Directorate for Educational Services
Student Services Department
Career Exposure Experiences Guidelines
October 2014
Acknowledgements
The Directorate for Educational Services (DES) within the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) would like to acknowledge the working committee for the drafting of this document, namely:
§ Mr Horace Caruana, Manager, Vocational Education Development Programme, MEDE;
§ Ms Sandra Cortis: Service Manager, Educational Psycho-Social Services within the Department of Student Services, DES, MEDE;
§ Ms Lorraine Aquilina: College Career Advisor, MEDE;
§ Ms Dorianne Gravina: College Career Advisor, MEDE;
§ Ms Micheline Sciberras, Officer in Grade 3, MEDE;
§ Dr Charmaine Cristiano: Legal Advisor, MEDE;
§ Ms Elizabeth Pisani: Coordinator, MEDE; and the
§ Malta Union of Teachers
Mr George Borg, Director General DES, would also like to thank Mr Anthony Sammut and Mr Mario Testa – College Principals, the Career Guidance Teachers’ team, Dr. J.P. Bonello, the Employment and Training Corporation, the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, and the Department of Occupational Health and Safety Authority for their contribution during the consultation process.
Career Exposure Experiences (CEEs) organised at College level in State schools
FOREWORD
The Career Exposure Experiences Policy aims to provide a clear regulatory framework for CEEs organised at College level in state schools.
CEEs in the upper secondary forms are being considered as quality experiences for the educational entitlement and development of students. CEEs help to reinforce the learning of transversal and entrepreneurial skills, and to reduce the distance between the educational environment and the workplace.
In the wider context of recent developments on Vocational Education and Training (VET) within the European Union, the educational and learning value of the workplace has been brought to the fore.[1] A very recent EU document entitled Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes (2012)[2] puts emphasis on the development of transversal skills – such as the ability to think critically, take initiative, problem solve and work collaboratively – to prepare students for today’s varied and unpredictable paths, and states that all young people should benefit from at least one practical entrepreneurial experience before leaving compulsory education.
1. RATIONALE
There are three very important concepts that underpin CEEs:
Transitional concept / CEEs :§ Prepare students for employability and the work context.
§ Challenge career stereotypes and widen students’ awareness of career paths.
§ Understand the benefits of being gainfully employed
Developmental concept / CEEs :
§ Support the understanding and development of students’ competencies and employability skills such as communication, team work, leadership, self-discipline, and an entrepreneurial attitude.
§ Support the understanding and development of important attitudes and values such as punctuality, responsibility, accountability, respect for others, repect for authority and for regulation, the importance of doing a good job, and the importance of presenting oneself in an appropriate manner including dress code and ethical behaviour.
Educational concept / CEEs :
§ Stimulate students’ motivation for learning by realizing the relevance of school subjects to different careers.
§ Enable students to realize and understand the importance of employability skills, attitudes, values and competencies.
§ Enable students to understand the importance of schooling and its relevance to the workplace, the community and society.
§ Encourage students to follow post-secondary educational (academic and VET) pathways.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. The administration and management of CEEs within State Colleges is the responsibility of Career Guidance professionals who fall under the remit of Education Psycho-Social Services within the Student Services Department of the Directorate for Educational Services (DES). These include college career advisors, school counsellors, career guidance teachers, guidance teachers and trainee career advisors. The management of this experience is quite demanding and delicate, thus requiring specific knowledge and competencies to plan and carry out the following tasks:
a) Liaise with College and School Administrations.
b) Network with colleagues (Guidance Teachers, Subject Teachers, Inclusion Coordinators (INCOs) and Learning Support Assistants (LSAs)) to define their involvement in the experience.
c) Launch the experience with target students and their parents.
d) Prepare target students for the experience.
e) Make contact with employers to request Career Exposure placements.
f) Take into consideration Health and Safety issues.
g) Organise supervisory visits for all students at the place of work.
h) Organise an experience evaluation with employers and students.
i) Celebrate the completion of the experience through a certificate awarding ceremony.
