Policy to enhance career guidance in secondary schools in vietnam case study of 3 secondary schools in hanoi

In the document of the Ninth National Party Congress, it was stated that the schools need "to attach great importance to career guidance and the streaming of high school students, prepar

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY -

NGUYEN VAN ANH

POLICY TO ENHANCE CAREER GUIDANCE IN

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN VIETNAM:

CASE STUDY OF 3 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN HANOI

MASTER'S THESIS

Hanoi, 2018

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY -

NGUYEN VAN ANH

POLICY TO ENHANCE CAREER GUIDANCE IN

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN VIETNAM:

CASE STUDY OF 3 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN HANOI

MAJOR: PUBLIC POLICY

SUPERVISORS:

Ph.D NGUYEN THUY ANH Assistant Professor KAWAGUCHI JUN

Hanoi, 2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

During the period of conducting the research, I have received the kind and careful supervision of Ph.D Nguyen Thuy Anh and Associate Professor Kawaguchi Jun I have started the consultations even before the internship to Japan and have changed the topic once I would like to extend my great gratitude to my supervisors for their expertise, kindness and patience

This thesis is made possible with the supports of the Japanese and Vietnamese professors especially Prof Fujimoto, Prof Hara, Prof Okamoto Naohisa, Prof Vu Hoang Linh, Prof Katsura Ryotaro I would like to thank you for your consistent feedbacks and support for my thesis I would also like to thank our administrative assistants Ms Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong and Ms Pham Thi Thu Ha for their consistent and thorough assistance in the internship in Japan and during the two years in Viet Nam Japan University

Lastly, I cannot express enough gratitude to JICA, University of Tsukuba staff and coordinators for your wonderful support and cooperation both in Vietnam and in Japan I have become a much better person with more perspectives thanks to your efforts

I would send my deepest thanks to my parents, my parents-in-law, cousins, husband, classmates and friends for sharing this time with me and helping me through with their kind words of encouragement

ABSTRACT

Vietnam is integrating in the world economy and following closely with Industrial Revolution 4.0 The increase in the use of knowledge, high skills and technology has caused a change in the labor market Demand for high-skilled labor increases significantly compared to medium and low-skilled labor World education is also changing to incorporate more skill training and career guidance to assist the students in guaranteeing employment in the future However, the education in Vietnam is not paying much attention to career guidance, especially in secondary schools After secondary schools, the students have to decide whether to attend vocational training or go on to high school This study makes use of qualitative tools and the concept of self-efficacy to understand the difficulties the students face when making a career decision, the obstacles the school encounter when implementing career guidance policy Lastly, observation tool is used to study the teacher-student interaction in a class and determine the elements that drive their motivation

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Problem statement 7

1.3 Purpose of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND 9

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 9

2.1 Conceptual framework on career decision making 10

2.1.1 Relationship between personal identity and career decision-making 10 2.1.2 Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System—Secondary 10

2.1.3Career decision-making self-efficacy 12

2.2 Career guidance in Vietnam 15

2.2.1 Legal framework 15

2.2.2 Content of career guidance 21

2.3 International experience in career guidance 23

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 26

3.1 Rationales for using a qualitative approach and an observation method 26

3.2 Population of the research 29

3.3 Design of the research 32

3.3.1 Sample 32

3.3.2 Research instruments 34

3.4 Data collection and data analysis 35

3.4.1 Data collection 35

3.4.2 Data analysis 36

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 38

4.1 Career decision-making 38

4.2 Implementation of existing career guidance policies 45

4.3 Teacher-student interaction in a career guidance lesson 49

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION 56

5.1 Policy implications 56

5.2 Limitation and implication for future research 60

REFERENCE 62

APPENDIX A 70

APPENDIX B 72

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

TABLE 2.1 VIETNAM CAREER GUIDANCE LEGAL FRAMEWORK 16

TABLE 2.2LESSONS IN THE CURRENT CAREER GUIDANCE PROGRAM 22

TABLE 3.1BACKGROUND OF THREE TARGETED SECONDARY SCHOOL 29

TABLE 3.2PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS 30

TABLE 3.3GENERAL PROFILE OF THE STUDENTS RECRUITED AS INFORMANTS 33

TABLE 4.1SAMPLE CAREER GUIDANCE LESSON DESIGN 49

FIGURE 2.1CLASSROOM LEARNING ASSESSMENT SCORING SYSTEM -SECONDARY 11

Digital technology with computer hardware, software and networking in its structure is not new, but after a period of stagnation with the third industrial revolution, it has become increasingly more complex, and as a result is transforming the global economy This is why Prof Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), named this stage as the title of their 2014 book "Second Computer Age‖ (McAfee & Brynjolfsson, 2014) They declare that the world will reach a turning point where the influence of these digital technologies will be demonstrated by "all powers" through automation and the creation of things that we have not seen before

Although technology has potential positive effects on economic growth, there are still possible negative impacts, at least in the short run, on the labor market Concerns about the impact of technology on employment are not new In 1931, economist John Maynard Keynes warned of widespread

technological unemployment "due to our inventions of measures to maximize the use of labor beyond the speed at which we can find a new way to employ workers (Keynes, 1931) This has been proven wrong, but what if it is correct right now? Over the past few years, debates have been triggered by the phenomenon of computers replacing some of the work, especially accounting, treasurer and telephone operator

