Page 89 - Professionalising-career-guidance-practitioner-competences-and-qualification-routes-in-Europe

availability of ICT equipment and access to suitable online resources varies between
Member States and sectors, influencing the competence required of career guidance
practitioners. Where the delivery of career guidance services through ICT media has been
extensively studied, as in Finland, methods of integration are found to be crucial. It is
becoming increasingly important, with the widespread availability of ICT systems in many
formats, that these are seen as both a resource and a communication method. Consequently
they should be integrated from the earliest stages of training for career guidance
practitioners and at all stages of design, delivery and evaluation (including evaluation
methods) in developing new services. The focus is not only on the use of ICT directly with
clients, but also with employers, parents, educational institutions and other stakeholders.
Use of ICT also introduces a variable relating to recognising clients’ diverse needs (see
Section 6.4. on foundation competences). Clients will vary considerably with regard to their
ability to use ICT, their willingness to do so for career guidance purposes, and the specific
methods that suit their preferences. Career guidance has an educative role, which may
include helping people to find ways to develop their ability to use ICT facilities for career
guidance purposes, but it should not be coercive.

6.5.1. Contexts and conditions
Each main competence statement below – for example, ‘Undertake career development
activities’ – is divided into subsections (left-hand column) which are either stages or optional
activities related to the main statement. Adjacent to these (right-hand column) are a number
of items that are intended to provide examples and to stimulate thought about what particular
‘contexts and conditions’ should apply for this competence in the country or the sector in
which it is planned to use the framework. These are emphatically not requirements; however,
in any use of the framework, those involved will need to create their own local or sectoral
items for this column.
The competence statement ‘Conduct and enable assessment’ will have different
applications in different sectors (see discussion in Section 5.4.). Some forms of
psychological assessment are subject to professional regulation; other forms, notably
supported self-assessment, are freely available. Forms of assessment in use will reflect the
philosophy of career guidance adopted in each career guidance service, and often the
traditions within each Member State.

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