Voice of users

1. Voice of users in promoting quality of guidance services for adults in the Nordic countries

2. Voice of users • Funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the NVL • Based on a previous project: Expected outputs/outcomes of guidance services for adults in the Nordic countries (NVL, 2009) • Gap identified: “An explicit gap in the research and national quality frameworks seems to be in the user involvement in the design and evaluation of the guidance services (Vuorinen et al., 2009).”

3. Aim and research questions • Contribute to the body of knowledge on the effectiveness and quality of adult guidance • Cross-country comparison • Are users actively involved in guidance? How, to what extent, in which fields? • How can involvement of clients improve outcomes of guidance? • How can client involvement improve services? • What ideas do clients/professionals have of clients´ future involvement?

4. Taxonomy of involvement in educational and vocational guidance

5. Method • Participants in the study • Adults seeking guidance in the Nordic countries – low level of formal education • Practitioners and managers • Urban vs. rural • Focus groups study • Clients, practitioners and managers • 6-8 groups in each country • Questionnaire survey • Adult users of guidance services (clients)

6. Danish results: Focus group participants • Managers from five different types of institutions: Two day folk high schools, one folk high school, one regional guidance centre, one ”private actor” running short guidance programs for unemployed adults, and one from the secretariat for adult education centres. There were four woman and three men. • Practitioners from six different types of institutions: Two day folk high schools, one folk high school, one adult education centre, one regional guidance centre, one technical college running longer guidance and practice programs for unemployed adults, and one ”private actor” running short guidance programs for unemployed adults. There were six women and four men. • Clients from three types of institutions: Two day folk high schools, one folk high school, one technical college running longer guidance and practice programs for unemployed adults. There were five women and four men – at different ages and different educational levels – unemployed course participants (seven), some of them in transition from one vocation to another, or folk high school participants (two).

7. Danish results: Definitions and understanding of effect • The term ‘career guidance’ is problematic – the term educational and vocational guidance is more precise and appropriate in a Danish context. • Guidance is defined as helping clients make choices according to their potentials, wishes and dreams. The client is a subject not an object in the guidance process – and choices and options should not be forced onto the client. • Especially the managers connect the aim of helping clients make their own choices through guidance with the term ‘realistic’ – realistic in connection to employment opportunities and future labour market needs. • Guidance and effective guidance is connected to the individual client and her or his outcome of guidance: What is the result for the client. • The differences are mainly two: The managers and the practitioners talk about ownership and qualified choices that make sense and are sustainable, and the clients talk about the necessity of empathy and support from the practitioner in order to help them make their own choices. The target is the same, but they focus on result versus process.

8. Danish results: Degrees of involvement • Involvement is described as active involvement in information gathering and self-exploration, as individual oral feedback to practitioners, and as (more sporadic) use of group feedback. • There is no systematic evaluation on an institutional level in the form of questionnaires, follow-up interviews or emails. Clients give individual feedback, but the feedback is not collected. All believe that clients are influencing guidance on an individual level, but they cannot answer whether this has improved guidance service in general. • All groups are inspired by the idea/vision of higher user involvement (level 4-5), when introduced to it. • All groups find it difficult to imagine higher degrees of user involvement in the future: Ideal and desirable >< Unrealistic. The managers and practitioners find it unrealistic mainly for two reasons: The differentiation among clients, and the lack of interest from policy makers and financing bodies. The clients consider it an interesting but somehow fairytale idea.

9. Icelandic results Target group: Adults with little formal education, users of educational and vocational guidance services. • Lifelong learning centres, Keilir and the Directorate of Labour. • Interviews conducted at the LLL centres, Keilir and at the University of Iceland • Each interview lasted 1,5-2 hours

10. Icelandic results • Clients: guidance was “endless support” and one client described it as way to “open my mind to the possibilities I have”. • “I would not be in this class now and would not be heading for another course but because of the guidance and all that.” • Managers: “It must be about assisting the individual in choosing education and jobs that fit and be a guide and a support in doing what they are interested in.” • Practitioners: A counsellor described effective guidance when the counsellor sees that the individual “looks at himself in a different light” other counsellors agreed with this description and one said that „sometimes you can see the light bulb in their (clients´) head turn on“.

