European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network Database, ELGPN Database

Name of the good/interesting practice/initiative/policy

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

Country

Germany

I am proposing that this example will be published also in the KSLLL database

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

According to the federal structure in Germany responsibilities for career guidance and counselling are split up between federal, regional and local authorities and the PES Federal Employment Agency (BA). There is also a large variety of training providers, non-profit organisations, private and semi-private institutions as well as private career counsellors, who offer guidance services. Since the abolishment of the state monopoly for career guidance and counselling (“Berufsberatung”) in 1998 which since 1927 was assigned to the PES the field of career guidance services became increasingly heterogeneous and intransparent. With the exception of the regulations for career guidance of the PES there are no common legal requirements for service provision, qualification of staff or quality standards in the guidance sector. This is why more and more professionals as well as representatives of users claim compulsory quality standards.
Beside the PES which still is the largest and most important provider for career guidance in Germany the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has launched initiatives and funding programmes under the “Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013” to improve guidance services (e.g. the “Local Learning”-Programme and the conception for a telephone service and an educational guidance portal,). Many regional governments (Länder) have also set up programmes for educational guidance. All these publicly funded initiatives could be supported by agreed quality standards for guidance services.
Further, European and international developments towards quality in career guidance, especially the EU Council Resolutions and the work in the ELGPN, influenced the growing discussions for a coherent strategy for quality development in Germany. The open method of coordination has been used in the European Union as a soft-law mechanism for policy development where no official regulations are in place. It has been used to manage bottom-up processes and therefore proved suitability for the process of quality development in Germany. 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. With funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FMER) and in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg the nfb initiated and coordinates tan open process of coordination for the development of quality framework and instruments from October 2009 to January 2012.

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)

Aims: The overall 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
o a common understanding of career guidance,
o a catalogue of indispensable quality criteria for career guidance delivery as base for developing standards,
o a competence profile for career guidance practitioners,
o a Quality Development Framework to support service providers in their quality management systems including a set of tools and guidelines for implementation and a pilot testing in 19 services,
o recommendations for a sustainable, long term implementation strategy for quality development and establishing standards.

Target groups: guidance professionals, service providers; policy makers, funding bodies and users

Methods: “Open process of coordination”:
o Two parallel task groups (ca. 15 members each representing experts from the various guidance sectors) worked on the items outlined above (“aims and targets”) with scientific support by researchers from Heidelberg University.
o An intermediate peer learning meeting in October 2010 with practitioners from various guidance sectors evaluated the process and the first results of both Working Groups before they continued working
o A high level Advisory Board representing policy makers and stakeholders on federal and regional level accompanied the project, evaluated results and gave advice for implementation in the various guidance sectors.
o The German National Guidance Forum as project coordinator disseminates information and results via website, newsletter, press releases, presentations at conferences etc.

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)

The project developed quality criteria, a competence profile, and a Quality Development Framework in career guidance. A first piloting phase evaluated the usability, feasibility and acceptability of these commonly agreed criteria and of the Quality Development Framework. The experts in the working groups and the stakeholders in the Advisory Board also formulated recommendations for implementation. But the implementation itself – either the adoption or the adaptation to already existing standards and quality assurance systems is not a task of the project. This is up to the responsibility of the multiple actors and providers in the guidance field, i.e. policy makers in the federal, the regional and local governments, as well as the large number of service providers and funding institutions. In order to support the implementation and to further develop and validate the criteria, competence framework and the quality development framework through further testing and policy debates on standardization a second project has been initiated. This project “Quality in Guidance - Implementation strategies and scientific foundation” (02/2012 – 07/2014) will also look at the effects quality measures have to strengthen the evidence base.

Monitoring and evaluation

- What has been put in place for monitoring and evaluation?

- What actors are involved?

An evaluation of the outcomes has been part of the project and has accompanied the development process: The catalogue of quality criteria and the Quality Development Framework have been piloted in 19 guidance institutions. This piloting phase was supported and evaluated by the University of Heidelberg. A further evaluation looks at the open process of coordination as such and its impact on subsequent implementation. This evaluation - realized by the University of Heidelberg – showed evidence that the developed quality criteria and the instruments are valued tools for quality development processes.

