Method for the evaluation of social projects

This instrument was part of the research project "Research on Evaluation of Health and Education Plans and Programs in the Province of Buenos Aires", developed by the of Chair Preventive Psychology of the Psychology course of studies at the School of Humanities and Educational Sciences, National Univer- sity of La Plata (Argentina). The basis for proposing an assessment instrument is the need for a method enabling analysis, systematization of knowledge and the assignment of values distributed into scales and organized in general charts, on social programs. Its main concern is the analysis of health and education programs and projects, restricted to certain specific areas or regions, in search for theoretic trustworthi-ness, methodological accuracy as well as pragmatic operability. This is the result of four years of researching said programs at system, service and community levels.

Research and the choice of a course of study

This paper presents some research on the choice of a course of study as related to a certain social, family and labor context. The methodology used included the definition of the theoretical basis and a series of empirical investigations which comprised different kinds of sur- veys, records, observations, participants as well as other fieldwork. The results obtained shed some light on the issue and raise new questions. This study was especially carried out to analyze the choice of the following courses of study: Law, Psychology and the different Teaching Courses.

The transition school-university

This paper presents partial results of a research in the area of Vocational Occupational Guidance at the National University of San Luis on the subject "Transition School-University". The information offered here follows a survey on the relationship between the educational area and the organizations, persons and programs of the work and employment area. Reference is made to the information the different participants get as well as the importance they assign to said relationship. The interest of the results obtained is discussed with a view to optimize interventions in the speciality by taking into account the need of articulation of actions between the areas involved.

A framework for demonstrating the value of human services

Tanto profesionales como quienes tienen a su cargo diferentes servicios están de acuerdo en que la evaluación es importante. Sin embargo, los orientadores rara vez evalúan su trabajo de manera de hallar una relación causal entre los servicios que los usuarios reciben y los cambios a los que acceden. Se ha desarrollado un marco teórico para evaluar los cambios en los conocimientos, habilidades, actitudes y creencias del usuario y examinar el impacto que dichos cambios han hecho en su vida y en la sociedad en la que se desenvuelve. El marco incluye también un sistema de seguimiento de las intervenciones realizadas y de los recursos necesarios para poder implementar exitosamente estas acciones. Ha sido empleado en diversas situaciones orientadoras, establecimientos educativos y acciones de orientación vocacional, con el objeto de proporcionar evidencia de que el servicio brindado realmente produce un impacto sobre la vida del usuario.

Perspectives on guidance and social inclusion in a global society

The world is changing rapidly. People today face numerous challenges in achieving a meaningful and fulfilling life. In many countries, there are enormous systemic barriers to address, such as: massive unemployment, HIV/AIDS, social disintegration, and inadequate infrastructure. One job for life is over. For many it never existed. Old metaphors and old models of career development no longer apply. New ways of thinking about careers are necessary, that take into account the context in which people are living, the reality of today's labour market, and the fact people's career-life journey contains many branching paths, barriers, and obstacles, but also allies and sources of assistance. Flexibility is important, as is keeping options open and making sure the journey is meaningful. Guidance professionals need to begin early, working with other professionals and those seeking assistance to develop attitudes that facilitate people taking charge of their own career-life paths. People need a vision for their life that will drive a purposeful approach to career-life planning and avoid floundering. Helping people achieve that direction can be most effectively accomplished when policy makers and practitioners work together to ensure that effective and accessible services are available for those who need them and when a large part of focus in on addressing the context in which marginalized people work and live.

Estrategias orientadoras ante la inequidad psicosocial

El presente artículo corresponde a una primera etapa del proyecto de investigación denominado: "Investigación evaluativa sobre estrategias de orientación vocacional ocupacional integral para contribuir a revertir la inequidad psicosocial" , que se está llevando a cabo en la actualidad. Se hará una síntesis de las primeras estrategias metodológicas, que incluyen la modalidad de investigación-acción. En esta primera etapa, se analizan los primeros resultados de: a) Los talleres de Información Orientada, y b) La escala de afrontamiento para adolescentes. Cada una de estas intervenciones, que apuntan a diferentes objetivos, van brindando insumos para un primer nivel de análisis. Dicha intervención permite conocer qué recursos les brinda la institución escuela a estos jóvenes para la elección de un proyecto educativo, laboral, personal y social. Se comprueba la importancia de: tener un espacio de información y reflexión compartida; analizar las distorsiones en la información; y profundizar los interrogantes que produce todo cambio. Asimismo, comprobar cómo pueden afrontar dichos jóvenes, pertenecientes a escuelas medias denominadas "vulnerables", diversas situaciones de la vida diaria. En este trabajo, se realiza un análisis comparativo con otra institución educativa de prestigio en la región, cuya población se encuentra en una mejor situación socioeconómica

