Turkish experience in guidance supporting parents in career counseling to their children

1. http://www.famico.eu FAMILY CAREERCOMPASSEfficient CareerGuidance Approaches SupportingParents in GuidingtheirChildren’sVocationalCareer Turkish experience in guidance supporting parents in career counseling to their children Orhan GÖKÇÖL Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey November 22, 2013

2. Some figures from Turkey Non-formaleducationincludestrainingcoursesdelivered in publicandprivateinstitutions # of students: OVER 25 MILLION # of teachers: OVER 1 MILLION

3. Some figures WE CLEARLY HAVE ISSUES IN TERMS OF DELIVERING EFFICIENT CAREER COUNSELING TO STUDENTS – SO THEIR FAMILIES • Number of counselors in schools : 22.000 • NUMBER OF STUDENTS PER COUNSELOR IS AROUND 1100 (!!!) • In sub-urban areas this number is much more • An estimated 10% of the counselors are eligible for giving career counseling

4. Resourcesforchildren in developingcareersteps • Social neighborhood of the children is very dominant • Family (we’re large families with father, mother, several uncles, aunts etc. very close relatives) • Friends • Neighbors • School • Career counselors

5. Role of Parents in career development • Careerdevelopmentforkids in Turkey, likeallaroundtheworld, can be consideredas a social construction. • One of the ways in which children form thisconcept is through social relationships. Parents' influence on career development stems from thecontinuous process of relationship with their children. • Interms of careercounseling, parentingstyle in Turkey is verymuchauthoritativewhichmeansthatfami,lieswant THE BEST OF THE BEST fortheirchildren!!!! • Authoritativeparentswithgoodparticipationfromthefamilymemberstrytomakethebestfortheirchildrenbyseekingtoolsandservicesaround. • Uninvolved, but authoritativeparentswithnopriorknowledge, experienceandinterestaboutcareerdevelopment of theirchildren do alsowantthesamething but mostlytheyshifttheneedto a latter time andwaitforproblemsto be solvedsomehow. Insufficientcareermanagementsupportfromschools put themto an ambigiousstatewheretheyareopentogetinfluencedfromanythingthey can findsuch as a neighbor, somefancyprogramstheysee in TV –that is anything popular andpossibly not fittingwiththeirchildren’spersonalities.

6. As a result; • It’s clear that parents need good resources in terms of career guidance • Number one problem is raising awareness on parents’ side • Emotionally supporting their children • Encourage individual development • Develop learning strategies that promote career readiness

7. Supportingparents in careercounselingtotheirchildren • School resources (counselors) • Careerdays : Some of theschoolsinviteprofessionalfromdifferentcareersanduniversitystafftogiveinformationaboutdifferentcareers –theseactivitiesareopentostudentsandtheirfamilies • Companyvisits • CareerInventories • One-to-Onecounseling • Conferences & Seminars • Publications • Municipalitiesarrangeseminarsandworkshopsforfamilies • NGO –Supportingprojectsforcareermanagement • Test prepcenters – centersthatgivetrainingtostudentsforenteringhigherlevel of educationgivecareercounselingsupport

8. Supportingparents in careercounselingtotheirchildren • School resources • Career days : Some of the schools invite professionals from different careers and university staff to give information about different occupations –these activities are open to students and their families. These activities are mostly carried out at upper secondary level (lycee), generally during March-April-May, each year.

9. Supportingparents in guidingtheirchildren’svocationalcareer • Career Inventories applied at some schools contain curriculum material and activities for families

10. Supportingparents in guidingtheirchildren’svocationalcareer • One-to-Onecounseling • Through schoolcounselors • Not on regularbasis. Parentsmustdemand it. • Through privatecounseling/careercoaching • Not common. • Expensive, and not reachablebyeveryparent. • Mostlyfocuses on selectingrightuniversityandfindingbettereducationinstitutions in EU and USA universities

11. Supporting parents in guiding their children’s vocational career • Conferences and Seminars • Short events (1-2 days), • Focuses on not only career issues but (mostly) for also pedagocigal issues related to school success, learning styles, how to become successful etc. • Mostly organized by local authorities of education in counties • Schools are also organizing conferences and seminars about career planning and selecting right occupation –activities are open to public

12. Supportingparents in guidingtheirchildren’svocationalcareer • Publications • Books & Magazines

13. Supportingparents in guidingtheirchildren’svocationalcareer • Publications • Newspapers – Mostdailynewspapershavepageswherecareerrelatedissuesarediscussed. Mostly in online format.

14. Supporting parents in career counseling to their children • Municipalitiesarrangeseminarsandworkshopsforstudents & families

15. Supportingparents in guidingtheirchildren’svocationalcareer • NGOs : There are several NGOs providing career related activities –not only focusing on parents

16. Supportingparents in guidingtheirchildren’svocationalcareer • Test prep centers – centers that give training to students for entering higher level of education also provides career counseling support not only to students but also to parents

17. Conclusion • There are resources for parents in supporting their children’s career. But the situation is problematic. • Resources are not enough in numbers, and in quality : REMEMBER, We have an enormous number of students • Resources are not easily reachable by every parents –most of the parents «even» don’t know there are resources • Resources are not focusing on a life-long career management concept of children • Resources are not focusing on improving career awareness on parents’ side • Mostly focusing on improving school successes of children • Main concern of most lower & upper secondary school students’ parents is rather «short term» : Choosing the right school for the next level • New approaches are clearly needed and welcomed which are more «reachable» and more focusing on «parents»

18. Questions FAMICO www.famico.eu THANK YOU! Dr. Orhan GÖKÇÖL orhan.gokcol@bahcesehir.edu.tr