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 results of the project are presented to the public in January 2012 in a nationwide conference. and additionally in a number of publications. Preliminary results and the work in progress are described in a brochure (Qualitätsmerkmale guter Beratung – erste Ergebnisse aus dem offenen Koordinierungsprozess zur Qualitätsentwicklung”), a newsletter and the website have accompanied the process and provided transparency for the public. In January 2012 all the results will be dissiminated in a folder including short and long versions of the quality tools as well as in upcoming scientific publications and the website.

Specific results:
o a common understanding of career guidance and a definition of the field of guidance in education, career and employment
o a catalogue of quality criteria for career guidance delivery,
o a competence profile for career guidance practitioners,
o a Quality Development Framework to support service providers in their quality management systems including a set of tools and guidelines for implementation,
o recommendations for a sustainable, long term implementation strategy for quality standards and the Quality Development Framework.

Cost effectiveness: It is expected that the increase in service quality will require more investment in the service delivery (staff training etc.). On the other hand increased quality in service delivery will avoid the individual and societal costs of wrong career decisions, low skilled labour, mismatch in the labour market, unemployment benefits etc.
• The project has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for 29 month (01.10. 2009 –31.01.2012) with a grant.

Innovative aspects:
o For the first time a catalogue of commonly agreed quality criteria for career guidance and counselling is available in Germany
o The catalogue of 19 common quality criteria is applicable for all kinds of career development interventions and in all sub-fields (though certain adaptations may be necessary). The criteria are operationalized through indicators refering to the 3 actors responsible for the quality of CG: Practitioners, Organisations/providers, Policy makers and are assembled on 5 levels following a theoretic systemic context model
o The competence profile and the quality criteria are based on scientific research and follow the systemic context model of career guidance (developed at the University of Heidelberg).
o The competence profile defines the competences of guidance practitioners and thereby helps to strengthen the profession.
o The quality development framework supports the implementation of the quality criteria
as part of a coherent quality strategy for CG providers: it is applicable in all kinds of CG providers, adaptable to other already existing QM strategies and includes a compendium of materials with tools and guidelines for implementation.
o The open process of coordination initiated by an NGO (nfb) and funded by the Federal Government is in itself an innovative initiative combining strategic (policy) development and civil society needs. It was able to create a movement for quality in the field and initiated a respective ongoing professional debate.

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?)

- A large number of actors and stakeholders from different and relevant guidance sectors whose expertise is accepted by the field of guidance in education, career and employment participated. .
- Strong commitment and motivation and engagement for the common aim of enhancing quality and professionalism of guidance in Germany which led to a kind of movement towards quality and professionalism among experts but also among providers and practitioners.
- A longer preparatory process in which key actors and stakeholders have been involved and which gave all players an opportunity to shape the process. This also ensured legitimization of the project partners and the process itself.
- Constant consultation and communication with different actors and stakeholders created a culture of openness to deal with resentments and fears.
- Scientific foundation of process and results and evaluation of the outcomes fosters legitimization and validation.

Unintended impacts:
- More networking and closer ties in the career guidance community which led to a movement for strengthening quality and professionalism in the field and to an ongoing dialogue about quality and professionalism in career guidance.

Strengths and weaknesses

- What areas of the policy can we learn lessons from?

- Are there still challenges ahead?

Strengths refer to the strong need expressed by professionals and users as well as by government officials to establish commonly agreed quality criteria in career guidance. By now some providers and practitioners associations have set up their own standards and their own accreditation system with the consequence of some confusion and missing transparency on the various certificates and accreditations that exist.
(see success factors above)

Weaknesses: The project is not be able to alter the diverse responsibilities for career guidance and counselling in Germany or legislation in this field. Thus a joint procedure to establish commonly agreed standards will rely on the voluntary self commitment of service providers or funding authorities, as well as stakeholders.
The quality criteria are only descriptive and do not include any standardizations which would have certain reliability. This will need further development through continuous consensus-oriented negotiation. The Quality Development Framework and particularly the competence profile are prototypical and need further piloting, validation and development.