Investigaciones y elección de carreras

El presente trabajo desarrolla el tema de la investigación en relación a la elección de carreras, vinculado con el contexto social, familiar y laboral. La metodología utilizada incluyó la definición de fundamentos teóricos y una serie de investigaciones empíricas que abarcaron diferentes tipos de encuestas, registros, observaciones participantes y otros trabajos de campo. Los resultados obtenidos aportan conocimientos sobre el tema y abren nuevos interrogantes. Este análisis se realizó especialmente en torno a la elección de las carre-ras de Derecho, Psicología y Docentes.

Vocational guidance and development of competences

The present "post modern" socio-cultural modalities and the restrictions of the economic globalization lead us to reflect about the configuration of the transformations in the Vocational Guidance, committed to the concepts of "freedom", "epistemological knowledge", "competences of the subject and new roles of the school. This first exploratory incursion if the research has the purpose of retrieving the concept of freedom from the existential philosophers Heidegger and Sartre and of introducing the subject of "competences" from the social theory of Habermas. The aim is to establish new bonds between the Vocational Guidance and the above-mentioned philosophical lineaments: the freedom of the subjects and the possibility of development of those "competences" that allow to establish social, ethical and epistemological interrelations in the sphere of the Vocational Guidance, that promote a greater solidarity facing the "era of emptiness" of the post-modernity supported by Lipovestky.

Vocational guidance: origin, evolution and current state

The socio-professional sources of the vocational guidance are reviwed, in the world and in Latin America. It stands out that psychology, as science and as a profession, possesses vigorous links to this practice that, however, tends to its epistemic and praxic emancipation in some nations. The contemporary prob- lems of the guidance are presented in their economic, politics, cultural and pro-fessional dimensions.

The computer paradigm in vocational guidance

The technological advances in last decades have transformed the external resources of Vocational Counseling, Occupational Information and assessment of clients. Most computer systems follow a behaviorist-cognitive approach. However, the use of vocational counseling software is not exclusive to one conceptual approach. Computers are introduced in education from primary school; counselors and other educators are expected to use those systems. The attitude of counselors ranges from enthusiastic acceptance to complete refusal. Many counselors fear that computers will replace them. An underlying theory holds that counseling is based on the counselor-client interaction. A computer- client interaction cannot be considered vocational counseling. Counseling has five basic aims: prevention, assistance, education and development, service of diverse groups and research. The most relevant trends in computer-based counseling are: tests and questionnaires based on computers, adaptive development, computarized information, vocational counseling systems and research. Basic aims and the potential role of computers in achieving them are discussed. Present vocational counselors can use the technology of computers to link the past of our profession to its promising future. In view of these premises we have developed two computer systems that assist the vocational counseling process: "Professional Interests Questionnaire, Computer Version", and "Computer-based System of Vocational Counseling".

A model of career training in international contexts

Este artículo describe un modelo para la capacitación de practicantes de orientación ocupacional en contextos internacionales. Este modelo utiliza un enfoque de "compromiso activo" y se fundamenta en los siguientes factores: 1. Relativos a Competencia/Habilidad; 2. Aprendizaje Experimental; 3. Desafío de Fortaleza; 4. Pensamiento Crítico; 5. Intervenciones y Procesos Dinámicos; y 6. Aprendizaje e Innovación Integradas. También se incluye un debate sobre otras cuestiones prácticas relativas a la capacitación.

Vocational and occupational counsseling: a strategy of preventive intervention directed to Young men and women from the interior of the province of Buenos Aires

This work belongs to one of the activities that are carried out in the Vocational and Occupational Guidance Center (V.O.G.C.) of the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences at the L.P.N.U. In the year 1994 the Vocational/Occupational Guidance Programme for Municipalities was created, destined for work with adolescents who are attending their last year at secondary schools in the interior of the Province of Buenos Aires . The Programme aims at fostering the development of spaces for reflection related to the educational/working projects of the adolescents who are close to entering university. The proposal is based on the methodology of work groups, in the journeys preoccupations are sheared, the worries and fears experienced by the students are shared with their hosts, possibilities are used as ground for construction, dealing both with aspects of their current situation and their future possibilities. From the analysis of the group productions collected throughout these years, we have developed a student's profile that - although it resembles the one obtained from local adolescents- adds new questions and points of view, thus increasing the complexity of the balance of forces related to the question of having to make a choice.

