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Parliamentary inquiry into career advice activities in Victorian schools

Submission on behalf of Moreland Darebin Careers Network

Dear Mr Elasmar MLC,

Thank you for initiating this Parliamentary Inquiry into such an important aspect of our young

people’s lives. We welcome the opportunity to provide you with some insight into our thoughts, and

hope you will continue to work very closely with careers practitioners in all schools to address some

of our concerns, remembering that insight and examples of best practice can also be found outside

the government system.

Please find below a selection of comments on the various sections of the Inquiry which represent the

views of careers practitioners in a number of schools in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne.

Many of our members have also made individual submissions, as the situation varies greatly between

schools. We invite you to seek clarification or further information from us regarding any of these

comments as part of your investigations into this important issue.

The relationship between school career advice and workforce participation

It is currently difficult to track this relationship with any accuracy, but it would be useful if

someone were employed to collect this data, and make it readily available. Whilst DET On

Track data is made available, little training is provided on how to interpret the data and no

time is allocated to implement or evaluate the career advice provided whilst at school.

It is reasonable to assume that good quality career advice at school, supported by strong

programs of broader career development education, will enhance young people’s capacity to

thrive in the workforce. Instilling a capacity to thrive beyond school is also one of the prime

goals of our schooling system. Students who transition successfully to the workforce will not

only enhance their own long-term outcomes, but also provide economic benefits to the

community by virtue of not becoming a burden on the public purse. It therefore follows that

all government schools should be providing top quality career development activities and

resources to equip all students for a lifetime of effectively managing their own careers. This

includes, but is not limited to, the capacity to generate their own income in order to fulfil

personal goals and function as independent, contributing members of society.

The effectiveness of career education programs in schools is directly affected by the level of

status and support provided to the program itself, the qualifications and professionalism of

careers staff and their capacity to influence the school curriculum. Career “advice” is just one

component of a broader program of career development education that should be delivered

in a coordinated manner throughout all year levels. Career development education should be

an integral feature of a school’s curriculum and as such, staffed and resourced appropriately.

EEJSC Submission No. 44Received 14 December 2017

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Where students have access to appropriate career development education, beginning in the

junior school, they will be confident in their understanding of themselves, including their

personal strengths and goals; and well informed about their options and the implications of

any choices they are making by the time they reach the stage of their schooling where

important subject decisions start to be made (Years 9, 10, 11 and 12). The quality of any

advice provided is compromised if not available from an experienced and qualified staff

member. This is not necessarily happening at present, so the needs of school leavers are

therefore not always met - this has consequences for their employment outcomes and for

society as a whole.

Students and their families are becoming increasingly aware of issues surrounding youth

employment outcomes, the need to consider a wider range of different pathways and a

desire for better preparation for training, study etc. Awareness and curiosity related to these

themes is emerging early in their secondary schooling. In response to this, they need access

to up-to-date information and support. Schools work hard at developing learning

partnerships between staff, students and parents. The employment of a career development

specialist, preferably in a leadership role and ideally supported by a team of qualified

professionals, provides the best framework for providing relevant career advice for students

and their families in this context, as the task involves not just leading with regard to content,

but also in terms of developing and nurturing these partnerships, developing and running

appropriate activities and ensuring that all stakeholders are continually accessing up-to-date

information and interpreting it suitably. Given that so many other staff members also

interact with families in these partnerships, it is also essential that the information they

provide is relevant and up-to-date. A careers professional with leadership responsibility is

the best person to be monitoring and implementing the process through which this is

achieved.

Work Experience programs and activities that specifically prepare students for the workforce

right now are immensely valuable in developing skills and confidence. We know that “work

breeds work”, and that those who are most likely to gain employment later in life are those

who have already worked. Likewise, students who have worked in a volunteer capacity are

finding it easier to access university courses, as those institutions start to give credit to

activities that enhance the health of a community. The importance of part time work for the

development of many important skills, many of which are related as much to being a

teenager and moving towards independence as they are to future work goals, is gaining

value and students need to be supported in their preparation for this important milestone in

their lives. All schools offer resume writing assistance, mock interviews and other related

activities. However, it must also be said that many schools are unable to provide this service

as comprehensively as they would like to, due mostly to time and staffing constraints.

