I don’t agree with all the comments made in today’s lecture by Dr. Maxims, I believe that he is passionate about driving change in the way guidance is delivered and how guidance practitioners interact with society....however, I do believe that change is resulting in the community and that the Scottish Government has their Agenda to drive innovation and creativity in the way career education and guidance is delivered to drive economic development.
Change in the community will be the result of good work of professions to develop strategies for inclusion, and already I have seen job roles for community projects, with statements in job specs for new ways of working, creativity and innovation in the delivery, monitoring and development of programs for employability and progression.
I agree that some members within society will have difficulty in sourcing opportunities, however with partnership working with; schools, colleges, universities, employers, guidance practitioners, development opportunities will result from improved education, e.g. relevant education for work and personal skills development, progression frameworks which allow people to develop at their own personal pace, and regeneration projects where community interaction results, thus improving community networking, generating opportunities for people to gain work skills, raising ‘self awareness’ of work and careers, which community members can identify with, involving all member of society giving them a common goal and purpose. Special needs schools are also involved in community activity, this increasing chance opportunities for disadvantaged people for progression. Or as Remploy put it assisting people meeting capabilities.
We have all heard ‘stories’ about extraordinary people who have achieved great things, people who have been disadvantaged in some way or who face a barrier, with great attitude and motivation can achieve and progress and also participate in economic development.
People shape society not society shaping people – People first; people are the government introducing strategies, people are senior managers setting plans and goals, shriving to achieve the company vision, interacting with communities in the competitive market, people are the practitioners who give guidance, listen, counsel and help others understand ‘self’ and gain ‘self-belief’. People interact in community activity, who they interact with - influences, educates and inspires... people drive the economy.
Things are changing in line with the government agenda for future Skills for Scotland, yes there is a structure but without a structure, a vision, we would have individuals working to their own agenda, no consistency, no common goal. Someone, no matter what situation has to take a lead. (so who is the expert?) The Scottish government have a vision for improved education, training and employment, through social inclusion, regeneration, developing Scottish citizens and a nation of confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens, they are setting the agenda for investing in our economy for competitiveness in the global marketplace............in essence united we stand, I guess then a strong community approach! How this is achieved is by setting goals, plans and strategies which we work towards, we are recognised through employment by appraisal and personal develop plans. People who are recognised are motivated and have higher self-esteem to achieve and progress. The more we invest in people the better we perform and progress, we then generate wealth in the economy for financial rewards, generating wealth through recognition and regeneration, investing in people. In my view - People First!
.................I guess this means I am humanist; person centred valuing the community approach to career education and guidance with a positive structure or agenda!
Hello world!
17 years ago
What a brilliant - and robust! - defence of your views, Roseann! I agree with so much of what you say, and of how central people are to everything... eg. 'people are the government' and not the other way round, and it is them - US - who ultimately decide how the country is run.
ReplyDeleteI agree, too, that without a plan, and structure of some kind, we (at every level of society, right down to the individual) could not achieve what we want.
And how important recognition of results - and effort - is to motivating people at work. I can't see how this can be done without assessment - but, hopefully, that can be a constuctive process, through which the employee (or employer?) can learn to develop their skills further.
I too think you make many valid points and agree that we need goals. The only critisism I would comment on is the fact that many people living in deprivation find it very hard to move on and that they don't always have the choice to do so depending on their environment and their personal choice on how to live life.
ReplyDeleteI did one of my employer visits on the regeneration project in Stirling known as raploch and if you visited the area and became aware of the people's circumstances I think you might change your opinion slightly with regards to how much choice they have. Drug addiction and alcoholism is a way of life for many of the people living in the area. There is also a lack of motivation and a dependancy on the state for money which has created further problems. There is a real sense of poverty and deprivation which limits many choices for people in raploch. The regeneration project really focuses on the local people/community and provides jobs, training and apprenticeships.
Within the whole of the community only a small percentage use this resource successfully. Many people within the community sign up and are on the register however lack of motivation or the unwillingness to work causes major problems for these people. The rest choose not to get involved as they are living their lives the way they see fit. There was and still is a lot of unrest within the area about the regeneration project as people think they have no right to be there.
It would be great if everyone really had a choice however the reality of this is far different. There are many varying aspects involved when it comes to what we choose in life or what is embedded within us restricting other choices. These aspects I believe can cause real difficulties with regards to guidance as there are far more problem areas such as drug addiction, motivation etc that need to be considered before a positive transition can be made. Not an easy task to undertake!