For learning and competence Cross-level and cross-thematic project cooperation on developing guidance and counselling services in Finland Mr Mika Launikari, Finnish National Board of Education Mr Mika Launikari IAEVG Conference 2006, Copenhagen August 2006

2 For learning and competence CHANCES – Developing career counselling services to prevent exclusion of young people  Development project ( ) funded under the EQUAL Community Initiative programme of the European Social Fund ESF  Coordinator is the Finnish National Board of Education  Partner organisations: Institute for Educational Research and Department of Teacher Education of University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä Vocational Institute, University of Joensuu (= 4 subprojects)  Cooperation with the Career guidance development project of the Finnish National Board of Education, i.e. 13 regional projects  European partners Denmark, Italy and Spain (=CHOICES): focus on culture- and gender-sensitive guidance and counselling ( )

3 For learning and competence CHANCES-project structure SpainDenmark

4 For learning and competence CHANCES – Developing career counselling services to prevent exclusion of young people  CHANCES-project aims at - DEVELOPING guidance and counselling services that are provided in multiprofessional and cross-sectoral cooperation and CREATING new tools to prevent social exclusion of young people from the labour market - INNOVATING new training models and good practices that can be applied nationally and internationally - PROMOTING understanding and recognition of indi- vidual needs for educational and vocational guidance and counselling from a gender- and culture-sensitive perspective

5 For learning and competence CHANCES – Developing career counselling services to prevent exclusion of young people  The subprojects of the CHANCES project are - Provision of guidance and counselling services in network and multiprofessional cooperation to support students at risk of social exclusion - Multiprofessional cooperation to support the integration of immigrants into working life - Developing career guidance of young people with special needs - Learning partnership in guidance and counselling processes and gender

6 For learning and competence CHANCES – Developing career counselling services to prevent exclusion of young people  TARGET GROUPS are experts dealing with guidance and counselling within education, employment, social and health care sectors  DEVELOPMENT MEASURES ARE TARGETED AT - young people outside of formal education systems and at risk of social exclusion - students with special needs - immigrants and ethnic minority groups

7 For learning and competence CHANCES project management  POLITICAL RELEVANCE of the project at national and European level -> high expectations of stakeholders !!  NO ”COOKBOOK APPROACH” -> large-scale, one-time, non- routine development project  CLEAR VISION OF THE OVERALL PROJECT -> describe and agree on objectives, requirements, roles and responsibilities, results, scheduling, estimating cost and resources, risk & quality management, communication  PROJECT AS A PROCESS -> modifications to specification of objectives, to allocation of human and financial resources, to definition of expected products, etc.

8 For learning and competence CHANCES project management  OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT -> project is not executed in a vacuum, but in a turbulent environment of interacting people, interdependent institutions and complex development processes  FORMALITY -> discipline in the form of written agree- ments, scheduled plans, formal meetings with proper documentation, formal decision making, reporting to authorities  ANTICIPATION -> short-term and long-term planning (if X happens, we have three options Y, Z, W)

9 For learning and competence Multidisciplinary and multiprofessional team of experts, researchers and trainers  COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS -> 5 partner institutions with different organisational culture and 20 project team members with different expertise and experiences  COMMUNICATION -> to reach a mutual understanding of the project, to learn a common language, to balance between oral and written communication, to meet face- to-face at regular intervals for discussions & decisions  INTERNAL EVALUATION (based on EFQM) -> further specifying the goals and results, identifying risks, determining quality aspects, strengthening team spirit

10 For learning and competence CHANCES Steering Group  30 MEMBERS representing employment, education, social and health care authorities, student unions, vocational education and higher education institutions  ROLE OF THE GROUP is to decide on, monitor and evaluate the strategy and progress of the project  SUPPORT to ensure that the project will deliver the intended results to satisfy target groups´ expectations  NOT ONLY INTERESTED IN DELIVERY ”on time, in budget and to scope”, but in the SOCIETAL IMPACT

11 For learning and competence CHANCES products and services  5-6 PUBLICATIONS (incl. research reports, handbooks)  FINAL SEMINAR ”CHANCES for the future – Young people and guidance”, Helsinki, 9-10 November 2006 (200 participants)  SEVERAL TRAINING MODULES such as culture- and gender- sensitive guidance; young people´s lifemanagement and guidance; subject teachers/class teachers/ group advisers and guidance; developing guidance skills, etc.  REGIONAL SEMINAR on supporting immigrants to working life in network-based guidance and counselling cooperation  INTERNET-BASED TOOL for modelling network-based guidance and counselling cooperation

12 For learning and competence CHANCES products and services u NEW SPECIAL EDUCATION SYSTEM at Jyväskylä Vocational Institute u INDIVIDUAL CAREER PLANS for students with special needs u FLEXIBLE METHODS AND TOOLS for guidance and counselling of young people with special needs u NEW MODELS/PRACTICES to help young people enter labour market u SPECIAL MODELS AND METHODS for improved guidance on-the-job training periods u IMPROVED GUIDANCE SKILLS among staff in special education u SUPPORT MODELS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES for students with sign language in vocational education and training

13 For learning and competence PROMOTION  DISSEMINATION AND MAINSTREAMING OF THE DEVELOPED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: - project partners and steering group members - what, how, to whom and when to promote? - does every product have future potential and capability of surviving once the project has been completed? - national and international levels

14 For learning and competence More information about CHANCES-project and CHOICES-cooperation: Mr Mika Launikari Project Coordinator Finnish National Board of Education P.O.Box 380 FIN Helsinki Tel GSM