The reasons why the new technological revolution will be more volatile than the technological revolutions previously mentioned are: speed (everything is going on rapidly) and scope (many fundamental changes are happening at the same time), and the complete transformation of the whole system

Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the growth of knowledge economy have brought a change in the state of the job market worldwide The job market now demands better skills and abilities thus put a pressure on the education system (Bui, 2009) The education system has to transform from purely academic knowledge provision to supplying the students with the necessary skills to suit the demand of the current market To respond to this need, career guidance has become more and more important to prepare these highly sought-after skills for students to enter the workforce (Pham, 2016) Career guidance is no longer happening only during university but has taken its place earlier in the students‘ education (OECD, 2004)

The job market structure is also changing in both developed and developing countries The study of the APEC Task Force on knowledge economy recently published, show that in most OECD countries, a number of APEC economies, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Australia, factors of knowledge economy have been developing at relatively high levels In the OECD countries, knowledge-based industries (high-level technology, information, finance, insurance, community services, social and health care) have contributed over 40 % GDP This rate is 57.3% in

Singapore; 55.3% in the United States; 53% in Japan; 51% in Canada and 48% in Australia The same report narrates that the information infrastructure (ITC) is developing strongly, ensuring the information needs at lower prices This is one of the areas where growth is the highest Australia and Canada have up to 50% of mobile phone users; 40% have a computer; 30% use the Internet E-commerce, an important area of the knowledge economy, is growing rapidly, especially in the United States, Canada and Australia The increase in this area in the past few years reached several hundred percent per year Many developed countries have significantly changed their policies, shifting their priorities to increasing investment in science, technology and education

The development of knowledge-based industries entails the need for a team of highly educated workers This team in developed countries increased rapidly Currently, according to the APEC report, the percentage of high-quality workers accounts for nearly 40% of the labor force in these countries and is expected to increase to 80% by 2010 In the United States alone, in the information technology sector accounts for nearly one-third of the growth of the US economy and half of the growth in productivity The number of people working in the Internet sector soared significantly and the annual income of the industry increased by 74%

In response to this change in demand in the job market, developed countries have changed their education accordingly to accommodate the demand and equip their students with the necessary skills In 2004, OECD has published a report stressing the importance of career guidance for both students in schools and adults to prepare them for life-long employment In the report, good practices from OECD countries such as Denmark, Austria, Germany, Canada, etc have been highlighted as models for other countries to follow These

examples would be elaborated on further in the international experiences in chapter 2

Job market in Vietnam and state of employment

Vietnam‘s current labor market policies have developed in the context of its transition from a centrally planned to a market economy with a rapidly growing middle class This transition began in the mid-1980s with the

―renovation‖ (DoiMoi) reforms After 30 years, there were major changes in employment from agriculture to manufacturing and services; from household businesses to regulated businesses; and away from state owned enterprises (SOEs) to private local and foreign companies (McCaig and Pavcnik, 2013) Almost all of the respondents in the survey had gone to school or training at certain times in life (97.5% in 2015) 32.7% of youth population went to school in 2015, 35.9% of the youth finished school and 28.9% left school before graduation (ILO, 2016) This number has to be enhanced in the future

if Vietnam wants to catch up with other countries in the region and in the world in terms of academic access and achievement The results from School-To-Work Transition Survey done by International Labour Office in December

2016 demonstrated a strong connection between the academic performance and a young person transition to the work place: young people graduated at the university level required approximately 7.3 months to settle in a first stable or long-term job, while the figure for general secondary education was 17.8 months The reason is that drop-outs from secondary school education are confused as to which path to take out of school and took longer to settle in what they want to do (ILO, 2016) In the same survey, it is found that only half of the employed youth is sufficiently educated for the occupation they were holding (50.5 % in 2015) However, not all educated youth could find an occupation that is suitable to their level of qualifications; 26 % of employed youth were overeducated for their position at work in 2015 At the same time,

under-education among young employees still exists as an issue in the country, influencing 23.5 % of young workforce

Unemployment decreased in number and proportion with unemployment rate

of "higher education" group increased sharply compared to quarter 2 in 2017

In quarter 3 in 2017, the country has 1,074.8 thousand workers in the unemployed age went down by 6.8 thousand people compared with the quarter 2 in 2017 and 42.9 thousand people compared with the third quarter of

"college" level has 84.8 thousand unemployed, increased by 2.2 thousand people compared with the second quarter of 2017 The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.88% but remained at the highest level (MOLISA, 2017) One

of the greatest factors contributing to the increase in unemployment in these groups of graduates is the lack of appropriate career guidance early in their education (Pham, 2016)

Low quality jobs remain a barrier for the country to achieve higher economic growth Two-thirds of young Vietnamese (66.3 per cent) were employed in

2015, with many working from a very young age; 18.3 per cent of young adolescents aged 15–17 were out of school and working Since career guidance was not properly provided in schools, a majority of secondary school drop-outs just took any jobs that come their way, accepting a low-skilled and low income occupations (ILO, 2016)