4. Additional narrative description of the policy/practice/initiative

The project 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 EU Council Resolutions on Lifelong Guidance (2004 and 2008) and the work of the European Commission’s Expert Group Lifelong Guidance as well as the foundation of and successful cooperation in the ELGPN. The previous OECD/World Bank/EU-Studies on Career Guidance and Public Policy (2001 – 2004) contributed much to the increasing awareness of the important role career guidance systems and services have to play in achieving major policy goals in education, employment, and labour market as well as in social inclusion.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research started already in 2000 with the programme “Learning Regions” (2001 – 2007) funding regional networks for learning and work including also 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 exert group (www.bmbf.bund.de) recommended a follow-up programme to the “Learning Regions” (“Local Learning”), the development of a telephone service and a guidance online portal to enhance transparency and better access to guidance, a funding programme with grants (“Bildungspraemie”) for further training of employed persons, and improvements in the quality of educational guidance services.
According to their responsibilities in educational and labour market policies several of the German Federal States (Laender) 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 skill up their staff, further training for employed persons or for persons with no entitlement to unemployment benefits – always including some guidance activities for the beneficiaries).
The issue of quality standards for guidance delivery 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.
Project Course:
After an initial phase in which the experts for the working groups and the stakeholders for the advisory board were found the groups started discussing the scientifically based drafts presented by the University of Heidelberg. Before the development of the criteria, the competence profile and the Quality Development Framework the experts agreed on a common definition of career guidance and of quality in career guidance. They also defined the field (guidance in education, career and employment) to which the results would apply. On the basis of this the criteria, competence profile and the Quality Development Framework could be developed. The results from the piloting and from the consultations with the wider career guidance community were used for the further debates in the working groups. And, the results were reflected in the Advisory Council. At last recommendations for implementations were discussed and agreed upon in the working groups and within a final common workshop with the piloting institutions.
Results:
The quality criteria provide a framework for orientation for what is good career guidance . In this they are supported by the competence profile and the QDF.
All the 19 quality criteria are operationalised through indicators referring to the 3 actors responsible for guidance in education, career and employment: practitioners, organizations and policy makers. The criteria are organized on 5 levels following the systemic context model. Overarching are the basic criteria which are basic for career guidance as a professional and communicative service. The quality criteria from a process perspective refer to those aspects which are evidently elements for the design of career guidance as an interactive process. The quality criteria from a consellor perspective describe the necessity for competences and continuous professional development. And quality criteria from the organizational perspective name the needs for a professional environment. The quality criteria from the societal context describe the relevant societal aims and focus on what needs to be reflected in the career guidance process to contribute to these aims.
The competence profile for guidance practitioners aims to strengthen professionalism in the field via the consensus on the necessary competences of guidance practitioners. It is set up parallel to the quality criteria with 20 competences which are in itself clearly defined. There are again basic competences, competences for the counseling process, competences and knowledge concerning the client, competences for professional self-reflection of the guidance practitioner, competences to act within the organization and competences and knowledge on the societal context.
The Quality Development Framework (QDF) supports the implementation of the quality criteria and the competences and increases transparency for a coherent quality strategy of a career guidance provider. It connects the criteria to quality management and evaluation and thus supports sustainable quality development. It is flexible as it may be applied in different career guidance institutions and can be adapted to existing quality management systems. Generally, the QDF follows a basic action circle with commitment to this quality process, an analysis of the status against the quality criteria, planning and implementation of measures and a further analysis of the outcomes.
With these results the open process of coordination has been successful in developing quality criteria, a competence profile and a QDF for career guidance in such a heterogeneous context as it is found in Germany. However, to date the criteria, competence profile and the QDF remain to be prototypical and need further development, implementation and validation. The criteria must become standards which will need another negotiation process. At the same time the criteria and competences and the QDF need to be continuously implemented in order to reach a dynamic, flexible, transparent and non-bureaucratic quality model.

