Using quality criteria for practice-based research in a study of career guidance dialogues

Mariëlle Rutten, researcher (m.rutten@kpcgroep.nl)Anje Ros, KPC Groep & Fontys HogescholenMarinka Kuijpers, Haagse Hogeschool

program

Goal: finding out ways to balance between the scientific quality criteria and the usefulness quality criteria

• Introduction research career guidance dialogue

• Observational instrument for scientific research & practice based research

• Quality criteria for Practice Based Research (Anje Ros)

• Work with the criteria for Practice Based Research

• Reflections by Marinka Kuijpers

Why research on Career Guidance?

- changing labor markets

- from employment to employability

- aging population; a need for participation

History Career Theory

Theory: Career Construction TheoryIndividuals:• construct their careers by imposing meaning on

their vocational behavior and occupational experiences.

• impose meaning in a dialogue with the environment

• maintain employability and manage their careers through adaptability, intentionality, life-long learning,and autobiographical reasoning.

Savickas (2005, 2011)

Why research on Career Guidance Dialogue?• Individual counseling or guidance dialogues are effective

(Savickas, 2005; Richard, 2005; Kuijpers, Meijers & Gundy, 2011; Meijers, Kuijpers, Winters, 2010)

• But what is an effective career guidance dialogue?• What do teachers need to learn?- talking with the student (instead of against)- focus on reflection on experience- focus on talents and opportunities(Mittendorff, Brok, Beijaard, 2010;Kuijpers, 2008)

Autobiographical reasoning

New model for career counseling and guidance dialogues (Savickas, 2011):

• (a) construct career through small stories;

• (b) deconstruct and reconstruct the small stories into a large story; and

• (c) co-construct the next episode in the story.

Research Question

• To what extent does the proces of autobiographical reasoning take place in a career guidance dialogue between teacher and student in vocational education?

• What kind of interventions does the teacher show that contribute to the process of autobiographical reasoning?

Levels of representation (Riessman, 2002) – methodological choices

PRIMARY EXPERIENCE

ATTENDING

TELLING

TRANSCRIBING

ANALYZING

READING

(Video-camera)

recordings

what is said

Autobiograph. reasoning

Workshop participants

Career guidance dialogue between teacher & student

Data collection• Teachers professionalised in having a career guidance dialogue that

focuses on concrete experiences and future actions and plans

• Video-recordings of dialogues the teachers had as part of the process of professionalisation. Recordings were made volentarily.

• Teachers in vocational education in different grades at different moments in the school-year. The teachers choose the moment of recording. The teacher also choose the student.

Analysis

• Selected one observation in which I recognized different aspects of autobiographical reasoning

• Made a transcript

• Started trying to identify small story, large story, next episode

• Started to look closer at the different stories

• Code system used in narrative analyses

• Coded teacher intervention for different parts of autobiographical reasoning

• Used the developed code system in two other transcripts of observations

The observational instrument: Small story

(- Summary)

- Orientation

- Task

- Action

- Result

- Reflection

(- Connection to other stories)

Observational instrument: teacher interventions

• Explaining procedure

• Initial questions

• Supplementary questions

• Confronting

• Repeating

• Confirming

• Concluding

• Giving advice

• Compliment

Case ‘beauty consultant’

• Teacher male, student female

• Final year of primary vocational education

• Short, first part of the career guidance dialogue

Assignment 1

Practise based question:

What kind of interventions does the teacher show that contribute to the process of autobiographical reasoning?

Theoritical question:

To what extent does the proces of autobiographical reasoning take place in a career guidance dialogue?

1. Make a choice: practice based or theoretical?

2. Start coding the transcript

3. Discuss with your neighbour: difficulties you had in coding, questions raised during coding & answers you found to the questions below

Reflections

Preliminary results:Theory:• Several different small stories are constructed; one or two stories are

talked about in a more extensive way• Small stories are about student experiences and about experiences

of people he/she knows• Constructing Big Story; making connections between different

stories• Big story: several possible future directions • The next episode: short term plans and actions are articulated

Practice:• Supplementary questions help the student to tell the story• Making connections between stories explicit• Compliments• Repeating and confirming to agree on the meaning• Suggesting several future directions and short term actions• Giving advice (telling their own story)

Gap between theory and practice

Research in education has had a disappointing impact on educational practice

Schools Scientists

researchDifficult articles

Results are not convincing

No holistic view, context is neglected

No practical recommendations

No access

Only publications in scientific

magazines count

Schools lack Body of knowledge

No translation of results to interventions and tools

Schools choose ad hoc solutions

Quality criteria

Quality criteria: scientific research standards Usefulness standards

Standards are … Competing values: tension between the scientific and

practically relevant standards No ‘hard criteria’ which can be used for assessing

which studies are the best

Scientific research standards

Internal validity: results are reliable and accurate for the phenomena that are being studied

External validity: the results derived from the data in the sample is also applicable for the whole population

Accountability: transparency and explicitness in design and in the report

Cumulatively: build on the findings and knowledge of prior studies of their own and of other researchers

Usefulness standards

Comprehensibility: results must be comprehensible and accessible for schools

Acceptance and legitimacy: processes and results should be experienced as true, relevant and legitimate for the users

Learning opportunities: the study should deliver clues, suggestions and tools that are helpful for schools for problem-solving

Assignment 2Step 1:Group 1 Theory • how to contribute to the body of knowledge of career theory?• how to change the design to improve meeting the scientific criteria?

Group 2 Practice • how to contribute to the improvement of career guidance practice in

schools?• how to change the design to improve meeting the usefullness criteria?

Step 2:Exchanging results

Main conclusions?

Reflections….

ReferencesKuijpers, M., Meijers, F., Gundy, C. (2011). The relationship between learning

environment and career competenties of students in vocational education. Journal of Vocational Behavior 78, 21-30.

Kuijpers, M.(2008). Loopbaandialoog: over leren kiezen (en) leren praten. In Kuijpers, M. & Meijers, F.(2008). Loopbaanleren. Onderzoek en praktijk in het onderwijs. Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: Garant.

Meijers, F, Kuijpers, M., Winters, A. (2010). Leren Kiezen, Kiezen leren. Een literatuurstudie. In opdracht van het Expertisecentrum Beroepsonderwijs (www.ecbo.nl)

Mittendorff, K., Brok, P. den, Beijaard, D.(2010). Career conversations in vocational schools, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 38 (2), 143-165

Riessman, C. K. (2002) Narrative Analysis. In: A.M. Huberman & M.B. Miles (Eds.), The qualitative researcher’s companion (p.217-270). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Savickas, M.L. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Career Construction. In: Brown, S.D., & Lent, R.W. (Eds.). Career development and counselling. Putting theory and research to work. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Savickas, M.L. (2011). New questions for vocational psychology: Premises, paradigms, and practices. Journal of Career Assessment, 19(3), 251-258.