Thesis (MDEV.) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / The aim of this study is to assess the impact of career guidance for career choice in the secondary schools of Sepitsi Circuit in Lebowakgomo District, Limpopo Province. The total number of secondary schools in the Circuit is twelve (12), with 20 Life Orientation Educators (LOEs) and 275 Grade 12 Learners (GR12Ls). All schools are public schools having the same features of rural and previously disadvantaged communities’ context. The study was conducted during examination time and therefore co-operation both in the part of learners and educators was not at the maximum as expected. The research is evaluative in nature as the researcher sought to assess the effectiveness of Career Choice (CC) as influenced by the implementation of Career Guidance (CG). The primary data were collected by means of two categories of questionnaires for mostly close-ended questions and open-ended questions for Grade 12 Learner (GR12L) respondents and Life Orientation Educator (LOE) participants respectively. The findings show that CG is not given the necessary attention at secondary schools as GR12Ls and LOEs struggle to understand obvious CG concepts. This research project focuses on the value of such a study both to explain how Career Guidance need to be taken as the mother of all subjects in schools as it is the nucleus in the realization of the main aim of every country’s education system, participating fully in the world of work for socio-economic growth. The study’s recommendations concluded that Career Guidance, which is part of Life Orientation (LO), should be given the status of a full subject in our schools.

Career development practitioners have different experiences on how career services are rendered in the country. Working with groups and individuals from all walks of life; career practitioner’s expertise becomes invaluable to the career decision-making of learners and adults in career construction. In South Africa, there are various institutions rendering career services though many do so in silos. There is no monitoring or cohesive system to manage career services. This can impact how they render career services in a well-organized and productive manner. This study explored the experiences of a career development practitioner on career services rendered. The study utilised the qualitative research method to gain more insight into the career practitioner’s experiences of career services; including career services, career information, advice, as well as career guidance. The study was conducted at the Department of Labour in Pretoria west. The sample comprised of one participant who has experience as a career development practitioner. The study used purposive sampling to select the participant. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using inductive thematic analysis; where themes, categories, and subcategories emerged. The findings of the study reflect both negative and positive experiences that the career development practitioner has encountered in rendering career services in the past. The findings furthermore highlight the need for adequate training for career practitioners and suggest a need for prescribed ethical conduct to regulate career development practitioners working at the entry-level. This study can contribute to the development of ethical conduct guidelines and influence the further development of training for career development practitioners. Lastly, the findings might assist in the development of a cohesive and coordinated system for monitoring and evaluation in the career development profession. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

This qualitative study is focused on young adult students’ experiences and perspectives of using websites for career information and guidance, and how that may impact their horizon of action in career decisions. Collection of data were made through interviews with college students from different faculties of Umeå University. All interviews were transcribed and compiled into various themes which were analysed with the perspectives of Digital literacy, Careership theory and the Chaos theory of careers. The result emergence the importance of students approaches on web-based information and their capacity of using it in their benefit. According to the student’s digital usage, which is categorized into simple and more advanced processes, perceives that digital literacy and personal characteristics may affect their use of career websites. The study concludes that internet is one of many social fields that influence the horizon of action and that the role of career websites depends on individual approaches and attitudes to several fields. For the work of career practitioners this study contributes with an insight about possibilities and risks that may come with student’s digital usage in career purpose. Therefore, this study also shows the requiring of further research in the area of career guidance and internet.

In South Africa, there are various stakeholders involved in career guidance services (Stead & Watson, 2006, P.160). The teaching of career guidance within the context of Life Orientation (LO) at schools is the responsibility of Life Orientation teachers. This study explores the experiences of Life Orientation teachers in teaching career guidance in rural high schools at Lephalale Municipality. The study used qualitative approach to obtain rich information about the experiences of Life Orientation teachers in teaching career guidance at rural high schools. The study was conducted in two rural high schools in the Palala North Circuit of Lephalale Municipality. The sample comprised of two Further Education and Training (FET) Phase Life Orientation teachers from two rural high schools (one from each school). The participants were purposefully and conveniently selected. The data was collected by means of the semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using the inductive thematic data analysis where themes, subthemes and categories emerged. The findings of the study reflected both the negative and positive experiences of Life Orientation teachers in respect of their teaching of careers and career choices, training and support needs, and the career- related activities such as career exhibitions in which both the learners and LO teachers participate. The results of the study will be shared with the two schools in the Palala North Circuit and the Department of Education, Waterberg District in the Limpopo province. It is hoped that the results generated by the study might assist the training personnel or facilitators (education or subject specialists) to know the type of training and support that LO teachers require and to also inform policy makers to develop a model of teaching career guidance at rural high schools. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