Unfortunately, many schools are struggling to maintain their commitment to providing each

and every student with a work experience or structured workplace learning placement at

least once during their schooling, and this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

In Inner Northern Melbourne, schools have access to a fantastic network of dedicated

industry professionals, coordinated and facilitated largely by the INLLEN, which drives a

number of outstanding initiatives aimed at making important connections between schools

and industry, as well as assisting challenged youth at all stages of their journey to re-engage

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with the concept of work and workforce participation. The most comprehensive of these

initiatives (from a school perspective) is the INYET (Inner Northern Youth Employment

Taskforce), a group of volunteers with wide-ranging expertise from industry groups in three

local council areas (Yarra, Moreland, Darebin), who work closely together each year to

produce a two-month campaign of job-related activities under the banner “Jobs for Youth”

every year. Schools participate in the RIJI (Real Industry Jobs Program) and other related

activities. Young people can opt in to mentorship arrangements, attend workshops and make

important connections throughout this campaign. Through this initiative, local businesses are

encouraged to engage more meaningfully with the concept of embracing and supporting

young people in the workforce. Schools participate in some of these opportunities, but often

time constraints and lack of staffing prohibits full participation. The same constraints apply to

the myriad of outstanding activities run by all the local tertiary institutions in any given year

aimed at increasing awareness of the labour market, how to prepare for jobs and careers;

and uni familiarisation events.

Likewise, there is plenty of excellent material available to support the delivery of high quality

programs, although some of it needs modernising. For example, the current DET career

action plans have been superseded by electronic versions that are more interactive and

dynamic, although they do rely on schools being able to afford subscriptions to the service

providers who have developed them. As with all resources, regardless of their quality, the

key is whether they are utilised to their full potential relies on buy-in from stakeholders. In

schools, this comes right back to time, money and perceived value when compared with

other items in the crowded curriculum and staff members’ own competing priorities and/or

level of expertise in using these resources. Currently, many excellent resources are being

under-utilised; not because careers practitioners are unaware of them or unskilled in their

use, but because there is no opportunity for them to use them.

It is well documented that career development education comes from numerous angles, and

that all the adults in a student’s life are sending career messages, whether they are doing this

consciously or not. To that end, in some schools, we have been able to address and work

with teaching staff through presentations at a staff meeting and ongoing interactions with

them on a more personal basis, to raise awareness of the impact they have on students’

perceptions, knowledge and decisions; and provide them with additional tools and tips to

ensure they make the best use of their position as role models. In addition, in one school at

least, whilst there is no designated careers practitioner, a number of staff members are

consciously tapping into resources such as the INLLEN’s RIJI program to ensure their students

are gaining valuable careers experience, and discussions are being held around the merit of

introducing a more overtly targeted program under the guidance of a careers professional.

The extent to which current career advice activities meet the needs of school leavers

In a survey of MDCN members, a broad selection of appropriate activities and interventions

are being used across the schools in this network. They include, but are not limited to the list

below. The degree to which these activities and interventions are successful depends on how

well the career education program is being supported in the school, which directly affects

the skills and knowledge our young people will take with them into the workforce.

