Transcript WAXING THE GAZA: THE POLITICAL ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL
WAXING THE GAZA: THE POLITICAL ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Key note address at the IAEVG-PACE conference, Capetown, South Africa, 19 October 2011 By Dr John McCarthy, Director, International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy E-mail: [email protected]
Henry Thomas Buckle 1856
• “All the
changes
of which history is full….must be the fruit of a double action:
an action of external phenomena upon the mind, and another action of the mind upon the phenomena
”
Thomas Carlyle 1830
• “…actual events are nowise simply related to each other like parents and offspring are;
every single event is the offspring not of one but of all other events, prior and contemporaneous, and will, in turn, combine with all others to give birth to new
: it is an
ever-living, ever-working Chaos of Being
, wherein shape after shape bodies itself forth from innumerable elements…”
Paul Ricoeur 1955
• "
We carry on several histories simultaneously, in times whose periods, crises, and pauses do not coincide
. We enchain, abandon, and resume several histories, much as a chess player who plays several games at once, renewing now this one, now the another" (
History and Truth
186)
What if?
The global reach of educational and vocational guidance services 100 years on
Within the ray of light!
• Activity • Profession and academic communities • Policy development and policy making communities • The relationships between these three components and the people presently and not presently reached
Activity (learning, sharing and teaching )
• Family, including extended • Friends • Community • Other networks • Media • Culture • Learning communities
The IAEVG: an association of professionals
•
Mission
: • ….
competent and recognised
• …minimum
qualifications
…
professional • … methods for
evaluating guidance and counselling
• …
research effective methods and materials
for guidance • …
code of ethics
• …address • ..
diversity and social justice issues in education and work work with policy makers
…
Different positions held by the professional and academic communities
• Concerned with
professional issues only
-no political statement to make • Some political statement to make especially
when
services (and livelihood/profession or work conditions)
threatened
• Political involvement as an
integral
part of leadership:
guidance as a socio-political activity
related to achieving societal (social, economic) goals -
Challenges for professional associations and academic communities
• Making themselves and their work
“policy relevant”:
workforce preparation, workforce development, social equity, education and labour market efficiency • Working
with and through
significant social agents: policy partners (social partners; economic and social policy research organisations; leading national institutions/organisations/agencies)
Challenges for the professional associations and the academic communities
• • • •
Know
government (national, regional) policies and the language of policy makers
Engage
with policy development and policy making processes
Articulate
what educational and vocational guidance is (in words and images comprehensible to the public), and how it can contribute to achieving public policy goals
Produce knowledge/evidence
evaluation to support policy development and
The cosmic nature of policy development!
• Champions within ministries and within other lead organisations (officials, civil servants) • Champion ministers!
• Informal networks and contacts • Social unrest • Not a rational process but a political process "
do not coincide
”
We carry on several histories simultaneously, in times whose periods, crises, and pauses
The start/stop/start nature of policies: EUROPE
1966
-better
coordination
between ministries and services -expand
access
and review
usage
;
equality of geographical access
-improve the
quality
of careers information, methods, means of diffusion -improve
training
-obtain
data
annually on
usage
and coverage -European Commission to publish an annual
review
/synthesis of progress
2004, 2008
-improve
coordination
and cooperation of services -broaden
access
-implement
quality assurance mechanisms: citizen perspective
-
career management competency skills -structures for stakeholder involvement
-improve
training
-develop the
evidence base
-regular
reviews
within the EU Education and Training 2010 programme
What macro challenges might look like for guidance professional and academic communities in South Africa
• To
support and make their work relevant to government policies
for workforce preparation and development • To grow an
evidence base
to support government and agency
policy and systems development
for educational and vocational guidance • To undertake
policy relevant research
academic life as a
normal
• To
meaningfully engage with policy partners
Business South Africa, HSRC feature of such as
SAQA,
• To promote
equality of conditions for educational achievement
What micro challenges might look like for guidance professional and academic communities in South Africa
• To
train
guidance workers
to deliver both virtual/distance and physical
services • To develop
different training programmes
guidance worker
roles
for
different
• To develop a
citizen centred quality assurance
approach to service delivery • To develop service
delivery
in different
languages
• To
train guidance workers to work with unemployed
young people and adults and
with cultural diversity
• To
prepare young people for unemployment
, underemployment as well as employment