58.6 % were in paid jobs, however 34.6 % employed youth are still committed to vulnerable occupations including 12.9 per cent own-account or

self-employed workers or unpaid family workers (21.7 %) 43.9 % in 2015 of youth in paid employment were hired without a contract in words The students should have career guidance in schools that educated them practical information about their rights and obligations in the working world (ILO, 2016)

Importance of career guidance in secondary schools in Vietnam

Career guidance for students is one of the important issues that is of great concern for Vietnam On March 19, 1981, the Government issued Decision 126/CP on vocational guidance in secondary schools and the use of graduates from secondary education In the document of the Ninth National Party Congress, it was stated that the schools need "to attach great importance to career guidance and the streaming of high school students, preparing youth to enter the labor force in accordance with the economic restructuring in the whole country and in each locality‖ (Communist Party of Vietnam, 1931) Since then, many other policies have also been issued on career guidance in secondary schools but there are many obstacles to implementation The legal framework have touched on the relevant aspects however, the secondary schools have interpreted it in way they consider convenient (Le, 2016)

In addition to implementing the policy, the content of the career guidance program is also an area of interest The career guidance for students is not uniform and systematic (Bui, 2013) Truong (2014) and Le (2016) have generated studies that agree on a few aspects regarding the status of career guidance Firstly, teachers who undertake this job are not well-trained and have to teach other subjects at the same time Time allocation, number of lessons for career guidance is still not sufficient The content of career guidance in the school is limited, one-sided and does not clearly state the nature of the profession It has not established the requirements of qualities and capacity of individuals suitable for that profession Career guidance is

intended only for providing information, giving subjective advice, which is sometimes imposed by the teacher (Bui, 2009) Professional career knowledge as well as the requirements of the profession is limited This leads

to a variety of career choices in the future Most students cannot imagine their future career, so the choice of school and career of the children by emotion, students choose the popular and easy industry without considering their capacity and needs of the society (Pham, 2016) This situation will, on the one hand, make it difficult for universities with too many students for their available facilities as well as faculty to meet the needs of learners On the other hand, the popular jobs would end up being in short supply

The students in Vietnam after graduating from secondary school have to choose either entering vocational school or high school to pursue higher education This is an important stage where they have to make the right decision which would affect their life-long employment and wellbeing However, in Vietnam, career education is being neglected not only in the outskirts of big cities but also in the capital of the country, Hanoi (Le, 2016) Hanoi is chosen because it is the capital, nearest to Ministry of Education and Training It is the region which receives the directives and guidelines directly from the government and if the policy cannot be implemented here then it would be hard to be implemented anywhere else Thus, the study is done in 3 secondary schools in Hanoi namely Dong Da Secondary School, ThinhQuang Secondary School and Nghia Dung Secondary School These 3 schools differ

in various facets which will be described further in the methodology section

of the study

1.2 Problem statement

There have been policies issued to tackle career guidance in secondary school and high schools in Vietnam, however the implementation of the policies are still weak and the content of career guidance needs much revision This study

makes use of qualitative tools including interviews and surveys with teachers, school managers, parents and students to find out the status of career guidance implementation in secondary schools Besides, the study also utilizes observation method to figure out how a career guidance lesson is carried out

in secondary schools and also the concerns and needs of the students and teachers regarding a career guidance program

1.3 Purpose of the study

Secondary school students do not have a clear career orientation, and already have to choose if they have to go to high school or vocational school The purpose of the research is to find out how career guidance policies are being implemented and what the students and teachers want the program to include From there, policy implications can be derived to better the current career guidance program

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This part would review some of the theories and ideas related to how the students make decision about their desired careers and what they want in a career guidance program The first part talks in details about the theory of ―possible selves‖ and how it relates to the way the students choose their career The second part discusses self-efficacy theory which refers to the confidence of the students when they have to make a career decision There are four main factors affecting this progress and the students‘ needs in a career guidance program would be shown through the analysis of these four factors Lastly, the model of Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System-Secondary is introduced and used to help understand the various elements teachers and students considered important in a career guidance program

Firstly, the definition of career guidance has to be made clear Career guidance means services to help people, of any age to make educational, training and occupational decisions (OECD, 2004) Career guidance assists people to think carefully about their dreams, preferences, qualifications and capabilities They would develop a skill to analyse the labour market and education systems, and put what they know about themselves in these contexts An all-rounded career guidance makes effort to educate people to manage and make decisions about choosing an occupation or an educational training program Career guidance allows information about the labour market

to be more widely available by systematizing it and disseminating it (OECD, 2004) Career guidance makes use of various disciplines: psychology; sociology and economics In the past, psychology had a major impact on theories ò career guidance especially developmental psychology (Super, 1957; Kuder, 1977; Holland, 1997) Face to face interviews and psychological testshave been the major tools of research

2.1 Conceptual framework on career decision making

2.1.1 Relationship between personal identity and career decision-making

Blustein (1997) has emphasized that youth need to develop a sense of self before making career decisions One issue permeating the literature on personal growth lies in self-definition Career developments experts have dedicated efforts in figuring out how adolescents apply their concept of self in the development of their career decisions This concept has been labeled differently in various studies by terms such as "self-concept" (Super, 1953) or

"vocational identity" (Holland, 1985) The students have also elaborated on this matter at length, stating that they encountered problems defining who they are and what they are capable of The students are asked to describe their possible selves Possible selves display the facets of self-understanding that are responsive to the surroundings (Markus, 1986) It covers one's hopes, fears and beliefs Possible selves can serve as the objectives that guide the individuals along the path of life and help make sense of the present Discovering one's possible selves is not always an easy task for 14-year old graders