Many learners with intellectual disabilities in mainstream schools are awaiting possible placements in special schools. In some instances, when placement becomes unsuccessful learners remain in mainstream schools which becomes the schools’ responsibility to find ways to support them in a manner that maximises their learning potential and provides direction regarding career development. This study explored parents, teachers and principals’ perceptions about intellectual disability and its influence on career development. The Critical Disability Theory guided this study as it was aimed at discovering the factors which influence the implementation of career development in schools. A qualitative approach was followed to collect data from 25 participants consisting of 2 principals, 14 teachers and 9 parents. Data was collected in the form of interviews, focus group discussions, and demographic questionnaires. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings indicated that stakeholders had limited knowledge about career development services. Parents concluded that schools could put more effort into supporting learners with intellectual disabilities, and that teachers could put more effort to academically support learners. Stakeholders were optimistic that learners with intellectual disabilities would be able to participate in the labour market, provided that they are taught work related skills at an early age. It was recommended that stakeholders make efforts to obtain knowledge about the career development services available and provide information to learners in that regard; make career development services accessible, and to teach learners with disabilities practical work skills enabling them to participate in the labour force post-school. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The focus of this project is on the quality and relevance of Vocational Counselling programme in Nigerian schools. It analyses the discipline’s training syllabuses in Universities and the extent and manner of its application in secondary schools by graduates in the field and proffers suggestions on how to improve upon both the training and the practice. As a professional field of study, Guidance and Counselling was first introduced at the University of Ibadan, in the 1980s. Within a few years, the Universities of Benin and Lagos also commenced a programme in the discipline. However, and as I have discovered, the products of the programme have really not achieved much impacts in Nigerian secondary schools almost thirty years after it was first introduced. As at today, most secondary schools still do not have professional career counselors. Where they exist, they are not always very competent, and are not often consulted by pupils while selecting their subject combinations. In the Universities, Guidance and Counselling syllabus are found to be outdated. Two major approaches were adopted in carrying out this research. The first method is empirical and was executed through field research. I visited the Universities of Ibadan, Ife and Lagos – all in Nigeria - to conduct interviews with students and lecturers of Guidance and Counselling in the Universities. I also collected documents like manuals, handbooks and course outlines issued by personnels in the Departments. I also visited, conducted interviews with, and served questionnaires on, professional counselors in a selection of public and private secondary schools in Nigeria. At the end of the field work, the documents, questionnaires and interviews were analysed and what I identified as the strengths and weaknesses of Guidance and Counselling programmes in Nigerian Universities were laid out. The second approach adopted in this study has to do with analysis of scientific publications in the field. Books, journals, manuals and even electronic publications by Guidance and Counselling experts in Germany, Europe and other places were assembled and carefully studied. In the end, what constitutes minimum competence requirements were underlined. Applied to the data earlier collected in the field, my conclusion is that the various Guidance and Counselling programmes in Nigeria need to be improved upon II and/updated and that its importance in secondary education needs to be further stressed. To improve the programme, I suggested, among others, the need for Nigerian Universities to actively work toward the development of collaborative and exchange programmes with institutions in Europe and other parts of the world.

Nationally there is a high pass rate in Dramatic Arts (DA), and this subject offers many benefits for the development of young people, especially in terms of equipping them with the twenty-first century skills required for an entrepreneurial market (Olaniyan, 2015). However, few learners choose to continue with this subject beyond Grade 9. Inadequate enrolments result in fewer teaching posts being available, which also affects the entertainment industry. Parents are identified as primary sources of social support in influencing their children’s decisions and the development of their interests, career options and future goals (Kenny & Medvide, 2013). This study aims to sample parental perceptions about choosing DA as an academic subject as provided by parents, teachers of DA and Life Orientation (LO) teachers. This study establishes to what degree parents understand the value of drama education, and how their perceptions of the DA may influence their children’s school-exiting subject choices. The study comprises aspects of one theory, namely, parent role development theory (PDT). A mixed-methods study was designed within an interpretive paradigm. A sample of 36 parents who had children in high school in South Africa in 2019 completed an online mixed-method questionnaire that consisted of three parts, each dealing with parental perceptions and experiences in the field of education. The responses were coded and analysed through a convergent parallel design, and the findings were triangulated for deeper understanding, validity and transferability. The findings of this study pointed out that parental perceptions are shaped by prejudice, social influence, and school communication, among others. Furthermore, parents showed genuine interest and support for their children’s career plans and the skills that DA promote. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / pt2021 / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att fördjupa förståelsen för hur studie- och yrkesvägledare ser på sitt uppdrag med särskilt fokus på hur de uppfattar uppdragets likvärdighet. Intresset för detta område har väckts under vår utbildning till studie- och yrkesvägledare på Stockholms universitet och utifrån de diskussioner kring vägledning och vägledares uppdrag som förs i samhället idag. Genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie med examinerade vägledare erhölls en fördjupad förståelse för studie- och yrkesvägledares syn på sitt uppdrag och likvärdigheten i det. Resultatet visar på att vägledarna upplever att de saknar tid och resurser för att genomföra sitt uppdrag som de skulle önska samt att även om de arbetar så likvärdigt de förmår så upplever de inte att studie- och yrkesvägledningen är nationellt likvärdig idag. Det konstateras också att SOU 2019:4 tas emot mycket positivt av vägledarna och att de önskar att förslagen som denna utredning lägger fram skulle lagstadgas. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån Careershipteorin vilket lett till slutsatsen att vägledarnas syn på sitt uppdrag är tätt sammanlänkat med deras handlingshorisont. / The purpose of this dissertation is to deepen the understanding of how career guidance counsellors view their work assignation in particular how they perceive the equivalence within career guidance. The interest in this topic arose during our education to become career guidance counsellors at Stockholm University and was influenced by the current discourse regarding career guidance and career counsellors' work assignations in general. Through a qualitative interview study with educated career guidance counsellors, an in-depth understanding of career guidance counsellors' views on their work assignation and the equivalence within it was obtained. The study concludes that career guidance counsellors experience a lack of time and resources which prevents them from carrying out their work in the way they would like. Though they try to carry out their assignations with as much equivalence as possible, they do not feel that career guidance and counselling is nationally equivalent today. Furthermore, the study concludes that the SOU 2019:4 is perceived very positively by the career guidance counsellors and that they wish the proposals presented within it would be legislated. The results have been analysed using the Careership theory, which has led to the conclusion that the career guidance counsellors’ views on their work assignation are closely linked to their horizons for action.