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o One-on-one career counselling

o Excursions to uni campuses – eg participation in “Try a Trade days” or full day

program negotiated by the individual school – a series of workshops, guest speakers,

etc.

o Full-day immersion days for careers activities – eg a Year 10 with guest speakers

o Expos at the school

o Mock interview programs, together with CV-writing and interview skills.

o Individual MIPs planning (all at Year 10, inconsistent at other year levels)

o Work Experience program (most schools do one week in Year 10)

o Training in how to research and analyse websites for career information

o Provision of information via a school portal or webpage

o Employer presentations

o Activities to build awareness of enterprise/employability skills and plan for

developing them

o Targeted training in how to access uni courses and support through the application

process

Students are generally well supported in Year 12, although in large schools, it is often not

possible to meet individually with every student. In general, careers practitioners are given

access to year level assemblies to deliver important information en masse, which can then be

backed up with more targeted and in-depth materials disseminated either through a

classroom structure (eg through English classes) or via a pastoral care program (eg home

groups). Most schools rely on the cooperation of teaching staff in other disciplines to assist

with the delivery of these programs, so quality of delivery can be inconsistent.

Students clearly identified as “at risk” are also generally well catered for, as are those who

have the skills and confidence to independently seek out the careers practitioner for

individual counselling. In large schools, however, where the careers practitioner is not

provided with sufficient time and/or an appropriate mechanism for accessing students, a

large body of students can fly under the radar to some extent if they do not actively seek out

the services of the careers practitioner. This applies in any school where insufficient time is

provided to cater for these activities.

Most schools deliver a comprehensive suite of activities to support decision-making for

senior years and a MIPs plan at Year 10. However, this can also be inconsistent in reality,

based on the same constraints as mentioned above. MIPs planning is often the responsibility

of a home group teacher, and can therefore be neglected when other work pressures

compete, such as assessment, reporting or lesson planning for their subject-specific classes.

Lack of interest or expertise in the career development side of things also affects the quality

of this experience for students.

By the end of Year 10, students in most schools have completed careers profiling, resume

writing, interview skills and work experience - giving them skills and opportunities to explore

further study and careers pathways matched to their interests and skills. However, not all

students have engaged with this process as fully as they need to.

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Students are provided with ongoing information on experience days and workshops and

presentations on careers and courses in which they can enrol run by universities and industry

to assist with pathways planning. Opportunities to engage with local businesses or career

exploration activities are publicised, but not always taken up. Careers practitioners are

bombarded with hundreds of emails per week, and generally have to communicate these

through third parties (such as home group or subject teachers) or media such as newsletters,

so it is unfortunately also true that there is no guarantee that all students are gaining access

to all the opportunities that are available. Even if the information gets through to students

via the various channels, career practitioners do not have the resources to follow through on

many of these opportunities due.

Allocating more time to the staffing of career development programs would ensure that all

students could access individual career counselling interviews (more than once in their

schooling if needed) to provide more comprehensive careers guidance and ongoing career

conversations to accommodate changing priorities or circumstances as they mature and

move through the school. It would also facilitate the provision of better quality and more

effectively delivered activities designed to support either decision-making or active work-

seeking skills (eg seeing that every student understands the importance of and features of a

good resume – and actually has one!).

In order to facilitate individual careers appointments across different year levels and in

sufficient time blocks to allow for thorough, personalised counselling, as well as meaningful

follow-up as required, the solution is simple – more staff and more time are needed. Only

then will schools be able to provide the comprehensive level of support that will ensure a

greater number of students transition out of school sufficiently prepared to manage their

own career journey with confidence and a degree of expertise.

Careers practitioners are well aware of the value of good working partnerships with parents,

and many careers practitioners give presentations at key milestones in the school’s calendar,

such as course selection time and in the lead-up to VTAC applications. Parents are routinely

fed information through regular newsletters and other school communication channels. In

some schools, careers practitioners have been able to run at least one parent session with a

careers focus, but most of us would like to do this more often and more effectively. As with

the school-based materials, there are many excellent resources available to support the up-

skilling of parents in their roles as career coaches, but finding time and opportunities to

utilise these appropriately is challenging. Given that we know parents are the number one

source of career information for the majority of young people, it is vital that they are able to

access and process accurate information appropriately. They, too, require a wide range of

accurate information on all the pathway options available to their children, and how those

pathways can be pursued.

