Page 50 - Professionalising-career-guidance-practitioner-competences-and-qualification-routes-in-Europe

(APEL) needs to be considered in relation to entry requirements, to parts of a training
course, and to the whole course (as is intended in the Danish real competences approach).

3.1.4. Continuing professional development
The emphasis of the preceding discussion has been on initial training at the point of entry to
the professional role. However, continuing professional development (CPD) is also extremely
important, both in refreshing and maintaining the currency of knowledge and skills, and in
supporting career advancement. There is little evidence in the data collected for this study
that countries have sound systems for CPD which maintain the competences of people in
their existing role, although this is an essential element in the management of the quality of
service delivery. There is rather more evidence of the development of opportunities for
professional advancement, such as master’s degrees.

3.2. Teaching methods using distance and e-learning

Where the opportunity arose, the study took note of initiatives that use distance and
e-learning methodologies to deliver training for career guidance practitioners. The use of ICT
in such learning opportunities, and indeed in career guidance services, has its own extensive
and detailed literature, and examination of this literature in any depth is beyond the scope of
this study. However, existing initiatives can provide ideas and inspiration to others.
(a) The public employment service (AMS) in Austria offers induction training for new
entrants through a telecourse, as an alternative to traditional delivery. Specially trained
coaches use state-of-the-art Internet and intranet facilities to support learners. This
delivery method lengthens the typical training period from 40 to 52 weeks. It is currently
a pilot project, but is seen as indicating a future trend, potentially increasing both the
flexibility of the training and the self-responsibility of the learner.
In the Czech Republic, the eKariera e-learning course was developed through ESF
funding in the period 2006-08. The core target group is school teachers and school
counsellors, but it has also been used by labour office counsellors and others. The resource
includes support by trained study advisers. It covers basic knowledge of career guidance,
with a good proportion of time focused on ‘the world of work’.
The universities in Finland which are delivering postgraduate career guidance counsellor
training are making use of digital portfolios for reflective learning and in assessment. Finland
has also initiated a programme of training that will have delivered a minimum one week of
training in the use of ICT in guidance to over six hundred guidance counsellors by 2008. The
content of this training has also been integrated in the initial training programmes.
Course materials for postgraduate diplomas at the National University of Ireland,
Maynooth, are now largely web-based and highly interconnected, so that when a topic arises
in one module, it is hot-linked to occurrences elsewhere in the course content.
Internet-based delivery also means that the materials are freely available for distance study.
Also in Ireland, the National Centre for Guidance in Education (NCGE) offers a continuing
professional development (CPD) programme for guidance counsellors (working in second
level schools) in whole school guidance planning. The programme consists of three modules,
each offered over a three-month period, delivered using an action research approach. The

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