Fostering Inclusion: Enhancing Career Guidance for Students from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds
Main Info
TCA Description
Organized within the framework of the LTA “Enhancing Inclusion through Guidance” this TCA is the third event in a series which aims to explore the role of career guidance and counselling (CGC) as an inclusion mechanism. The TCA will focus specifically on career guidance needs and practices for working with students from diverse cultural backgrounds, mostly marginalized ones. The goal is to explore how CGC services influence the inclusion process and results for marginalized students from diverse cultural backgrounds, and how the services can be structured, delivered and enriched to increase the likelihood of favorable outcomes.
Throughout the event, we will strive to learn about how CGC services are currently provided to these students, through examining practical examples with career guidance practitioners working with students from migrant or refugee background, and students from the Roma ethnic group.
The core of the program will be dedicated to practical exploration through experiential workshops of selected best practices and tools on the topic, including digital ones. Complementary to the workshops, the program will include more learning opportunities through additional activities in the program. Opening the event with a keynote lecture on what developmental psychology can teach us about the effect of stigma on the wellbeing of marginalized students and what research suggests as pathways to overcoming the inhibiting effects. Examining the work of an organization that offers CGC services in its portfolio through a field visit and conversation with the team, the participants will gain further insight into the practices and challenges on the ground. Lastly, we will wrap up the program with a facilitated session on ideas of improving our practices and options that joint projects can have to that goal.
Participants acquire knowledge about specific practical tools, including digital ones, for providing career guidance services to students from Roma, migrant or refugee background.
Participants gain information on practices of providing CGS to students from Roma, migrant or refugee background across different sectors (SE, VET, AE), and make connections with career guidance practitioners from the sectors.
Participants have a functional understanding of basic developmental psychology frameworks relevant for recognizing the needs, challenges and strengths of students from diverse cultural backgrounds, especially those facing stigmatizing treatment.
Participants have information and guidelines for the first steps to explore project ideas with colleagues working marginalized students from diverse cultural backgrounds across Europe.
As the event is particularly focused on students with migrant, refugee and / or migrant background, it aims to provide a platform for learning, exchange and networking among practitioners experienced in providing CGC services, yet new to working with these often marginalized and often stigmatized groups of students. Hence, the program will not provide basics of CGC services in general but will tackle the potential of these services to facilitate inclusion of the said student groups, in different contexts and guidance systems of European countries.
In terms of organizational and logistical arrangements, below are a few notes to keep in mind when applying:
The program starts at 3.30 PM on 5th of November and ends by 3.30 PM on 7th November.
The organizing NA will cover the costs of accommodation in a hotel in Belgrade for 2 nights (5-6th November and 6-7th November). If the need for any additional nights occurs, kindly refer to your sending NA.
The organizing NA will also cover the costs of 2 dinners (on the 5th and 6th November), field visit and cultural tour (6th November).
Partners and participants
This TCA is for teachers, educators, school counsellors, career advisors and other practitioners providing career guidance and counselling services to pupils and students aged 12-26 years within formal education setting. The event will gather career practitioners from three different sectors from various European countries.
If you are a practicing professional providing CGC services, experienced with working with students in the educational sector, but have not worked with students from diverse cultural backgrounds, this event may be a good fit for you. If you are motivated to learn more and find yourself needing tailored resources and knowledge about working with students from migrant, refugee or Roma background, we hope this event will provide some tools and inspiration.
Pending booked places
Accepted places
TCA Participant Application
Long-term Activity Info
This LTA will be dedicated to the development of career guidance and counselling (CGC) activities and tools for practitioners working in educational institutions and organisations. The main goal is to emphasize the role of career guidance as an inclusion mechanism, as well as to promote digital resources available to career guidance practitioners.
Considering that career guidance is recognized as a powerful tool for supporting students from vulnerable groups in developing the skills needed in the labour market, as well as a mechanism to prevent early school leaving, career guidance has a valuable impact on enhancing the inclusion of students from those groups. Through training, workshops and similar activities, LTA will aim to equip practitioners with the knowledge and skills to provide guidance that is context-sensitive, needs-oriented and addresses different challenges. By emphasizing the value of diverse role models, tailored support, and culturally responsive practices, the long-term project will seek to foster an inclusive approach that provides all individuals with equal access to information and meaningful career opportunities.
Furthermore, using digital resources as tools in career guidance can make the provision of guidance services more effective, efficient, and equitable. An inclusive digital environment considers different needs and abilities and enables more students to access the CGC services and use digital technology regardless of background or circumstances.
According to the data from the SALTO platform, since 2018, 10 single TCA events on the topic of career counseling have been organized or planned (between 1 and 3 per year), with many sending partners at each of those events. More than a third were focused on inclusion. This reflects the existence of common needs and the continued interest of National Agencies in the topic. To gather these National Agencies around a common LTA would enable a strategic approach to the organization of TCAs on the topic of CGC, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experiences among the event organizers. Such cooperation would provide a TCA offer that is coordinated regarding activities’ goals, topics, target groups, as well as a balanced event calendar.
The exchange of knowledge within the LTA would enable TCAs to be better tailored to meet the real needs of practitioners, with an additional benefit of monitoring and measuring the achievement of common goals.
Some of the National Agencies are as well homes to national Euroguidance centers, which are a significant resource of knowledge in the CGC field. It is an exceptional opportunity to build bridges between different E+ networks, E+ tools and parts of the program, from which all parties will benefit.
.
LTA will provide involved NAs with a framework that will enable the continuous and coordinated organisation of TCAs on the topic of CGC in the next 3 years.
As a first step, partner NAs would map out the needs of CGC practitioners in their countries, which would inform and shape the activities organised within the LTA.
Later on, a transnational TCA should be organised at least once a year (hosted in Serbia in 2024 and possibly in different partner countries in the following years). The annual event should support CGC practitioners in better understanding the different ways of developing CGC services for students from vulnerable groups through the exchange of good practices and promotion of useful digital tools.
LTA will also offer flexibility and encourage partner NAs to plan and organise different formats of national and transnational activities related to the main theme and goals, regarding their national contexts, needs and capacities. In this way, LTA will offer a series of TCA activities that will enable training and networking for career practitioners.
TCA activities within this LTA can include:
- Seminars and workshops, to develop competences of participants,
- Study visits, to enhance the exchange of good practices,
- Tool fairs, to promote the digital tools and other resources which could be implemented in different educational contexts,
- Etc.
Additionally, a common strategy for monitoring and measuring the impact of activities organised within the LTA would be established.
- Promoting social inclusion and equality in career guidance throughout the education system.
- Improving competences of CGC practitioners to provide inclusive services in the education sector.
- Increasing number of projects concerning CGC, with inclusion as a priority in the Erasmus+ programme.
- NAs involved in the LTA gaining better understanding of the needs of CGC practitioners at the national and European level