Careers Education in Estonian Schools Tiina Trampärk Careers education specialist

Careers education Part of the career services system Pupils develop the skills and knowledge necessary for career planning and attitudes which enhance preparedness for lifelong learning As a result pupils develop their –self-awareness –knowledge to find relevant career information (labour market, specialities, learning possibilities) –willingness to make conscious career-related decisions 2

project The Development of the Guidance System in Estonia predecessor of the current programme – 14 pilot schools participated is the framework for the national programme The Development of Career Services System financed by ESF 26 pilot schools from different regions of Estonia have been taking part in the programme since September of the schools are from the previous period The 26 pilot schools tested for NRCG: –The post of careers coordinator (part-time). –The organisational plan of careers services (e.g development of the plan as teamwork, implementation of activities). –Implementation of careers education development accordingly to the new national curricula. –Learning, methodology and support materials.

There is a need to test the tasks of the career coordinator – the post of a career coordinator is not included in the minimum staffing requirements of schools In the process of testing the main result in the near future is the specification of tasks and making proposals of changes to the professional standard 4 Careers coordinator

At present, careers coordinators’ workload is 20% of the full workload - they also work as subject teachers, school psychologists, activity leaders, head teachers, etc. They all have finished 2 training programmes provided by ESF programme and our NRCG: „The fundamentals of career services“ (240 h, 6 AP) „Basic training for career coordinators“ (80 h, 2 AP) At the moment there are no study programmes for career coordinators in Estonian universities 5

Mentor programme Academic year new careers coordinators (i.e mentees) were given personal assistance and support by experienced school coordinators (i.e mentors); 6 mentor groups were formed. Feedback showed that such supportive relationships worked out well. Staff turnover – mentor programme 6

Academic year we focused on different activities from the organisational plan of career services; careers coordinators chose the activity that they and their schools were most interested in: 1)Study trips/visits to companies 2)Ways of handling career information in school 3)Cooperation (in school and with other partners) 4)Planning of different career education events/activities 5)Quality of careers education 6)Compulsory central topic „Lifelong learning and career planning“ 7

Organisational plan of career services The objective is to achieve a systematic and effective careers education programme and an integrated support system to ensure the availability of career information and guidance services as required Teamwork for developing this plan. Work group was formed in every school; people involved were: career coordinator, representative from school management, activity leader, class teachers, subject teachers. 8

Main components of the organisational plan of career services 9

OBJECTIVES - what the school wants to achieve, school`s mission and targets to the pupils’ development TARGET GROUP(S) – the needs of the pupils at all stages; which activities have higher priority for different stages; also teachers at school and parents could be target groups ACTIVITIES – what the school does to achieve the objectives; varied study activities and methods need to be planned, for example: –Careers day, work shadowing day, visits to companies, information day, research competition, themed week etc; –also career information mediation places need to be pointed out. 10

CAREER EDUCATION – subject lesson: as an elective subject at the basic school (3rd stage) and in upper secondary; length 35 lessons RESULTS – which results are desired to be achieved, how the results are measured? E.g indicators, questionnaires, opinions of various parties, feedback. LEARNING OUTCOMES – based to the new curricula, there is a need to add study outcomes for every activity in the organisational plan. RESOURCES – human and financial resources, time, materials, locations, etc. ADOPTION, REVIEW AND AMENDMENT – regular review (once a year), the achievement of results is evaluated, necessary changes are done. 11

Elective subject „Careers education“ Elective subject lesson for the basic school (3rd stage of general education schools) and for upper secondary, length of the course: 35 lessons Content of learning: 1.Knowledge of oneself and its importance in career planning 2.Knowledge of career information and its importance in career planning 3.Planning and decision-making Between 2009 and 2011 our 26 pilot schools tested the learning and methodology materials for elective subject 12

Careers education in numbers in general education schools 13

Careers education in vocational educational institutions From the academic year 6 VETs are testing the development activities of careers education Careers education compulsory component in general subject ; VET careers education teams will describe: learning outcomes essential topics learning methods assessment assessment characteristics 14

Careers coordinator 15

Thank you! 31.August