Page 306 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 306
ear ly school leaving: contempor ary european perspectives
career development. The ways in which this prevailing idea is questioned
(by considering that individual low educational/career aspirations and the
lack of schooling’s relevance are also affected by family socio-economic
background, the quality of educational provision and the general social and
economic situation in a country) is not a focus of this article.
Methodology
To address the article’s aims, the following methods are employed: (a) an
analysis of relevant literature and secondary sources. Within this frame-
work, we conducted a literature search of the scientific EBSCOhost and
Web of Science online research databases. The main key words for search-
ing the relevant scientific literature were: early school leaving, career guid-
ance, career management skills, relevance of schooling, educational aspira-
tions, career aspirations; and (b) an analysis of formal documents and legal
sources at the EU and national levels (EU official documents in the field of
educational policy, non-official documents, press releases), an analysis of
the national policy documents (e.g. legislation, strategies, reports) in EU
member states.
What is career guidance? Career guidance and career
management skills
Several theoretical approaches adopt different perspectives (e.g. trait and
factor theory, opportunity structure theory, developmental theory, social
learning theory, constructivist theory, community interactions theory, ca-
reer learning theory) to explain how the individual’s career decisions are
actually made in practice (for a review, see Lovšin, 2016). Influenced in par-
ticular by the developmental theory, the social learning theory and the trait
and factor theory, and to some extent also the opportunity structure the-
ory, in the 1970s Law (1999) developed a comprehensive counselling mod-
el called D-O-T-S:
‐ D – Decision learning – learning about types of decision-making
and the factors that must be considered;
‐ O – Opportunity awareness – discovering opportunities for ed-
ucation, training, employment, learning about careers and the
world of work in general;
306
career development. The ways in which this prevailing idea is questioned
(by considering that individual low educational/career aspirations and the
lack of schooling’s relevance are also affected by family socio-economic
background, the quality of educational provision and the general social and
economic situation in a country) is not a focus of this article.
Methodology
To address the article’s aims, the following methods are employed: (a) an
analysis of relevant literature and secondary sources. Within this frame-
work, we conducted a literature search of the scientific EBSCOhost and
Web of Science online research databases. The main key words for search-
ing the relevant scientific literature were: early school leaving, career guid-
ance, career management skills, relevance of schooling, educational aspira-
tions, career aspirations; and (b) an analysis of formal documents and legal
sources at the EU and national levels (EU official documents in the field of
educational policy, non-official documents, press releases), an analysis of
the national policy documents (e.g. legislation, strategies, reports) in EU
member states.
What is career guidance? Career guidance and career
management skills
Several theoretical approaches adopt different perspectives (e.g. trait and
factor theory, opportunity structure theory, developmental theory, social
learning theory, constructivist theory, community interactions theory, ca-
reer learning theory) to explain how the individual’s career decisions are
actually made in practice (for a review, see Lovšin, 2016). Influenced in par-
ticular by the developmental theory, the social learning theory and the trait
and factor theory, and to some extent also the opportunity structure the-
ory, in the 1970s Law (1999) developed a comprehensive counselling mod-
el called D-O-T-S:
‐ D – Decision learning – learning about types of decision-making
and the factors that must be considered;
‐ O – Opportunity awareness – discovering opportunities for ed-
ucation, training, employment, learning about careers and the
world of work in general;
306
