Practice links [Issue 58, June 2014]

Practice Links is a free e-publication for practitioners working in Irish social services, voluntary and nongovernmental sectors. Practice Links was created to enable practitioners to keep up-to-date with new publications, electronic resources and conference opportunities. Issue 58 includes listings for upcoming conferences, resources, recent policy reports as well as reviews of publications.

Practice links [Issue 59, October 2014]

Practice Links is a free e-publication for practitioners working in Irish social services, voluntary and nongovernmental sectors. Practice Links was created to enable practitioners to keep up-to-date with new publications, electronic resources and conference opportunities. Issue 59 includes listings for upcoming conferences, podcast listings, information resources, recent policy reports as well as reviews of publications.

Berufsschulumfrage 2012. Einflussfaktoren auf die Berufswahl und Verbleibentscheidung von Auszubildenden im Landkreis Mecklenburgische Seenplatte

Berufswahlsentscheidung und die Frage nach dem Gehen oder Bleiben ist nicht nur für viele junge Menschen in ländlichen Regionen eine wichtige Frage, sondern auch für die im Übergang Schule-Beruf arbeitenden Menschen und Akteure der jeweiligen Kommune. Vor dem Hintergrund der Abwanderungstendenzen und der Optimierung der Übergänge Schule-Beruf hat die Stabsstelle Bildung des Landkreises Mecklenburgische Seenplatte repräsentativ 2800 Auszubildende des Landkreises befragt über die Einflussfaktoren für ihre Berufswahl und über ihre Entscheidung hier zu bleiben oder gehen befragt. Die z.T. überraschenden Ergebnisse werden in dieser Studie zusammen mit Handlungsempfehlungen dargestellt. (DIPF/Autor)

Área de projecto de 12º ano de escolaridade: seu potencial educativo

A reforma curricular do ensino secundário em Portugal, enquadrada pelo Decreto-Lei nº. 74/2004, de 26 de Março, com as alterações introduzidas pelo Decreto-Lei nº. 24/2006, de 6 de Fevereiro, integra no desenho curricular dos cursos Científico- Humanísticos a Área de Projeto (AP). Esta área curricular não disciplinar, inscrita no plano de estudo dos referidos cursos, centra-se na realização de projectos concretos por parte dos alunos tendo em vista o desenvolvimento de uma visão integradora do saber, a promoção da sua orientação escolar e profissional e facilitar a sua aproximação ao mundo do trabalho (DGIDC, 2006, p.5). Diversos autores (Caamaño, 2005; Cachapuz et al., 2002; Pedrosa, 2001; Santos, 1999; Pérez, 1998; entre outros) apontam para a necessidade de a escola criar situações formativas que permitam aos alunos não só desenvolverem competências de pesquisa, selecção e organização de informação, mas também de estabelecerem relações entre os conhecimentos, de forma a adquirirem um saber integrado e a desenvolverem ainda competências de vivência numa sociedade que se rege por princípios de uma cidadania democrática e participativa. Sendo recente a implementação da Área de Projecto no ensino secundário, e face às actuais exigências sociais de criatividade e de inovação e à necessidade de intervir no futuro e de o conter dentro de limites previsíveis, partimos para este estudo com a seguinte questão: Qual o contributo da área curricular não disciplinar Área de Projecto do 12º ano - cursos de Ciências e Tecnologias - para o desenvolvimento de competências requeridas a um cidadão do século XXI? Perante esta questão, definimos como objectivos para a presente investigação: (a) estudar as potencialidades educativas da AP (12º ano) como contributo para o desenvolvimento de competências de cidadania; (b) estudar as potencialidades educativas da AP (12º ano) para a educação em e pelas ciências e (c) contribuir para o desenvolvimento do conhecimento didáctico sobre a relevância da AP no ensino secundário. Face aos objectivos definidos, delineámos uma metodologia de investigação qualitativa com características de estudo de caso, fazendo recurso de diversos instrumentos de recolha de dados (entrevista, questionário, observação directa, análise documental), e da análise de conteúdo como técnica principal de análise de dados. Os participantes privilegiados do estudo foram, para além da investigadora, alunos de uma turma do 12º ano e a respectiva professora de Área de Projecto. O estudo de caso consistiu no acompanhamento da concepção e do desenvolvimento da AP, numa turma de 12 alunos do 12º ano de escolaridade da cidade da Horta (Açores/Portugal), bem como na avaliação do seu impacto nos alunos da referida turma. Os resultados da investigação apontam, no caso concreto em estudo, para um elevado potencial educativo desta área curricular (traduzido por exemplo, ao nível de competências processuais e atitudinais), mas também para uma natureza excessivamente formal no desenvolvimento curricular de AP, incluindo a avaliação das aprendizagens dos alunos. Os resultados sugerem ainda a necessidade de se desenvolver uma didáctica especifica desta área curricular, que valorize as características de cada aluno e as especificidades do seu contexto, bem como as metodologias de trabalho a serem utilizadas, por forma a evitar que esta área curricular se transforme em mais uma disciplina do plano de estudos dos alunos. Vários caminhos de investigação futura emergem do estudo realizado. A título exemplificativo refira-se a necessidade de estudar como a formação de professores pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento profissional dos mesmos no âmbito da leccionação de AP e de outras similares.

