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Quality in Career Guidance – open process of coordination for quality development

Lifelong learning and changing demands of the labour market require the support of career guidance at all stages of life. In order to

• enhance the vocational opportunities and employability of individuals,
• secure a qualified workforce and to support social integration,
• and develop the effectiveness and efficiency of the labour market and the educational system,

guidance services need to relate to the needs of the users. Standards and guidelines for quality and professionalism, which are accepted by all stakeholders and actors in the field, contribute decisively to achieve these goals. The project “Quality in Career Guidance – open process of coordination for quality development” (Beratungsqualität in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung – offener Koordinierungsprozess Qualitätsentwicklung) develops quality standards, guidelines for the qualification of practitioners and a quality assurance system accepted by many actors in the field. By the method of open coordination numerous stakeholders are involved so that the developed standards and quality assurance systems gain a high level of awareness, acceptance and feasibility.

Background
After the abolishment of the state monopoly for career guidance and counselling (“Berufsberatung”) in Germany in 1998 guidance services became increasingly heterogeneous and intransparent. There is a large variety of training providers, non-profit organisations, private and semi-private institutions and counsellors, who offer a wide range of guidance services. In addition, the guidance sector remains unregulated with no legal requirements for service provision, qualification of staff or quality standards. This is why more and more professionals as well as representatives of users claim compulsory quality standards and guidelines.
The project “Beratungsqualität” has of course manifold roots. But a strong link to the European Lisbon Process and its follow-up activities on Lifelong Learning Strategies and Lifelong Guidance, in particular the two Council Resolutions on Lifelong Guidance (2004 and 2008), as well as the establishment of the European Commission’s Expert Group Lifelong Guidance and the foundation of the ELGPN have had an influence on the development of the project.
In 2000 the Federal Ministry of Education and Research started the programme “Learning Regions” (2001 – 2007) funding regional networks for learning and work including career guidance activities. In 2006 the Minister established a high level expert group to design recommendations for innovative lifelong learning strategies (“Innovationskreis Weiterbildung”). Results of this expert group (www.bmbf.bund.de) recommended a follow-up programme to the “Learning Regions” (“Local Learning”), the development of a telephone service and an online portal to enhance transparency and better access to guidance, a funding programme for further training of employees (“Bildungspraemie”), and improvements in the quality of career guidance services.
According to their responsibilities in educational and labour market policies several of the German Federal States (Länder) developed a variety of regional initiatives and funding programmes to establish Lifelong Learning Strategies and skills improvement programmes within their territories, which are complementary to the funding of the Federal Government (e.g. consulting and funding for SME who want to further qualify their staff, further training for employed persons or for persons with no entitlement to unemployment benefits – always including some guidance for the beneficiaries).
The issue of quality standards for guidance services and staff qualification is crucial to all these publicly funded programmes. The project presented here is a result of the joint venture of an NGO activity in the field of career guidance and counselling (German National Guidance Forum – nfb) and manifold policy interventions on national and regional level to enhance Lifelong Learning.
The German National Guidance Forum (nfb), a network of actors and stakeholders in career guidance, has committed itself to further develop quality and professionalism of career guidance in Germany. The nfb realizes the project “Beratungsqualität” in collaboration with the Institute for Educational Research and with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FMER) from October 2009 to November 2011.

Objectives
The aim of the project is to initiate an open process of coordination among the most important actors and stakeholders in the field of career guidance, to agree on

• a common understanding of career guidance,
• a catalogue of indispensable quality standards for career guidance delivery,
• a competence profile for career guidance practitioners with recommendations for initial and further education and training of professionals,
• a Quality Development Framework  to support service providers in their quality management systems including a set of tools and guidelines for implementation,
• recommendations for a sustainable, long term implementation strategy for quality standards and the Quality Development Framework.

Process and Methods
The project is coordinated and communicated by the National Guidance Forum nfb.  The Institute of Educational Research at the University of Heidelberg supports the process academically.
Two parallel task groups representing experts from the various guidance sectors are working on the standards and professional profiles (Arbeitsgruppe 1) and on the development and testing of the Quality Development Framework QDF (Arbeitsgruppe 2) with scientific support by researchers from the Heidelberg University. An intermediate peer learning meeting in October 2010 with practitioners from various guidance sectors will evaluate the process and the first results of both task groups before they continue working. The project is accompanied by a high level Advisory Board representing policy makers and stakeholders of federal and regional level. The Advisory Board evaluates the results, gives advice and supports the implementation in the various guidance sectors.
The results of the project will be presented to the public at the end of 2011 in a nationwide conference. There will be a number of publications including a handbook with the tools relevant for implementation.

Evaluation
An evaluation of the outcomes is part of the project. The catalogue of quality standards and the Quality Development Framework will be piloted in approx. 10 guidance organisations in order to test the feasibility and acceptability of such commonly agreed standards and framework. This piloting phase will be supported and evaluated by the University of Heidelberg.

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