2. CEEs are to be considered as additional curricular non-formal learning activities approved by the Ministry for Education and Employment. Consequently, the Ministry assumes responsibility for the staff and students participating in the CEEs, provided that the employers provide a signed declaration that they have carried out a risk assessment in accordance with the Protection of Young Persons at Work Places Regulations[3] and the General Provisions for Health and Safety at Workplaces Regulations and any other relevant legislation which may be in force from time to time, which shows that such activities are not likely to be harmful to the safety, health or development of the students.[4]
3. Whilst CEEs should only be offered to students in Form 4, there might be instances in which the guidance teachers and career advisors, together with the school administration, will agree to offer the Career Exposure experience to a particular group of students attending Forms 3 and 5.
4. CEEs should not exceed a normal school week.[5]
5. Students are to observe working life at the workplace and may carry out simple tasks [6] agreed upon between the College and the employer during the CEE. Any work assigned cannot go beyond the student’s physical or psychological capacity and does not involve a risk to health.[7]
6. Students participating in the CEEs must have their parents’ written consent. [8]
7. The written consent form (see attached template) to be sent to the parents should include the following guidelines:
a) The student will be participating in the CEE with experienced and trained employers and employees as role models.
b) The student is to keep a daily record of his/her experience at the work place on a log book
c) The student will not receive any remuneration during the CEE.
d) The student shall be expected to be present at the workplace during school hours, including break time; however, concessions can be granted by using relative time flexibility.
e) In the case of students with a shared statement, the school may have justified reasons not to have the LSA accompany the student in the CEE in order to enhance student independence skills.
f) In the case of a full-time and/or one-to-one statement, the LSA will accompany the student. The INCO will liaise with the LSA and other professionals with regards to the amount of support to be given on the workplace and the type of supervision required.
g) In certain severe cases the INCO, LSA and other professionals are to coordinate with the Inclusive Employment Services at the ETC, the National Commission for Persons with Disability and the Inclusive and Special Education Section within the DES so as to find an appropriate placement with suitable support.
h) The student has to provide for his/her own transport during the CEE.
i) School Support[9] and Teaching Staff will be carrying out regular supervisory visits to the student’s workplace.
j) During the CEEs, the student has to remain within the workplace premises, even during breaks.
k) A specific consent form has to be signed by parents for CEEs held outside work premises.
l) The student’s participation in the CEEs may be terminated in the case of unsatisfactory behaviour at the workplace,
m) Parents are to refrain from contacting or visiting the student at the workplace, except in the case of emergencies.
n) Parents have to make good for any vandalism or wilful damages at the workplace, if it is proven that the said damages have been caused by the student.
o) Parents will not hold the school, teaching and support staff (provided that the staff has acted with professional responsibility in the best interest of the student), or workplace liable or responsible for any injury to the student or damage to his/her property caused by any accident which may occur during the CEE.
8. Parents have to forward their written consent to the College and to the Employer, which will include also the consent for medical care required by the student in case of need.
9. The Career Guidance should ensure that a roster of regular supervision, by support and teaching staff, is in place to monitor and support students at the workplace throughout the duration of the CEE.
10. The Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) and the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) have to be notified of the number of students and their work placement.
The PSCD programme, for the upper secondary students, should include preparation and follow-up on the CEEs. Besides discussing and reflecting on the experience, PSCD and Social Studies sessions should go into work-related issues such as conditions of work, salary and salary scales, career progression, the role of the unions, the importance of health and safety awareness and the changing nature of work so as to enrich and complete the quality of the CEE.
CONCLUSION
Linking schooling with the world of work has always been given due importance in Malta. One main educational objective is to educate students towards more effective and productive participation in the working world. By being directly exposed to the working world, students will not only enhance the learning of employability skills but will also be able to identify a direct relevance with the learning process between the four walls of the classroom and the outside world. Providing a quality education, in today’s world, also translates into expanding the classroom experience into the community to enable students to experience and critically reflect upon career life choices.
