Careers Education in Estonian Schools

Tiina TrampärkCareers education specialist

Careers education

• Part of the career services system• Pupils develop the skills and knowledge necessary for

career planning and attitudes which enhance preparedness for lifelong learning

• As a result pupils develop their– self-awareness– knowledge to find relevant career information (labour market, specialities, learning possibilities)– willingness to make conscious career-related decisions

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• 2005-2008 project The Development of the Guidance System in Estonia predecessor of the current programme – 14 pilot schools participated

• 2008-2011 is the framework for the national programme The Development of Career Services System financed by ESF

• 26 pilot schools from different regions of Estonia have been taking part in the programme since September 2009

8 of the schools are from the previous period

• The 26 pilot schools tested for NRCG:– The post of careers coordinator (part-time).– The organisational plan of careers services (e.g development of the plan as

teamwork, implementation of activities).– Implementation of careers education development accordingly to the new national

curricula.– Learning, methodology and support materials.

• There is a need to test the tasks of the career coordinator – the post of a career coordinator is not included in the minimum staffing requirements of schools

• In the process of testing the main result in the near future is the specification of tasks and making proposals of changes to the professional standard

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Careers coordinator

• At present, careers coordinators’ workload is 20% of the full workload - they also work as subject teachers, school

psychologists, activity leaders, head teachers, etc.

• They all have finished 2 training programmes provided by ESF programme and our NRCG:

„The fundamentals of career services“ (240 h, 6 AP)

„Basic training for career coordinators“ (80 h, 2 AP)At the moment there are no study programmes for career coordinators in Estonian universities

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Mentor programme

• Academic year 2009-2010new careers coordinators (i.e mentees) were given personal assistance and support by experienced school coordinators (i.e mentors);6 mentor groups were formed.

Feedback showed that such supportive relationships worked out well.

Staff turnover – mentor programme

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• Academic year 2010-2011we focused on different activities from the

organisational plan of career services;careers coordinators chose the activity that they and

their schools were most interested in:1) Study trips/visits to companies2) Ways of handling career information in school3) Cooperation (in school and with other partners)4) Planning of different career education events/activities5) Quality of careers education6) Compulsory central topic „Lifelong learning and career

planning“

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Organisational plan of career services

• The objective is to achieve a systematic and effective careers education programme and an integrated support system to ensure the availability of career information and guidance services as required

• Teamwork for developing this plan.Work group was formed in every school; people

involved were:career coordinator, representative from school

management, activity leader, class teachers, subject teachers.

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Main components of the organisational plan of career services

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Target group(s)

Description of activity

Period Result Location Resources Supervisor (who is responsible) Human

resources Tools,

materials Finances

5th -9th classes

Information board: contains information about possibilities where to study, work and have a training for work experience

Complete updating every academic quarter. Information is continuously updated at least every week.

The information of career planning is available constantly.

Second floor hallway. Easy to access, well positioned to see

Project manager – activity leader, represent-tative from student Represen-tative Board

stand

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careers coordinator

Main components of the organisational plan of career services• OBJECTIVES - what the school wants to achieve,

school`s mission and targets to the pupils’ development• TARGET GROUP(S) – the needs of the pupils at all

stages; which activities have higher priority for different stages; also teachers at school and parents could be target groups

• ACTIVITIES – what the school does to achieve the objectives; varied study activities and methods need to be planned, for example:– Careers day, work shadowing day, visits to companies,

information day, research competition, themed week etc;– also career information mediation places need to be pointed

out .

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• CAREER EDUCATION – subject lesson: as an elective subject at the basic school (3rd stage) and in upper secondary; length 35 lessons

• RESULTS – which results are desired to be achieved, how the results are measured? E.g indicators, questionnaires, opinions of various parties, feedback. LEARNING OUTCOMES – based to the new curricula, there is a need to add study outcomes for every activity in the organisational plan.

• RESOURCES – human and financial resources, time, materials, locations, etc.

• ADOPTION, REVIEW AND AMENDMENT – regular review (once a year), the achievement of results is evaluated, necessary changes are done.

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Elective subject „Careers education“• Elective subject lesson for the basic school (3rd stage of

general education schools) and for upper secondary, length of the course: 35 lessons

• Content of learning:1. Knowledge of oneself and its importance in career planning2. Knowledge of career information and its importance in career

planning3. Planning and decision-making

• Between 2009 and 2011 our 26 pilot schools tested the learning and methodology materials for elective subject

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Careers education in numbersin general education schools

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Careers education in vocational educational institutions• From the 2010-2011 academic year 6 VETs are testing

the development activities of careers education

Careers education compulsory component in general subject;VET careers education teams will describe:

learning outcomesessential topics learning methodsassessmentassessment characteristics

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Careers coordinator15

Thank you!

tiina.trampark@innove.ee

31.August 2011

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