The students discover themselves under the influence of social elements around them Belonging to a community means that various elements interact with each other To respond to one's need during their adolescent period, there needs to be family ties, relationships with other adults, a supporting community and conducive school environment

2.1.2 Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System—Secondary

Enhancing teacher–student interactions in the classroom relies on a good knowledge of the effectiveness of teaching for adolescents Various descriptions of classroom environments have been analysed in the educational studies talking about factors related to student academic performance (e.g., Brophy, 1999; Pressley et al., 2003) Hamre and Pianta (Hamre&Pianta,

2010; Hamre, Pianta, Burchinal, & Downer, 2010) built an evaluation approach that classifies characteristics of teacher–student interactions into three aspects: emotional encouragement, classroom organization, and instructional guidelines This way to evaluate classroom interaction qualities has been proven valid for prekindergarten to five year-old children (Hamre et al., 2010)

Figure 2.1 Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System - Secondary

- Productivity

- Instructional learning format

INDICATORS

- Clear expectation, Proactive, Effective Redirection, Student Behavior

- Maximizing learning time, Routines, Transitions

- Learning targets/Organization, Variety, Active

Facilitation, Effective Engagement

Instructional Support

DIMENSIONS

- Content Understanding

- Analysis and Problem Solving

- Quality of Feedback

INDICATORS

- Depth, Communication, Background knowledge

& Misconceptions, Transmission

- Opportunity for Higher-level Thinking, Problem Solving, Metacognition

- Feedback Loops, Prompting, Scaffolding, Providing info,

Encouragement &

Affirmation

The Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System—Secondary (Pianta, Hamre, Mintz, &LaParo, 2008) demonstrated in the figure above was built for secondary schools as a development of the work in the past In each aspects, there are particular dimensions of classroom interactions that previous research recommends to be essential to student learning (see Figure 1) Emotional and relational encouragement in the classroom is recommended by attachment and self-determination theories (Connell &Wellbom, 1991), and is demonstrated via assessments of the evaluations of the four indicators below Although the demand for emotional support of students is more critical in the lower grades (Ladd, Birch, &Buhs, 1999), adolescents are more sensitive with adults in school settings, and the good connections to adults has been connected to consistent academic success (Bell, Allen, Hauser, & O‘Connor, 1996) Management of classroom, productivity, and diversity of instructional learning formats under the organizational dimension promotes the development of discipline and improve performance (Blair, 2002; Raver, 2004) The instructional support includes teachers‘ content understanding, ability to analyse and solve problems, and level of feedback These are the factors that have been noted to enable students to learn better (National Research Council, 2005)

2.1.3Career decision-making self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is derived from social cognitive theory (SCT), and it means the confidence with which a person can perform a specific task (Bandura, 1977, 1986) The strength of belief as to how successful they will be in finishing a task is associated to the level of their self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) Bandura (2012) found four aspects of information that have an impact on self-efficacy: (1) performance; (2) having a model to follow; (3) words of encouragement or (4) a person‘s feeling of hopefulness or anxiety Self-efficacy about a specific task is promoted or decreased by (1) performing it well or not well, (2)

looking at other individuals or groups achieving success or failure at the job, (3) receiving or not receiving words of encouragement (4) the level of nervousness one encounters when starting on the job The four sources of information are said to generate three kinds of behaviors: (1) taking the task

or stay away, (2) doing the task well, and (3) capacity to endure the task for

an extended period of time (Bandura, 1977) Approach action is associated with high level of self-efficacy and the readiness to take tasks even when they are challenging This is called task persistence This behavior would promote the individual in performing better in the given field It leads the individual to join a virtuous cycle of being encouraged and good performance The individual after receiving reinforcement from others and having a chance to witness their models would experience a better level of performance and the process can repeat itself In contrast, avoidance means the individual fail to confront the job as well as show ―giving-up‖ signs when the job gets more challenging Thus, it perpetuates the poor performance and lower practice frequency This behavior has been proven to link with low self-efficacy Studies through the years have proven the critical role of self-efficacy in promoting learning Multon, Brown, and Lent gave sufficient evidence that self-efficacy is essential in both academic performance and persistence in carrying a task in a 1991 meta-analysis In 2008, Hsieh and Schallert studied the connection between self-efficacy and university students‘ performance in foreign language lessons When compared to available skills, endogenous and exogenous control, and test grades in the past, self-efficacy was the strongest factor that can predict future academic performance In terms of career understanding and choice, Speight, Rosenthal, Jones, and Gastenveld (1995) figured that when Grade 9 students aimed to do medicine were given the chance to do related tasks and work with medical professionals, the students‘ self-efficacy in choosing a medical career is promoted

