A Dynamic Model of Career Choice Development

In modern society many hierarchical and time-related career development models have been proposed. Key to these models is the need to go through a career choice process in a specific order and according to a pre-set timing in order to achieve a good career decision. Recent theories lend support to some doubts about the extent to which these models are actually able to comply with reality. A new framework of thought is proposed a dynamic model for career choice development. At the centre of this model is the idea of arriving at a decision after a flexible and non-hierarchical development process. Some consideration is given to what is needed to test the model and on possible consequences for career guidance practice.

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Résumé. Un modèle dynamique du développement du choix professionnel.Dans la société moderne, de nombreux modèles hiérarchiques ont été proposés qui intégraient la dimension temporelle du développement de la vie professionnelle. Un élément clé de ces modèles est la nécessité de passer par un processus de choix vocationnel dans un ordre spécifique donné, qui obéit à de séquences temporelles déterminées afin qu’une bonne décision vocationnelle soit prise. Les théories récentes mettent quelque peu en doute la pertinence de ces modèles par rapport à la réalité. On propose ici un nouveau cadre de pensée un modèle dynamique pour le développement du choix vocationnel. Au centre de ce modèle il y a l’idée que l’on arrive à une décision après un processus de développement flexible et non-hiérarchisé. Quelques réflexions sont proposées sur ce qu’il est nécessaire de faire pour tester le modèle et sur les conséquences possibles pour la pratique en matière de conseils d’orientation vocationnelle.Zusammenfassung. Ein dynamisches Modell der Berufsentscheidungsvorbereitung.In der modernen Gesellschaft wurden viele hierarchische und auf Zeitabläufe bezogene Berufswahlmodelle vorgeschlagen. Kern dieser Modelle ist die Notwendigkeit, einen Berufswahlprozess in einer bestimmten Reihenfolge und nach einem bestimmten Zeitplan zu durchlaufen, um zu guten Berufswahlentscheidungen zu kommen. Aktuelle Theorien nähren allerdings die Zweifel daran, in welchem Ausmaß derartige Modelle der Realität entsprechen. Ein neuer gedanklicher Rahmen wird hier vorgeschlagen Ein dynamisches Berufswahl-Modell. Im Mittelpunkt dieses Modells steht die Idee, nach einem flexiblen und nicht-hierarchischen Entwicklungsprozess zu Berufswahlentscheidungen zu kommen. Es werden einige Überlegungen angestellt, unter welchen Voraussetzungen dieses Modell überprüft werden könnte, und was die möglichen Konsequenzen für die Beratungspraxis sein könnten.Resumen. Un Modelo Dinámico del Desarrollo de la Elección de Carrera.En la sociedad moderna se han propuesto muchos modelos del desarrollo de la carrera jerárquicos y basados en un orden temporal concreto. Lo que caracteriza a estos modelos es que el proceso de elección debe seguir un orden específico y una temporalización concreta para llegar a tomar decisiones adecuadas. Hay teorías recientes que vienen a apoyar algunos de los interrogantes sobre el grado en el que estos modelos realmente se ajustan a la realidad. Se propone un nuevo marco para la reflexión un modelo dinámico del desarrollo de la elección de la carrera. La idea central en este modelo es que se llega a tomar una decisión a través de un proceso de desarrollo flexible y no jerárquico. Se plantean algunas reflexiones sobre lo que se necesita para validar empíricamente el modelo y las posibles consecuencias para la práctica de la orientación para la carrera.

     

The Work-based Learning Route in the Netherlands and in England: Comparing ideas and meanings

The paper provides the outcomes of two small-scale sets of interviews carried out in the Netherlands and in England on views about and interpretations of the work-based route for young people. In the light of current revival of interest in work-based learning for young people, and in particular the apprenticeship model in England, I was particularly interested in the issue of parity of esteem between the work-based route and other routes. Whereas in the Netherlands the focus for the development of Vocational Education and Training (VET) is on the full-time vocational route, which has a reasonably high status, England has opted for the apprenticeship route to be the development tool for high quality VET. The paper explores what we can learn about our own experiences in England in the light of what is happening elsewhere (Raffe, 1998; Raffe et al ., 1999). It becomes clear from the data obtained that policy development in the Netherlands aims to increase the status of work-based learning through incorporating the route into the full-time route and providing end qualifications that can be achieved through either a full-time college-based route or through a work-based learning route. The modern apprenticeship route or work-based learning route as such has not a high status, contrary to what is sometimes claimed to be the case. In England, the aim of policymakers is to create a work-based learning route, which is considered to be a high quality route, and is comparable to the general/academic route. The paper shows that there are various reasons as to why this attempt might fail. Both countries aim to provide a 'ladder' or 'column' of opportunities in VET. The research shows that very few young people in fact move up a ladder, but rather move into work-based learning or apprenticeships at certain points on the continuum, and subsequently move sideways into general or theoretical provision in order to be able to progress higher up. Target groups for work-based learning are different at the lower end from those at levels 3, 4 and 5. Very few participants in either country move from level 1 up to level 4 through participation in a work-based route, and it may therefore be appropriate to talk about the provision of a climbing framework, where young people move backwards and forwards and sideways, rather than about a ladder of opportunities.     

