Editorial Comment:

Focus

The recorded outcome of a careers guidance interview is increasingly the production of a negotiated action plan. ‘Requirements and Guidance for Providers’ obliges Careers Services to ensure all young people are in possession of an action plan at key stages of transition. It is clearly desirable if clients feel part of the process and have a sense of ownership.

The risk of Careers Advisers spending valuable interview time struggling with IT is a concern. Most can and will respond effectively but when it comes to keyboard skills and computer literacy, we are all not equal. There are then, compelling reasons for at least considering the idea of the pupils themselves producing an initial careers action plan on disk prior to the interview which can be continually updated in the light of guidance received and subsequent events.

This article describes a pilot in Cornwall aimed at doing just that. Torpoint School, situated in the southeast corner of Cornwall, has integrated the action planning and Records of Achievement processes by encouraging pupils to produce their own Action Plans and personal statements for Records of Achievements through the use of IT.

Findings

The experience at Torpoint seems so far to have benefits all round. Although for various reasons it was not possible to provide each and every pupil with their own disk, they have all managed to produce a word-processed Action Plan, which can provide the starting point for a Careers Guidance Interview. Even where the quality is not high, the Careers Officer knows what stage of thinking the pupil is at. Evidence of movement in thinking can be seen by comparing the ‘before’ and ‘after’ versions. Having to prepare their own Action Plan has encouraged pupils to research and think through their ideas more thoroughly. They seem to have a greater sense of responsibility for the decisions they need to make.

There has also been a greater involvement amongst Tutors in the career decision-making process. Treating the Careers Guidance Action Plan the same as the National Record of Achievement has eliminated false divisions and enabled support to be given to both processes during tutorials, which has meant a more economical use of time.

For the Careers Officer, this approach has shown that pupils are better motivated and more aware of the purpose of the interview. Also, time in the interview is more effective as pupils are better prepared and guidance is able to focus on more specific issues and possibly in greater depth. The Careers Officer can facilitate changes to the Action Plan such as encouraging pupils to build in a contingency plan, or explore alternative ‘A’ level subjects, or home in on the steps necessary to achieve aims. After only one year’s experience, the initiative at Torpoint has made considerable progress towards the realisation of the initial aims. The most positive achievement has been to give ownership of the Careers Guidance Action Plan to the pupils themselves and they are making a surprisingly good job of it.