Moving Forward--Shaping a Career Development Culture: Quality Standards, Quality Practice, Quality Outcomes
Author: McMahon, Mary
Date: 2004-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Career Development,Career Guidance,National Standards,Definitions,Vocabulary,Professional Associations,Counselors,Counselor Certification,Group Membership,Stakeholders,Role,Ethics,Professional Development,Competence

This paper represents the second of two papers written as part of the National Standards and Accreditation of Career Practitioners project. The first, a scoping paper titled Shaping a career development culture: Quality standards, quality practice, quality outcomes (McMahon, 2004), provided information for and guided discussion at the National Forum for Career Practitioners held in Sydney on 25-26 August 2004. The purpose of the scoping paper was to: (1) identify current standards guiding career practitioners in Australia; (2) review international work on standards including examples of best practice and advise on how this work might be relevant to the development of national standards and accreditation in the Australian context; (3) be informed by outcomes of national workshops, forums, and conferences 2000-2004; (4) identify the current membership requirements of professional career associations and bodies both nationally and internationally;   (5) assess how prior learning or qualifications might be recognised and developed to fit within and meet the requirements of the quality standards; and (6) identify the issues that need to be addressed in the development of national standards. The National Forum for Career Practitioners began the consultation phase of the project. Participation in the Forum was by invitation, and invitees represented the stakeholder groups identified in the scoping paper. Represented at the Forum were groups as diverse as career practitioners, career practitioner associations, CICA (Career Industry Council of Australia), policy makers, consumers/clients, parents, training providers, business and industry, employers of career practitioners, and service providers. During the Forum, group work and discussion were based on issues identified in the scoping paper. Individual and group responses, opinions, ideas and suggestions were recorded during the Forum on activity sheets that were then collated (McCowan, 2004). It was not intended to bring closure on any items raised during the Forum, but rather to open up issues for the next phase of the consultation process to be managed by Miles Morgan Australia (McCowan). The present paper serves as a record of the Forum discussion, and as a bridge between the scoping paper, the Forum, and the consultation phase of the project. Four sets of issues were presented in the scoping paper and discussed at the Forum, specifically: (1) industry membership and associated terminology; (2) the development and implementation of the quality standards; (3) the administration, management and maintenance of the standards; and (4) the role of stakeholder groups. Each issue will now be discussed. First, a brief background to the issue as described in the scoping paper will be presented. This will be followed by an outline of the Forum process and a summary of the discussion. Finally, issues that may warrant further exploration in the consultancy process will be discussed where possible by drawing on the case studies presented in the scoping paper. Where appropriate, comments made by Forum participants will be included in quotation marks. Appended are: (1) Comparison of ethical codes; (2) Comparison of models of continuing professional development; (3) Comparison of competencies; and (4) Timeline developed by a Forum participant. (Contains 2 tables.) [For the first report, &quot;Scoping Paper--Shaping a Career Development Culture: Quality Standards, Quality Practice, Quality Outcomes,&quot; see ED536209.]