Using the parent body as a resource for career education is already a priority for careers

practitioners, but the process of identifying and liaising with parents in this context is a time-

consuming exercise that often gets left in the “too hard” basket. In order to build and

maintain relationships with parents that will support their own learning in this area and build

capacity to support their child (and others) effectively, schools need to VALUE, and

RESOURCE, a top quality service run by professionally trained staff.

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The challenges schools career advisers face in helping young Victorian transition from

education to workforce

There are major challenges facing careers advisers in all schools. Whilst the actual list is far longer,

the following list indicates the most prevalent concerns across all schools, regardless of region:

- Low levels of respect for the role and their professionalism in the role

- Capacity to influence decision-making and curriculum planning

- Inadequate staffing

- Lack of time to do the job properly

- Insufficient support for administrative tasks

It is widely acknowledged by all stakeholders involved in the education and support of young people

that we are living in times where it has never been more important for young people to have good

quality preparation for their future career management, and that higher levels of support are needed

to assist them in understanding the changing world in which they will be working, and developing the

skills they need to navigate this world successfully. We know that youth represent the largest group

of underemployed and/or unemployed members of our community – in inner north Melbourne, it is

as high as 26%. The work of a careers practitioner is therefore, more important but also more

complex than it’s ever been, given the changes in how work is perceived and done, and the

enormous amount of information that needs to be processed. The importance placed on developing

enterprise skills and traits such as resilience in the context of the labour market also adds to the

complexity of the role. Just as teachers can no longer be content with being the “sage on a stage”,

careers education has moved way beyond checking a list of course options and making a quick few

suggestions before moving on to the next client. To do the job effectively, staff members need to be

highly qualified and/or experienced in their field. Where one or the other of these features is

missing, it needs to be a priority as part of a career practitioner’s ongoing professional development.

In the MDCN network, the majority of careers practitioners hold post graduate qualifications in

career development, and many of them are also experienced classroom teachers who have held

leadership roles in the past, even though a number of them are now being employed as ES staff

members. Post graduate studies in this field qualify us for Professional membership of all relevant

bodies throughout Australia such as CICA, CEAV and CDAA. However, this level of skill and knowledge

is not acknowledged or rewarded in a school setting. They are often not consulted when other staff

members are preparing materials or gathering information related to career outcomes or the labour

market; nor is their expertise used to inform decision-making or policy-making.

Careers practitioners are often denied access to decision-making and curriculum planning processes

due to their lack of membership in committees or participation in staff meetings. Despite the fact

that career development has clear links to both curriculum and student well-being, careers

practitioners are often not privy to discussions in either of these forums, nor do they get invited onto

working parties or committees. The work of a careers practitioner can get quite isolated, as they are

often the only one in their “department”, and are often seeing students during times when they

might otherwise network with their teacher colleagues. Thankfully, plentiful networking

opportunities, largely facilitated by the tertiary institutions, serve to bring careers practitioners

together on a regular basis where they can swap notes and learn from each other, as well as offering

support with regard to the many challenges the role entails.

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In a contradiction to the many situations in which careers practitioners experience “invisibility”, they

are often the first person to be called upon when problems arise. There is an assumption they can

“fix” every problem student’s lack of motivation, school refusal issues and behavioural problems. To

some extent, this is true if sufficient time is allowed for them to spend the time needed to explore

the issues behind such problems, as it is well-documented that having a sense of purpose can in fact

influence a young person’s well-being, motivation and capacity to engage with their schooling.

Properly trained and experienced careers counsellors are skilled at helping young people to reframe

their personal narrative so as to introduce hope into the story, where perhaps failure or

unachievable dreams had previously prevailed. In addition, the job of assisting students with

disabilities to access work and study opportunities often falls to the careers practitioner.

Careers practitioners are also privy to information of the most sensitive nature, especially when

working with senior students who may be preparing SEAS applications for their university studies.

