Page 15 - insights-july-2020

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New teachers Are you ready for your next career? What about the

one after that?

In the Netherlands teachers often take on certain career guidance tasks related to developing career

competences, insight in future work, and reflection on experiences.

People entering the workforce today are very likely to have not only different jobs, but also several

Euroguidance Netherlands interviewed several new teachers to capture their needs, using the “Framework different careers during their working lives. The rapidly changing world expects people to learn and

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for career guidance for young people” as a reference . adapt. Thus, career guidance grows and changes as well.

THE MAIN FINDINGS: Research, spoke of the importance of innovative

career guidance: “Today we are talking about a world

where people are unlikely to choose just one career
Few teachers know what is expected of them on the topic of career guidance. They believe it is the

for life, but three or four different careers. This means
responsibility of a tutor. Therefore, the majority of teachers is unaware of - and uninvolved in - the

that we must be ready to study and learn more, retrain
development and implementation of the guidance policy at their schools;

and make career turns all the time. A self-directed

In their initial teacher education, teachers are not well prepared for career guidance tasks. Those who person is necessary in a rapidly changing world”.

did follow courses with elements relating to career guidance say it added much value in their teaching

and would recommend implementing it; The role of general education, vocational education

and higher education institutions is to ensure the

Teachers acknowledge that there are opportunities for professionalisation, but that these are not access to lifelong guidance for their students and

prioritized because of the perception that the tutor’s role is something for teachers at a later stage in their support them reaching the learning outcomes set in

careers. curricula, including necessary competencies for

career management.

When exploring the career guidance offer in initial teacher education, it shows that there is little attention for In January 2020, the transnational conference “Bold Archimedes Foundation is the national Euroguidance

career guidance. Three main reasons are attributed: Jump into the Unknown?” took place in Estonia. 130 centre in Estonia. The centre provides support in the

practitioners and policy-makers took part in the areas of international learning mobility and lifelong

conference, with additionally 450 people via webcast. guidance development within education, training and

Lack of space in the curriculum; employment. The support is aimed at both Estonian

Experts and policy-makers from various countries, as guidance professionals and to professionals abroad.

Career guidance not being mandatory but optional;
well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation

and Development (OECD), shared and discussed A collection of videos addressing the value of

The idea exists that professionalisation in career guidance takes place once the teacher has started different experiences on how to support and prepare international cooperation in the field of career

their career and will be offered by the employer.
students for starting their first job and engaging in guidance, including the practices shared at the

lifelong learning. conference, can be found here: haridus.archimedes.ee

Based on these insights it seems worthwhile to:

The need for effective career services is greater than

ever. The labour market is becoming more dynamic

embed career guidance in the curriculum of teacher education and competency profile of teachers; and the demand for new skills is growing. The rapidly

changing world of work requires skills that adapt to
Evelin Kütt

ensure that there are quality standards in place which are regularly monitored; developments.

Communication Officer in Archimedes Foundation

create awareness amongst teacher on the importance of career guidance; At the conference, Kristi Vinter-Nemvalts, Deputy

Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and

actively stimulate the specialisation of teachers concerning career guidance.

Further information: www.euroguidance.nl

Eva-Maria Ternité, Loes Evers, Marit Schreurs, Doreen Verbakel

1 www.euroguidance.nl