Page 68 - Professionalising-career-guidance-practitioner-competences-and-qualification-routes-in-Europe

4.5.5. Coverage of labour market, occupational and other opportunity information

The aim of the labour market and employment module is to help students to obtain
knowledge about the structure of the labour market and its key characteristics. Students
acquire an understanding of how the labour market is developing, and gain insights into
unemployment as a socioeconomic and psychological problem. Finally, students will
understand labour relations issues in the private and public sectors, and will have the skill to
find the necessary information in the legislation of the Republic of Latvia regarding
employment and taxes related to employment issues.
Within the module, the students become acquainted with labour market developments
and current issues in Latvia and other EU Member States. They have an opportunity to
practise forecasting labour market trends. They also study how to analyse issues related to
obtaining opportunity information and its use in practice in career education; this includes the
provision of support to the client in comparing his or her individual abilities and skills with the
competences required in potential occupations.

4.5.6. Professional identity

Successful students will be awarded an MA(Ed) degree in education and the career
counsellor’s professional qualification (code 241213 of the profession catalogue of the
Republic of Latvia). Whether the career counsellor’s qualification will become a licence to
practise is still under discussion.

4.6. Poland

4.6.1. Summary
Poland introduced its first postgraduate course in career guidance at the University of Łódź
more than a decade ago. Subsequent changes and the widespread development of courses
in Poland are outlined here.

4.6.2. Policy and legislative initiatives
The initial establishment of postgraduate training in career guidance in Poland arose
primarily from the need to help society move from ‘allocation’ in employment to ‘choice’. In
1993, the National Labour Office ruled that until professional university courses were
available to train career counsellors, only graduates with a master’s degree, preferably in
psychology, pedagogy or sociology, could be employed as career counsellors.
In 1994, the first postgraduate course in career guidance was developed by the University
of Łódź, on the initiative of the Minister for Labour and Social Policy as part of the World
Bank project TOR 8. The university designed the programme with help from experts in the
UK (Manchester) and Ireland (Dublin). A university curriculum for career counselling was
introduced in 1997 based on the programme developed by the University of Łódź, and, since
then, other institutions have sought assistance from staff at the university to develop
postgraduate programmes. This university curriculum is now being offered by at least 10
universities.

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