Running head: CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN The Influences of Career Counseling Programs on Career Decisions of High School Students at Two Publicly-Funded Special Schools in Kazakhstan Assima Rysbergen Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Leadership in Education Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education June, 2017 Word Count: 21 392 words ©Copyright by Assima Akhatkyzy Rysbergen, 2017 CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN ii AUTHOR AGREEMENT By signing and submitting this license, you Assima Rysbergen (the author(s) or copyright owner) grant to Nazarbayev University (NU) the non-exclusive right to reproduce, convert (as defined below), and/or distribute your submission (including the abstract) worldwide in print and electronic format and in any medium, including but not limited to audio or video. 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I hereby accept the terms of the above Author Agreement. __________________ Author’s signature: _________________ Date: CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN iv DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been submitted for the award of any other course or degree at NU or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. This thesis is the result of my own independent work, except where otherwise stated, and the views expressed here are my own. Signed: Date: CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN v ETHICS APPROVAL The NUGSE Research Committee reviewed the project entitled "The Influences of Career Counseling Programs on Career Decisions of High School Students at Two Publicly Funded Special Schools in Kazakhstan" and decided: ☐To grant approval for this study Approval: This approval is effective for the life of the study. However, any time you change any aspect of your project (e.g., recruitment process, administering materials, collecting data, gaining consent, and changing participants) you will need to submit a request for modification to the NUGSE Research Committee. Make sure to address all of the information requested on the request for modification form(s). Please be advised that in some circumstances, changes to the protocol may disqualify the project from approval. Sincerely, NUGSE Research Committee CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN vi Acknowledgments To my supervisor, Professor Mir Afzal, who guided me through my Thesis writing. I am truly grateful to you for not putting me under overwhelming time pressure and believing in that I can achieve this accomplishment - without your wise guidance, I would not have been able to complete the program successfully. To my family who have freed me of all household chores during the two years of my Master’s Program. I am immensely thankful to them for understanding how much importance the word “Deadline” played in my life. To wonderful members of GSE faculty, who with much dedication, taught me how to conduct research and write academic papers from the scratch. To the participants of the study, who willingly dedicated their time and provided valuable perspectives – your contribution to the study was precious. To my colleagues in school, especially to John Rider and Catherine McLean, for planning the lessons and substituting for me whenever I was away in the university sessions. To Nazerke, who encouraged me to apply for the program and shared many sleepless nights with me – we got through it together. Many thanks to Assem and Yana, who have always said to me “Assima, you are very smart!” when I felt insecure of overcoming the academic challenges. To my beloved friend Azat, whose constant distraction in the form of “How are you” phone calls were always needed and on time. You might not realize it, but you have been the source of my inspiration and hard work. Finally, I thank God for blessing me to get through this uneasy two-year mind-expanding journey with all the wonderful people around. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN vii Abstract Kazakhstani state mainstream schools do not offer career counselling programs (CCP) to help high school students make informed choices and decisions for their careers. However, publicly-funded special schools (PFSS) started in 2009 have introduced CCP as part of their curricula. Due to the fact that CCP has been implemented in PFSSs quite recently, there is a lack of research on how such program helps students make informed career decisions. This study adopted qualitative research design to explore how the CCP offered at two PFSSs in Kazakhstan influences career choices of high school students. In this study one-on- one and focus group semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used as primary data-gathering tool to address the central research question “How does the Career Counseling Program at two publicly-funded special schools in Kazakhstan help high school students make their career decisions?” Participants selected through purposeful sampling with maximum variation included current students, graduates, career counsellors, parents, and people from the leadership team. The study has come up with a number of findings about the implementation, benefits and challenges of the CCP. In addition, the findings point out a number of ways in which the CCP helps students make informed decisions about their future careers. The potential barriers and challenges to establishing and effectively delivering CCP within the PFSSs include shortage of career counseling staff, lack of capital and human resources, and over expectations from the CCP by students and others. Thus, the study may contribute to the existing literature by exploring how the CCP functions in the Kazakhstani context and how students benefit from it. The recommendations made in the study may also be useful for the schools, policy makers, and practitioners for further improvement of the CCP in PFSSs and possible expansion of the program to the mainstream schools in Kazakhstan. Key words: career counsellor, career decision-making, school career counselling Kazakhstan. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN viii «Влияния профориентационной программы на выбор профессии учащихся старших классов двух специализированных школ в Казахстане, финансируемых из государственного бюджета» Абстракт Казахстанские государственные общеобразовательные школы не предлагают программы по профориентации, целью которой является помогать учащимся средних школ сделать осознанный выбор будущей профессии. Однако, специализированные школы, финансируемые из государственного бюджета, открывшиеся в 2009 году, внедрили программу по профориентации (далее ПП) в рамках учебной программы школы. В связи с тем, что ПП была внедрена в специализированных школах недавно, недостаточно информации о том, насколько эфективна данная программа в помощи учащимся принимать обоснованные решения касательно будущей профессии. В этом исследовании был использован качественный исследовательский метод для изучения того, как ПП, предлагаемая в двух специализированных школах в Казахстане, влияет на выбор профессий старшеклассников. Также были использованы индивидуальные и групповые полуструктурированные интервью и анализ документов в качестве основного инструмента сбора данных, направленных на основной вопрос исследования «Как программа по профориентации в двух специализированных школах Казахстана помогает старшеклассникам при выборе профессии?» Участники, отобранные с помощью целенаправленной выборки с максимальными вариациями, состояли из нынешних студентов, выпускников, профориентаторов, родителей и людей из руководства. В исследовании были представлены результаты о реализации, преимуществах и проблемах ПП. Кроме того, результаты указывают на ряд аспектов, помогающих учащимся принимать CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN ix обоснованные решения касательно своей будущей профессии. Потенциальные барьеры и проблемы для создания и эффективного обеспечения ПП в рамках специализированных школ включают в себя нехватку профориентаторов, человеческих и капитальных ресурсов и высокие ожидания от программы со стороны студентов и других лиц. Таким образом, исследование может способствовать пополнению существующей литературы путем изучения того, как ПП функционирует в казахстанском контексте и как студенты получают от нее пользу. Рекомендации, сделанные в исследовании, также могут быть полезны для школ и практикующих политиков для дальнейшего совершенствования ПП в специализированных школах и возможного расширения программы в общеобразовательных школах Казахстана. Ключевые слова: профориентатор, принятие решений о профессии, эффективность профориентации в школах, Казахстан. