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This paper explores approaches to assessing career learning. A distinction is drawn between formative and summative assessment, in terms of their underpinning philosophy, the learning theories that inform them, and the relative emphasis they place on process and outcome. Both approaches are considered valid. It is however argued that formative assessment is particularly suitable for evaluating career management skills, and that the use of career learning portfolios opens up opportunities for insightful reflection on one’s career development, and for career conversations with mentors. The paper concludes by highlighting practical, ethical, and equity issues related to the use of portfolios., peer-reviewed

A manifesto: from the Latin manifestum, meaning 'clear' or 'conspicuous', even 'blatantly obvious', as in "It is manifestly the case that the earth turns around the sun". Today it should be patently obvious that diversity is to be celebrated, and yet it is manifestly the case that we need a manifesto - a declaration of principles, a public statement of position - that has to be shouted out, affirmed, and fought for. Why? Because slowly and imperceptibly at first, but increasingly quickly and blatantly, we are sliding back towards fear of the Other, a fear that soon translates into rejection, vilification, and expulsion from our midst. The Spartans dashed the unwanted against the rocky slopes around their polis, and the children of Europa had their ship of fools, their ghettoes, and their asylums. Walls went up to keep the Other out, and walls within the walls to keep those inside, but unwanted, apart. Walls of all kinds and shapes and sizes: a yellow star, a tinkling bell, a label: it took years and years for us to learn .to break down those walls and live in peace in our family, in our clan, in our nation' in our global village. A long, long journey of learning - truly life-long, epochal learning. Learning to stand in awe of the Other in our midst, seen as an end, not as a means to an end, in front of whom we 'tremble' in response to the transcendent call for dignity and respect., peer-reviewed

In seinem zweiten Beitrag setzt sich Ronald G. Sultana einleitend mit dem Begriff "Kultur" und der komplexen Beziehung zwischen "Identität" und "Andersheit" auseinander. Mit Bezug auf Erkenntnisse und Einsichten der Critical Race Theory sieht er die Bildungs-, Berufs- und Laufbahnberatung gefordert, gängige Schlüsselkonzepte und Begriffe wie etwa "Laufbahn" oder "Wahl" zu hinterfragen. Auch betont er die Unabdingbarkeit von multikulturellen Erfahrungen und (Selbst-)Reflexivität für Laufbahnberatungsangebote im Kontext kultureller Diversität. Allerdings gibt es "Fallstricke", die kultursensible Beratungsangebote im Blick haben müssen. Sultana bietet anhand der Diskussion fünf solcher Fallstricke eine Reihe von weiterführenden Reflexionen für PraktikerInnen der Laufbahnberatung an. Christina Altenstraßer, Gergana Mineva und das kollektiv analysieren Widersprüche, innerhalb derer Bildungs- und Berufsberatung agiert, reflektieren Prozesse der Subjektwerdung im Kontext gesellschaftlicher Machtverhältnisse und Verwertungslogik und hinterfragen die Rolle der BeraterInnen in diesem Prozess. Sie identifizieren Reflexivität und Engagement gegen diskriminierende Strukturen als zentrale Aspekte professioneller und gesellschaftskritischer Beratung und plädieren für Irritation und politisches Handeln. Eingebettet in diese Fragestellungen und Positionierung präsentieren sie das Projekt "FAMME: Berufsbilder_Konstruktion und Dekonstruktion" und zeichnen den Entstehungsprozess eines Berufskartensets für die Bildungs- und Berufsberatung für MigrantInnen nach. Norbert Bichl erläutert die Bildungsstruktur jener Menschen, die in jüngerer Zeit nach Österreich zugewandert sind und informiert über den Ablauf von Anerkennungsprozessen von beruflichen und schulischen Ausbildungen und deren gesetzliche Grundlagen. Welche Hürden bei der Anerkennung von Bildungs- und Berufsabschlüssen von Zugewanderten in der Praxis existieren, stellen Martin Weichbold und Wolfgang Aschauer in ihrem gleichlautenden Beitrag dar: In einer qualitativen und quantitativen Studie untersuchten sie Anerkennungsverläufe ebenso wie Motive für den Verzicht auf Anerkennungsanträge. In einem anschaulichen Treppenmodell visualisieren sie förderliche und hinderliche Faktoren und, damit verbunden, unterschiedliche Verlaufspfade von beruflichen Karrieren von MigrantInnen. Migrare bietet als Zentrum für MigrantInnen in Oberösterreich seit über 30 Jahren muttersprachliche Beratung an. Nermina Imamovic stellt in ihrem Beitrag die breite Palette der Angebote und Projekte zur Berufs- und Bildungsberatung bei migrare vor. Sie geht dabei auf besondere Erfolge, etwa beim Einsatz des Kompetenzprofils nach CH-Q, ein, verweist aber auch auf Grenzen der Beratungsarbeit und strukturell bedingte Problemfelder.

