Best Practice„Career Orientation”

The Individual

Career opportunities and future prospects

Successful careers

Autonomous and self-confident young people

Societal, Economical, Political Context

Youth unemployment

Pressures on social cohesion

Shortage of qualified workers against the

backdrop of demographic change

Help to avoid

Need solutions

The Significiance of Career Orientation

Quality of vocational training

Accessibility, permeability and wealth of opportunities of

the educational tracks

career orientation programs with a structurally grounded foundation

Educationally well-developed career orientation programs

Depending on:

A successful transition from school into the work force

Statewide plan in Berlin „Career and Academic Orientation”:

„Career and academic orientation should be regarded as the task of all [school] teachers in all subjects, and collaborations with

partners outside of the schools should be included as an integral component.”

(Resource: http://bildungsserver.berlin-brandenburg.de/berufsorientierung.html)

The Berlin Senate Administration for Education, Youth and Science & the career counseling arm of the Federal Employment Agency

„Berufspraxis Network”

Structural Integration

acting on behalf of authority

Political Context

Berufspraxis Network combines

27 Secondary Schools 16 Berlin Trade Guilds

& the Chamber ofSkilled Crafts

and Small BusinessesTradesneed

qualified workers

Variety of Interests

Young peopleneed

career opportunities

Berlin Senate:„Trades Action Program

of theBerlin Senate”

Main objective:Enabling youths toindependantly find

a career path

Factor 1:Recognizing and

developing talents,interests, skills

and competencies

Factor 2:Weighing one‘s wishes

and goals against Educational and

labor marketopportunities

Factor 3:Practice-oriented

and as early as possible

Purposes andgoals of our work

What they want

Formulating desires and interests

What they can do

Discover, develop and test

their own skills, talents and

competencies

Actually doing it

The decisive step:Comparing desiresand competencies

with job market andeducational opportunities

Premise: Continual assistance and support in the process of

Focussing on three dimensions

Career Orientation is a Process

The Berufspraxis network is „one of a kind in Germany”and its importance „could not be overstated”.

„Practical career orientation in the trades is valuablenot only for those who later wish to pursue an

education in the trades but also for those who, throughthe practical visits to the operation realize that it‘s notfor them, because that helps us avoid drop-outs among

trainees later on.”

The former Berlin Senator for Education, Science and Research,Dr. Jürgen Zöllner:

The particular Educational Approach

7th graders (12 - 13 years old):

The „Job Detectives”

• Learning in a playful way• In small groups discovering the trades in the neighborhood• Learning about various careers in the local companies• Achieving results through initiative and creativity• By collecting „evidence“-objects in the companies they solve a

riddle

The Implementation

* Education centers of the trade guilds are run by the trade guilds and provide workshops where students receive the general portion of their education in trades

8th graders (13 - 14 years old):

„Workshop Days”

• Introductory classroom event• Visiting four different education centers of the trade guilds*• Learning in a hands-on manner on-site in the real-working world• Gathering experiences and knowledge about typical activities,

materials, and tools • Additionally: events for determining key qualifications, application

training

The Implementation

9th graders (14 - 15 years old):

„In-depth learning phase”

• Offering a brief but intensive internship at a training company or education center

• Offering a clear view on the selected career• Requiring an application with a detailed description of one´s

motivation

The Implementation

10th graders (15 - 16 years old):

• Assisting the career counselors at the employment agencies in the schools

• Consulting the career counselors about the youth‘s career prospects and work with them based on that information thereby we benefit from our network of connections within the trades and guilds

• Additionally: application training, aptitude tests etc.

The Implementation

• Career orientation as a process with continuous presence, advice, support, and assistance of youths

• Career orientation through practical experiences in the real working world

• Structural anchoring of the programs for career orientation• Educational concepts that take account of the economic, political,

and societal dimensions of career orientation programs; in which the youths are at the center

and, associated with that • A value-based, holistic approach to competency development

5 Key Components of a successful Career Orientation

Some Photo Impressions

Our Partners:

IMPRESSIONSBaker

IMPRESSIONSConfectioner / Patissier

IMPRESSIONSMetal Worker

IMPRESSIONSWoodener

IMPRESSIONSGlazier

IMPRESSIONSPlasterer

IMPRESSIONSPainter and Varnisher

Plasterer

Modul e. V.Netzwerk BerufspraxisSusanne Green

Grüntaler Straße 6213359 Berlin GermanyTel.: +49 30 493 00 341Mobil: +49 170 3711754Fax.: +49 30 493 00 343E-Mail: sgreen@berufspraxis-berlin.de www.modul-berlin.de

Thank you very much for your attention!