My last Post ...

Well, I can hardly believe that we have now come to the end of the course - but as one door closes, another opens as they say. For me, hopefully this will be the beginning of a worthwhile and fulfilling career - something I have been seeking for some time. It is now within touching distance - and I am looking forward to it. I've learned so much in a short space of time, about people, about theories,doing group work and interviewing and so much more. At first, I was really nervous about it all but, I'm SO glad that I've been given the opportunity to do so many things, and to gain experience in the career guidance world on placement.The course has enabled me to discover so many new ideas and concepts, meet a variety of people and gain a deeper understanding of working in the guidance field. It's been great!

A Career Service for the Future ...

Our last class of PP2 really helped to 'tie up' the loose ends and to review earlier sessions in a comprehensive way. It finally all started to make sense! I enjoyed the group work and sharing our ideas with each other - the makings of reflective practitioners. And it was good to see that we were on the same wavelength. My vision for a career service would one that definitely takes a holistic approach. One where there was time to discuss, and time to reflect - no targets to be met. Career education would start in primary schools, with the career adviser linked to the primary school and the secondary school in a given area. As pupils moved through the school, the focus would move from general ideas and information about jobs to focussing more on things like interview techniques, application forms etc. But the whole process would be gradual, and part of the school curriculum so that pupils were knowledgeable and self-aware about their decisions. Group work would concentrate on life-skills - confidence, self-esteem, motivation. I really liked the idea of a mobile bus - imagine the possibilities. These wouldn't be rickety old buses, but state of the art buses with high tech facilities. They would visit remote schools, small towns and villages and be the adviser would be approachable, friendly - and knowledgeable about the area. (In schools I've seen so many unfriendly librarians!) What about podcasts where plumbers, joiners, doctors - you name it, we would have it - would talk about their jobs and how to get into that area of work. They would also visit schools to give talks - bringing the world of work closer to our young people, and making it real and relevant. There would be regular meetings of advisers to share their experiences and to discuss developments in techniques. We would be open-minded individuals, who were not afraid to try something new. The construction of a community high schools is taking place right now where I live, and it would be great to see an area devoted to careers right at the heart of the school - no wee room somewhere at the back of beyond with no internet access! Pupils and local residents could use the facilities - and know that they could come back again, and again if it was needed. There would be strong links with local companies, and advisers would have a sound knowledge of the community they were working with. This is my idea of an 'ideal' career service - I'm sure there is so much more to add, but it's a start...maybe one day soon some of it might happen.

Time and time again ....

When I was on placement one thing that made me feel really uncomfortable was the issue of time. Before you even started talking with a client you had to state how much time you were going to have - this immediatly, to me, suggests that the adviser is more or less saying, you're one of so many, and I have to get through so many in a day, or that the adviser's time is so precious that right at the start a time limit has to be stated. Does a time scale really have to be established right at the beginning?, can't the adviser keep a discreet eye on their watch if time is of so much importance? For clients with complicated issues I would imagine the last thing they would want to hear is that they were 'allowed' a specified amount of time. As advisers we need to be able to listen to clients and discuss issues with them without laying out the 'time' card right at the start of any discussion.

Parent Power

During placements I've realised just how much influence parents, friends and relatives, and even neighbours can have on young people and their careers. Sometimes it's an apprenticeship offered by a next door neighbour, or a friend of the neighbour, or going into the family business or choosing a course because a friend of a friend says it's good. Some of the students that I've seen in schools say they've got things sorted for when they leave school, but it is very often evident that they have not taken much part in deciding for themselves what it is they really would like to do. For example, one young lad was going to do a heating installation apprenticeship in his dad's firm. When asked why, he said that it was because his dad didn't have anyone in the company who did that. I met somebody's grandmother the other day, who proudly said that her grandson was going to uni. Oh, which one I asked, and she replied, Edinburgh, just like his dad. It made me wonder, had he chosen that destination by himself or was he following expectations. On another occasion a girl told us that her mum and dad didn't rate college that much, but for her it was going to be the best pathway for her to get to uni later on. No discussion took place about her remark, and I think it was a missed opportunity for her to talk about her feelings and to explore ways that she could relate her thinking and goals to her parents. Finally, when I was sitting waiting in an opticians (where I was doing a company visit) I overheard a remark which I think sums up the influence of parents. I think I'm going to remember it for quite a while. Two women were deep in conversation about the subject choice of one of the women's daughter - the mum said, 'I told her - she could only do art if she took two sciences'. Did the girl want to do sciences I wondered? Why did her mother place such importance on science subjects? The question then is, how do we get parents more involved and more informed about all of the options available to their children? In some cases, I think it would be beneficial for parents to be in on interviews, obviously only if the student wanted it. Or maybe if careers education started much earlier and was more integrated into schools throughout a pupil's education it would become more of a natural process, rather than sometimes finding yourself in 5th or 6th year, and making a mad dash decision when you don't have a clue what you really want to do. I know this is only a snapshot of what goes on, but it made me really think about all of the negotiating students might have to face when they are making decisions about their future.