Following that, a sub-concept of efficacy—career decision-making efficacy was issued by Betz (2001) Taking the inspiration from by Bandura‘s work, career decision-making self-efficacy means a person‘s confidence in their capability to finish tasks related to making career decisions (self-evaluation of skills or curriculum-vitae writing) The three types of behavior mentioned by Bandura namely approach/avoidance, performance, and persistence were the basis Betz‘s theory For example, people with low career decision-making self-efficacy were expectedto quickly give up if they knew that a job demanded extra effort, proving the gravitation towards inconsistency The process of making a choice of a major to study is created through three stages including of the creation of career desires, happened in in the earlier years of childhood, identify demands and determine available choices, reaching a decision and take the necessary exam (Gaylor&Nicol, 2016)

self-Besides, other researches regarding career decision making process are also looked into According to Nguyen Minh Ha (2003), author of a research studying these factors, there are 7 factors affecting students' choice of school and they have a close relationship The study was conducted with 1894 full-time first-year students The model provides seven factors that influence school choice behavior: School, Quality of teaching - learning, Personal characteristics of students, Future work, School attendance, family members, and relatives outside the home Model of the factors influencing the student's decision to choose a university by Tran Van Qui, Cao HaoThi analyses 227 answers from 12th grade students in the 2008-2009 school year of 5 high schools popular in QuangNgai The results show that there are 5 factors including: employment opportunities in the future, the specific characteristics

of the university, the capacity of the student, the influence of the student, reference and higher learning opportunities The results of the regression

analysis have been confirmed that determine the relationship between the above five factors and the student's decision to choose a college

David W Chapman (2005) recommends the general model of university choice students Based on the descriptive statistics, he shows that there are two groups of factors It is up to the student to decide on a college The first is the family's identity and individual students The second is the group of external influences, namely individual characteristics of the university and the communication effort of the university with students UweWilkesmann's research project was conducted in three universities in Germany for the 2009/2010 school year The sample is taken from 3687 students in the field of study different: sociology, economics and engineering

Willis J Edmondson (2018) defines learning as: "learning motivation is the willingness to invest time, energy and other human resources in a long time to reach a goal that has been set before." According to Uwe Wilkesmann, Heike Fischer & Alfredo Virgillito (2015), motivation is the engine of decision for participation and continuing education

2.2 Career guidance in Vietnam

2.2.1 Legal framework

General education was introduced in secondary schools in the form of encouragement after 1981 to provide vocational education for junior and senior secondary pupils under Decision 126 - CP of Government Council By the year 2000, the vocation was formally introduced into the curriculum in the general education program issued in accordance with Decision No 16/2006/QD-BGDDT dated May 5, 2006 by the Minister of Education and Training Training with the new name is Vocational Education Activities and

is organized in 11th grade with a duration of 3 periods/week, 105 periods per year in the form of compulsory electives (students are selected to study a profession suitable for hobbies, abilities) At secondary level, students are

still enrolled in general education in the form of encouragement so they are not regulated in the general education program According to the documents

of the Government, the Ministry of Education and Training, vocational education is a form, the main way of vocational guidance This requires school administrators and vocational trainers to understand and effectively implement the objectives, tasks and contents of vocational education through vocational education to help them Students have the necessary foundation in the direction of study, the field of study, the choice of the job in accordance with personal excitement, self-efficacy and labor demand of the society The table below gathers the policies of the government governing career guidance activities in Vietnam

Table 2.1 Vietnam Career Guidance Legal Framework

Year Legal documents

issued

Name

1981 Decision 126 - CP Career Guidance in secondary schools and high

schools and maximize utilization of the graduates

1981 Circular 31 - TT Providing guidelines for Decision 126 - CP

1982 Circular 48 - BT Providing guidelines for Decision 126 - CP

2005 Law on Education Article 27 and 28

Secondary education is directed towards the pupils' consolidation and development of the outcomes of primary education, provision of a general and basic knowledge along with initial understanding on techniques and career

orientation to enter high school, professional secondary education, vocational training or the workforce

2012 Decision 711/QD-TTg Approving the 2011-2020 Education

A Socialist-Oriented Market Economy During International Integration‖ Ratified In The 8th Session

2014 Document

3119/BGDĐT-GDCN

Guiding the coordination of agencies to conduct career guidance and vocational education in secondary schools and high schools

2018 Decision 522/QD-TTg Approving National Scheme on Career

guidance and streaming for secondary and high school students in the period 2018 - 2025

The first legal document that aims to promote career guidance has to be Decision 126 on career guidance in lower and upper secondary school and the reasonable management of secondary school graduates in their future

pathway This is pursuant to Resolution 14 of the Politburo on education reform The decision includes 3 parts Firstly, all the high school must organize career guidance activities for the secondary school students to prepare them to enter the workforce after graduating from secondary school Secondly, authorities of all levels, all industries from central level to local level are tasked to support these secondary schools in training, managing and continuing to train the students even after their graduation The final part involves the allocation of human resources that are entitled to carry out the tasks mentioned in part 2

Following this Decision is Circular 31, providing consisitent guidelines of the Government for the secondary schools and society to assist them in better managing career guidance for students in schools and when they graduate from secondary schools The detailed tasked set out for the involved stakeholders are:

- Education to develop a working attitude and proper sense of profession;

- Organizing students to practice and familiarize themselves with some major occupations in the society and traditional trades of the locality;

- Learn the strengths, weaknesses, career inclination of each student to encourage, guide and foster the most appropriate career skills;

- Encourage students to enter jobs where there is a need for young educated labour

In implementing the above tasks, the following issues should be understood

- The level of content, form and method of career guidance must be appropriate to the characteristics of the student (health, age, educational level, trends, etc.)