Då vi upplevde att det saknades verktyg för att möta sökande med svåruppnåeliga mål, blev det en självklarhet att syftet med arbetet skulle vara att beskriva hur och vilka metoder studie- och yrkesvägledare arbetar och använder sig av med sökande vars mål är svåruppnåeliga samt hur de uppfattar och definierar svåruppnåeliga mål. Vi användes oss av kvalitativ metod då vi ville få fram informanternas personliga berättelser. Vi har även valt att ta upp teorier som vi anser betydelsefulla för vår studie. För att kunna analysera vårt resultat utgick vi från Hodkinson och Sparkes teori “Careership” och samtalsmodellerna, Gerard Egans “The skilled helper” och William R Miller & Stephen Rollnick “Motiverande samtal”. I resultatet av vår studie framkom det att faktorer som kan påverkar en individs svåruppnåeliga mål är samhället, omgivningen och den sökandes självbild. Det framkom även att relationen mellan vägledaren och den sökande är viktig för att den sökande ska kunna göra välgrundade val. Det är också av vikt att samtalsledaren i samtalet med den sökande vars mål är svåruppnåeliga arbetar med att vidga handlingshorisonten genom att aktivt lyssna, vara närvarande och ställa öppna frågor samt ge rätt information för att den sökande ska kunna göra välgrundade val.

Målet för denna studie är att undersöka hur god studie- och yrkesvägledning gestaltas i ett nationellt samtida myndighetsperspektiv och ett professionsetiskt perspektiv genom att granska två dokument. Därigenom avser studien utveckla fördjupad förståelse av hur sätten att tala om en social praktik formar sanningsanspråk. Genom Bacchis diskursanalytiska metodologi WPR undersöks via förslag och målbeskrivningar i utvalda offentliga dokument, vilka underliggande tankeramar och begrepp som används för att underbygga problemrepresentationer som framställande önskvärda och ändamålsenliga prioriteringar och hänsyn. Centrala resultat visar att mål för vägledning konstrueras som ett rustande mot risk. Verkan av tankefiguren om risk indikerar en instrumentell förståelse av vägledningsuppdraget när den framstår som inordnad i en arbetsmarknadspolitisk diskurs. Särskiljande rationaliteter uttolkas avseende professionens roll som i huvudsak rådgivande alternativt icke-rådgivande samt avseende innebörder av likvärdighet och hur klienters behov bör förstås, identifieras och tillgodoses. / The aim of this study is to examine how a desirable career guidance is portrayed in a national contemporary governmental perspective and an occupational ethics perspective by scrutinizing two documents. Thereby the study aims to develop in-depth understanding of how the ways in articulating a social practice forms claims of truth. Bacchis discourse analytical methodology WPR is applied on proposals and target descriptions in selected public documents in order to study which underlying mental frames and conceptions are used to underpin representations of problems in producing desirable and adequate priorities and considerations. Central findings show that the objective of career guidance is construed as an armouring against risk. The workings of the risk concept indicate an instrumental understanding of the mission of career guidance as it appears subsumed in a discourse of labor market policy. Diverging rationals are interpreted regarding the role of the professional as being primarily advisory alternatively non- advisory and regarding the meanings of equity and of how clients’ needs are to be understood, identified and met.