Additional information

Name of contact

Karen Schober; Dr. Bernhard Jenschke

Role (in policy initiative)

President and Vice President of German National Guidance Forum in Education, Career and Employment ( nfb)

Organization name

National Guidance Forum in Education, Career and Employment (Nationales Forum Beratung in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung e.V., nfb)

Address

Nationales Forum Beratung in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung e.V., Kurfürstenstr. 131, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Phone

+493025793741

Fax

+4930263980999

E-mail

bernhard@jenschke.de; info@forum-beratung.de

Website address

http://www.forum-beratung.de; http://www.beratungsqualitaet.net

Documents and publications

- Nationales Forum Beratung; Forschungsgruppe Beratungsqualität am Institut für Bildungswissenschaft der Universität Heidelberg (2011). Qualitätsmerkmale guter Beratung – erste Ergebnisse aus dem Offenen Koordinierungsprozess zur Qualitätsentwicklung“. Bielefeld, Berlin, wbv.
- Nationales Forum Beratung; Forschungsgruppe Beratungsqualität am Institut für Bildungswissenschaft der Universität Heidelberg (2012). Ergebnisse des Offenen Koordinierungsprozesses zur Qualitätsentwicklung 2009–2011. Bielefeld, Berlin, wbv.
- Nationales Forum Beratung; Forschungsgruppe Beratungsqualität am Institut für Bildungswissenschaft der Universität Heidelberg (2012). Kompetenzprofil für Beratende. Ergebnis des Offenen Koordinierungsprozesses zur Qualitätsentwicklung 2009–2011. Bielefeld, Berlin, wbv.

Attached files

Links

http://www.beratungsqualitaet.net

This information was provided/updated by:

Karen Schober; Dr. Bernhard Jenschke

No comments by users.

good practice, initiative, interesting practice, policy, benchmark, best practice, career guidance services, career counselling, career guidance, co-operation, co-ordination, collaboration, competences, consultation, context, development, effectiveness, ELGPN, evaluation, criteria, evaluation data, guideline, evaluation method, Germany, practitioner, provision, lifelong guidance, national standard development, open method of coordination, profession, professional field, professional service, professionality, quality, quality assurance, quality assurance system, quality evaluation, vocational guidance

Name of the good/interesting practice/initiative/policy

The German National Guidance Forum – a bottom-up approach

Country

Germany

I am proposing that this example will be published also in the KSLLL database

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 German National Forum Guidance in Education, Career and Employment nfb was created following the OECD country review and the 2004 EU Resolution on Lifelong Guidance. The initiative for the Forum was set up alongside a national conference on the “Future of Guidance for Education, Career and Employment – Shaping and Networking” organised in 2004 by the Ministries for Education and Research, Economy and Labour, the Federal Employment Agency and the National Federal Training Institute (BiBB) as well as the German Leonardo da Vinci Office . A steering committee for the continuous development of the Forum managed to secure the support of most of the stakeholders and actors in the guidance field including the ideal support of ministerial authorities. Meanwhile two EU projects within the Joint Action programme (2004 – 2006) were set up by the European Commission to support the establishment of national guidance coordination and cooperation mechanisms. In this context through the exchange with other countries and partners the drafting and final agreement of a Mission Statement was crucial for the common understanding and approach of the German Guidance Forum. After this intensive bottom-up process involving all actors and stakeholders the National Guidance Forum was officially founded as a legal identity in 2006 by 21 members, amongst them, professional associations and guidance experts, the Federal Training Institute and organisations for further education, agencies and unions, research institutes and the Ministry of Labour as a supportive member.

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 general aim of the National Guidance Forum is to promote the professionalism and quality delivery of guidance in education, initial and further vocational training and in the employment sector in Germany. It aims to stimulate the (further) development of a coherent guidance system which meets the different needs of the users and to draft guidelines for quality and quality assurance which are accepted and recognized by all actors and stakeholders. The work of the Forum is guided by the definition of guidance of the European Union and takes account of internationally accepted ethical standards and competences for practitioners while respecting the specific profiles of services and institutions in the different sectors. Further, the Forum intends to signal the importance of guidance for the development of individual skills and competences as well as for the competitiveness of the economy and promotes the equality within society. Through its activities the Forum aims to support policy development on national and regional level according their respective responsibilities. Thereby, the Forum stands for the preservation of plurality and competition within the guidance scene. To guarantee transparency of and easy access to guidance services the Forum considers that better networking and coordination among actors in the different areas of guidance is indispensable.

