New report the impact of 14-19 Reforms on the career guidance profession
18 March 2010
This new study by Helen Colley, Cathy Lewin and Charlotte Chadderton from the Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is entitled 'The impact of 14-19 reforms on the career guidance profession in England Final Report' The report had four main objectives:
- To map the current state of the career guidance profession in England and evaluate the impact upon it of 14-19 reforms
- To enhance understanding of continuity and change in the roles, identities and practices of careers advisers in the social and policy contexts of their lives and work.
- To contribute to the development of theory about the effects of policy change on the dynamics of participation in professional communities of practice.
- To inform policy and practice about infrastructural support and professional development needs to maximise the effectiveness
of career guidance in the 14-19 sector.
The study made a number of key recommendations as a result of the projects' findings:
- Policy-making should be based on the available evidence about the importance of career guidance for young people's transitions, and the most appropriate methods for its delivery.
- There is a need either to increase the resources for Connexions, or to devolve some of its remit to other services. Further cuts in funding for career guidance should be avoided.
- There should be a clear commitment by funders and managers to the delivery of career guidance as a core aspect of Connexions' provision.
- Career guidance should focus on a client-centred mission and values, and any numerical targets should be congruent with such mission and values.
- The delivery of career guidance should be carefully monitored -in terms both of quantity and quality - in local authorities, and action taken where they are not assuring an adequate service.
- All providers of 14-19 career guidance should be required to provide data - at least annually - on numbers of staff, and their type and level of qualifications. These data should be publicly available, and monitored by the DCSF.
- Clarity should be achieved about which qualifications can appropriately underpin the delivery of specialist career guidance, ensuring they are fit for purpose in line with international studies of CG knowledge and skills.
- PA supervision should be clinical, supportive and regular. Managerial and disciplinary issues should be addressed by other means.
- Policy levers should be exerted to ensure that all schools are committed to high-quality careers education and guidance.
- The ethical dimensions of career guidance should be taken seriously by policy-makers, local authority managers, service managers, and professional bodies in this field. There is a need for wide-ranging public debate about the values and ethical standards of career guidance work, and the pressures upon these.
- Policy-makers - nationally and locally - need to recognise the pre-conditions for on-going learning and professional development in the workplace. There is a need for local infrastructures which support communities of practice in career guidance, by facilitating regular professional contact between CG-specialist PAs, and providing management support from CG specialists.
Professor Helen Colley will be presenting the findings from the study at a seminar at the University of Derby, 6 May 2010.