They are trusted with information of a highly confidential nature, and adhere to a strong Code of

Ethics at least equal to that required by the VIT. To that end, they would benefit from a little more

professional respect.

Unfortunately, the work of careers practitioners is currently being de-professionalised by the push to

pay careers professionals support staff wages (ES) and at inappropriately low pay scales. In order for

career advice to be effective, it has to be heard - and for it to be heard, someone has to be listening!

This lack of professional respect is distressing for careers practitioners in terms of their own career

satisfaction, but it also has major implications for our students, as it prevents us from delivering the

level of service of which we are capable. Another consequence of this disturbing trend is that careers

practitioners eventually find their professional integrity compromised and leave the government

system. The new trend of lowering the salary scale and working conditions for careers practitioners

will also eventually impact on the quality of candidates who will apply for such jobs. This will

ultimately erode the provision of career development education, rather than enhance it.

The discussion of whether the careers role is best suited to ES or the teacher class is a discussion for

another paper, and we hope you will engage in a conversation with us around this, as it is an

enormously complex issue. When a career adviser is a teaching staff member, they often have more

access to decision-making processes, and are more likely to be heard, as well as being able to actively

teach in a classroom situation. For example, in one of our network schools, where the role has been

elevated from classroom teacher to Leading Teacher classification in recent years, the careers

practitioner now has a place on the curriculum committee, has noticed greater collaboration with

year level leaders and teachers seem more enthusiastic about incorporating careers related tasks

into their curriculum. However, in many schools where this role is undertaken by a teacher, the time

allocated to the role is well under what is needed to complete all aspects of the role. On the flipside,

when the role is allocated to ES, often the time fraction increases (a positive), but advisers in this

situation are often left out of meetings and decision-making processes where their input would be

useful. They are very often treated with less respect than teaching colleagues.

There appears to be a lack of understanding of the scope and complexity of the role of careers

practitioner in many schools, which may help to explain the above situation. It is difficult to gauge

whether this is due to a lack of knowledge and insight into the importance of the Careers Pathways

area on the part of leadership teams, or a reluctance to afford it the importance it deserves.

Teaching colleagues may be passionate and knowledgeable about their own subject area, but do not

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always understand or value the vocational education opportunities which may be available to their

students as they are likely to be more focussed on the more academic VCE pathway. They may also

lack knowledge about the varied career pathways, as well as the opportunities and pitfalls in the

current labour market in relation to their field of expertise.

Careers education programs in schools are not legislated, so there is no consistency in schools

around programs, qualifications, pay scales, time allotted and which roles belong under the banner

of “careers”. For example, career adviser roles are currently being advertised on Recruitment Online

as anywhere between ES1.2 and Leading Teacher levels. In most cases the expectations of the person

doing the role are almost identical. Often the careers practitioner also takes responsibility for VET,

VASS and VCAL, to name a few. Whilst there is overlap between all of these areas and pathways

discussions, there is also an argument for sharing the workload more equitably. Too often, the

leadership potential of this area of the school is overlooked, as there is often only being one person

in the “department”, and often no obvious links to “teaching” in the traditional sense.

Currently schools can get away with making the economic decision to downgrade the role, thereby

running the risk of not having the best quality people in the role, and also ensuring that even when a

highly competent and qualified person is doing the role, they are often not being supported

appropriately. An ES1.2 staff member, for example, is not in a position to dictate to a year level

coordinator how to deliver careers curriculum in the context of a home group program, nor can they

dictate to faculty heads regarding the effective integration of good quality careers education into

various faculty areas. This is not to say they do not have those capabilities, as often they do.

However, the status of their role takes away their voice. They are often excluded from meetings at

which important decisions are made, and even when they are present, their input is often

disregarded.

Regardless of their role classification, careers practitioners across Victoria feel that their attempts to

implement good quality career education in their schools are not always supported by colleagues /

teaching staff.

