Adult Careers Guidance Conference Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 10:45

The vital role of career guidance to help adults to make informed choices for their learning, work and wider lives has long been recognised, and has attracted growing attention from policy makers in recent years. In times of rapid change and uncertainty, the need for effective career guidance to support individual decision making and progression for adults becomes greater still.

NIACE, in partnership with NAEGA, held a conference in London on Tuesday 21 June, which discussed how career guidance policy and practice can meet the needs of all adults throughout their lives in a changing and challenging economic and social climate. The conference discussed what lessons can be learned from innovative and integrated approaches that have been successfully developed in England and elsewhere in Europe.

NIACE's central concern is that the wider reform context, the unpredictability of the economy, the needs of individual adults and front-line adult career guidance practitioners are all effectively balanced alongside government policy priorities in the development of the new all-age service for both young people and adults, which is due to start in 2012.

Helen Plant, Lead Officer Adult Careers Guidance at NIACE, said:

"Adults from all walks of life require the support of high-quality career guidance that reflects their individual circumstances if they are to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead. It will be critical to ensure not only that the needs of adults are not marginalised within the new all-age careers service, but also that the nature, range and design of provision can deliver accessible and coherent support. In shaping adult career guidance for a new era, the needs of adults must be at the heart of service development."

"This conference will reconfirm the original values and goals of adult career guidance as well as reflect on its role and potential in a changing economy and within a culture of significant government reform. NIACE working alongside NAEGA presents an opportunity for two organisations, collectively, to highlight what we regard as key issues for consideration in the development of adult career guidance services. It will provide the basis of a dialogue between us and the learning and guidance sector, the results of which will inform our policy and advocacy work."