The Circular did also mention the forms recommended for career guidance to take place in secondary schools Firstly, career guidance could be integrated

in school subjects Secondly, career guidance can be done through hands-on practical activities within schools This section started to emphasize the need for a team of teachers, who are in charge of guiding the students and supervise the students during the apprenticeship periods However there are

no training for teachers mentioned in this Circular These teachers are also the driving force connecting different enterprises and organizations to the students to provide them with more opportunities This development is in line with what has been done in Hongkong through their career guidance program Thirdly, career guidance could be achieved through the introduction of various professions As mentioned in the Circular, there should be a workshop introducing different careers every month In this workshop, information about the carreer itself and the need for it in the locality in particular and in the country in general should be collected and presented to the students The materials for these workshops would be gathered with the schools' efforts and the organizations they work with and also with the support of Ministry of Education and Training Last but not least, career can be done in the form of extra-curriculum activities This could be achieved through the establishment

of clubs managed by a department of career guidance

The final section of the Circular focused on the task allocation of the involved stakeholders A Department for Career Guidance has to be set up from the Ministry level to provincial level to each school unit Especially, in schools, the Vice Principal has to be the team leader and the team should consist of form teachers, subject heads, parent's council and Ho Chi Minh Communist

Youth Union Last but not least, the Cicular list out the tasks for each stakeholder to complete in each school year relating to career guidance

Thus, it can be observed that the tasks and missions are quite complete even though the document is drafted almost 40 years ago What is noticeable is after 1981, there are many more documents like this, which are more general and the mention of career guidance is brief It can be inferred that there is a lack of concern for career guidance by policy makers

Law on Education in 1998 and 2005 also mentioned briefly career guidance in their targets of education Law on Education 2005, Article 27 on objectives of secondary education, Clause 3 specifies that "Lower secondary education is directed towards the pupils' consolidation and development of the outcomes

of primary education, provision of a general and basic knowledge along with initial understanding on techniques and career orientation to enter upper secondary education, professional secondary education, vocational training or the workforce." In the same law, Article 28 Clause 1 regarding the requirements on content and methods of teaching states that "Lower secondary education must consolidate and develop the contents learned in primary education, guarantee pupils the basic general knowledge in Vietnamese, mathematics, national history, other knowledge in social sciences, natural sciences, law, informatics, foreign languages; with necessary minimum understanding on techniques and career-orientation."

On top of that, no authorities supervise the implementation of these policies, even though in Directive No 39/2013/TT-BGDDT on inspecting duties in education, Article No 3 Section 3, inspectors are to lead the departments of education in ensuring that schools complete the requirements stated in the curriculum in terms of quantity of periods and quality of delivering the lessons

This suggests that the vocational education requirement through this activity has not been fully understood by school administrators and vocational trainers Investment in all aspects of vocational education is still inadequate compared to practical requirements The organization of vocational education

is still very formal, with little attention to the effectiveness of vocational education, so it does not meet the objectives and tasks of vocational education has been identified in the documents of the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training

2.2.2 Contentof career guidance

Career guidance in the secondary education program in Vietnam is implemented in two main directions including vocational education (9 periods/year) and some extra-curriculum activities outside class time and career guidance lessons providing occupation information and skills (75 periods/year, optional) and career guidance as a part of Technology subject (35 periods/year) At the present, career guidance is offered in a variety of ways, depending on the conditions of each school, infrastructure, staff and students, in partnership with the Career Technical Center and Regular Education center for Vocational Guidance The old program is designed as presented in the figure below

Until now, career guidance program in grade 9 consist of the lessons as described in the table below The names of the lesson are taken from the Career Guidance Teacher's Guidebook issued by Ministry of Education and Training

Table 2.2 Lessons in the current career guidance program

No of

periods

3 November The diversity of professions around us

5 January Basic introduction of different professions

In 2016, a new general curriculum was generated for every subject taught from primary school to secondary school and to high school Unlike the old program, the new program consists of activities related to experiencing the outside world and career orientation, which consists of 4 main activities: individual development, labor work, community work and career education These activities range from grade 1 to grade 12 (MOET, 2017) However, this new program is still under the pilot period and obtaining comments from the general public

Individual development activities include exploring oneself, learning to discipline oneself and learning to develop relationships with one's family, school and society Labour work comprises of working at home on chores and simple expenditure, working at school and working in their neighborhood Community services include content that educates the students to appreciate the traditions and heritage of their nations and contributing in charity workshops Last but not least, in the career guidance section, students will be

given the opportunity to learn about and experience the world of careers, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of oneself to find out the suitable job (MOET, 2017)

2.3 International experience in career guidance

German model of vocational training is considered as the "gold standard" for countries (OECD, 2004) The vocational education model in Germany began

in 1969 with the Vocational Training Act It administers the certification and recognition of more than 350 occupations The Act regulates the rights and obligations of trainers, such as the length of training, the content of the training, the curriculum, the examinations, the standards, etc Under the Act, the education system of Germany is carefully categorized in order to guide learners in the path of intensive study or vocational training Basically, kindergartens and elementary schools in Germany are quite similar to most educational systems in the world

