which generates more failure

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In conclusion
There are many reasons to strive for improving quality of career guidance in primary and secondary schools. The greatest authority for primary and lower secondary school students in determining their education path may be their parents, however, the demand for high-quality guidance services still persists.
The school must not resign, quite the opposite, it should focus on improving the quality of services, their attractiveness and accessibility. The first step may be opening up some more towards students.
There is no doubt that good results can be delivered via internal monitoring of student guidance needs and identifying how they rate school services via e.g. anonymous surveys, discussions on the school website, etc. The next step may be to improve the school climate and the relationships between students and teachers.
Career guidance is ideal to inspire creative approaches of all participants. It is up to the schools themselves how they approach the topic.

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…food for thought
Try to answer the following questions. They give you some feedback and direction where you can start creating and making a change.
• What conditions have you created for career guidance in your school?
• What percentage of your students seeks individual guidance services?
• What career guidance methods do you use?
• Do you cooperate with students´ parents and how do you address their lack of
interest?
• To what extent do you develop students' manual skills, handicraft work and creativity?
• To what extent do you work with the employment sector - while providing work experience and vocational training and in preparation for the first entry of graduates on to the labour market?
• How often do you search for new sources of information for career guidance?
Sources
• TRHLÍKOVÁ, J. Využití kvalifikace absolventů středních škol na trhu práce. Zpráva ze šetření absolventů škol. Národní ústav pro vzdělávání. Praha 2013
• ŠŤASTNOVÁ, P., DRAHOŇOVSKÁ, P. Jak žáci základních a středních škol vybírají svou další vzdělávací nebo pracovní kariéru. Analýza výsledků dotazníkového šetření žáků základních a středních škol. Národní ústav pro vzdělávání. Praha 2012
• Školský zákon č. 561/2004 Sb., v platném znění. Dostupný z:
http://www.msmt.cz/dokumenty/skolsky-zakon
• www.infoabsolvent.cz

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