Page 23 - Professionalising-career-guidance-practitioner-competences-and-qualification-routes-in-Europe

1.4.4. Catalysts for change in training

A particular concern noted by McCarthy (2004) was the lack of connection between training
institutions and policy-makers. There is little evidence of change in this respect: it remains an
area with scope for development. But the situation varies considerably between countries
and positive moves can be seen.
In Ireland, the National Guidance Forum, which operated between 2004 and 2006,
brought together policy-makers, trainers, delivery organisations and professional
associations to develop frameworks that would underpin future developments. Key outputs
included:
(a) a framework for the personal outcomes needed by individual citizens to manage their
career and learning effectively;
(b) a competence framework for career guidance practitioners, detailing the competences
which they need to support such development in both school pupils and older citizens;
(c) a report Quality in guidance which is a quality framework for guidance (see case study
on Ireland in Section 4.4.).
A recent policy framework for career guidance in Malta acknowledges the need for
different levels of career guidance training, given the different responsibilities and roles that
are required. This will lead to a requirement for professional training at postgraduate level as
the policy framework is adopted.
Scotland has developed a new master’s programme in ‘career guidance and
development’. Feasibility work was funded by the Scottish Executive (the devolved
government in Scotland) and managed by Careers Scotland (the government-funded
delivery organisation). The resulting subject benchmark statement was approved by the
Scottish Executive and published by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education,
which will have a continuing role in ensuring the quality of delivery of the resulting training
courses (see case study on Scotland in Section 4.7.).
In Spain, the Ministry of Education has led the development of a range of new master’s
degrees in secondary teacher training. One specialisation is in educational and career
guidance, and this will become a legal requirement for working as a career guidance
professional in schools.
In other countries, access to European funding, notably through the ESF, has given rise to
programmes for the development of both delivery and training. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
are examples of such use of ESF funding.
International cooperation with input from outside Europe has also had some effect. Both
Bulgaria and Romania have used the USA-based global career development facilitator
(GCDF) accreditation. The case study on Bulgaria in this report demonstrates how such
collaboration can have far-reaching effects nationally, including the development of a
master’s degree which incorporates a European credit transfer and accumulation system
(ECTS) rating for the GCDF module that is integrated in the course.
A further development, noted particularly in the Nordic countries, is the increase in
networking and cooperation between specialist staff in universities offering career guidance
courses. This is the subject of comment from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The
creation of new training courses in Latvia and the UK (Scotland) involved partnership

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