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN x «Қазақстандағы екі арнайы мемлекеттік мектептерде кәсіптік бағдардың жоғарғы сынып оқушыларына кәсіптік таңдау жасаудағы ықпалы» Аңдатпа Қазақстандағы мемлекеттік жалпы орта білім беру мектептерінде жоғарғы сынып оқушыларына саналы түрде таңдау жасауда көмек көрсету үшін кәсіптік бағдар өткізілмейді. Алайда арнайы мемлекеттік мектептерде кәсіптік бағдар 2009 жылдан бастап білім беру жоспарына енгізілген. Арнайы мемлекеттік мектептерде кәсіптік бағдардың жүргізілуі ұзақ уақыт болмағандықтан, бағдарламаның оқушылардың таңдау жасауларына қаншалықты көмек көрсететіні жеткіліксіз зерттелген. Аталмыш жұмыста Қазақстандағы екі арнайы мемлекеттік мектептердегі кәсіптік бағдардың жоғарғы сынып оқушыларына ықпалын тексеруге сапалы зерттеу жүргізілген. «Қазақстандағы екі арнайы мемлекеттік мектептерде кәсіптік бағдар жоғарғы сынып оқушыларына кәсіптік таңдау жасауға қаншалықты көмегін тигізеді?» деген негізгі зерттеу сұрағына жауап табу үшін бетпе бет және топтық бейресми сұхбаттар мен құжаттарды талдау өткізілді. Зерттеуге қатысушылар ретінде оқушылар, түлектер, кәсіптік бағдар берушілер, ата аналар, және мектеп әкімшілігінің мүшелері максималды түрлендіру арқылы жүргізілген мақсатты іріктеумен таңдалды. Зерттеу кәсіптік бағдардың енгізілуі, пайдасы мен қиындықтары жайлы бірқатар нәтижелер ұсынады. Сонымен қатар, зерттеу кәсіптік бағдардың оқушыларға болашақ кәсіптерін таңдауға көмектесетін бірнеше жолдарымен таныстырады. Арнайы мемлекеттік мектептерде кәсіптік бағдарды орнатып, жүргізуге кедергі келтіретін жағдайларға қадрлар резервісі мен қаржылық тапшылық пен ата аналар мен оқушылардың кәсіптік бағдарды асыра бағалауы жатады. Сондықтан да аталмыш зерттеуді жұмысы Қазақстандағы кәсіптік бағдардың CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN xi атқарылуы жайлы мен оқушыларға көрсететін көмегі жайлы әдебиеттер санына қосуға болады. Зерттеу нәтижелеріндегі ұсыныстар мектептер, білім беру жүйесіндегі басшылар мен кәсіптік бағдарды жүргізушілерге арнайы мектептердегі кәсіптік бағдардың сапасын жақсарту және Қазақстандағы жалпы орта білім беру мектептеріне тарату мақсатында пайдалы бола алады. Кілт сөздер: кәсіптік бағдар, кәсіптік таңдау жасау, мектептегі кәсіптік бағдардың тиімділігі, Қазақстан. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN xii Table of Contents Author Agreement ………………………………………………………………………… ii Declaration ………………………………………………………………………………… iv NUGSE Ethics Approval Decision Letter…………………………………………………. v Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………. vi Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………. vii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………... xii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………… xiv Chapter 1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1 1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….. 1 1.2 Background of the Study…………...……….. …………………………………... 1 1.3 Problem Statement ……………………………………………………………….. 4 1.4 Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………………… 5 1.5 Research Question ……………………………………………………………….. 6 1.6 Significance of the Study…………………………………………………………. 6 Chapter 2. Literature Review………………………………………………………………. 7 2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… 7 2.2 The process of career decision making…………………………………………... 7 2.3 Definition and the purpose of the career counseling program…………………… 8 2.4 History of career counselling program................................................................... 9 2.5 Organization and delivery of career counselling program in schools worldwide... 10 2.6 Emergence of career counselling program in Kazakhstan and at PFSSs................ 11 2.7 Issues that refer to organization and delivery of career counseling programs…… 14 2.8 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………... 15 Chapter 3. Methodology…………………………………………………………………… 16 3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 16 3.2 Research Design…………………………………………………………………. 16 3.3 Research Site…………………………………………………………………….. 17 3.4 Participants ……………………………………………………………………… 17 3.5 Data Collection………………………………………………………………….. 18 3.5.1 Individual interview ………………………………………………………. 3.5.2 Focus group interview …………………………………………………… 3.5.3 Document analysis………………………………………………………... 18 19 21 3.6 Procedures ………………………………………………………………………. 22 3.7 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………. 23 3.8 Ethics of the Study ……………………………………………………………… 24 3.9 Limitations of the Study ………………………………………………………… 25 Chapter 4. Findings………………………………………………………………………… 26 4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 26 4.2 Program conceptualization and delivery………………………………………. 26 4.2.1 Description of the program………………………………………………... 4.2.2 Experience of the career counselors in the program………………………. 4.2.3 CCP delivery from the perspective of implementers……………………… 4.2.4 CCP from the perspective of beneficiaries………………………………... 4.2.5 Satisfaction of students and graduates with the CCP……………………... 26 27 29 33 36 CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN xiii 4.3 The role of stakeholders in the delivery of the CCP…………………………... 38 4.3.1 School leadership’s role in CCP………………………………………… 4.3.2 School staff’s role in the CCP…………………………………………….. 4.3.3 Parents’ and 12 th grade students’ role in CCP……………………………. 38 40 43 4.4 Areas for improvement in the CCP....................................................................... 44 4.4.1 Limited access to information and database………………………………. 4.4.2 Scope of events……………………………………………………………. 4.4.3 No incentives……………………………………………………………… 44 45 46 4.5 Challenges……………………………………………………………………….. 46 4.5.1 Career counselor staff shortage………………………………………….... 4.5.2 Resources. ………………………………………………………………… 4.5.3 High expectations…………………………………………………………. 46 47 48 Chapter 5. Discussion……………………………………………………………………… 49 5.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………... 49 5.2 Program development and implementation…………………………………….. 49 5.3 Benefits of the CCP for students and other stakeholders………………………. 51 5.3.1 Benefits of the CCP for students………………………………………….. 5.3.2 Benefits of the CCP for other stakeholders……………………………….. 52 54 5.4 Challenges……………………………………………………………………….. 55 5.5 Suggestions for the CCs…………………………………………………………. 59 5.6 Summary………………………………………………………………………… 61 Chapter 6. Conclusions and recommendations……………………………..…………….. 62 6.1 Introduction……..………………………………………………………………. 62 6.2 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………... 62 6.3 Recommendations ……………………………………………………………… 65 6.4 Suggestions for further studies…………………………………………………. 67 6.5 Researcher’s reflection.………………………………………………………… 68 References ...………………………………………………………………………………. 70 Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………... 75 CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN xiv List of Tables Table 1. Statistics about graduates of PFSS A………………………….…………………….31 Table 2. Statistics about graduates of PFSS A………………………………………………..31 CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction This chapter outlines the background of the study rooted into my personal experience as a student and teacher as well as the importance of the research topic in the local and international contexts. It also discusses the problem statement, the purpose of study, the research questions, and the significance of the study. The chapter ends with a brief introduction and overview of each chapter in the thesis. 1.2 Background of the study Over the last decade or so the world labour market has experienced growth in the already large amount of career specializations, university majors as a result of rapid evolution of technologies and the world economy. Besides giving rise to new professions and university majors, these constant changes have influenced the functions and requirements of many existing careers, making them difficult to predict (Gati & Levin, 2014, p. 98). Consequently, constant diversification of the higher education field and the job market has resulted in students’ confusion and lack of knowledge about the requirements and skills needed for various careers. Gati and Levin (2014) claim that there are a considerable number of factors that influence the difficulties encountered in making a career choice such as having a variety of alternatives from which to choose, social barriers, socio-economic situations, and internal conflicts of having made the wrong choice. These factors – imposed or real – usually limit young adults’ career possibilities (p.99). According to Kelly and Lee, of all these existing barriers, lack of information is the main factor preventing high school students from making a career decision independently (as cited in Zhou, Santos, 2007, p. 220). For example, reportedly, many students view the professions of lawyer and economist as modern, high-paid occupations in prominent companies or corporations without considering the idea that people CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 2 with diplomas in these professions can also work for small firms and deal with a large amount of routine work. When they experience the real world, students’ dreams crash as well as the expectations of parents regarding the dream profession. According to a survey conducted among 22 job representatives, economists were identified as the unhappiest about their choice of occupation (Super Job, 2015). One of the explanations of this issue could be individuals’ lack of knowledge about the characteristics of professions and their tendency to fall into the trap of existing occupational stereotypes. However, the major reason is, similarly to Kelly and Lee’s statement above, the vague knowledge