Understanding disadvantage

Issues for guidance services

<The projects>

Four European projectsAll are aimed at adults.

The projects are funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union and do not necessarily represent the views of the funder.

The projects are:Guidelife: European solutions for guidance and counselling for socially

disadvantaged groups - www.guidelife.se – completed 2008

Improved Future: Vocational Guidance for an Improved Future for Immigrants - www.improvedfuture.se – began 2008

Feel Like a Migrant: Multicultural Approach in Teaching - www.flam-project.eu – began 2008

European Culture and Citizenship for Employability - www.ccee.fr (not yet available) – began 2008

<Aspects>

Three aspectsThe aspects of guidance covered by the three projects are:

Knowledge – relating to both the current labour market and educational system, and the situation of the guidance-seeker

Multicultural skills – mainly giving guidance in an appropriate way to people from another country or culture – but culture should be understood widely and include people from different classes, educational backgrounds, ethnicity, age, sex and so on.

Organisational practice – ethos and arrangements that support the work of guidance counsellors working with people from disadvantaged groups – includes access, networking, mentoring, advocacy, feedback and reflection on organisational practice leading to improvement where necessary.

<Guidelife>

Guidelife: European solutions for guidance and counselling for socially disadvantaged groups – main findings Findings based on literature review, interviews with vocational guidance

counsellors and with disadvantaged guidance-seekers, and focus groups attended by both.

There is often a mismatch between vocational guidance counsellors and guidance-seekers, in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, professional status, income and class.

This becomes important only when this mismatch leads to mutual misunderstanding and consequently guidance seekers receive an unsatisfactory service.

The research found guidance counsellors who were both knowledgeable about and empathic towards guidance seekers with difficulties in the labour market - such as migrants, ethnic minorities, both younger and older jobseekers and people with disabilities.

On the other hand, many found their jobs difficult and frustrating, with no support from either initial or in-service training.

<Improved Future for Immigrants>

Improved Future: Vocational Guidance for an Improved Future for Immigrants Transfer of Innovation project – based on Mainstreaming Vocational Guidance

for Refugees and Migrants, www.gla.ac.uk/rg

Promoted by Folkuniversitetet Lund, Sweden, with partners from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Roumania and Turkey and expert partners from Denmark and the United Kingdom.

National reports show that migrants continue to have poorer chances in education and work than non-migrants.

Main aim of the project: to produce a course for guidance counsellors who currently give guidance to migrants or are interested in doing so.

<Improved Future for Immigrants: course>

Improved Future for Immigrants: three modules 1 Finding and making sense of relevant information for use in guidance with

refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants – including APEL, recognition of qualifications, re-qualification and assessment of language learning needs; rights to education, training and employment; legal differences between categories of migrant; additional support for cases of torture and trauma and referral for housing, health care and schooling

2 Multicultural guidance, including understanding of culture, stereotyping, multiculturalism and multicultural guidance, gender issues and ethics in guidance

3 Improving the practice of the guidance service, including assessment of strengths and weaknesses, range of guidance functions actually carried out, changes that could be made, models of service delivery, advocacy and mentoring

<Feel Like a Migrant>

Feel like a Migrant: multicultural approach in teaching Aimed not only at teachers of migrants but also at guidance counsellors and

support workers.

Based on the experience of some migrants, including the originator of the project, who is a Polish migrant in Germany now working at Volkshochschule im Landkreis Cham e.V.

Teachers and students were interviewed in Austria, France, Germany, Roumania, Spain and Switzerland.

Findings from the national reports appear to show that multicultural skills are rarely taught in courses for teachers and guidance counsellors, and that the availability of in-service training and continuing professional development is very patchy, ranging from good to non-existent.

Currently a training course is being developed with the main focus on empathy.

<Feel Like a Migrant: modules>

Feel like a Migrant: modules

1 Europe and its cultural diversity; the conceptual and philosophical foundation of a multicultural approach; overview of recent research

2 Intercultural communication as a challenge in work with migrants: the concept of intercultural communication; knowledge of other cultures; impact of social, cultural and family factors on intercultural communication; conflict management

3 Characteristics of migrants’ learning: motivation, cultural and social aspects, good practice examples

4 Multicultural teaching approach and strategy: beliefs and attitudes, knowledge and skills, learning that is learner- centred, content-oriented and socially oriented

<European Culture and Citizenship for Employability>

European Culture and Citizenship for Employability

Promoted by Irfa Sud, south-west France

Aim: to prepare migrant workers for life and work in Europe before they arrive

Rationale: migrant workers often arrive with unrealistic expectations and are also subject to exploitation and bad treatment

Means: materials to be distributed by guidance services, employment services and recruitment offices in Poland, Roumania and Turkey, for workers migrating to Austria, France, Germany and Sweden to work in construction and cleaning

Materials: practical guides to work in construction and cleaning, including vocabulary, key competences needed, employers’ expectations, rights and social codes, in Polish, Roumanian and Turkish – aimed at migrants themselves.

<Contact details>

Your questions and comments are very welcome.

Please contact:

Dr Pamela Clayton

Department of Adult and Continuing Education

University of Glasgow

United Kingdom

Email: P.Clayton@educ.gla.ac.uk