Communities are special ...

I have been reminded recently of the ways in which communities are special. Firstly, what do we mean by community? How many people does it take to make a community? For example, can communities consist of simply a few friends or just some of our close family members? I believe that both of these examples can make a community, and of course there are many other configurations. The important thing is that we feel comfortable and secure in our community, and also accepted by that community for who we are. In the past I've found myself trying to be part of a community where it was just not going to work. We just had too little in common, and it eventually became painful trying to fit in. Communities are powerful, whatever their size. Small commuities can be insular. They can reject incomers. Conversely, they can also be an immense source of help and support for those people who 'belong' within the community. I am fortunate that I live in a community where I would have no hestitation to knock on my neighbour's door for help if needed, even though we do not see each other very often, and we hardly ever stand and chat over the garden fence. But, we are there for each other. It goes without saying, and that is a wonderful feeling to have. The same goes for my other neighbours who are a few minutes down the road. When I was watching the news regarding the helicopter crash that resulted in the deaths of 17 oil workers, I was again reminded of the diversity of communities. The oil and gas community is a truly global one, that keeps in touch through the advances in technology, and at the heart of that community you have the city of Aberdeen, where so many people, and businesses are involved in oil and gas. The people who work in the industry are part of a huge community and yet they can come together to support one another in times of crisis, particularly through the use of technology. The media referred to the community as being a 'family'. Those that are part of this community have a strong bond that unites them, and the past unites them too. A visit to the Piper Alpha memorial is a powerful reminder of this.

The other day I was listening to the radio and heard mums and dads from Glasgow being interviewed regarding their protest about schools and nurseries being closed in their area. Here we had a community who had come together to support one another. I saw them later in the day on the television and was reminded again about the power that communities can have. It struck me that had these people accepted the closures without a word, I would have had no idea about it. By coming together as they did, they attracted media attention, and I became more informed about what was happening in another part of the country that is not that very far away.Yes, communities are powerful. They can be complex, and diverse. They can support you or shun you. As career advisers it is vital that we are aware of the communities that our clients are part of.

Listening is active not passive ...

I was out for a walk with the dog this morning and as I was walking through some woods I thought I heard a woodpecker. I wasn't sure at first, there's lots of different birds in those woods. I found myself concentrating a bit more so that I could hear the pecking more clearly, and as I did so I walked more slowly and carefully over the twigs, so as not to frighten it away. As I moved on, the pecking became louder, it was definitely a woodpecker. I had for those few minutes shut out all the other sounds around me, forgot about the dog. It reminded me of the article we read on Wednesday-'listening to hear is active not passive',.

Life-space Drawings

I've been thinking a lot about the activity we did in Grant's class last week.I thought it would be a really useful tool to get dialogue going and thought that it could be used in a variety of other situations where communication was difficult or had broken down. I could see it being helpful for parents/children, or couples for example. As far as my own life-space drawing, it confirmed thoughts about people that had been there for some time, and finally acknowleding them on the page, knowing that I did not have to tell anyone else about them was quite powerful and liberating. I had been given the freedom to symbolise these thoughts, they weren't just in my head any more. I thought it was a good way of recognising issues that were going on right at that moment in time-if I had been asked to do it the week before, I think some things might have been different. I did find the second phase a bit more difficult in that I'm not really keen on fixed timescales, and my first reaction was that three years was just too far away for me to think about. However, even without putting a timescale on it, I think it really helped me to focus on some thoughts and crystallise ideas and it did give me hope that I would achieve some of the aspirations I had symbolised- because they were written down they became more tangible. Again, aas with most things, people will react differently to activities like these, some will like it and others won't. It's about being open-minded and trying new things out if we get the opportunity to do so.