CEIAG for Headteachers, Governors and SLT
Post NCC Aspirational Nation Report - A way forward from the chalkface
Sunday 9th June 2013
Watching Twitter this week one thing is really clear. Careers professionals of all types are frustrated by the lack of action and the wishywashyness of 'recommendations' that abound in the debate surrounding the way forward to providing good careers education, advice and guidance to all
It is universally agreed by a number of organisations/reports that have been published this year, that the handing over of responsibility for careers to schools and the lack of budget to pay for it has been detrimental to both the pupil and to the needs of the UK which has many skill shortages and a high level of youth unemployment.
I'm going to counter that trend and make clear recommendations. I'm not a government adviser, an employment Tsar or some other high powered person. I'm just a teacher who has 15 years experience of working in schools promoting the importance of making informed careers decisions. My recommendations are all based on empirical knowledge of working in multi cultural schools in inner and outer London.
So what would my 3 recommendations be?
The CDI & NCS to collaborate to build a regional support network
What schools need is a central body to coordinate all the things that are going on and form schools into groups locally to access and share good practice. Oh what? We had this before? Ah yes, back in the days when I was first employed as a careers coordinator. It was called a careers service.
There are mutterings that the National Careers Service (for those of you who don't know, the NCS is a web/phone based service that is meant to serve both adults and teenagers alike) Will receive more money to improve its offer.
My plea is that the CDI (Careers Development Institute), the newly formed professional body for those working in the careers work area; take an active part in working with the NCS to form regional groups of professionals who support each other and provide a central point of access for schools to access speakers, partner organisation, recommendations, resources etc. This will lighten the load on the school that will be faced with the huge job of choosing from the many resources available.
I must say that this is not a criticism of the CDI, they have asked for feedback from their members regarding what we want from them. I am merely voicing the opinion that people on the ground in schools have a very real need that the CDI/NCS could collaborate to fill very effectively.
Each school to have a MLT/SLT member responsible for Careers
All schools should be required to have a middle leader responsible for ensuring good impartial careers IAG is delivered by all these outside bodies that the government has opened the marketplace to. Oh yes, they used to be called Careers Coordinators.
Yes, I believe that my life as a careers teacher is coming full circle. I came into careers just as the careers service were being phased out in favour of Connexions. It was still fairly easy back then. You spoke to Connexions and they advised you, they even paid for you to do courses in careers education if you so wished.
However, this brave new world of 21st C CEIAG now looks to schools to pick and choose from a vast array of places, providers and services, not just a single point of access as it was back then with the careers service. So schools need, more than ever, professional careers teachers who understand the legal, ethical and logistical needs of schools in order for them to provide the required standard of IAG. This leads me nicely to my third wish...
Training for Careers Coordinators & Provision of Advisory Teachers
My call for training and provision of advisory teachers comes again from my experience of working with other schools. At my present school, we have an INSET day called an Away Day. Translation - Go to another school for a day to nick all their good ideas.
I found that I was going to schools which were putting themselves forward and being judged as outstanding, but their careers provision was really poor and/or biased. Ofsted are clearly stating now that they intend to take a much more focused interest in CEIAG and have it signposted throughout the inspection. The majority of schools are not ready for this; a lot of schools will be worried that they will lose their outstanding rating next time around.
There are just not enough people who know about careers work from a school point of view to support schools effectively. Many careers advisers are excellent at their job of advising pupils but have little understanding of the ways schools run and the conditions that drive change within them. Again, this is not a criticism; it's an acknowledgment of the strengths and differences between teachers and careers advisers. One that's not often acknowledged by people outside of the careers service but one that is very real.
The majority of teachers go down the 'academic route' GCSE, A Level, Uni. What do they know about work based training; apprenticeships; entry level qualifications; the need for certain skills in certain occupations? Are they up to date? Well had you heard of an SEO consultant before a few years ago? In contrast careers advisers are highly skilled people, educated to post grad level in the theory and practice of enabling people to achieve the career they want and to facilitate them to work out what type of career they aspire to. They are not teachers and teachers are not careers advisors. Thus training and advice in managing the use of resources and CAs is vital. Thus, we need people experienced from the school's point of view to collaborate with the CA to ensure that any external agency, speaker etc are providing what pupils need rather than just promoting their own interests.
Ok, so maybe I am wishing for the impossible, but shouldn't we as educators, advisers and employers be pushing to do the very best we can not just for our young people but also to ensure that the employers have the young people they need with the skills that we need? Long term would the investment not be worth it?