Its position at the end of a section should in no way indicate that the next comment is less important

than those already recorded, as one of the main challenges facing career advisers in EVERY SCHOOL

is a significant LACK OF TIME. For every other point made in this submission, the key to implementing

any changes is TIME! Even where careers practitioners are employed full time, these staff members

are generally dealing with an unrealistic volume of student numbers. Our network has collated a file

of almost all the job ads for careers jobs in Victorian schools over the last four years, which we will

happily share with you. Reading the long lists of duties expected of a career adviser will highlight the

complexity and demands of this role, which is often done by a single person in a school. The constant

changing world of pathways and careers means continuous learning to ensure the career adviser

keeps their knowledge up to date. Managing this constant stream of information and resources, as

well as the physical resources associated with displaying and providing information is a major issue

for careers practitioners.

This leads to the second important secret weapon that most careers practitioners are lacking –

administrative support. This highlights the need already mentioned for career development

programs to be delivered by a genuine and well-resourced TEAM of PROFESSIONALS. When highly

trained and skilled professionals are spending their days doing tedious data entry tasks, this is not an

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efficient use of human resources, and in fact is depriving someone who does have those skills of

employment.

Strategies to improve the effectiveness of career advice activities for school leavers

Career development education needs to be mandated as part of the teaching curriculum; otherwise

it is viewed as optional, or perceived as extra work that eats into time that students and teachers

alike would rather allocate to other tasks. As mentioned, career advice is only one part of career

development. Students need to be exposed to a wide variety of activities, through which they

develop the knowledge and skills they will need throughout life to do the following:

• find and interpret information,

• identify their own strengths, weaknesses, goals and drivers;

• make informed decisions and act on these to plan for and cope with career transitions.

Each of these activities contributes in some way to either alert students to things they need to do or

know about, or it develops skills and knowledge. Together they all inform students’ capacity to carry

out the tasks listed above effectively, thus empowering them to take charge of their own futures.

Whilst it could be argued that students can learn these skills in a variety of disciplines and contexts in

a school – and indeed they should – they will not be as powerful in terms of career development

education if links between those skills and their relevance to career management are not made

explicit. Ensuring that this is done properly is best guided by a professional careers practitioner. It is

important that students work in partnership with each of their teachers. However, the process has to

be overseen by someone with expertise in this area, and the materials being used have to be

continually checked for their currency. As with all curriculum areas, someone has to “own” the

program and be accountable for it. By the same token, if ownership is bestowed on the careers

practitioner, then they also need to be empowered and respected as the leader of that particular

section of the curriculum. This applies equally to activities conducted separately as careers-only

activities and those embedded within specific curriculum areas.

A few key things that would help in this context are:

Insisting that all careers practitioners in schools are appropriately qualified (preferably at

post graduate level) - but then acknowledging this by paying them appropriate professional

wages and according them appropriate status as professionals (unfortunately, whilst the

concept of ES works in terms of being less disruptive to the classroom when a careers

professional has to attend professional development at uni days and the like, and can often

result in more time being allocated to the role; they are very often regarded and treated as

simple admin employees).

Providing sufficient time for careers practitioners to do their jobs. In a survey of job

advertisements for careers practitioners over the last four years, it has become apparent

that the list of duties for a single careers practitioner is continually growing. At the same

time, the time fraction allocated in which to perform those duties is shrinking.

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Recognising that careers advice and provision of quality programs is the work of a TEAM and

mandating that resources are allocated over and above current SRP to reflect that. Within

the team, there could be a range of classifications and salaries to reflect different roles, and

we would welcome the opportunity to discuss our ideas on this with you in further detail.

Many years ago, the CEAV put together a recommendation that for every 500 students, there

should be one full time careers practitioner. This is simply not happening, and will not, until

schools are forced to adhere to this (or a similar) ratio.

Providing administrative support, preferably within a team setting, where a more highly

qualified careers practitioner might lead and manage staff with lower qualifications.

