Workplace Guidance
Name of the good/interesting practice/initiative/policy
Workplace Guidance
Country
Denmark
I am proposing that this example will be published also in the KSLLL database
No
1. Background
What makes this an example of good/interesting practice/initiative/policy?
- The motivation of the initiative (What is the history/background of the policy?)
- Linkages with LLG policy priorities (Please add references to other national/EU policies or documents)
- Participants
•The motivation of the initiative
The Workplace Guidance (WG) project consisted of two consecutive WG 1 and WG 2 Leonardo da Vinci projects. The first one was a mapping and interview-based project; the second one focused on extending guidance and counselling practices to low-paid workers. The WG project developed, therefore, a number of educational materials and a training course targeted at vocational guidance counsellors, trade union activists and employers, in order to update their skills/competence in relation to the identified target group (low-paid workers) and to enhance access of low-paid workers to lifelong learning.
* Linkages with LLG policy initiatives
These overall aims respond to several objectives of the Copenhagen process and the Maastricht communiqué: to increase the skills and competence of low-qualified workers and enhance their motivation to enter in a lifelong learning process; to provide workers with lifelong learning guidance; to increase the attractiveness of vocational training and education.
•Participants
The partnership included partners from 10 European countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Among these participants, the policy impact of WG was most significant in IS & DK. Thus, this report concentrates on these two countries as examples.
Aims and targets
- Objectives of the initiative (What did the policy set out to achieve?)
- Target group
- Methods applied to reach the objective (technological and /or pedagogical)
•Objectives of the initiative
The aim of the project was to assist lowpaid workers into lifelong learning through the provision of vocational guidance that is easy for them to access, i.e. at the workplace. Hence the project highlighted good practice, and also gave 100 hours training to vocational guidance counsellors, human resource workers and trade union activists in order to highlight the value of, and assist with, the provision of guidance to lower-paid workers.
•Target group
Low paid workers: the fact that the low-paid workers can receive guidance and counselling on-hand at the workplace increased their learning opportunities and enhanced their motivation to enhance their competence through acquiring new skills. Enhancing the skills of lower-paid workers in Europe is urgently needed to meet both new technological innovations and competition from other countries and continents.
•Methods
The project delivered an online course on workplace guidance that included a wide range of materials on the website through which it was delivered. The project website contains all the education materials in 11 languages, as well as the online course.
2. Implementation
Strategy and actions (Please describe the approach adopted to make the reform work and any actions taken.)
- Level of implementation (national, regional etc.)
- Implementation (description)
Outreach Workplace Guidance was an experimental and somewhat fragmented practice in Denmark, initiated by trade unions. Subsequently components of the Workplace Guidance project were transformed into mainstream national guidance policies, especially in Iceland and Denmark, as mentioned below in Section 3
Monitoring and evaluation
- What has been put in place for monitoring and evaluation?
- What actors are involved?
3. Outcomes
Achievements (Please describe the main outcomes/results according to the following headings. Each option can be answered - up to 50 words)
- Specific results
- Cost effectiveness
- Budget
- Innovative aspects
Policy impact
The outreach guidance components of the Workplace Guidance project were transformed into mainstream national guidance policies. Thus, the concepts of Learning Advisors and of Guidance Corners were transferred to Iceland on the basis of the Danish experiences with guidance in the actual workplace, thus incorporating the concept of Workplace Guidance into the 9 Lifelong Learning/Lifelong Guidance Centres all over Iceland (see http://www.frae.is). This guidance provision coverage is remarkable, considering that Iceland is a country with only 300.00 inhabitants. The outreach workplace guidance activities are supported partly by the education funds, which were already in place as part of industrial agreements between employers and trade unions.
In both the case of Denmark and of Iceland, the Workplace Guidance project played an active role in contributing and influencing current adult learning and adult guidance policies. As in the other Nordic countries, in an attempt to improve the skills and qualifications of the workforce, various learning policies have stressed the importance of reaching out the workers with low pay and low formal qualification. In Sweden, for instance, a national ‘Competence and knowledge’ campaigns (Kunskapslyft) stressed the dual purpose of adult learning: (1) the global competitiveness aspect in creating a knowledge-based society; (2) the aspects of social inclusion and democratisation.
