Career guidance for first-year students in work-based learning
2020
Rutina, K., Vocational Education Competence Centre “Riga Technical Collegeˮ, Riga (Latvia) | Soika, I., Latvia Univ. of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava (Latvia)
The research focuses on the problem that first-year students of secondary vocational schools have an urgent need for informative, educational and counselling guidance, pointed on identifying their career needs and learning about the industry from the first day of studies. The aims of the study are firstly, to identify and evaluate the support needed for first-year learners to successfully integrate into work-based learning and develop their career management competences; secondly − to develop guidance program for first-year students and make an expert assessment of its effectiveness. The study was carried out by assessing the current situation in the field of career guidance for first-year students in vocational secondary education, as well as by interviewing first-year students, teachers, and employers involved in work-based learning. Evaluating their views and reflecting on the authors’ personal experience has provided the basis for the development of a first-year career guidance program. The most significant findings indicate that by identifying first-year students' career needs and adjusting them to career guidance activities, they will develop their career management skills to better cope with the challenges and transition from education to work. Career guidance in work-based learning will be useful if all stakeholders − students, a group teacher, subject teachers, practice supervisors, career guidance professionals and employers − work together. The results of the study point to the importance of the impact of the education and work environment on the career development of first-year students. As a result, a career guidance program has been developed, the content of which will encourage first-year students to understand themselves and the significance of their learning in their chosen profession.
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