Career Edge 11 (February 2004)

Editorial: New Horizons

Three recent reviews of national guidance policies covering 36 countries have strongly endorsed the concept of lifelong career guidance as a significant contributor to individual wellbeing and social and economic prosperity.

The studies, commissioned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the European Union, show that career guidance improves labour market efficiency, economic development, sustainable employment, lifelong learning and social cohesion.

While New Zealand was not one of the countries reviewed, the studies provide a valuable benchmark for analysing and evaluating current guidance policies and practices in this country.

A key theme running through each study was the need to improve and integrate delivery methods so that career guidance becomes more widely accessible to everyone throughout their lives and whatever their circumstances.

This presents some exciting opportunities for New Zealand's career practitioners as well as huge challenges. Expanding access, meeting broader needs and improving the quality and effectiveness of guidance systems, will all require coordination of effort across government agencies and careful prioritising of objectives and resources.

The studies found that a sound foundation for lifelong career development must be established in schools.

In each of the overseas reports, career guidance personnel were identified as a key link from school to post-school. And yet, a recent survey of secondary schools carried out by the Careers and Transition Educators Association (CATE) showed that many schools still under-value and under-resource this critical area in terms of time allocated. Professional development and support are also key issues – only a fifth of careers advisers in New Zealand schools have a formal careers guidance qualification, according to the survey.

The recent publication of Career Education and Guidance in New Zealand Schools – produced by Career Services on behalf of the Ministry of Education – provides guidelines to assist schools to integrate career education much more effectively into everyday learning and teaching from Year 7. I urge all schools to use this resource to reflect upon and improve their guidance practice.

The overseas reports also highlight the increasing guidance needs of at-risk youth, a more diverse tertiary sector and older people in the economy. Work is already well underway in New Zealand to expand access to these key target groups. ICT-based systems such as KiwiCareers, CareerQuest and CareerPoint have markedly changed the way career information is available to a much broader range of New Zealanders.

The Informed Tertiary Decision-Making Initiative is also helping Kiwis to raise their awareness of the various tertiary destinations and sharpen their decision-making skills.

But the reality of lifelong guidance in New Zealand is still some way off. The biggest gap at present lies in our own knowledge and research. The OECD has identified 10 features of a lifelong guidance system against which we can evaluate New Zealand's current policies and systems. Career Services is now working closely with other government agencies to review how New Zealand rates against the OECD findings and to explore the best way forward.