In seinem Eröffnungsbeitrag bezieht Ronald G. Sultana Position für eine emanzipatorische, kritische und streitbare Bildungs-, Berufs- und Laufbahnberatung, die sich sozialer Gerechtigkeit verpflichtet sieht. Mit Bezug auf Zygmunt Baumans Begriff der "flüchtigen Moderne" arbeitet er die aktuelle Dominanz des "Soziale-Effizienz"-Diskurses gegenüber Entwicklungs- und Emanzipationszielen innerhalb der Laufbahnberatung heraus und umreißt den Spielraum emanzipatorischer Laufbahnberatung angesichts verschiedener Formen von Unterdrückung und Benachteiligung. Wolfgang Bliem thematisiert in seinem Beitrag relevante Veränderungsfaktoren der Arbeits- und Berufswelt sowie deren Auswirkungen auf den Qualifikationsbedarf und geht dabei auf die Bedeutung der "New Skills" ein. Ausgehend davon zeigt er mögliche Herausforderungen, aber auch Entwicklungsfelder für die Bildungs- und Berufsberatung auf. Diese liegen neben Themen wie Laufbahncoaching und Unterstützung zur Self-Guidance z. B. im Bereich neuer bzw. weiterentwickelter Kommunikationsformen wie E-Counselling und im Einsatz von Simulationen, um realistische Bilder von Berufen und Tätigkeiten zu vermitteln. Mit Bezug auf die vielfältigen Belastungsfaktoren, denen Bildungs- und BerufsberaterInnen in ihrer Arbeit ausgesetzt sind, legt Wolfgang Schüers in seinem Text mögliche Hilfestellungen dar. Dabei beleuchtet er insbesondere das Konzept der Achtsamkeit und beschreibt zum einen, was darunter zu verstehen ist, und gibt zum anderen konkrete praktische Anregungen, um Achtsamkeit im Beratungsalltag zu praktizieren. Wichtig ist ihm dabei, darauf hinzuweisen, dass achtsamkeitsbasierte Verfahren nur eine mögliche Unterstützungsform im Umgang mit dem zunehmenden Druck sind, die zugrunde liegenden strukturellen Widersprüche davon aber nicht tangiert werden.

This paper considers some of the debates surrounding the term competence and the relevance that these have for the development of competence frameworks. Such frameworks are increasingly on the agenda, since they purport to support training programme development, to identify competence gaps, to promote self-development, and to ensure common standards. This paper shows, however, that notions of competence have specific meanings in particular contexts, that they have been contested, and that they have fallen into and out of favour over time. The paper concludes by teasing out the implications that competing definitions of competence have for the guidance field., peer-reviewed

