Transcript Document

“The current level of guidance
and counselling in Italy "
www.unitn.it/gelso
TRANSNATIONAL CHOICES PROJECT CONSORTIUM
Helsinki, Finland 22-23 May 2006
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Definition
Counselling teaches how to manage a
difficult situation applying a labour procedure
which includes the research of all necessary
information to make a diagnosis and to
foresee any possible alternative, the planning
of the action and the checking of the
procedure.
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Target
The services is generally offered to young
people (till the age of 35 in the Youth
Information Center; no age limit there are in
the Job Guidance Offices and in the Social
Health Care Services; High School Guidance
means normally till the 19-20 years and
University Counseling is obviously connected
with inscription in the University courses).
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What type of help?
The services offered are to help and accompany
in personal, educational, training and occupational
choices and careers. It includes a wide range of
activities.
For example activities within schools to help
students clarify their goals and understand the world
of work; personal or group-based assistance with
decisions about initial courses of study, courses of
vocational training, further education and training,
initial job choice, job change, or work force re-entry.
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Providers of Guidance Services
Guidance services in Italy are fully or at least partly
dependent on national, regional and locally funding, but
overall within European Projects.
The principal providers of career and education
guidance services in Italy are than: Councils, Regions,
Provinces and State, throughout the Youth Information
Centres (Councils); the Schools and Employment
Services
(Provinces) Social Health Care Centres
(Regions) Cultural and University Guidance Services
(Minister of Education and University).
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Guidance Services
Guidance in Employment Service is carried out by
career counsellors working in local (Provinces and
Town) and regional office. The co-ordination is
anyway by the Minister of welfare.
The main service of personal and social guidance is
provided through the social welfare system. The
centres for Job Guidance are organised locally.
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Counsellors
In all this different offices Professional Counsellors
and less skilled Social Worker or Assistant are
employed. Guidance in schools is provided by school
counsellors who work in school counselling services.
Guidance counsellors are employed in practically all
level of studies: primary and secondary schools
(personal, social, vocational).
In Italy guidance is provided mostly by social
workers, psychologists, social assistant; but also it’s
very normal to meet just normal clerk.
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Counselling Services for Young People
The services include counselling services for young
people (also organized locally, the main staff
employed are psychologists and social workers ).
Information for young people regarding education,
training, employment as well as cultural, leisure and
sport activities are provided also by youth
information centres.
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Links between guidance counsellors and
other relevant professionals in Italy
The most important structure officially and
institutionally (Minister of Welfare) built to coordinate the guidance system is ISFOL (Istituto
Superiore per la Formazione ed Orientamento al
Lavoro) – High Institution for Education and
Guidance to the Work
Also Universities, at different level, try to study
common methodologies to link guidance counsellors
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Coordination of Guidance Activities
There are no formal mechanism for coordination
guidance activities among partners providing
guidance.
The links between guidance professionals is
mostly self organized
Different services usually co-operate and have
links, particularly public services,
services for
guidance in education, schools etc.
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How do young people access to
guidance and counselling
In Italy, the Youth Information Centers is the
nearest system organized to address young to the
different “specialized” counsellors existing in the
different services.
The approach to guidance and counselling for
young people follows usually different methodology
and tools of the services.
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Guidance services offered
1. School guidance service offer: career,
educational and personal guidance. Young
people who are at school can access a
school counsellor, that offer counselling
mostly in education, vocation, personal and
social fields.
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Guidance services offered
2. Career/job guidance: during or at the
end of the studies, each young person has
the right to register at the employment office
and apply a service of guidance in the
specialized job guidance centers where he or
she get mostly individual and, sometimes,
group career guidance.
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Guidance services offered
3. Personal guidance: young people have
the right to approach the social care centers
to get also counseling from the social workers
in all the health care centers depending from
the health care structure (Regional).
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What numbers of young people
approach the service?
The only official information about number of
young approaching guidance services are given
from the direct responsible of the different “net”:
•
•
•
•
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Youth Information Centers (27%);
Job Guidance Centers (-young- 21%);
Schools (28%);
University (34%);
Social Health Care (-young- 13%).
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SOME GOOD PRACTICES:
“Total Counselling Project”
“Arca 3001 ONLUS”, is a non-profit organisation
created in 2002, linked with the Network of the Youth
Information Centre of Rome (Italy).
An integral part of this project has been to align the
project work and European partners to allow for this
difference in geographical position, population size and
culture, but at the same time to allow to work towards
a common goal "a comprehensive or holistic guiding
and counselling methodology and service for young
people".
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GenderNet - European Network for
Assessment, Validation and Dissemination
of Gender Mainstreaming Strategies in
Vocational Guidance and Qualification
“Città della Scienza” is a Documentation Centre offering
vocational guidance services. It focuses attention on
education and guidance providing information on study,
training, specific skills and the labour market. It deals with
an information service on European programs aimed at
young people but also as a counselling service for the new
Youth program. In the GenderNet network, it serves as
contact partner for accessing and informing other
European networks in vocational guidance and
qualification.
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Online/More Colour in the Media network
COSPE (Co-operation for the Development of Emerging
Countries), a no-profit association (Onlus) operating in the
field of international co-operation and solidarity is
recognised as a NGO by the Italian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the EU. In Italy coordinates CREAM, a
transnational project that promotes creative and practical
media education activities and career orientation events in
cooperation with the media industry. Cream aims to create
intercultural methodologies and structures for guidance
and counselling to introduce more students of ethnic
minority origin into media professions in more causal and
informal ways.
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Conclusion
In Italy there is a tension, often frustrated, between
formal and non formal, as it is also between top down
policies and bottom up practices.
The need of a decisive improvement in guidance
and counselling have taken central stage in the debate
on development policies and in education system and
professional organizations.
So in this moment it should be very important not
only sharing the principle but also having the
operational capacity to implement formal policies at
local and national level.
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