CAREER EXPOSURE EXPERIENCE
AGREEMENT FORM
______(name of entity) is willing to participate in the Career Exposure Experience in conjunction with ______(name of college). The organisation is willing to provide ______placement/s during ______(specify time frame).
(1) AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
The Organisation and the College hereby agree that the aims of the Career Exposure are:
Transitional:
o Learn more about a particular career by observing competent workers.
o Prepare students for employability and the work context.
o Challenge career stereotypes and widen students’ awareness of career paths
Developmental:
o Support the understanding and development of important attitudes and values such as punctuality; responsibility; accountability; respect for others, for authority and for rules; the importance of doing a good job; and the presenting oneself in an appropriate manner.
Educational:
o Stimulate students’ motivation to learning because they realize the relevance of school subjects to different careers.
o Encourage students to follow post-secondary educational (academic and VET) pathways.
o Lead students to realize and understand the importance of the above mentioned competencies and employability skills, attitudes and values that they learn at school but very often find it difficult to accept and understand their relevance to the workplace and society.
(2) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Organisation and the College bind themselves to follow the responsibilities outlined hereunder:
(a) The Organisation should ensure that:
(1) A ‘Risk Assessment’ is in place in accordance with the requirements of Legal Notice 36/2003 – the General Provisions for Health and Safety at Work Places Regulations, 2003.
(2) The student is placed in a setting where s/he will shadow experienced and trained employees.
(3) Any work assigned to the student cannot go beyond the student’s physical or psychological capacity and does not involve a risk to health.[10]
(4) The student is supervised at all times, including break times, as long as the student chooses to remain at the employer’s workplace.
(5) The student will not be allowed to leave the premises during the stipulated hours of the work placement.
(6) The student is not to be exposed to obscene language or pictures.
(b) The College should ensure that:
(1) Contact is made with employers to request career exposure placements.
(2) Liaison is in place with employers, school administration and parents/guardians.
(3) Regular supervision by support and teaching staff is in place to monitor and support students at the workplace throughout the duration of the career exposure.
(4) Effective networking is in place with colleagues (Guidance and Subject Teachers) to define their involvement in the experience.
(5) The experience is launched together with the target students and their parents.
(6) The preparation of the target students, for the experience, is in place.
(7) Supervisory visits for all students are carried out at the workplace.
(8) An experience evaluation is carried out with the employers and students. A report for each evaluation or covering the experience evaluation for all the students should be forwarded to the organisation for records purposes.
(9) A celebration of the experience is held by means of a certificate awarding ceremony. The Education Authorities should issue a certificate of participation to each student, making reference to the placement’s name.
(10) The experience is accredited in the Secondary School Certificate and Profile.
______
Signature of Organisation’s Representative Signature of Head of School/Principal
Name in Block letters: ______Name in Block letters: ______
Designation: ______College: ______
Organisation’s Stamp: ______Organisation’s Stamp: ______
Ftehim mal-Ġenituri / Kustodji
CAREER EXPOSURE EXPERIENCE
KULLEĠĠ ______
Għeżież Ġenituri/Kustodji ______
It-tifel tiegħek ______intgħażel mill-iskola biex jipparteċipa f’esperjenza ta’ Career Exposure Experience li qed tiġi offruta mill- ______(Isem l-Organizzazzjoni) flimkien mas-Sezzjoni tal-Gwida għall-Karrieri fil-Kulleġġ ______fi ħdan id-Direttorat għal Servizzi Edukattivi. Din l-esperjenza tagħti l-opportunità lil ibnek josserva karrieri fil-qasam ta’ ______bl-għan li fil-futur ikun jista’ jagħmel għażla ta’ studju/karriera bbażata fuq informazzjoni u esperjenza li jkun kiseb personalment.