Tag: professional development

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Do actions and methods in guidance for older workers exist in Spain?

Authors: María José López Sánchez and José Antonio Belso Martinez, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche

Summary:  Older people suffer discrimination in the labour market, in that their chances of finding employment if they lose their jobs are small, and the longer someone is out of the labour market, the harder it is to return. Although they often do possess the technical and transferrable skills required, these are not always recognised. Those who remain in work also encounter discrimination. They are unlikely to receive ongoing training and encouragement for career development, especially if their existing skills and qualifications are at a low level.

This paper is focusing on the Spanish situation, looking at the actions and methods in careers guidance for older workers. For this purpose 52 websites of Spanish trade unions were visited during 2010. Using the main findings of 131 questionnaires from 48 employers’ organisations, 41 trade unions and 28 public employment services from across the country, we look at guidance from a macro and micro perspective: how guidance is provided and who the main beneficiaries are.

We conclude that in the Spanish labour context, there is a specific need to improve the coordination and effective publicity regarding existing guidance services and their accessibility. Evidence shows that those who make least use of the careers guidance services are the older workers aged 50 to 55 years, and no special attention is given to meeting their needs.

Keywords: Old workers, careers guidance, active labour market policies, social partners, Spain

 

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 54_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Competent coppers: an analysis of the standards and practices of adult education within the Australian Federal Police

Author: Michelle Berzins, Doctoral candidate, University of Canberra

Edition: Volume 45, Number 2, July 2005

Summary:  The paper examines how the educational environment within the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has changed over their 25 year history. The case study was used as a methodological framework through which content analysis and interviews were conducted. It was found that due to the changing nature of their profession, the involvement of police personnel in ongoing personal and professional development is essential. Further, the educational environment fostered within the AFP was found to be one that keeps abreast of general advances in education, encourages further education of their personnel and delivers quality adult education through its accreditation as a Registered Training Organisation and a provider of nationally approved VET courses.

Keywords: AFP, Australian Federal Police, professional development, personnel, accreditation, RTO

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Professional development for professionals: beyond sufficiency learning

Author/s: Gerald A. Murphy and Bruce A. Calway

Edition: Volume 48, Number 3, November 2008

Summary: We question the current role of professional associations in developing a culture of learning beyond a sufficiency or competency level. This brings into question the underlying philosophy of Professional Standards legislation. This legislation mandates continuing professional development for professionals without stating what should be achieved and how to achieve it. Professional development for professionals is influenced by the twin economic requirements of work-readiness and risk minimisation. These requirements, while important, do not necessarily account for career development of individual professionals needing to deal with complex and ill-structured paradigms. Therefore the paper argues the need for professional associations to develop learning environments which enable the effective continuing career development of professionals and sets out the essential elements for this learning environment – for example, work-integrated learning, contextualised constructivism and self-directed learning. The paper also discusses the potential within professional associations to develop cultures and communities for learning.

Keywords: professional development, work-readiness, risk minimisation, work-integrated learning, contextualised constructivism, self-directed learning

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Formal and informal learning opportunities in government organisations: Experiences of public sector employees from six Asian nations

Author/s: Intan A. Mokhtar

Edition: Volume 50, Number 2, July 2010

Summary: Lifelong learning and professional development have been the focus of government organisations after the 21st  century was declared the ‘learning century’, amidst the impact of globalisation and growth of knowledge-based economies. Although lifelong learning and professional development opportunities are available in most government organisations, the conditions for civil servants to take up such opportunities differ across organisations and, even more so, across countries. In addition, the expectations of learning and development from such opportunities also vary, with some organisations focusing on specific work-based competencies, others on formal education and qualifications. However, lifelong learning and professional development in government organisations seldom include informal learning, which forms a part of daily leisure time yet involves human capital enhancement that indirectly impacts work performance. Informal learning, which is facilitated by individual information literacy competencies that involve information search, retrieval, evaluation and use in varying contexts, is largely for personal development rather than economic efficiency, but is equally important in developing effective individuals and knowledge workers. In this exploratory study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 civil servants from six Asian countries to elicit their experiences with regard to lifelong learning policies and professional development opportunities in their respective government organisations, expectations of learning and development from such opportunities, as well as provisions for informal learning opportunities. Shared characteristics as well as distinct differences across the interviewees’ organisations and countries are discussed. Finally, recommendations based on these similarities and differences are made specifically to encourage government organisations to review existing lifelong learning policies and professional development opportunities available to civil servants.

Keywords: lifelong learning, informal learning, formal learning, government, learning century, professional development, work-based competency, Asian, policies

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.