However, in junior high school, students are immediately assigned to the Hauptschule or Realschule to be enrolled in future Gymnasiums for further study or beginning vocational training Student ratings are based on teachers' assessments of student performance, student achievement, student expectations, and parental expectations Some schools also allow students time in two years of transition to be sure of their choice, after being categorized In addition, learners can easily switch from vocational training to higher education by enrolling in college-level examinations (German Vocational Training Act, 1969)

In addition, the dual education system helps students who do not want to study in the university to gain practical apprenticeship in business and professional contexts and other core subjects such as foreign languages and economics In order to be able to study, the trainee must sign a contract with a business The apprenticeship period last from 2 to 4 years, depending on the

specific trades The company pays the employee a salary equal to one third of the skilled worker's income The work-study model provides opportunities for vocational students to immediately practice the theories they learn in school For practitioners, every mistake at the factory causes real loss, so they have to develop themselves quickly The German system is also very flexible Students who do not feel fully fit can return to school, study another profession, apply for internship at another company

In 1848, France published the first "Guide to Career Selection" The content

of the book addresses the diversity of occupations due to industrial development and the need to assist young people in their career choices In

1909, Frank Parsons discussed career guidance for students based on their ability, interest and personal preferences From 1918 to 1939, N.K.Krupskaia had many articles claiming that labor efficiency largely depends on the suitability of people to the profession

Early in the 20th century, the United States, Britain, France, Sweden came up with a career guidance service In Russia, in the early decades of the twentieth century, vocational guidance was given great importance, as a basis for the development of human resources for the industrialization of the country at that time Career counseling has been of interest to most countries in the world in the first half of the 20th century, due to the growth of industrialization, attracted many authors such as Keller and Viteles(1937); Watts (1966); Super (1974) who referred to Parson's work in the United States in the 1900s Moreover, it would be worthwhile to mentionLahy's work

on personnel selection in France in 1910; Gemelli's efforts in Italian personnel selection in 1912, and Christianen's focus on thecareer guidance of Belgium

in 1911

In 1937, Keller and Viteles presented a global perspective on counseling and career guidance They looked at comparisons of countries in Europe and Asia

During the twentieth century and early nineteenth century, counseling and vocational guidance flourished in the educational environment In addition to the specific context of each country, vocational education in the country has emerged as a common issue both in theoretical and practical terms in order to find a viable and effective pathway for vocational education The above-mentioned foreign authors in the process of vocational guidance and secondary education have affirmed the importance of career guidance

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Rationales for using a qualitative approach and an observation

questionnaires

Speaking of qualitative research, two important facets within the qualitative sphere are pre-understanding and reflexivity The first means to the researcher‘s previous understanding of his subject of interest The second means the process of making clear these understandings and at the same time,

to reaffirm the position of the researcher in the development of knowledge It can take the form of ‗‗disciplined self-reflection‘‘ (Wilkinson, 1988) and happens as a constantly evolving communication between the researcher and his material (Woods, 1988) In this study the pre-understanding of the researcher comprises of four aspects The first is theory, the second to what he

has experienced in situations prior to the study (i.e talks with adolescents on similar topics as demonstrated in the studey) third, empirical results achieved

by previous studies and lastly, a personal perspective Mentions of understanding and reflexivity inevitably put problems of reliability and validity into focus These two aspects are different to a great extent in meaning and application in the quantitative and the qualitative research Reliability in quantitative research is about measuring something with a high level of accuracy and affirms a high chance for repeating the study and achieving the same results However, in qualitative study, the authors do not weigh or measure the subjects but seek to find truth and reasons behind the phenomenon Finding new data after replication is actually a positive sign that would enrich the study, not limiting it With respect to validity, in qualitative research, there are no hypotheses to test, and thus there is no danger in weighing the wrong thing Salner (1989) and Kvale (1989, 1996) suggested that it is more recommendable to mention protectable knowledge claims than validity Larson (1993) talked about validity in five respects The findings have to be able to be defended against the doubts of other researchers and have a trong linkage with empirical evidences The parts have to be identified consistent with the whole picture The study has to have a practical value and

pre-be able to introduce a reliable perspective on the situation

Regarding validity, Jensen (1989) also recommends that validation is a process of how the author makes sense of the situation This means that the reader, through the devices of the author has to be present at the situation and take steps to travel with the author to intepret the phenomenon Therefore, the qualitative study findings have to present facts and knowledge of the empirical situation (Adamson, Hartman &Lyxell, 1999), in this study they take the form of quotations from the interviewees

Observation method

Observation is the ―systematic description of events, behaviors and artifacts in the social setting chosen for study.‖ Observation allow the researchers to record the events using five senses, as if providing a photograph in words (Erlandson, Skipper & Allen, 1993) Fieldwork includes "active looking, improving memory, informal interviewing, writing detailed fieldnotes and patience" (Dewalt, 2002) Participant observation allow the researcher to study the interactions of the subjects under natural setting through carrying out observation and joining the subjects in their activities It supplies the necessary background for sampling choice and developing interview questions (Dewalt, 2002) However, observation also contains a task of deceiving and managing impression (Bernard, 1994) He notes that the researcher needs to reserve his opinions and not be easily swayed by others' opinions A rapport has to be established between the researcher and the community he observes and try to be a part of that community so that the people in that group would choose to act, as they would normally do Following that, the researcher has to detach him or her from the setting and look at the data objectively to be able to provide an analysis about it During the three lessons in the secondary schools, not only observation was carried out, but also informal conversations, interviews, checklists, and questionnaires Participant observation requires a friendly attitude that is not judgmental, an eagerness to know more about others and readiness to face with unexpected or unfamiliar events (Dewalt&Dewalt, 1998)

The Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System – Secondary (Pianta, Hamre, & Mintz, 2008) was derived especially for secondary schools as a continuing effort of the previous validated Classroom Learning Assessment Scoring System for the grades of prekindergarden to five Each domain contains essential dimentions of teacher-students interaction that previous studies has suggested to play an important role in students‘ education The

study made use of this tool to observe the interaction between teachers and students systematically, since all the elements in the model has been proven

as contributing to an effective lesson in secondary school education in many studies such as Brophy (1999), Soar & Soar (1979) and Pressley et al (2003) There are many dimensions and indicators in this model which are presented accordingly in the below figure and the observation findings are also structured around these elements Emotional support, classroom organization and instructional support are three main domains under which there are several dimensions which are explained by the indicators in the final layer The observer categorize his or her observations and other findings under the below dimensions base on the detailed indicators

3.2 Population of the research

The basic information of the three targeted schools are obtained from the

school managers and summarized in the two tables below

Table 3.1Background of three targeted secondary school

Schools Year of

establishment

Vision/Motto Teacher

per class ratio

Average number of students/class

1.7 35 Holding Group

2 Occupations

Table 3.2Performance of the students and teachers

in three targeted secondary schools

Schools Students

entering high school

Academic awards (district, city level) per year

Percentage

of students achieving distinction

Achieve National standard

curriculum activities

Extra-Dong Da

High School

with UNICEF, schools in the

UK, ASEAN and Germany

ThinhQuang

High school

awards per year

A case study is a feature that is commonly used in the education, sociology, management, law, and medicine The basic objective of this approach is to understand the case by observing closely and comprehensively the selected case for a sufficiently long time and in its natural environment (Trotter, 2012) Case studies allow the researcher to explain why things are as they are and to identify important issues that need to be further explored in the future The traditional literature on research methods is often categorized as one of the qualitative methods for describing purposes (Shepard, 2004) This view is currently being reviewed as it does not cover the various purposes and methods of the study In a number of recently published papers, methodologists do not view the case study as a method where the notion is merely an approach or strategy through which the researcher can choose a or many cases appropriate for their own research direction In addition, the case study cannot be listed in the qualitative group, as it uses both qualitative and quantitative evidence (Adamson, 1998)

According to Hamel (1993), the earliest used case study in Europe, especially

in France In the United States, this method was associated with the Department of Sociology of the University of Chicago from the early 20th century to about 1935 At this time many immigrants from various places came to live in Chicago These people brought with them many social problems that need to be addressed such as poverty, unemployment, and slum conditions To find out about these issues, it is best to use a case study approach, as this method allows for a holistic view of the problem in various dimensions of different characters

GAO (1990) gives the following definition of case study: "A case study is a method to learn about a complex instance, based on a comprehensive understanding of the instance obtained by extensive description and analysis

of instances taken as a whole and in its context." Interpreting is a method of

exploring a complex case based on a comprehensive understanding of the situation This knowledge is attributed to the description and analysis of this case as a comprehensive entity in its own context

3.3 Design of the research

3.3.1 Sample

Characteristics of informants

In the study, purposive or meaningful sampling has been chosen to select interview informants This way, the researcher can purposely choose the informants that have gone through the issue in question, in this case career guidance and are familiar with the matter being studied (Creswell & Clark, 2007) Variation sampling (Patton, 1990) is also made use of in the research

to include five groups of people students, teachers, parents, school managers and education experts In a group, the informants are also chosen according to various charateristics

Regarding the students, the researcher has asked for the help of the school manager to choose students from 2 different income groups and family background According to Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara and Pastorelli (2001),

an individual's environment has an impact on how they choose a career Specifically, the researcher informed the head mistress of a list of standard occupations developed by International Standard Classification of Occupations

2008 (ISCO-08) (ILO, 2012), in which the head mistress divided that further into

2 income levels The first group includes Managers, Professionals, Technicians and Associate Professionals The second group includes more technical jobs such

as Clerical Support Workers, Services and Sales Workers, Skilled Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Workers, Craft and Related Trades Workers, Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers, Elementary Occupations In three schools, 3 teachers are chosen who teach different subjects with different years of experience and academic achievements Besides, five parents holding group 1 and group 2

jobs are also approached and interviewed Two experts being interviewed are also working in fields relating to career guidance Trotter (2000) has stated that it is recommendable to identify the experts in the field since the experts are aware of the debate going on in the area and provide a valid, reliable and generalizable opinion Also considered experts in the education field, the study conducted interviews with one manager in each school, making a total of 3 managers

Since the schools do not want to disrupt the lessons, they ask the form teachers to nominate 10 students according to the requirements of the researcher and not more than that Among the 30 students, 10 are male and 20 are female The dominance of female does not have a significance in this study as students of both gender are subject to the career guidance programs from the schools and the voices of both groups need to be heard

Table 3.3General profile of the students recruited as informants