11. Icelandic results • All groups could see potential in future involvement of users • in focus groups • in peer groups • The managers were very positive on the subject of future involvement of users of the service. • All agreed that this was important for future development and quality in guidance services. • Clients, counsellors and managers in all focus groups perceived guidance as an important part of increasing the number of people that finish secondary and higher education.

12. Finnish results: Focus group participants • Managers (8 females, 1 male) • Organizations: two employment and economic development offices, a regional development company, an upper secondary school for adults, an institute of adult education, a college, a university, an open university. • Practitioners (10 females, 1 male) • Organizations: an apprenticeship training centre, a Christian institute, a university of applied sciences, an open university, a university. • Clients (8 females, 2 males) • Urban group: Labour market training programme in social and health care (youth and adolescent care) in the Jyväskylä Institute of Adult Education • Rural group: Labour market training programme in social and health care (school assistant training) in the Jämsä College. • Students had practically no experience in guidance sessions with explicit and specific focus on career development. Instead, they had discussions about making and following through personal study plans with a teacher or a study programme leader.

13. Finnish results: Definitions of guidance and effective guidance • Within the adult education in Finland the boundaries between teaching and guidance are not explicit. Guidance is an integral part of education in general. • Challenges for development of guidance services: Difficult to identify whether the feedback is focused on teaching or on guidance services, therefore also difficult to define exact areas where improvements are needed. • The students do not perceive their role as a user of guidance services. • Guidance: ”Everybody’s job” in educational organizations. Should be client-centered (as all groups stressed), consistent and equal (as clients stressed). • Effective guidance: Setting and achieving clients’ goals through • investigating all the possibilities in ones life or simply providing the information one needs (clients’ view) • achieving some kind of change (practitioners’ view) • providing individual plans or ”next steps” to follow (managers’ view)

14. Finnish results: Involvement • All agreed on the importance and significance of increasing user involvement, but had different views on the nature and level of needed/possible involvement. • Managers were sceptical about clients’ ability and willingness to participate in forums and meetings. • Practitioners stressed the importance of projects, work groups and peer support. • Clients mentioned discussions, clients boards and development projects and saw themselves as active and willing to participate especially in developing their own studies and learning plans. • Increased user involvement would • improve the allocation of resources (managers and practitioners). • enhance the skills of practitioners and help customizing the services (managers). • stress the importance of guidance to decision makers (practitioners). • improve individual’s self-esteem and self-confidence (clients).

15. Norwegian results • All three groups agree that the counsellor needs to connect the action plan to the real world • All three groups agree that effective guidance is based on individual needs among clients. An effective guidance can be a slow moving process for some clients, but for others they need to be pushed forward.

16. Norwegian results • The field where the clients have had least focus from the counsellor is on decision making. To do long term choices is important for them, but they feel they do not have the tools to work with these issues. • None of the centres use systematic follow-up after the guidance sessions are over

17. Norwegian results • In general I would say that the interview has given birth to a new interest in involving clients in developing career centres, especially at a more evaluative and strategic level. As a comment I will add that this maybe has to do with the focus in most career guidance studies in Norway.

18. Swedish results Target group: Adults in adult education with different educational background, users of educational and vocational guidance services. • Adult education in Göteborg, Luleå and Malmö • 8 interviews (3 clients, 3 practitioners, 2 managers) that was conducted at the local authorities (Göteborg, Luleå) and Malmö university • Each interview lasted 1 – 1,5 hours

19. Swedish results • Definition- Practitionaries; process, pedagogical activity- Clients; bank of knowledge- Managers; process, give the clients toolsComment: More process, less outcome • Involvments of clients - Practitionaries; Clients are invitets to take part- Clients; Don´t get what they want - Managers; Want clients to be proactiveComment: The clients are ”diverce” - activ or helpless • Evaluation the service- Practitionaries; Evaluation ad hoc, no systematic - Clients; No formal evaluation- Managers; Sometimes includes in general evaluationaComment: Method gives evaluation, but no systematic

20. Swedish results • Future involvment- Practitionaries; Diverce service to meet clients needs - Clients; Be seen, be respected- Managers; Make clear declationsComment: Guidance on demands • Involvment in designing and strategy- Practitionaries; Nothing today, maybe in the future- Clients; ?????- Managers; Importance of clients perspectiveComment: Not high on the agenda, yet....But other areas like in general adult education there is a strong movment to rise the students participation to shape their education.

21. Taxonomy of involvement in educational and vocational guidance