held by students and parents about the local labour market demands (Mustafina, 2016). Thus, the majority of high school students worldwide find the career decision-making process overwhelming and stressful. To this end, they appear to seek professional guidance that can help them make informed decisions for their future careers. When I reflect on my adolescence, I remember myself as a student struggling to decide what profession to choose. When the time to make a decision came, the only thing I was sure of was that my future profession would be within human science majors. However, there were quite a few professions that I could pursue within that domain, so I got lost. In search of some guidance, I consulted my parents, relatives, and friends about professions in which I was interested and this made me even more confused as I began to get an increasingly wider range of ideas and suggestions from people who I spoke with. I remember my uncle saying that teaching is an unappreciated profession with a poor salary and that I should not choose to become a teacher. Instead, he as well as others suggested that I choose law or international relations because these professions offer promising career opportunities and a good salary. In a nutshell, even though I sought guidance and credible recommendation, most of the people with whom I talked seemed to provide me with opinions and views on professions that rested CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 3 on widespread stereotypes and assumptions. I was experiencing a growing sense of stress as time to make a decision was approaching. Finally, after much confusion, I chose the teaching profession. The decision was not based on a personal interest, but rather on the idea that holding a teacher diploma guarantees a stable job after the university graduation. Now years later, having been through all the stages of career choice and having become a teacher, I realize how overwhelming and daunting the career decision making process could be for a student. Reflecting on my friends’ and my own experiences regarding career choices, I understand that though there are a number of sources that can help students determine their future profession such as internet sources and networks, the students need professional support and guidance to make informed and appropriate career decisions compatible with their skills and interests. This is because decisions based on stereotypes and unquestioned beliefs about professions might have negative consequences on the future of a student and the society’s well-being as a whole. According to information from a career counselor (CC) in one of the PFSSs in Kazakhstan concerning university admissions, of 42 graduates of 2014-2015 academic year, 17 graduates entered overseas universities, 16 got into Nazarbayev University and 9 entered regular Kazakhstani universities (PFSS, 2015). This suggests that for students, career decision- making involves not only choosing an occupation, but also searching for universities, becoming familiar with admission requirements and deadlines, taking necessary international examinations and filling in application forms and applying for scholarship programs. This is a large amount of work that cannot always be done by individual students without accompanying professional guidance. Taking a close look at the information about the graduates of 2015, I wondered how all of them managed to enter top Kazakhstani and overseas CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 4 universities, contemplating if it was the CCP’s role in helping those students get through the career decision-making process successfully. Moreover, having had experience in teaching and supervising 11 th and 12 th grade students at my school over the last two years, I have learnt that many students struggle with career decision-making for different reasons such as lack of knowledge about various professions and how their interests match with certain professions. Thus, my personal experience along with the experience of my students regarding career decision-making, and the recent implementation of the CCP at the PFSSs motivated me to study the role of the CCP in these schools in assisting students to make informed and appropriate career choices. 1.3 Problem Statement Career decision making involves collecting information about one’s occupational inclinations, abilities and different career options as well as the consequent processing of the gathered information. Amalgamating the knowledge about self with the existing and relevant career alternatives is essential, thus overwhelming for a young individual to cope with alone without the guidance of professionals (Phillips & Jome, 2005, p.136). Unlike in many developed countries where schools offer comprehensive career counselling to their students, there is no established CCP in the mainstream schools in Kazakhstan. According to a survey conducted among 9th and 10 th grade students in eight regular schools of Almaty, only 5.8% of 10 th graders and 15% of 9 th grade students made their career-decisions independently and ninety percent of the survey participants stated the importance of having a CCP in schools to help them choose their occupational path; 82% of students highlighted salary as a key factor in making a career choice regardless of their subject preferences (Mustafina, 2016). This suggests that students are inclined to be guided by false ideas and stereotypes about certain professions and do not realize the longstanding consequences of their decisions. Thus, due to the absence of CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 5 professional career guidance in regular schools, many students might choose professions that may be prestigious and well-paid, but not in high demand in the local job market in Kazakhstan. This might lead to difficulties in finding a job after graduating from university or poor attitudes to work. In general, an uninformed occupational choice can result in a shortage or excess of specialists in certain areas which, in turn, negatively influences the economy of the country. Huges and Karp (2004) believe that “giving young people the tools and knowledge to realistically plan for their futures is a primary goal of education” (p.2). Having this and other factors in mind such as successful international practices in anticipating and addressing existing socio-economic issues through effective career guidance services in schools, the government launched CCPs at PFSSs (Watts & Sultana, 2004, p.109). However, in the few years that career counselling in special schools has existed, not much is known about the content of the program, how it functions and assists students in their career decision-making. There are no established evaluation standards or quality control of the work being done. Since the program is relatively new, there is a dearth of research on how the program works, and it is unclear how high school students benefit from the CCP and what the students and parents think about the program’s efficacy. Therefore, this research aims to explore current practices in career counselling through information derived from analysis of the CCP and interviews conducted with students, parents and career counsellors. 1.4 Purpose of the study The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore and analyze how the CCP offered at PFSSs helps high school students in their career decision-making. It aimed to study the program from the perspectives and experiences of the school leadership, teachers, students and parents to address the following questions. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 6 1.5 Research question The research question that guides this study is: “How does the Career Counseling Program at two publicly-funded special schools in Kazakhstan help high school students make their career decisions?” Four sub-questions are created to provide in-depth answers to this question: 1) How is the career counselling program organized and delivered at two publicly- funded special schools in Kazakhstan? 2) What are the expectations of the school leadership, students and parents of the program? 3) What kinds of challenges do career counsellors and students encounter when working together? 4) How satisfied are current students, graduates and parents with the program and its delivery? 1.6 Significance of the study Due to lack of research on school CCPs in PFSSs, the current study, first, fills the gap in the existing literature in the context of Kazakhstan. Secondly, the results of the study can help foster the development of the CCPs in PFSSs in Kazakhstan by serving as a guideline for further improvement of the program. In addition, the study may also raise educational stakeholders’ awareness of CCP through explaining the role, function, and depth of school career counselling and whether the program’s content meets the needs of students, the perpetually changing labour market and higher education sector. Thus, based on the findings, the study makes recommendations for policy makers in Kazakhstan to introduce CCPs in mainstream schools. Overall, the study presents information on current practices and lays a foundation for future research on school CCPs in the context of Kazakhstan. