Beroepsvoorligtingsbehoeftes by 'n skool in 'n agtergestelde gemeenskap

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the career counselling needs at a school in a deprived community. High School learners form part of the future workforce that will influence this country's economy. Therefore it is necessary to focus on the development of a workforce that has the basic skills. Career counselling is therefore seen as the field of education by means of which these skills need to be addressed, but to present successful career counselling, the needs of the learners and teachers have to be taken into consideration. The staff and pupils of a Secondary School from a deprived community in Potchefstroom were used for the purposes of this study. The group consisted of 15 participants in total, of which 10 were pupils (6 girls and 4 boys) in grades 10 to 12, and 5 teachers (4 ladies and 1 gentleman). In order to determine the participants' experiences with regard to Career Counselling, qualitative research methodology was used by means of phenomenological principles in interviews. A specific effort was made to give an account of the extent and nature of this need, as well as to determine what the pupils' needs for Career Counselling are and what the limitations are for the teacher regarding career counselling. The results showed that pupils see career counselling as important and that they have a need for this field of education, that the current career education sessions at school do not fulfil their needs for career guidance, that learners indicate that they have specific needs regarding career guidance, that their peers show indifference towards receiving career guidance and also that their career choices are influenced by their home backgrounds. Furthermore the results showed that the teachers acknowledge the importance of career counselling at schools, the need for better career guidance, that certain factors exist that influence career guidance in a negative way and also that they have specific needs regarding career guidance.