FAMILY CAREER COMPASS Efficient Career Guidance Approaches Supporting Parents in Guiding their Children’s Vocational Career Turkish experience in guidance supporting parents in career counseling to their children November 22, 2013 Orhan GÖKÇÖL Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey

Some figures from Turkey # of schools# of students# of teachers PRESCHOOL PRIMARY (4 years) LOWER SECONDARY (4 years) UPPER SECONDARY (4 years) VOCATIONAL NON-FORMAL Ref: National Education Statistics –Formal Education Non-formal education includes training courses delivered in public and private institutions # of students: OVER 25 MILLION # of teachers: OVER 1 MILLION

Some figures Number of counselors in schools : NUMBER OF STUDENTS PER COUNSELOR IS AROUND 1100 (!!!)  In sub-urban areas this number is much more An estimated 10% of the counselors are eligible for giving career counseling WE CLEARLY HAVE ISSUES IN TERMS OF DELIVERING EFFICIENT CAREER COUNSELING TO STUDENTS – SO THEIR FAMILIES

Resources for children in developing career steps Social neighborhood of the children is very dominant  Family (we’re large families with father, mother, several uncles, aunts etc. very close relatives)  Friends  Neighbors  School  Career counselors

Role of Parents in career development Career development for kids in Turkey, like all around the world, can be considered as a social construction. One of the ways in which children form this concept is through social relationships. Parents' influence on career development stems from the continuous process of relationship with their children. In terms of career counseling, parenting style in Turkey is very much authoritative which means that fami,lies want THE BEST OF THE BEST for their children!!!!  Authoritative parents with good participation from the family members try to make the best for their children by seeking tools and services around.  Uninvolved, but authoritative parents with no prior knowledge, experience and interest about career development of their children do also want the same thing but mostly they shift the need to a latter time and wait for problems to be solved somehow. Insufficient career management support from schools put them to an ambigious state where they are open to get influenced from anything they can find such as a neighbor, some fancy programs they see in TV –that is anything popular and possibly not fitting with their children’s personalities.

As a result; It’s clear that parents need good resources in terms of career guidance Number one problem is raising awareness on parents’ side  Emotionally supporting their children  Encourage individual development  Develop learning strategies that promote career readiness

Supporting parents in career counseling to their children School resources (counselors)  Career days : Some of the schools invite professional from different careers and university staff to give information about different careers – these activities are open to students and their families  Company visits  Career Inventories  One-to-One counseling  Conferences & Seminars  Publications Municipalities arrange seminars and workshops for families NGO –Supporting projects for career management Test prep centers – centers that give training to students for entering higher level of education give career counseling support

Supporting parents in career counseling to their children School resources  Career days : Some of the schools invite professionals from different careers and university staff to give information about different occupations –these activities are open to students and their families. These activities are mostly carried out at upper secondary level (lycee), generally during March-April- May, each year.

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career Career Inventories applied at some schools contain curriculum material and activities for families

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career One-to-One counseling  Through school counselors Not on regular basis. Parents must demand it.  Through private counseling/career coaching Not common. Expensive, and not reachable by every parent. Mostly focuses on selecting right university and finding better education institutions in EU and USA universities

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career Conferences and Seminars  Short events (1-2 days),  Focuses on not only career issues but (mostly) for also pedagocigal issues related to school success, learning styles, how to become successful etc.  Mostly organized by local authorities of education in counties  Schools are also organizing conferences and seminars about career planning and selecting right occupation –activities are open to public

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career Publications  Books & Magazines

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career Publications  Newspapers – Most daily newspapers have pages where career related issues are discussed. Mostly in online format.

Supporting parents in career counseling to their children Municipalities arrange seminars and workshops for students & families

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career NGOs : There are several NGOs providing career related activities –not only focusing on parents

Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career Test prep centers – centers that give training to students for entering higher level of education also provides career counseling support not only to students but also to parents

Conclusion There are resources for parents in supporting their children’s career. But the situation is problematic.  Resources are not enough in numbers, and in quality : REMEMBER, We have an enormous number of students  Resources are not easily reachable by every parents –most of the parents «even» don’t know there are resources  Resources are not focusing on a life-long career management concept of children  Resources are not focusing on improving career awareness on parents’ side Mostly focusing on improving school successes of children Main concern of most lower & upper secondary school students’ parents is rather «short term» : Choosing the right school for the next level  New approaches are clearly needed and welcomed which are more «reachable» and more focusing on «parents»

THANK YOU! FAMICOwww.famico.euFAMICOwww.famico.eu Questions Dr. Orhan GÖKÇÖL Dr. Orhan GÖKÇÖL