However, we would argue that even those providing admin support to the careers program

should be qualified at least to Cert IV level in career development to ensure that support is

being provided in the most effective way.

Mandating equity between schools and professional respect for the role by providing

stronger controls around salary guidelines. There is scope for creating a separate category to

cater for the unique demands of this role in a school setting. At present, careers practitioners

are being paid anything between a Leading Teacher and an ES1.2 salary, which represents a

discrepancy of up to $55,475, depending on which end of the salary scale they are employed

(ES1.2 - $52,212 – LT - $107,687)

Mandating post graduate qualifications as a minimum requirement for those managing and

leading the career development program within a school – but then rewarding this level of

qualification appropriately. Many of us believe that the management of a careers program

requires the same level of knowledge and skill as any of the portfolios currently assigned to

Leading Teachers, and that experience in school leadership would be beneficial. However,

insisting that all careers leaders in schools must have teaching experience ignores the

outstanding contribution that many of our members without teaching backgrounds bring to

the role. Many of them have worked in leadership roles in HR, for example, and bring vital

labour market skills and knowledge to their work. We would therefore advocate for

significant discussion on how the various levels of expertise could be accommodated within a

school’s program and appropriately remunerated.

There are obvious advantages to designating the careers role to an ES staff member. These

include being able to allocate a far greater time fraction to the provision of a careers service.

However, as mentioned earlier, this often comes at the price of the careers practitioner having

any influence over decision-making, and also prevents the careers practitioner from actually

delivering much of the content they are expected to develop. Anecdotally, almost every ES staff

member in Victorian schools is carrying out the duties of a teacher on many occasions, even

though they are not being paid or recognised for this. For example, ES staff members write

curriculum and produce resources, as well as often delivering the content in classes or large

groups such as assemblies. This is teaching. They also supervise students on excursions, in order

to facilitate career awareness opportunities for their students when teachers are not available to

do so.

Unfortunately, where schools do recognise the importance of teaching experience in the careers

role, they often compromise the potential of their careers practitioner by cutting the time

allowance drastically. In a recent example, a school advertised their careers role twice at ES 1.3

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over four days, then upgraded the status of the role to a teacher salary but cut the number of

days to three. This is not an isolated case. The CEAV recently formed a working party to formalise

a set of recommendations regarding these inconsistencies in expectations and remuneration,

and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with the department in detail.

Running an awareness campaign to educate the community and help careers practitioners

get their message out. By community, we mean principals, leadership, teaching colleagues

and the wider community, so that everyone understands and learns to value the role of

careers education and everything that small phrase encompasses. In the past, transitions

were an integral part of each school’s Annual Implementation Plan, and perhaps it’s time to

mandate a return to this scenario. It’s all very well to expect that careers practitioners do

their own advocacy, and unfortunately, it has become very apparent that we all need to take

more responsibility for that. However, in order for this not to look like baseless self-

promotion, we need support from government to reinforce the message and communicate

with school leadership.

Providing TARGETTED funding to ensure that careers programs are staffed and resourced

adequately. At present, MIPs funding disappears into general revenue in many schools, and

is inadequate anyway. In order to provide sufficient staffing and resourcing that enables

careers-trained staff members to spend time with students, funding needs to be provided in

such a way that it cannot be used for other school expenses.

Providing incentives to encourage subject teachers to gain career development

qualifications, preferably at least to Cert IV level. A number of our colleagues do show an

interest in our work, and should be supported to assist us effectively. In the longer term, all

teacher training should include studies in career development theory, research into career

implications related to their specific field of study (including an awareness of all the

alternative pathways into careers in that field) and an understanding of the labour market, as

well as basic training in the difference between provision of advice and counselling to ensure

that everyone in a school provides support at the level at which they are qualified.