Desenvolvimento da identidade vocacional de jovens institucionalizados em centros educativos portugueses

Tese de doutoramento, Educação (Psicologia da Educação), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2015

Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new social arrangement of work poses a series of questions and challenges to scholars who aim to help people develop their working lives. Given the globalization of career counseling, we decided to address these issues and then to formulate potentially innovative responses in an international forum. We used this approach to avoid the difficulties of creating models and methods in one country and then trying to export them to other countries where they would be adapted for use. This article presents the initial outcome of this collaboration, a counseling model and methods. The life-designing model for career intervention endorses five presuppositions about people and their work lives: contextual possibilities, dynamic processes, non-linear progression, multiple perspectives, and personal patterns. Thinking from these five presuppositions, we have crafted a contextualized model based on the epistemology of social constructionism, particularly recognizing that an individual's knowledge and identity are the product of social interaction and that meaning is co-constructed through discourse. The life-design framework for counseling implements the theories of self-constructing [Guichard, J. (2005). Life-long self-construction. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 5, 111-124] and career construction [Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counselling: putting theory and research to work (pp. 42-70). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley] that describe vocational behavior and its development. Thus, the framework is structured to be life-long, holistic, contextual, and preventive.

The connection between career education and career maturity /

The value of career education is measured by the extent to which it enhances students' decision making skills regarding career planning. This is referred to as "career maturity". The purpose of this study was to examine what connections could be found between career education and career maturity within one career planning course. A senior level career planning class was studied in depth for one semester and five senior students participated in the study. The five students were interviewed three times during the semester to determine whether, and to what extent, students feel more prepared personally to make decisions as a result of a guided course of instruction. The current trend in education shows an increased emphasis on career education. The government mandates career education, students are in need of career planning courses, and parents want students to learn how to effectively make decisions concerning their future. With this increased emphasis comes the need to evaluate current career education programs which is why this study is significant and useful. The central findings were as follows: first, as a result of taking a career planning course students did increase their career maturity. Second, current career education planning curriculum was similar to the proposed course of study for career planning which comes into effect in September 1999. Current curriculum does help to prepare students to make informed educational and career decisions, a chief aim of the proposed curriculum. Knowing that this outcome is currently achieved will help when the course is being organized to fit the new curriculum.

Exploring the impact of a hands-on intervention on grade 7 girls and their feelings about self, mathematics, science, technology and related careers

Forty-five 12- and 13-year-old females attending Grade 7 in North York, Ontario were randomly selected from a group of 100 females who had volunteered to participate in a oneday hands-on workshop called It's Your Choice at Seneca College. The goals of this intervention were to broaden the career horizons of these students and to help them realize the need to continue mathematics and science through high school in order to keep occupational options unlimited. The young women were given a pre- and post-attitude survey to provide background information. In the month following participation in the workshop the students were interviewed in small groups (S students per group) to discover their perceptions of the impact of the workshop. The interviews revealed that participants felt that after the workshop their feelings of self-confidence increased, specifically with respect to working with their hands. Participants felt more aware of the usefulness and importance of the study of mathematics, science and technology, They also felt that It's Your Choice increased their interest in careers in these domains and helped them to see that these careers are viable choices for females. The interviews also revealed that many of the participants felt that in this society their roles and their choices were influenced and probably limited by the fact that they are female.