Liv Mjelde is well known in the field of vocational education for her defence of applied pedagogies such as apprenticeship and other workshop learning modes. In a number of important articles (Mjelde 1984, 1987, 1994) and in a fulllength book (Mjelde, 1993) she has contested the pervasiveness and hegemonic quality of what she refers to as the 'academic pedagogic tradition' which became entrenched in Western educational systems with the introduction of comprehensive schooling. Mjelde has argued - and has consistently built on empirical bases, often with reference to the Norwegian and Scandinavian contexts - that that form of learning which involves moving from the practical to the abstract holds great promise as a pedagogic alternative to other, more common, forms of representation of knowledge. Accepting the Marxian critique regarding the destructive nature of the division of labour, Mjelde has argued for a 'polytechnic' education where the three elements of workshop learning, vocational/technical trainil1g and general education come together in order to facilitate the development of an all-rounded, fully developed human being. \;Ve can distinguish various elements in this discourse of hope that Mjelde weaves. In the first instance, workshop learning, or learning by doing, resonates with the cognitive and cultural needs and styles of that group of students who are most often disillusioned bv traditional schoolino J 0' namely the working class. While the academic learning tradition excludes these pupils and proceeds to label them as 'unmotivated' or 'nonachieving', the learning by doing approach builds on the interests and experiences of the same students and succeeds in reigniting curiosity and the will to learn. This, in turn, holds out other promises which Mjelde articulates with reference to a variety of educational discourses. We can distinguish the discourse of utilitarianism or economic efficiency, since the presumed ability of workshop learning to reintegrate potential drop-outs into the education and training enterprise has important consequences for the development of a country's human resources. But there is another strand of educational discourse which emerges even more powerfully in Mjelde's writing, one linked much more closely to the emancipatory dynamic in leftwing, progressive social thought. For Mjelde believes that a true education does not distinguish between hand and mind, and her conception of vocational education as an alternative pedagogic mode strives to bridge the gap that is so endemic, and so functional, to the division of labour in capitalist economies. One could point out that Mjelde's position is not particularly novel. Indeed, various governments, from the right and the left political spectrum, have, from the nineteenth century onwards, looked towards vocational forms of education in order to meet the challenges identified by Mjelde and, therefore, to satisfy economic, e(~uc8.tional and ideological goals. Mjelde herself conjures up the ghosts of Krupskaya, Dewey, Freinet and Kerschensteiner in order to draw connections between her project and theirs. But I would argue that what Mjelde is making a case for has increasing relevance in a world where there is widespread consensus that general education is the best form of vocational education (see Sultana, 1992), and where there is, therefore, a tendency for the academic pedagogic tradition to prevail. Mjelde's position also serves to resurrect normative issues - such as those dealing with equity and social justice - in a sphere of educational discourse which has often been constructed in 'purely' technocratic terms. Her work therefore has the virtue of connecting with current European and worldwide preoccupations regarding vocational training and retraining, while at the same time reconstructing the agenda in more than economistic terms. In other words, Mjelde's work carries that most enticing promise of making morality pragmatic. Even the industrial agenda, so often opposed to the democratic imperative by educational writers ranging from Dewey (1915) to Carnoy and Levin (1985), is reconciled with progressive thought given the requirements of a post-Fordist economy for an educated, skilled and flexible workforce where the many faceted human being has an opportunity to develop to the full. Indeed, a post-Fordist economy represents a challenge to traditional pedagogies and, according to Mjelde, is a justification for her strongest claim: that the workshop model becomes the foundation for all learning. Mjelde is here in tune with other educational theorists, such as Brown and Lauder (1991) and Young (1993), who see post-Fordism as an economic context whose implications for educational systems include the transcendence of the traditional dichotomy between education and work, between academic and vocational pedagogic traditions. Her distinctive position lies in the fact that she locates this resolution of opposing traditions in the camp of vocational education., peer-reviewed

When teachers approach their first experience of classroom interaction, they often tend to focus on curricula , syllabi , schemes of work, educational technology, and the various challenges that have to be faced in teaching a group of around thirty different students who, though having the same age , are characterised by distinct personalities, abilities, aptitudes, interests and levels of motivation. The pedagogical encounter in this sense is very challenging indeed: decisions have to be made regarding what to teach, when to teach, how to teach and to whom. As teachers, we have to decide about the pace of the delivery of the lesson, how and when to involve students in participatory interactions, when to use small and large group teaching and so on. There are issues of discipline and order in the classroom, as there are ethical dilemmas that need to be resolved, related to all the aspects of the teaching-learning encounters mentioned above. There are also issues concerning not only relationships with students, but also relationships with policy-makers, colleagues, parents, and the wider community. All this takes place in a context of uncertainty, to the extent that no recipe answers exist to that perennial question: how does a good teacher teach? Individuals and human, interactive contexts are far too complex, and it is therefore difficult if not impossible to predict responses and reactions in any communicative situation. Indeed, it is this very complexity that legitimizes teachers' claim that their work constitutes a 'profession', given the inadequacy' of fixed responses to pedagogical challenges. Teachers can only be good workers by reflecting carefully on their own experience, and by drawing on their baggage of theoretical understandings so that they can improve as they go about their task. But among this uncertainty of shifting foundations for human interaction, there is one context which is crucial and which is perhaps slightly more predictable and rather more subject to direct manipulation , and that is school and classroom architecture. The physical or material context in which teaching takes place is the most obvious, and unfortunately the least referred to - at least in local educational research - among the variables that have an influence on the pedagogical encounter. The fact that parents are so sensitive to the state of repair of school buildings does indicate, however, the extent to which there is a popular understanding of the link between teaching, and the context in which it is carried out. Let me explain what I am referring to by 'material context' before I proceed to examine what I am here calling 'the architecture of pedagogical encounters'., N/A