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)

The National Guidance Forum offers a platform to exchange knowledge and experience for all actors and stakeholders, practitioners, policy makers and researchers in the field through workshops and conferences, its website and through participation in projects and events. It takes action in networking, cooperation and coordination between the different actors in the fields of guidance and education. Though expert’s reports and statements as well as proposals the National Guidance Forum takes part in policy development, for instance 2009 through a Discussion Policy Paper on necessary reforms in the guidance sector. In addition, international cooperation and networking is used to exchange knowledge and experiences for the development of educational and career guidance in Germany. The Forum was appointed by the Federal Ministry of Education to be part of the German delegation in the ELGPN. Hence, it cooperates and supports the Ministry for Education in guidance matters and in the ELGPN. The National Guidance Forum implements projects to develop quality and professionalism in guidance and identifies needs for research and evaluation. With the funding of the Ministry of Education the Forum started a joint project with the Institute for Education and Research of the University of Heidelberg to develop quality standards and a quality development framework for guidance institutions.

Monitoring and evaluation

- What has been put in place for monitoring and evaluation?

- What actors are involved?

Being an incorporated legal association according to German Civil Law the National Guidance Forum has standing rules of procedures which make sure that decisions are made democratically and that all members accept the goals of the Forum. Through this structure it keeps its impartiality and independence of interests. The Forum is constituted by 3 bodies. The member’s general assembly elects the Board of Directors. A Board of Trustees (Kuratorium), which is assigned by the Board of Directors, monitors and accompanies the work of the Forum professionally, particularly in relation to policy development. The members of the Board of Trustees provide the link to the policy makers and give advice the Forum how best to realize its aims. Members of the Board of Trustees are representatives of the Federal Education and Labour Ministries, the Federal Employment Agency, a Member of Parliament, representatives of the social partners and the Federal States and the Permanent Conference of Education Ministers of the Lander. The General Assembly meets at least once a year and evaluate the progress and success of the Forum in relation to its aims and purposes.
The Board provides an annual report to the Member's General Assembly on the activities which can be discussed and monitored by all members. Throughout the year there are Newsletters to the Members. The use of the public webpage is another instrument to monitor the public interest in the Forum’s activities.

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

Specific results:
- The Forum took part in the Federal Minister’s Innovation Committee and stimulated recommendations concerning guidance policy development and a research study on guidance quality and professionalism.
- The National Forum is a member of the German ELGPN delegation.
- It organised 3 workshops and a European Peer Learning event on guidance quality within the ELGPN. A documentation booklet with statements of all stakeholders was published in 2008.
- A joint project – involving all relevant actors and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education - for the development of common agreed quality standards and counsellor competence profiles has been initiated.
- The website is a permanently updated professional communication platform which contains European and international documents.
- In 2009 the Forum published a White Paper “Corner stones of a sustainable and future-oriented guidance system in Germany” in which it calls for a coherent guidance system and proposes relevant reforms.

Cost effectiveness and Budget:
The members and the board are working voluntarily. The running costs are covered by the member fees, donations and by project based allowances by the Ministry of Education and Research. This kind of financing guarantees the cost effectiveness of the work and sustainability regardless of changing governments. Despite its low budget the National Guidance Forum successfully expanded and was able to set up an office in Berlin in 2009.

Innovative aspects:
The cooperation of many different actors and stakeholders in the field of guidance is quite innovative in Germany where guidance provisions are still fragmented. Thus, the Forum was able to start a number of initiatives for a coherent guidance system and for quality. The bottom-up approach secures involvement of all actors and also consideration of different professional and user interests.

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?)

The successful start of the National Guidance Forum could only be achieved through consistent networking with the key actors in the field. Particularly, the active engagement and personal commitment of nationally and internationally recognised key players in the guidance scene laid the basis for all activities in relation to the Forum. Professional personal leadership is one of the success factors. The support of many participating experts and the stimulation of the EU Guidance Resolution 2004 and the Joint Action Project facilitated the foundation of the Forum. Through the European communications and networking on the importance of Career Guidance, the engagement of policy makers and key players in guidance policy development has been increased. The structural link to policy makers within the Board of Trustees is also crucial.