In the Danish context, the economic competitiveness has been brought to the forefront, and guidance plays a pivotal role here. In a governmental white paper on the challenges of Globalisation, a whole chapter dealt with guidance, and of 333 concrete proposals, 30 were specifically on guidance, many of which focused on lifelong, and, in particular, adult guidance (see Fremgang, fornyelse og tryghed. Strategi for Danmark i den globale økonomi. København: Regeringen, 2006. 165 pages. Online: Fremgang, fornyelse og tryghed). In this policy-forming process, the Workplace Guidance project was presented by the Danish WG project member to the Danish Ministry of Education, both formally and informally, and explained in some detail to an inter-ministerial policy-making group, which took a special interest in the low-cost aspects of outreach workplace-based guidance, and of the potential synergy between formal and non-formal (peer-based: learning advisors/educational ambassadors). The ensuing political discussions lead, among other things, to a Parliamentary decision on a temporary Adult Guidance Reform, which alotted EUR 17 Mill over two years (2008-2009) to develop workplace guidance (in 22 regional networks), and a further decision to follow this by research into the effects of different approaches (see http://www.uvm.dk/Uddannelse/Vejledning/Vejledningsordninger/Voksenvejledning.aspx). A new National Council on Adult Guidance was also established. On this basis, after a tender, a National Centre for Competence Development was established, with the brief to produce research results to underpin further policy developments in the adult guidance and adult learning field (see www.ncfk.dk). This approach was to be an example of truly evidence-based policy making. Ironically, this plan was overtaken by other policy decisions, whereby the mentioned 22 adult guidance networks were replaced by 13 new, regional adult learning centers (VEU-Centre, 2009), even before the evaluation of the trial period had come to an end.
Success factors (What key success factors have led to or prevented success?)
- Lessons learnt
- Unintended impacts (Have there been any unintended impacts? Positive or negative?)
•Lessons learnt
In both countries (IS & DK) the WG project was in line with current national policy-making, as described above. This gave momentum to the policy impact. Moreover, as an example of cross-national impact of an EU-project, WG had the good fortune to have project members who were themselves centrally placed in guidance policy-making.
•Unexpected outcomes
The Workplace Guidance project was awarded the EU 2006 Helsinki Award as an innovative Leonardo da Vinci project (see http://www.minedu.fi/vet2006/Helsinki_Award.html ), and it was subsequently chosen as one of the outstanding LdV projects with policy transfer potential at the conference in Ljubljana, May 2007 on The voice of Users in Guidance (see http://www.lmvet.net/page/tg1_usersvoice ).
Strengths and weaknesses
- What areas of the policy can we learn lessons from?
- Are there still challenges ahead?
4. Additional narrative description of the policy/practice/initiative
Project No
2003/ISL/03/B/F/PP-164 001
Project title
Vocational guidance for low-paid workers (Workplace Guidance)
Project promoter
Starfsafl Educational Fund
Contact details
Name Starfsafl Educational Fund
Address Sætún 1
105 Reykjavík
E-mail starfsafl@starfsafl.is
Partnership
The partnership included partners from 10 European countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
Website
http://www.gla.ac.uk/wg
Project duration
Start date: 13.10.2003 / End date: 31.3.2006
Additional information
Name of contact
Peter Plant
Role (in policy initiative)
Expert
Organization name
Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsskole/Forskningsenhed i Vejledning / Guidance Research Unit
Address
Tuborgvej 164 DK-2400 København NV
Phone
+ 45 88 88 94 07
Fax
+ 45 88 88 97 08
pepl@dpu.dk
Website address
http://www.gla.ac.uk/wg/
Documents and publications
Clayton, P (2007). The potential of workplace guidance in the development of lower-paid workers in Europe. In: Lorenz Lassnigg, Helen Burzlaff, Maria A. Davia Rodriguez, Morten Lassen (Eds.), Lifelong Learning: Building Bridges Through Transitional Labour Markets, Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis
Plant, P. & Turner, R. (2005). Getting closer: workplace guidance for lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 24:2, 123-135
Plant, P. (2008). On the shopfloor: guidance in the workplace. In: Athanasou, J. & Esbroeck, R.V. (eds) (2008). International Handbook of Career Guidance. London: Springer
Attached files
Links
http://www.gla.ac.uk/wg/
This information was provided/updated by:
Peter Plant
No comments by users.
ELGPN, good practice, initiative, interesting practice, policy, workplace guidance, vocational education, access, employed, Denmark
Quality Assurance in the Danish Guidance System in the educational sector
Name of the good/interesting practice/initiative/policy
Quality Assurance in the Danish Guidance System in the educational sector
Country
Denmark
I am proposing that this example will be published also in the KSLLL database
No
1. Background
What makes this an example of good/interesting practice/initiative/policy?
- The motivation of the initiative (What is the history/background of the policy?)
- Linkages with LLG policy priorities (Please add references to other national/EU policies or documents)
- Participants
The background of a national quality assurance system dates back to April 2003, when the Danish parliament adopted a new act on guidance, which aimed to establish a more efficient guidance system with an improved quality assurance system. On August 1st 2004, a simpler and more transparent guidance system was launched. The quality assurance system should be seen in this light as one method to facilitate a transparent, accountable guidance system. Quality assurance requirements have been part of the act on guidance since the adoption of the act. Part of the background for this is the 2004-resolution, which identified the need for quality assurance as one area that should be the focus of a prioritised effort. The quality assurance requirements have been extended gradually to include more indicators and areas of guidance.
The Ministry of Education is the main stakeholder of the quality assurance system in the educational sector on a national level, as well as the main organisations for managers and guidance counsellors. The guidance centres and the educational institutions are the main stakeholders on a local level and are required to establish a quality assurance system, which can be used to document activities, quality and effect on clients and society.
Aims and targets
- Objectives of the initiative (What did the policy set out to achieve?)