Getting behind Work Experience / Structured Workplace Learning – such a vital source of

information, but such a drain on human resources in terms of administration! Find ways to

streamline the process whilst not weakening the protection needed to ensure the safety of

our young people. Develop a centralised, reliable, ONLINE portal that requires family,

student and employer to fill in the fields accurately, after which a school staff member can

print off ONE form and have it signed for dissemination. People’s capacity to fill in paper

forms has decreased noticeably in the last four years due to their reliance on smart phones

and online forms, and this task is one of the biggest drains on a busy career practitioner’s

most precious resource – time! Also, find ways to educate and encourage members of the

public to take on work experience students. Many schools have started to make work

experience voluntary due to the difficulties faced when trying to place all their students,

when research clearly shows it is one of the most powerful career development tools a

young person can access.

12

Specific career advice needs of young people in regional Victoria and how to address them

Given that the MDCN is a network of schools within the metropolitan area, it is difficult to

comment with authority. However, reflecting on the number of informational events held by

the universities that are based in Melbourne and can be accessed reasonably easily as part of

a working day, it is fair to assume our colleagues in regional areas are not always being

serviced as well as we are. By the same token, they sometimes have access to special

programs, such as the CEAV’s WOW service that are targeted at this very problem. Whilst

online resources are plentiful and good quality, this assumes the careers practitioner has the

time to read and digest these resources adequately, and deprives them of the networking

opportunities that face-to-face activities can provide.

Interstate and overseas best practice models that can be implemented in Victoria

Needs more research but in the past there have been many very worthwhile programs. In

the early 2000s Australia was leading the way with the Career Development initiatives

(Brendan Nelson)

Establishment of the Australian Blueprint for Career Development and CICA – Professional

standards

Canada – acknowledged as world leaders in this field, and currently doing work on the links

between mental health and career development.

We should be looking at what Finland does, and Austria.

Germany is known for its quality vocational education programs.

In Victoria we developed the Careers Curriculum Framework – unique in Australia. However,

in recent incarnations of the Australian Curriculum, Work Studies (aka careers) is the only

study area that is not compulsory, and sits down the bottom of the website almost as an

afterthought. In the Victorian Curriculum, it has been completed absorbed into other areas.

This could be a positive, as research and best practice indicates careers education should be

the responsibility of each and every staff member. HOWEVER, who monitors the quality and

accuracy of the messages, methodology and suitability of activities being utilised to teach

career education in this way? Currently, very few career advisers have access and/or

influence over what other teachers do in their classrooms. And in light of the move to ES (aka

invisible) careers staff, career advisers do not have any power to lead overtly in this context.

For example, when an English staff member uses a resume as “text”, are they using a model

of resume-writing that reflects the latest thinking in how job-seekers should be presenting

themselves? In this context, “best practice” needs to include giving the experts a voice and

some status in the school community – they already know what best practice is – they are

just powerless to implement it!

Note: This submission represents the views of a number of MDCN members. Not all members have

had direct input into the compilation of this submission. Therefore, any contradictory views offered

in other forums or via individual submissions should be seen as valuable additions to the discussion

that will ultimately enrich the work of this inquiry. As a network, we welcome the opportunity to be

further involved in the valuable work of ensuring that all our young people gain access to the best

quality career development education it is possible to provide for them. We look forward to hearing

from you.

13

Yours sincerely,

Kylie Witt

President, MDCN (Moreland Darebin Careers Network)

On behalf of our Member Schools, listed below:

Alphington GS

Antonine College

Brunswick SC

Charles La Trobe SC

Coburg Senior HS

Croxton Special School

Distance Education Centre

Victoria

Glenroy SC

Ivanhoe Girls' GS

John Fawkner SC

Lynall Hall - The Island

Mercy College

Northcote HS

Northern College of the Arts

& Technology (NCAT)

Pascoe Vale Girls College

Princes Hill SC

Reservoir HS

RMIT VCE Unit

Santa Maria College

Sydney Road Community

School

Thornbury HS

Viewbank SC