Distraction Effects of Background Soap Operas on Homework Performance: An experimental study enriched with observational data

An experiment was conducted to examine the impact of background soap operas on homework performance and time. Students in grade eight (aged 14) ( n =192) did paper-and-pencil and memorisation assignments with two types of soap opera episodes in the background, or the soundtrack of soap operas, or no medium. In each condition, half of the students were observed. Results indicated that students in the television conditions performed worse and used more time than students in the control condition. No significant differences were found between the audio-only and control conditions. Observational data showed that the extension of time in the television conditions was completely due to the fact that students used time to look at the screen. Although the television did not reduce time spent looking at the task, performance did decrease, probably because the alternation of resources between homework and television led to less thorough processing of the assignments.     

AN ITERATIVE ITEM BIAS DETECTION METHOD

Two strategies for assessing item bias are discussed: methods that compare (transformed) item difficulties unconditional on ability level and methods that compare the probabilities of correct response conditional on ability level. In the present study, the logit model was used to compare the probabilities of correct response to an item by members of two groups, these probabilities being conditional on the observed score. Here the observed score serves as an indicator of ability level. The logit model was iteratively applied: In the Tth iteration, the T items with the highest value of the bias statistic are excluded from the test, and the observed score indicator of ability for the (T + 1)th iteration is computed from the remaining items. This method was applied to simulated data. The results suggest that the iterative logit method is a substantial improvement on the noniterative one, and that the iterative method is very efficient in detecting biased and unbiased items.     

Emulation for Digital Preservation in Practice:the Results

In recent years, opinions have varied on which digital preservation strategy to follow. Although the digital preservation community has now embraced the idea of applying both emulation as well as migration in their strategies, emulation is still looked upon with skepticism due to its technical complexity and initial costs. As early as in 2004, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek - National Library of the Netherlands (KB) - and National Archive of the Netherlands acknowledged the need for emulation, especially for rendering complex digital objects in the future without affecting their authenticity and integrity. For these reasons, a project was started to investigate the feasibility of emulation by developing and testing an emulator designed for digital preservation purposes. In July 2007 this project ended and delivered a durable x86 component based computer emulator: Dioscuri, the emulator for digital preservation.     

Ethnic-Specific Achievement in Dutch Higher Education

This study investigates the extent to which ethnic-specific differences occur in higher education and the underlying factors behind them. The research sample was made up of about 7,000 students at universities in the Netherlands. The authors established that ethnic-specific differ ences in achievement do indeed exist, even after background variables such as sex have been corrected. Structural modeling shows that prior education, financial (income) factors, and effort have a significant impact on study success.     

Developing Performance Standards for Teacher Assessment by Policy Capturing

There is a need for assessment of teachers' competencies fostered by a growing attention given to accountability and quality improvement. Important questions are how good the demonstrated competencies of teachers should be for a satisfying assessment and how the different competencies should be weighted. Using a policy capturing method, in two rounds, nine stakeholders developed performance standards (or cut-off scores) for teacher assessment on eight criteria (or content standards) that resulted from an earlier study. Between the rounds, the panellists held a structured group discussion. Policy capturing proved to be a clear and useful method generating consistent judgements that can be described according to both a compensatory model and a conjunctive model. From the first to the second round, the consistency increased. However, while the panellists agreed to a substantial degree on the performance standards, they disagreed on the weights to be assigned to the criteria.     

Participant Change During an EPDA Institute: Personality,Attitudinal, and Learning Dimensions

This article reports a study of personality, attitude, and cognitive changes in experienced pupil personnel workers who participated in a retraining experience at an EPDA Institute. The subjects were from Detroit Metropolitan Area schools that have a large percentage of disadvantaged pupils. The program offered an interdisciplinary approach since its designers believe that traditional approaches are inadequate for disadvantaged youth. Measures were taken of cognitive, attitudinal, and personality need changes in the subjects over two summers and a part-time academic year. Significant overall content learnings were found, while the most drastic attitudinal changes took place in understanding. The subjects differed from entering counselor trainees and demonstrated more understanding responses than students enrolled in administration.     

Predictors for grade 6 reading in children at familial risk of dyslexia

The present study investigates whether grade 6 reading outcomes, reading fluency, and reading comprehension can be predicted by grade 3 reading fluency, familial risk of dyslexia (FR), and grade 3 reading related skills: rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological awareness (PA), and vocabulary. In a sample of 150 children, of whom 83 had a parent with dyslexia, correlation and regression analyses were performed. FR, measured on a continuous scale, was by itself related to all outcomes. However, FR did not explain any variance on top of grade 3 reading fluency. Grade 3 reading fluency strongly predicted grade 6 reading fluency and was also related to reading comprehension. RAN improved the prediction of grade 6 reading fluency, though the additional explained variance was small. Vocabulary and PA fully explained the variance that grade 3 reading fluency explained in grade 6 reading comprehension. Vocabulary explained a substantial amount of variance in grade 6 reading comprehension making it an interesting clinical target. As we used continuous measures of reading fluency and FR, our findings are not biased by distinct diagnostic criteria.