Strengths and weaknesses

- What areas of the policy can we learn lessons from?

- Are there still challenges ahead?

After having consolidated itself in its first 3 years, the National Guidance Forum now aims to continue and intensify its work towards more quality in guidance in Germany. In the next two years the Forum will coordinate a joint project with the University of Heidelberg on quality development in Guidance. Together with many partners from policy and practice it will agree quality guidelines following the European developments. The project will also set up a Quality Development Frame for guidance institutions with tools supporting its implementation. The development of sustainable structures for quality assurance and evidence-based policy in Germany will be a great challenge. The Forum will continue to contribute to lifelong guidance policy development, and to initiate relevant research, especially on the impacts of guidance for Lifelong Learning, the economy and the society. Weaknesses are the restricted resources which limits activities.

4. Additional narrative description of the policy/practice/initiative

The German National Forum Guidance in Education, Career and Employment (nfb) is an independent network in which all institutions and organisations, relevant research and training institutions for guidance practitioners, governmental authorities and non-governmental agencies dealing with, offering or financing guidance and counselling as well as organisations of guidance users and consumers can collaborate.
The Forum deals with guidance provided for individuals in education, vocational training and employment sectors. Psychotherapeutic and business consultancy of companies or organisations do not belong to the area of activity of the National Forum. The Forum understands itself as a platform of all stakeholders and actors in the field of career guidance providing an opportunity for exchange of knowledge and experience across all institutional sectors, for the discussion of common concerns and projects, and for the achievement of common aims. The interesting difference in comparison to other co-operation mechanisms is the bottom-up approach of the German guidance community. Instead of a top-down model which is launched and lead by governmental activities as in other European countries, the Forum is a combination of professional expertise and independence and co-operation with governmental authorities through the Board of Trustees (Kuratorium).
Founded in 2006 the Forum currently has 51 members (25 organisations, 25 individual experts and one sustaining member, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) who support the mission and the aims.
The general aim of the National Forum is to promote the professional delivery of guidance in education, vocational training and employment sectors in Germany, to stimulate the (further) development of guidance services which meet the different needs of the users, to draft guidelines for quality and quality assurance, and to motivate all partners to accept and recognise them. Based on the EU Council Resolution 2004 on guidance and with reference to the results of the various studies of the OECD, EU and the World Bank (2001-2004) the Forum intends to contribute with its activities to the professional development of the guidance field in Germany. The work of the National Forum is based on the definition of guidance of the European Union and takes account of internationally accepted ethical standards and competences for practitioners while respecting the specific profiles of services and institutions in the different sectors. It intends to signal the importance of educational and vocational guidance for the development of skills and competences of the individual as well as for the human capital of the society. Modern societies and the global economy depend for their well-being on the mobilisation of the talents and strengths of their members. Guidance assists in discovering and developing these talents and strengths and thus contributes to the improvement of competitiveness, of economic wealth and social integration.
The National Forum promotes all developments and activities integral to good and comprehensive guidance to enhance autonomous initiative, responsibility of the self and the competence of an individual to manage its own education and career; to promote and increase the educational potential of individuals and their abilities to participate in social life and labour market; to maintain and improve the employability of individuals; to support citizens in using their basic legal rights according the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, especially the right of free development of the individual, of free choice of a career and employment, and to stimulate equal opportunities.
Through its activities the Forum intends to support the responsible authorities in the Federation and the Federal States and in other public bodies in achieving these tasks. Thereby, the Forum stands for the preservation of plurality and competition within the guidance scene. However, to guarantee transparency of and easy access to guidance services the Forum considers that better networking and coordination among actors in the different areas of guidance is indispensable. In Germany guidance is in general only offered at points of transition (at the choice of initial training, education and studies, during unemployment and for decisions to further training). But the implementation of a strategy of lifelong learning needs a continuous and coordinated system of guidance services.
In the past the National Guidance Forum has been very active in the field of public relations and communication for the issue of guidance. As part of the Innovation Committee for Further Education by the Ministry of Education and Research the Forum supported the articulation of targets for the extension and improvement of guidance in Germany. Since 2008 the Forum supports and advises the Ministry of Education and Research concerning its cooperation in the ELGPN. On the basis of international developments and as consequence of a series of workshops and events the National Guidance Forum started the “Process of open coordination for quality development and professionalization in educational, vocational and career guidance” in October 2009. In order to carry out the project, the National Guidance Forum cooperates with the Institute for Education and Research (ibw) of the Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg as joint project partners. The joint project is supported by government grants from the Federal Ministry for Education and Research during the time of 27 month (1.09.2009 – 31.11.2011). The joint project aims to develop and implement guidelines for quality and professionalism in guidance in education, career and employment in Germany which, if possible, should be supported by all relevant actors. Furthermore, the project will develop and test tools for lasting quality assurance. For this purpose active cooperation of the many different stakeholders from the distinct areas of guidance is encouraged.
In addition, the Forum will further strive to improve the quality and transparency of guidance in Germany through the encouragement of cross-sectoral cooperation of all actors and stakeholders in the field of educational, vocational and career guidance. It also will contribute to a strategy of Lifelong Learning in which a coherent system of lifelong guidance is an integral component.