An Exploration of the Impact of Ontario Integrated Secondary Programs Through the Perceptions of their Graduates

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of participating in an integrated program at the secondary level on students’ lives based on their postsecondary perceptions. A basic interpretive qualitative design was employed in this study. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted with graduates of integrated program as the means of data collection. It was found that the integrated programs accomplished objectives in close alignment with the mandated curriculum expectations regarding integrated programs. Some of the most powerful impacts related to students' learning skills, such as collaboration and social skills, and how to create as well as participate in community. A strong connection between participating in integrated programs and vocational guidance was also identified. The results led to the recommendation that integrated programs be explored as a platform for delivering 21st century education as they closely paralleled the objectives prescribed by a number of authors who detailed the role of education in the 21st century.

Évaluation d'implantation d'un programme d'éducation au travail à l'école secondaire Ibn Hani au Maroc

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

La Figura del pedagog/a dins l’àmbit de l’orientació professional

El treball pretén conèixer l’orientació professional d’una manera àmplia per tal d’analitzar quines són les competències professionals necessàries i fonamentals per tal d’exercir d’orientador/a professional. Es realitza una anàlisi sobre el perfil professional del pedagog/a que exerceix com orientador/a, alhora que realitza una reflexió partint de les competències professionals, que permet analitzar la figura del pedagog/a dins l’àmbit de l’orientació professional

Computing in a social context : gender difference in participation

The thesis reviews the literature relating to girls and computing within a framework which is structured around three specific questions. First, are there differences between girls and boys in their participation in class computing activities and/or in non-class computing activities? Second, do these differences in participation in computing activities have broader implications which justify the growing concern about the under-representation of girls? Third, wahy are girls under-represented in these activities? Although the available literature is predominantly descriptive, the underlying implicit theoretical model is essentially a social learning model. Girl's differential participation is attributed to learned attitudes towards computing rathan to differences between girls and boys in general ability. These attitudes, which stress the masculine, mathematical, technological aspects of computing are developed through modelling, direct experience, intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcement and generalisation from pre-existing, attitudes to related curriculum areas. In the literature it is implicitly assumed that these attitudes underlie girl's decisions to self-select out of computing activities. In this thesis predictions from a social learning model are complemented by predictions derived from expectancy-value, cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories. These are tested in three separate studies. Study one provides data from a pretest-posttest study of 24 children in a year four class learning BASIC. It examines pre- and posttest differences between girls and boys in computing experience, knowledge and achievement as well as the factors relating to computing achievement. Study two uses a pretest-posttest control group design to study the gender differences in the impact of the introduction of Logo into years 1, 3, 5 and 7 in both a coeducational and single-sex setting using a sample of 222 children from three schools. Study three utilises a larger sample of 1176 students, drawn from three secondary schools and five primary schools, enabling an evaluation of gender differences in relation to a wide range of class computing experiences and in a broader range of school contexts. The overall results are consistent across the three studies, supporting the contention that social factors, rather than ability differences influence girls' participation and achievement in computing. The more global theoretical framework, drawing on social learning, expectancy-value, cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories, provides a more adequate explanation of gender differences in participation than does any one of these models.

The career preferences of undergraduate nursing students

A quasi-experimental design was used to test the hypothesis "there is a positive relationship between theoretical and clinical exposure to psychiatric nursing and the desirability of psychiatric nursing as a career choice." Results found that overall psychiatric nursing initially emerged as being a relatively unpopular career option.

Managing the career development of Australian coaches

The sustainability of the sport industry is dependent upon skilled coaches. This thesis has demonstrated that unlike the corporate setting, career development in the profession of coaching is missing from both policy and practice. This omission was found to have profound detrimental impacts on sport industry sustainability and coaches' lives.