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 7 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This chapter provides a review of literature on CCP from both the international and local contexts. The purpose of the review is to provide an overview of the existing literature on the role of CCP in assisting high school students to make informed decisions about their subject majors and careers. I have reviewed literature based on the following main categories. First, I review literature on the history of CCP in the world and its emergence in Kazakhstan in particular. Second, I present information about the organization and delivery of the CCP in schools worldwide and to what extent the program influences students’ career choices. Lastly, I focus on issues and challenges that both providers and recipients experience concerning the content and delivery of CCPs. 2.2 The process of career decision making Career decision making (CDM) is a process individuals experience while for occupational opportunities, explore and compare viable careers, and choose the one most compatible with their interests and capabilities (Gati & Asher, 2001, p.7, 18). Numerous studies show that CDM consists of several phases targeted at helping people determine their academic and occupational objectives such as 1) exploring one’s competences, skills, strengths and weaknesses; 2) looking for possible career alternatives and planning a career derived from the self-exploration process (Gore & Metz, 2008). Apparently, CDM is a multistage and dynamic process (Zhou & Santos, 2007, p.219). Therefore, some people go through this process easily, while many others experience difficulties or problems at different stages of CDM. According to Meriläinen, Puhakka, and Sinkkonen (2014), first problem refers to the first stage of the CDM process which is dearth of motivation and indecisiveness, whereas another problem such as lack of self-awareness, functions of various careers. These CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 8 difficulties, if unresolved, may result in: “(a) not beginning the career decision-making process, (b) halting the process before reaching a decision, or (c) making a non-optimal decision” (Gati et al., 1996, p. 511). 2.3 Definition and the purpose of the CCP Because of challenges encountered in the process of career decision-making due to various internal/external factors and, nowadays, ongoing changes in the global educational and labour market, many students considering higher education appear to seek guidance from CCs (Gati, Amir, & Landman, 2010, p. 393). Thus, to help students make informed decisions about their future careers, many schools around the world, especially in developed countries, have established CCP for students. These programs are designed to help individuals make career choices through fostering their competencies and skills in exploring self, analyzing various occupational alternatives and career planning (OCTAE, 2014). According to Sweet and Watts (2004), “Career guidance refers to services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers” (p.19). These activities can be offered in schools, colleges, institutes, in the workplace and in employment sectors. Career counselling services aim to help individuals to reflect upon their interests, skills and abilities, to gain and/or foster self awareness and to experience activities. In addition, Meriläinen, Puhakka, and Sinkkonen (2014) claim that apart from being aware of skills and competences one possesses, it is also essential to be informed about the educational and occupational possibilities available in the job market to be able choose the most relevant occupation for the future (p. 343). Being competent in both, according to Fort Worth Public Schools (1972), will allow students to inquire into many career alternatives with sufficient scrutiny, thus enabling them to make an informed occupational choice (p.2). It is also important to note that career CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 9 guidance in schools does not only aim at assisting students to make an immediate career choice once, but also helps them acquire and enhance career development skills necessary for future sustainable growth (Watts & Sultana, 2004, p.111). Thus, the overall purpose of the CCP “is to ensure that more young people are able to find pathways that lead to sustained employment with decent pay, good working conditions and career potential” (Bell & Bezanson, 2006, p.1). Achieving these goals will, as Forward (n.d.) suggests, positively contribute to labor markets and education systems of a country, leading to sustainable development of the society (p.40). Considering the longstanding role of the program, Zunker (2002) believes that in order to fulfill the promising functions of the program, it is necessary for career counseling practitioners to possess specific career guidance skills, techniques and strategies to provide quality and effective services. 2.4 History of CCP The meanings of terms vocational guidance, career development and career counselling are time and culture specific as career counselling has a long history of development. Counselling and guidance came into use in the 1920's with purpose to help students with career choice and placement (Campbell & Dahir, 1997, p.21). The terms career counselling and career development, as claimed by Pope (2000), appeared in more common use in the 1950s though the concept of career guidance first occurred in 19th century in the USA as vocational guidance emerged out of the societal revolution, transition and change the USA was going through at that time (p.194). Vocational guidance first came into usage in the U.S. and became a general term at the beginning of the growth of a counselling movement (Pope, 2000, p.195). As for provision of CCP in schools, the importance of offering the program to students within the school curriculum was especially highlighted in the issue of CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 10 The Vocational Guidance Magazine in 1930 (Pope, 2000, p.198). Similarly, the American School Counsellor Association (ASCA) determines career guidance as an important program since it serves as “the basis for the acquisition of skills, attitudes, and knowledge enabling students to make a successful transition from school to careers” (as cited in Osborn & Baggerly, 2004, p.46). 2.5 Organization and delivery of the CCP in schools worldwide All schools that offer CCP on a school level pursue a similar aim, which is to help students make informed occupational choices first and foremost. However, the way the program is delivered varies from schools to schools, countries to countries. For example, in Quebec, Canada, CCP begins functioning as part of a larger guidance-oriented school concept at primary and high school levels. The idea of the program is to ensure that students are conscious about what subjects they are studying and why they are studying them, and to make personal and career planning develop implicitly throughout schooling (OECD, 2004, p.15). Building bridges with the world of work through trips to worksites is what German schools practice as an integral part of career counselling, which involves an element of work experience and enables students to gain understanding about various jobs and their own career preferences (OECD, 2004, p.16). Likewise, in Michigan schools “Developing local networks among schools, community organizations, labour, and employers is critical to the success of school-to-work systems” (Bezanson & Kellett, 2001, p.19). In Finland, delivering career guidance is not the responsibility of a career counsellor alone, rather it is a cross-curricular and joint responsibility of all members of the school staff (OECD, 2004, p.16). Educational authorities of several countries encourage schools to work collaboratively with stakeholders and to make partnerships in the provision of the CCP in order to make it more effective. “Often such partnerships include calling on significant stakeholders – such as CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 11 parents, alumni, and representatives from the business community, trade unions, and non- government organisations – to make an input into the career education programme” (OECD, 2004, p.16). Opportunities for students to obtain exposure to work sites vary significantly. In Canadian schools some provinces actively advocate apprenticeship programs in the secondary school curriculum and the career development component is, in some cases, attached to programs such as exploration of occupational information, occupational guidance before and after a work placement (Bezanson & Kellett, 2001, p.18). For instance, in British Columbia, to graduate from school, students have to fulfill 30-hour-work experience, whereas in Ontario the requirement is more rigorous – 40 hour participation in community services (OECD, 2002, p.6). 