Cross-cultural counseling: problems and prospects

This work tries to assess the contributions made to educational counseling in recent years by theoretical and applied research and practical actions in the area of cross-cultural counseling. So, it offers a synthesis of the main contributions made from the theoretical and practical viewpoints within this specific scientific field.

El desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo : Debates y perspectivas sobre la formación inicial

La presente ponencia se inscribe en el proyecto de investigación: 'El psicólogo en el contexto escolar: relaciones entre formación y práctica profesional', (UNLP, Programa de Incentivos 2010-2011). Dicho proyecto se propone abordar la construcción del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo graduado en la UNLP que se inserta laboralmente en el campo educativo. El desarrollo de la investigación contempla la exploración en torno a la perspectiva que los actores (graduados y docentes) sostienen respecto a la formación del psicólogo en la UNLP para la inserción laboral en contextos escolares. También considera el estudio de la formación desde una perspectiva curricular tomando como uno de los ejes de análisis el Documento elaborado por la Asociación de Unidades Académicas de Psicología (AUAPSI, 2007) teniendo en cuenta el perfil del licenciado/psicólogo que en el mismo se proyecta en relación al área educacional. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en analizar las actividades reservadas al título y los contenidos curriculares básicos señalados en dicho documento, y el grado de correspondencia con lo explicitado en los programas de las asignaturas de la formación básica y profesional de nuestra carrera que serían significativas para el área educativa. La metodología es de corte cualitativo. En esta fase del estudio nos centraremos sobre la formación inicial como una instancia del proceso de construcción del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo que se inserta laboralmente en el contexto escolar. El procedimiento aplicado para la recolección de la información comprende el análisis del documento de AUAPSI (2007) y de los programas de las asignaturas del plan de estudio de la Licenciatura en Psicología, con especial atención en aquellos que, a juicio de graduados y profesores de la carrera que han sido entrevistados/encuestados en el marco de la investigación, contemplan objetivos, contenidos y actividades relevantes a la formación profesional para la inserción laboral en el campo educativo. Las asignaturas seleccionadas de acuerdo a dicho criterio fueron: Psicología I, Psicología II, Psicología Genética, Psicología Evolutiva I, Psicología Evolutiva II, Psicología Institucional, Seminario de Psicología Experimental, Psicopatología II, Psicología Educacional, Psicología Preventiva, Orientación Vocacional. En lo que respecta al análisis de los programas, éste se llevó a cabo tomando como referencia una clasificación que surge de la reformulación que realizamos a partir de la selección y clasificación de las actividades reservadas al título y contenidos curriculares básicos formulados en el Documento AUAPSI y que se vinculan con el área educacional. El mismo es estudiado a partir de su relación con las instancias de formación y desarrollo profesional, las prácticas profesionales y los contextos en que dichos procesos se llevan a cabo. A partir del discurso de los actores entrevistados, del análisis del documento de AUAPSI (2007) y de los programas de las asignaturas vigentes vinculadas al campo educativo, hemos intentado enriquecer los debates en torno a las próximas reformas curriculares que impactarán en la formación profesional del psicólogo que se inserta en el contexto educativo, repensando de esta manera la instancia de formación inicial, su relación con la práctica profesional y los aportes a la construcción del conocimiento profesional

The attention/support to students in the socio-labor transition

In the present paper I intend to put forward some inquiries regarding the socio-labor guidance and transition of the young people in the co-ordinates of contemporary society. The outstanding paradox in which some young people are immersed when trying to get a first, second, third employment is also analyzed: "The job of looking for a job". This is a common experience shared by many young people when they try to find a place in the complex labor panorama. Looking for a job is a recurrent situation in contemporary society, given the high dose of precarious employment in which the productive world moves. Life-long jobs belong to the past and what is normal is that people strive to enter the competitive labor market repeatedly. Moreover, the paper offers the partial results of a larger research project that approaches tutorship, decision taking and expectations before the academic-labor future of the studentship in the last years of secondary school. Finally, I suggest some insights in the line that it is not longer feasible to work with old-fashioned guidance, trying to channel people's vocation and offering them information so that they get a job that provides them with the happiness of "doing what you like". Behind these ideas lay the normal biographies, the predictable itineraries. Labor market complexity makes the transition to working life very difficult. Once immersed in it, biographies and labor itineraries are constructed and reconstructed at the rhythm of the changing fortunes of times.