career guidance and widening participation in the coalition's aspiration nation
TRANSCRIPT
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Career guidance and widening participation in the Coalition's
Aspiration Nation
Tristram Hooley (Reader in Career Development)
So what did I promise?
The Prime Minister is keen to talk about building an "aspiration nation". However, many of the decisions that have been made since the government came to power make it difficult to see how this will be achieved.
This presentation will set out the policy of the current Government in relation to career guidance and widening participation. It will suggest that many of the new policies implemented by the Government have led to a decrease in support for young
people. However, it will also highlight some counter trends where support has been maintained or even extended. Finally it will
suggest that the notion of an "aspiration nation" is a bit of a red herring and set out a vision for a utopian future. All of this and at least three jokes, some
political sermonising and pictures of Will Smith and Miley Cyrus in under 45 minutes.
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Context Political –New Right government Economic - continuing recession
with moderate (but currently stable) youth unemployment
Education - programme of reactionary reforming in schools
Higher education – extension of the policy of individualising and marketising HE
Active labour market policy – administered through the work programme and Jobcentre plus
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What the Government think the problem is…
“You've got to get out there and find people, win them over, get them to raise aspirations, get them to think they can get all the way to the top. " David Cameron
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…erm… but…
closure of Aimhigher cuts to the WP budget closure of Connexions as a national service loss of funding for Education Business Partnerships loss of the statutory duty for work experience loss of the statutory duty for career education poorly framed and much criticised new duty for career
guidance
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So what has happened?
A postcode lottery. Some good, some bad, some indifferent
provision. A lot of reports criticising government
policy. But…
Good practice is persuasive You can’t keep a good idea down! Nature abhors a vacuum. The is still policy and debate in this
area.
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Cutting out the middle man
‘For young people reflecting on which career path to follow no information is as valuable, no inspiration so powerful as the testimony of those at the front line of business. That is why the new careers guidance produced by my colleague Matt Hancock is all about cutting out the middle man and getting inspirational speakers in front of students to spark their ambitions. Students can’t aspire to lives they’ve never known. So we need business people to visit schools, engage and inspire.’
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Problems with all this
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http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/young-people-education-attitudes-summary.pdf
http://www.jrf.org.uk/media-centre/raising-aspirations-educational-gap
Employers are not the whole picture
“If employer contributions are to be effective, they require logistical support, curriculum space, and receptive schools and young people. They also need to be an integral part of properly planned, delivered and reviewed careers education and guidance programmes run by schools.”Careers Sector Stakeholder Alliance
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Designing school-based WP programmes
Move away from just delivering activities
Learn more about learners needs
Develop progressive and integrated programmes
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Designing school based careers programmesCareer development is a learning activity which requires the acquisition of new skills, knowledge and meta-cognitive skills.
There are lots of activities that schools can do to support career development.
But, it is most effective if you move away from activities and design progressive programmes.
Such programmes need to link to the curriculum and students wider experience in meaningful ways.
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The pathologisation of youth and poverty
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Aspiration
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Myth 1: Multi-generational worklessness
In 3.7m working-age households 18% of the total, nobody has a job. 0.9% of home have both workless parents and grown-up children. 0.1% of the total have never worked. CMPO thinktank at Bristol University
“We found no evidence to support the idea that participants were part of a culture of worklessness, and none for the idea of intergenerational cultures of worklessness. Despite their long-term worklessness, parents actively strove for better for their children and often assisted them in searching for jobs. Young people in these families described wanting to avoid the poverty, worklessness and other problems that had affected their parents.”JRF
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The rise of the precariat
The precariat is a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which is a condition of existence without predictability or security.
Specifically, it is applied to the condition of lack of job security or underemployment.
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Myth 2: Young people just want to become pop stars and footballers
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Will Smith (via Celeb Youth UK)
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Myth 3: The digital native
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Digital Career Literacy
Digital skills need to be learnt. Consideration also needs to go into
how they are applied in the context of career and learning.
It is possible for learning organisations to develop programmes to enhance digital career literacy.
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So what is to be done?
Recognise that everyone has pre-existing knowledge, aspirations and ideas about their future
Understand the context within which they operate, but be carefully about assumptions about how this shapes them
Provide them with career learning opportunities Support them to progress and to make transitions
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Reforming our education and employment system
Place the realisation of individual and collective potential at the heart of public policy.
Create a lifelong career development strategy for the county.
Build a new lifelong infrastructure to help people to achieve their aspirations and to level the playing field.
Create a genuine partnership between education and employment in which both are valued.
Stop pathologising people for system failures.
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Useful links
CDI/ACEG Framework or careers and work-related education http://www.cegnet.co.uk/uploads/resources/ACEG-Framework-final.pdf
The Career Development Institute http://www.thecdi.net/
Careers England http://www.careersengland.org.uk
Careers Alliance http://careersalliance.wordpress.com/
Celeb Youth UK http://www.celebyouth.org/
iCeGS http://www.derby.ac.uk/icegs/
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ReferencesBIS. (2013). Inspiration Vision Statement. London: BIS. Carter-Wall, C., & Whitfield, G. (2012). The role of aspirations, attitudes and behaviour in closing the educational attainment gap . York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Dent, P., Garton, E., Hooley, T., Leonard, C., Marriott, J. and Moore, N. (2013). Higher Education Outreach to Widen Participation: Toolkits for practitioners. Programmes, 2nd. Edition. Bristol: HEFCE. Macmillan, L. (2011). Measuring the intergenerational correlation of worklessness. Bristol: Dept of Economics and CMPO, University of Bristol. Hooley, T., Marriott, J., Watts, A.G. and Coiffait, L. (2012). Careers 2020: Options for Future Careers Work in English Schools. London: Pearson.Langley, E., Hooley, T., Bertuchi, D. (2014). A Career Postcode Lottery? Local Authority Provision of Youth and Career Support Following the 2011 Education Act . Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby. Longridge, D., Hooley, T. & Staunton, T. (2013). Building Online Employability: A Guide for Academic Departments. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby. National Careers Council (2013). An Aspirational Nation: Creating a culture change in careers provision. London. Shildrick, T., MacDonald, R., Furlong, A., Roden, J., & Crow, R. (2012). Are cultures of worklessness passed down the generations?. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.St Clair, R., Kintrea, K., & Houston, M. (2011). The influence of parents, places and poverty on educational attitudes and aspirations . York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Watts, A.G. (2014). Recent Developments on the Roles of Employers and of Careers Professionals: A Pivotal Phase in Determining Future Careers Provision for Young People. Careers England Policy Commentary 26. Careers England.
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Tristram Hooley
Reader in Career Development International Centre for Guidance StudiesUniversity of Derbyhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/icegs [email protected]@pigironjoe
Blog athttp://adventuresincareerdevelopment.wordpress.com