2.6 Emergence of the CCP in Kazakhstan and at PFSSs In 2016, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan launched a new career guidance project which allows students of ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades to receive consultations about professions from representatives of local universities (Kapital, 2016). Unlike career counseling services offered on a regular and ongoing basis within a school, the present program is organized twice a month where high school students are exposed to two- hour lectures each time led by representatives of different universities (Nauka.kz, 2016). The initial idea of introducing the program was to have students familiarize themselves with the characteristics of various professions, to raise their awareness of modern occupations that are in demand. There are both benefits and drawbacks to the program. The benefit is that students learn about professions without being distracted from the learning process and will have opportunities to visit various worksites. The drawbacks of the program are that students might receive and understand information about professions in the way university representatives want them to understand. Though the intended beneficiaries of the program are students, it CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 12 seems to bring more benefit to universities and the government rather than to the students since this project allows educational authorities and universities to promote local universities and majors that are little known to the majority of students. Overall, the given career guidance project has been an attempt of the government authorities to acknowledge students’ demands concerning career decision making difficulties (Kapital, 2016). The efficacy of the program is not yet known, but is expected to be explored soon. Generally, school CCP is a new concept in the Kazakhstani educational field. It first emerged in Kazakhstan with the opening of private international schools Miras in 1999 and Haileybury School in 2008 in Almaty (Miras, Haileybury Almaty, n.d.). However, this can be considered a unique case since the number of students these schools serve is very small due to their high tuition fees. In general, these schools were opened in Kazakhstan to educate a privileged group of students, but not to address existing issues in the educational field through dissemination of their best practice. Thus, issues pertaining to the problem of students facing difficulties in making career decisions remained unresolved. The issue of inappropriate career choice leads to broader consequences such as university dropouts, skills mismatch, a lack or excessive number of specialists in certain spheres. Therefore, offering CCP for students in mainstream schools could be considered essential in anticipating and addressing the existing issues. “Career counseling is increasingly being seen essential to the future well-being of individuals and nations in the rapidly changing world” (Patton & McMahon, 2006). Considering this sentiment, Kazakhstan, as a country aiming to join the top 30 most developed countries in the world, became aware of the idea that many existing problems could be prevented by addressing them at the school level. Hence, similar to the European context, the Kazakhstani government started adopting the best international educational practices as a CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 13 response to continuous development in education and the labour market arising from the country’s ambitious goals of making Kazakhstan one of the most 30 most competitive knowledge-based societies in the world by 2030 (OECD, 2004). As a result, PFSSs were launched as a critical need to meet the accelerated socio- economic progress in the country and world with the aim of implementing innovative educational programs and research projects. Unlike private international schools in the country, PFSSs were opened as an experimental platform for research, approbation and establishment of successful models of quality educational programs with the idea of improving the educational system of the whole country through dissemination of successful practice into regular schools (PFSS, n.d.). CCP appeared in PFSSs with the implementation of international practice. In the context of PFSS, the CCP functions independently and is not a compulsory part of school curriculum, unlike in many schools in the USA and Europe. The main functions of the CCP at PFSS are to a) study career intentions of students through conducting surveys and interviews; b) introduce students and parents to professions, their content, features, and requirements based on personal characteristics and interests of students; c) organize excursions to worksites of the city and region; d) organize meetings and workshops with representatives of international funds and programs, leading scientists and experts, representatives of universities, companies, business organizations; e) supervise students on university admissions; f) carry out business correspondence with local and overseas universities. g) inform students about dates of submission of documents, registration and delivery of certain international tests and exams (Career Counselor Job Description, PFSS, 2015). CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 14 2.7 Issues that refer to organization and delivery of career counseling programs There is a wide range of issues connected to the appropriate delivery of CCP in schools worldwide. According to OECD (2004), one of the issues many schools worldwide face, regarding the effective delivery of career guidance, is a lack of specialists majored or trained in career counseling. Due to the dearth of career counseling specialists, schools have to recruit individuals who do not have any competence and education in career guidance which negatively affects the quality functioning and delivery of the program. Second, career guidance specialists usually receive no or only a little support from others who consider that career guidance is the sole responsibility of CCs, rather than a shared responsibility of the whole teaching staff members. Another reason why a school staff does not take part in the process of career guidance is that they have little knowledge about the existence of a teeming number of professions in the job market and their peculiarities. According to Flinter and Aleman (2008), “The school counseling curriculum requires not only the counselor’s responsibility for development, organization and implementation of the curriculum, but the cooperation and support of the entire faculty and staff for its successful implementation” (p.20). The third issue is that the majority of career guidance services have weak links with public employment services and employers. Students are rarely taken to universities and worksites where they could expose themselves to practical knowledge through having conversations with employers, workers and experiencing the work environment. Fourth, school career guidance services are rarely audited: little or no data is gathered on the recipients’ satisfaction with the service. This does not allow a) recipients of the program to signal satisfaction with the quality of the service provided and b) providers to regularly audit the quality delivery of the CCP in order to ensure that needs of students and parents are met to a good extent (p.13). CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 15 2.8 Conclusion To sum up, this chapter presented information about CCP in both the international and local context. In particular, it touched upon literature which presented information on the program history and improvement, the delivery of the program in different countries, the functions of the program, and the challenges CCs face during the delivery of the service. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 16 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Introduction This Chapter discusses the methodology employed for carrying out this inquiry to answer the central research question “How does the Career Counseling Program at two publicly-funded special schools in Kazakhstan help high school students make their career decisions?” It describes the qualitative research design including research participants and sampling strategies, data collection tools, data analysis, and the rationale for choosing this particular design. It also provides a brief discussion on the ethical considerations taken into account throughout the study to ensure anonymity, confidentiality and privacy of the research site and participants. The Chapter ends with highlighting the limitations of the study. 