- Target group
- Methods applied to reach the objective (technological and /or pedagogical)
The aim of the system is to ensure that the contents of guidance services meet high quality standards so that the guidance provided is of greatest possible benefit to the clients. The quality assurance system should contribute to achievement of the aims of the guidance reform and establish a feedback loop, which provides information to decision makers on the scope, results and effects of guidance. This serves as foundation for further development and the collected data will provide an evidence-base for evaluating the guidance centres and for improving their services.
The main target group are the guidance centres and the educational institutions, who are required to establish a quality assurance system, which can be used to document activities, quality and effect on clients and society. It will give the centres and institutions a comprehensive view of their guidance services and serve as a foundation for further development.
The main intention behind the method of quality assurance is to apply common guidelines and methods for quality assurance in order to create a basis for comparability between similar units (i.e. the guidance centres and the educational institutions) and a view over time about performance of guidance. By applying common guidelines a systematic approach and method for the guidance centres and the educational institutions in their developing and measuring quality is introduced.
The Ministry of Education provides the guidance centres with a set of quality assurance tools to support that they reach the act’s main targets through continuous evaluation of their activities. This includes tools to report quality level, results and effects of the activities. Several indicators are included in the quality assurance system. When fully implemented, the quality assurance system will include data on indicators, which are comparable between different guidance and educational institutions and, consequently, allow the main stakeholders to compare institutions on a national as well as a local level.
Among the indicators are user surveys, based on nationally representative samples of pupils and students, responding on the same questionnaire. The user surveys are designed to provide information on user benefit of guidance in order to create the basis for a user-driven development. Based on inputs from guidance counsellors, the user surveys make it possible to compare and evaluate the user benefit of different types of guidance activities. Nationwide indicators based on data available from the administrative systems of the guidance and educational institutions as well as data from Statistics Denmark are also included in order to be able to evaluate the guidance provided, see below.
2. Implementation
Strategy and actions (Please describe the approach adopted to make the reform work and any actions taken.)
- Level of implementation (national, regional etc.)
- Implementation (description)
Development of the national quality assurance system has taken place in cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the interested parties and main stakeholders such as manager and guidance counsellor organisations. Different work groups with representatives from the Ministry as well as the guidance counsellors and managers have been set up in order to draft manuals on how to introduce quality assurance systems.
Generally, the work related to quality assurance is a task for each of the municipal or regional centres. However, annual reports and developments will be discussed at yearly reviews with the municipal councils and the Ministry respectively. The Ministry of Education has implemented the statistical indicators of the quality assurance system. Furthermore, the Ministry provided the technical set-up for the surveys in 2009.
Monitoring and evaluation
- What has been put in place for monitoring and evaluation?
- What actors are involved?
The quality assurance system contains a monitoring clause in order to ensure that the guidance services meet the main objectives of the new act and lead to the expected results. The system is designed to create a comprehensive view on the guidance provided as possible. The evaluation process is to a high extent a task for the practitioners, due to their hands-on knowledge of the actual content of the guidance provided.
3. Outcomes
Achievements (Please describe the main outcomes/results according to the following headings. Each option can be answered - up to 50 words)
- Specific results
- Cost effectiveness
- Budget
- Innovative aspects
The quality assurance system has resulted in an increase of valid data available on guidance. This includes user surveys with more than 45.000 respondents from all level of education. Additionally, the statistical material available on guidance has increased. Through data from Statistics Denmark the ministry produces statistics on completion and transition rates that can be used by the centres and institutions. This has generated a gradual increase in sharing of good experiences/good practice among practitioners. This development is still in process.
Success factors (What key success factors have led to or prevented success?)
- Lessons learnt
- Unintended impacts (Have there been any unintended impacts? Positive or negative?)
Developing a quality assurance system on a complex area such as guidance has been a learning process, which will continue in the years to come. Other factors than guidance influence young people’s pathway through the education system. An unambiguous connection can hardly be established between guidance services and the effect measured, such as, for instance, quick completion of an education. Moreover, the purpose of guidance is to make the young people self-reliant, which make the direct effect of guidance difficult to measure. On the other hand, it is possible to determine probable connections and establish indicators on guidance’s input to the total effect.
Strengths and weaknesses
- What areas of the policy can we learn lessons from?
- Are there still challenges ahead?
A new political agreement aims at increasing the use of results-based management in the guidance centers. This is to be supported by a new database, which includes data from all relevant sources.
4. Additional narrative description of the policy/practice/initiative
Additional information
Name of contact
Jeppe Christiansen
Role (in policy initiative)
Organization name
Ministry of Education
Address
Vester Voldgade 123, 1552 Koebenhavn V, Denmark
Phone
(+45) 3392 5017
Fax
jeppe.christiansen@uvm.dk
Website address
No links specified.
Documents and publications
Attached files
Links
No links specified.
This information was provided/updated by:
Jeppe Christiansen
No comments by users.
ELGPN, good practice, initiative, interesting practice, policy, quality, evidence-based policy, Denmark