Additional information

Name of contact

Dr. Bernhard Jenschke, nfb

Role (in policy initiative)

Vice President of German National Guidance Forum

Organization name

Nationales Forum Beratung in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung e.V.

Address

Nationales Forum Beratung in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung e.V., Kurfürstenstr. 131, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Phone

+49 30 263 980 993

Fax

+49 30 263 980 999

E-mail

bernhard@jenschke.de; info@forum-beratung.de

Website address

http://www.forum-beratung.de

Documents and publications

- Nationales Forum Beratung, „Eckpunkte für ein zeitgemäßes und zukunftsfähiges Beratungsangebot in Deutschland“ (2009) (White Paper on Reforms)
- Nationales Forum Beratung,“Dokumentation Qualitätsentwicklung und Professionalität in der Beratung in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung“ (2009)
- Nationales Forum Beratung, Mission Statement of National Guidance Forum
- Jenschke, Bernhard, “The Development of the National Guidance Forum in Germany” in:Lifelong Guidance for Lifelong Learning, ed.Peter Härtel et.al., Krakow, 2007

Attached files

Links

http://www.forum-beratung.de

This information was provided/updated by:

Dr. Bernhard Jenschke

No comments by users.

ELGPN, good practice, initiative, interesting practice, policy, best practice, career counselling, career guidance, co-operation, co-ordination, collaboration, communication, context of guidance, cross-sectoral, education policy, effectiveness, evaluation, expert, expert body, Germany, provision, system, lifelong guidance, network development, project, quality, vocational guidance, leadership

Subject of the Policy document

Act On Education In Primary And Secondary Schools

Reference data

Adopted/Released by The Croatian Parliament

Year of adoption 2008/2009/2010/2011

Reference number Official Gazette 87/08, 86/09, 92/10, 105/10, 90/11

Available at http:// narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2011_08_90_1927.html

Available in English at http://

1. Additional narrative description of the reference to Lifelong Guidance

Article 57
(1) Educational institutions cooperate in implementation of their core educational activity to achieve optimal enrolment and placement of pupils.
(2) Schools also cooperate by receiving services from a social / health care institution, especially if it concerns work with rehabilitation services and content.
(3) Educational institutions cooperate with employment services and other institutions with the aim of achieving timely information levels and career guidance of pupils.

Attached files

This information was provided/updated by:

Croatian Employment Service (CES), Employment Preparation Department

No comments by users.

policy, enrolment and placement of pupils, access, career guidance, children, co-operation, co-ordination, comprehensive school, compulsory education, Croatia, education and training systems, education policy, guidance for youth, guidance in schools, primary education, secondary education, vocational education and training, youth education, legislation, co-operation and co-ordination, schools, VET