3.2 Research Design To find out the role of career counseling program at PFSSs in assisting high school students to make career decisions, a qualitative research design was adopted. There are several reasons that prompted me to employ a qualitative research. First, the characteristics of qualitative research meet the aim that I pursue in conducting this study which is to explore how the CCP in PFSSs influence students’ career choices, and to obtain an in-depth understanding of the program from the experiences and views of those involved in the program (Creswell, 2013, p.48). Second, qualitative research enables the researcher to communicate with people, hear their voices and establish a collaborative relationship with purposefully selected participants in order to get an in-depth understanding of what they say, what they actually mean by what they say, what they do and why they do what they do and the way they do this. These opportunities help the study to be informative, in-depth and valid. Thirdly, qualitative research enables researchers to present the data through descriptive, analytical, reflective and interpretive accounts making sense to all readers (Creswell, 2014). CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 17 The fourth reason of my choice to employ a qualitative research design was that in my study I wanted to understand the contexts in which participants would share their experiences and opinions about the role of CCP in PFSSs. As Creswell (2013) claims, “We cannot always separate what people say from the place where they say it – whether this context is their home, family, or work” (p.48). Therefore, I chose qualitative research design in order to be able to generate rich data through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis and to present the findings in descriptive, analytical and reflective manner. 3.3 Research site Two PFSSs in Kazakhstan were the site for the study. I call these ‘special’ schools because these are publicly funded schools but different from the mainstream schools. These schools are well-resourced, offer different curriculum, and have different profile of teachers than those in the mainstream schools. There were two main reasons for the choice of these two schools. First, the PFSSs are the first tuition-free schools in the country which have implemented a CCP as part of adoption of international practices. Second, despite the fact that these two schools offer the same CCP, the content and delivery of the program are different. The curriculum of one school is based on the program of the International Baccalaureate, whereas the other PFSS offers the national curriculum. Overall, studying the CCP in these two PFSSs enabled me to understand and analyze the program’s role from a wider perspective. 3.4 Participants The purposeful sampling method was chosen for this study as it fits well with the small-scale nature of the research, allowing the researcher to purposefully choosing participants and sites that enable the researcher to comprehend the central phenomenon (Creswell, 2014, p. 228). Four types of participants were selected for this study: career counselors, people from the leadership team, former and current students of the PFSSs, and CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 18 parents. The total number of participants was fourteen: two vice-principals of academic affairs, three CCs, five current students, two graduates and two parents. All these participants were selected by purposeful sampling. According to Patton (as cited in Creswell, 2014), the standard utilized in selecting participants and sites is if they are “information rich” (p.228). The reason why I selected people from the leadership position was because they are part of the decision-making process regarding the CCP and all other matters in the school such as implementation and monitoring of programs, organization of school-initiated events and professional development courses. CCs are the people who design, plan and implement the program, while students, graduates and parents are beneficiaries of the program. Of total five current 11 th and 12 th grade students that I interviewed, three were male and other two were female students of ages 15-17. Two participants of the study are the parents of 12 th grade students who are also the participants of the study. 3.5 Data collection Drawing from the qualitative research tradition, I used semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (Appendix D), and document analysis as the main methods of data collection. 3.5.1 Individual interview. Data for this study was collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with eleven people. The aim of interviewing people from different groups on purposeful sampling basis was to explore the role of the CCP from a wide range of perspectives. For example, students and parents were interviewed to explore their views, experiences, and concerns about the relevance, richness, and efficacy of the program, whereas the CCs and vice-principals were asked questions mainly related to the development and delivery of the program, challenges they had, strategic plans and areas for improvement. Importantly, before conducting an interview, I informed the students and graduates about the CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 19 purpose of the interview, which was not to judge or evaluate their career choices, but to explore how they feel about their career decisions, what kind of support they received or still need to, how the CCP helped them to go through the decision-making process. Similarly, the CCs and vice-principals were informed that the purpose of the study was not to judge the quality of their work, but to explore their experiences, views, ideas and suggestions related to the CCP at their school. This helped the study in a way that the participants were less hesitant to give honest answers. Regarding the setting for the interviews, three interviews were held in a coffee shop on a reciprocity basis, and the rest were held within the school setting. All interviews were audiotaped with the permission of the participants. According to Creswell (2012), semi structured interviews are convenient for both interviewers and interviewees as they allow them to ask probing questions and provide answers apart from initially prepared questions (p. 384). These interviews enabled me to gain comprehensive, in-depth qualitative data through probing for clarifications and asking open- ended questions that emerged in the course of interviewing (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2007). Furthermore, semi-structured interviews enable the researcher and respondents to be flexible, which creates opportunities for evolving more in-depth answers to questions raised by the interviewer. Similarly, Robson claims that “conducting and processing data from semi- structured interviews takes a long time, the method provides considerable freedom in the sequencing and wording of questions, as well as in the amount of time and attention given to different topics” (as cited in Jonbekova, 2015, p.172). 3.5.2 Focus group interview. In addition to individual interviews, I conducted one focus group interview with three current 11 th grade students of one of the two PFSSs. There were a number of reasons why I employed this type of interview with students. First, I wanted to gather shared opinion from several students, as well as to receive specific CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 20 views of each one of them in the group. Second, 11 th grade students were chosen to participate in a focus-group interview because students usually feel intimidated in an individual interview format but they feel more comfortable and secured while in a focus-group interview. Therefore, the focus-group interview enabled them to build each-other’s confidence. This format of interview could also help shy students to share their opinions, ideas and experiences openly. On the other hand, knowing that high school students can be sensitive to a peer opinion, I did not ask them questions related to emotional issues that could evoke any kind of uneasiness. I, instead, asked more open-ended questions allowing the students to have different views, ideas and responses without getting into arguments with each other. According to Bell (2006), during the focus group interview “participants will interact with each-other, will be willing to listen to all views, perhaps to reach consensus about some aspects of the topic or disagree about others and to give a good airing to the issues which seem to be interesting or important to them” (p.166). The focus group interview that I conducted for my study was efficient in a way that it helped me to explore the role of the program on a deeper level from the perspective of direct beneficiaries. Not less significant factor of having a focus group interview with these students was that they were all 11 th grade students of one school. Therefore, finding a convenient venue and getting them together was quite easy. The major disadvantage of that interview was the time limitation: as the students were very busy, they could only dedicate 30 minutes of their lunch time to the interview. At the interview, the participants were asked questions about how they feel about their career decisions, what kind of support they have received or still need to, how the CCP has helped them to go through the decision-making process. Though the interview lasted only half an hour, it was an insightful and informative one. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 21 3.5.3 Document analysis. Document analysis is a regular procedure for examining or evaluating documents and it was used as another valuable data gathering tool in this study. As Corbin and Strauss claim, “Document analysis requires that data be examined and interpreted in order to elicit meaning, gain understanding, and develop empirical knowledge” (as cited in Glenn, 2009, p.27). Documents are considered to be a good source of data as they provide necessary and valuable information for the researcher in exploring and understanding the central phenomenon. The documents I analyzed during this study comprised of CCs’ job description, school records about graduates and a working plan/schedule with current students. Document analysis provides the advantages of “being in the language and words of the participants” (Creswell, 2014). However, information in some documents may not always be available to the public and in case of availability, it may be incomplete, false and inauthentic (Creswell, 2014, p.245). Furthermore, documents can present information in the context within which the research participants function as well as give background information and historical insight to the central phenomenon (Glenn, 2009, pp.29-30). Such information and insight can help researchers “understand the historical roots of specific issues and can indicate the conditions that impinge upon the phenomena currently under investigation” (Glenn, 2009, p.29). Thus, information drawn from documents can help the researcher, for instance, to contextualize the information gathered during interviews and prompt questions that are to be asked and clarified in further research. Hence, according to Glenn (2009), document analysis and interviews complement each other in an interactive way. Interview data will reveal particular participant observation, views or experiences while document analysis helps to get an institutional perspective. In my study, the document analysis enabled me to compare what is stated in the documents with what the participants said about the career counseling program. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 22 3.6 Procedures Data collection was carried out in five stages in compliance with ethical principles. First, I identified sites and participants using purposeful sampling. The process of selection was followed up by providing a consent form (Appendix A) to gate keepers for getting permission to access the sites. Once the gate keepers familiarized themselves with the nature and purpose of the study and gave their permission, I started choosing research participants on the basis of purposeful sampling, following the concept of “information rich” participants. All the participants were provided with detailed information about the study and selected based on their willingness and voluntary participation in the study, without any pressure from anyone else. Before conducting interviews, I presented a consent form (Appendix B) to all participants. Once they carefully went over and signed the form, I then negotiated an approximate time and venue for the interview. When the time approached, I sent messages to the participants and scheduled the time and venue for the interview. Before the interviews, I prepared self-designed interview protocols, a tape-recorder, and materials for taking notes. Each interview lasted in 60 or less than 60 minutes. Importantly, upon completion of data analysis, all findings underwent the process of member checking to determine whether the interpretation of findings was accurate and complete. Most participants read their interview transcripts and made corrections wherever they deemed necessary. This process helped to ensure that the findings were free of ambiguity and misinterpretation. Document analysis preceded the interviews and was conducted using the following procedure. First, I identified the types of documents that could contain valuable information for my research. After the necessary document sources were found, I sought permission to use CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 23 and analyze the documents from individuals who were responsible for them. Once I got permission, I checked the documents for accuracy, completeness and appropriateness in answering the research question. The next step was recording information from the documents in order to build up an informative text database for the research. Recording was done in a form of note taking and photocopying some documents with the permission of the people in charge (Creswell, 2012, p.223). Both the interviews and document analysis were carried out in two PFS schools of Kazakhstan. 3.7 Data analysis In a qualitative research study it is important to analyze the data to build up answers to the research questions (Creswell, 2012, p. 247). Qualitative data analysis is a nonlinear, dynamic and iterative process that can be done both during and after data collection. According to Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen and Walker (2013), qualitative analysis aims at understanding the central phenomenon, synthesize the data and explain relationships, make theories based on the new-found knowledge and connect it with what is already known (p. 532). Keeping these in view, I approached my data analysis in the following manner. The interview analysis was carried out in six steps. First, information collected from individual and focus group interviews was transcribed and carefully read to ensure that all necessary information was present and nothing was missing. I transcribed all 12 interviews manually without utilizing any software for the reason I did not have access to such programs. Upon completion of the transcription, I translated two interviews into English as they were conducted in Russian. This overall process was followed up by a more careful and deeper reading of the data, looking for similarities and differences, and patterns emerging from the data. I then identified text segments and labeled them with different codes. As Stake (2010) claims, coding helps to categorize the data into themes. I analyzed the codes and looked for CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 24 similarities, patterns and relationships amongst the codes and thus identified key themes and categories. I created the themes and categories, and described, discussed and interpreted the themes and presented them in form of findings. 3.8 Ethics of the Study Before collecting data from the participants in the field I received approval to conduct the study from the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education Research Committee. Participant confidentiality was given much importance in the study. From the very beginning I carried out the research process in accordance with the NUGSE ethical guidelines. Ethical issues in qualitative research comprise of norms such as “informing participants of the purpose of the study, refraining from deceptive practices, sharing information with participants, being respectful of the research site, reciprocity, maintaining confidentiality” (Creswell, 2014, p.4) Considering this, participants took part in the research on volunteer basis, without receiving any pressure from either me or other authorities. According to the consent form offered for participants in the beginning of the research, all information collected in the research process maintained confidentiality as the names of the sites and participants remained anonymous, that is, were replaced with pseudonyms. As the study involved high school students, the researcher got the consent form signed by the students’ parents and the assent form (Appendix C) signed by the students themselves. Also, I guaranteed that all information received from participants would be safely stored in a password-secured laptop in a locked drawer and deleted from all sources upon completion of the research. The fact that no one except my supervisor and me would have an access to the gathered information had also been promised before the data collection process started. Importantly, upon completion of data analysis, all findings underwent the process of member checking to determine whether the CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 25 interpretation of the findings was accurate and complete. This process helped to ensure that the findings were free of ambiguity and misinterpretation. Ethical standards were introduced and explained to participants in the beginning of data collection. Otherwise, the ignorance of participants of their rights might have resulted in fear of insecurity, which could consequently make the participants give invalid and superficial information. 3.9 Limitations of the study First, the present study rests on qualitative data and is limited to a small number of participants - that is, two vice-principals of academic affairs of PFSS, three CCs, five current students, two graduates and two parents. Employing qualitative data and involving a small number of participants prevents the researcher from generalizing the findings (Cohen, Manion, &Morrison, 2007). Therefore, it is suggested for future researchers to involve more “information rich” participants or to back up the qualitative data by quantitative data in order to gain pluralistic and consolidated picture of the issue. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 26 Chapter 4: Findings 4.1 Introduction This chapter presents the findings of the study which explores how the CCP at two PFSSs in Kazakhstan helps high school students in making career-decisions. Particularly, the study explored the delivery of the CCP and its efficacy from the perspective of the program implementers and beneficiaries. The chapter is organized into four major sections. All sections present information aimed at answering the research question that guided this study “How does the Career Counseling Program at two publicly-funded special schools in Kazakhstan help high school students make their career decisions?” Section one entitled “Program conceptualization and delivery” provides an overall overview of the program, describing the philosophy of the program, career counsellor’s functions and experiences. Section two entitled “The role of stakeholders” identifies the role of the school community and the leadership team in assisting program delivery. Section three “Challenges and areas for improvement” points out issues which are perceived as potential barriers in successful delivery of the CCP. 4.2 Program Conceptualization and Delivery 4.2.1 Description of the program. CCP is unique in the context of PFSSs in Kazakhstan. The program was designed and developed in PFSSs as a result of implementation of an international practice after the opening of these schools at the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2008. Particularly, in school A, the program appeared as a result of implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Upon successful implementation of IB in 2013, the school launched the CCP in September of that year. Many participants of the study highlighted that the program is new and unique in the context of Kazakhstan’s schools. The CC 1 of school A stated, CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 27 Career Counseling is a new position in my school and in the context of Kazakhstan. I think this is really important because we help our students to find their path and try to find suitable universities and institutes and support them during the process of applying documents to universities and help them with questions regarding application process and finding their ways. Mrs. Renata, a member of the school leadership team, also affirmed the newness of the program within the PFSSs, This program itself is new for our system in general... as you know our school is still young - we had only 3 years of graduation, and the real career counseling program was done with the last cohort who graduated in 2015, because before that we didn’t even have a CC position. The overall goal of the CCP is to help high-school students make informed career decisions and get them through the university application process successfully through organizing individual meetings, various events such as job fairs, internships, meetings with prominent people who succeeded in their careers, representatives of universities, and visits to worksites. The program functions independently from the school curriculum and is fulfilled by CCs. The CCs’ work is managed and audited by a coordinator from the senior management company to whom the CCs regularly report about how the program is being delivered, what universities students have applied to, where they were offered admission, how many students received scholarships and where the graduates work and so on. Career counseling sessions are held according to the plan the CCs prepare at the beginning of a given academic year. The sessions encompass a variety of events such as individual consultations with students and their parents, educational fairs, meetings with prominent people, registering students for websites aimed at aiding students in their preferred university choice. 4.2.2 Experience of the CCs in the program. The CCs in both schools disclosed that they are not trained to become career counseling specialists, but teachers who combine career counseling with teaching other school subjects. However, they have attended various CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 28 workshops, seminars and short term internships to upgrade their knowledge and skills as CCs. CC 2 of school B reflected upon his experience and said, When I came here as a school counselor four years ago, I was told that my main role is to help them [students] to apply to universities, colleges. That’s it. Then maybe after one year, after attending some workshops and internships, after evaluation and developing, I came to the understanding that school counseling is deeper than I thought. CC 1 of school A echoed this statement, It was a new position, I didn’t have any idea what is this, how to work, how to implement this program. But first year it was like, I had a narrow view, imagination about this work…And then I participated in one workshop about career guidance which gave me some understanding of what career counseling is. We had a lot of workshops. They were really useful because I communicated with other counselors, contacting them and working with them. CC 2 described his experience of attending workshops as valuable, 2 years ago our management company organized a workshop for PFS schools by South Korean specialists. In September of 2016, it also organized workshop in how to apply to US universities by MIT. Also, I was invited to workshop in Abu Dhabi New York University, in Hong Kong universities, in Cyprus, the U.S. I saw how they work, how the school counseling program works in these countries. And after that I started to implement the experience. When the CCs began their journey as CCs, none of them had had prior experience in school or university counseling. The lack of their experience in counseling was explained by the fact that they had a degree in teaching and had been working as teachers. However, by participating in workshops and internships on career counseling in different countries and schools with solid experience in career guidance, they were gradually exposed to effective practices of career counseling. Thus, according to the participants, the way the program is delivered now is far better than it used to be in the beginning, as the CCs who got exposure to international best practices were able to enrich the program. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 29 4.2.3 CCP delivery from the perspective of implementers. In each school there is one CC who is solely in charge of the program implementation. However, in school A the school leadership team appointed an international teacher with 27 years of working experience in school counseling, as an assistant CC. This decision was made at the request of the CC whose workload was very heavy. Thus, since January 2016, the assistant of CC 1 has helped the CC 1 in certain areas of university counseling. As CC 1 assistant stated, The focus of my role … has been to provide advice, specifically with writing of motivation letters or personal statements for students and that has included not only advice on the quality of language, but also in terms of the structure and the content and sometimes this might have included some advice on asking them to think about the reasons why they have applied for a particular course, which of course, has a relationship with what sort of career they might want to pursue.. CC 1 assistant’s function is solely limited to working with12 th grade students on preparing documents for university application. However, the rest of the work regarding career counseling is the responsibility of the CC 1. As she stated, I help students to determine their future majors and support them during the process of applying documents to universities. I try to find for my students possible scholarships and inform them about all governmental or non-governmental programs. Last year, we [school administration and the CC] signed a contract with Hong Kong Polytechnic University about cooperation in professional orientation fields and they gave us 20 full scholarships to PFSS graduates for each year. The scope of groups the CC 1 works with includes students from 9 to 12 th grades. Usually in our school we try to work with students regarding their career choices from 9th grade. I am trying to organize several fairs, university fairs, and also we are organizing meetings with people who are really strong in their fields and this helps our students to understand about professions. Also, we are organizing exhibitions or tours to several factories and organizations and it helps them to expand their horizons in this field. Though career related events are organized from grade 9, students become more interested and engaged in career decision-making as time to make a decision approaches, CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 30 presumably starting from the middle of grade 10 when students have to choose subjects for the Diploma Program (DP). Therefore, the effectiveness of career related events such as career fairs, meetings with university representatives and individual consultations also depends on students’ readiness and willingness to make a career choice. For instance, CC 1 stated, It depends on their ages, grades because for example, beginning from 9 th till 10 th grades they are not really interested in these fairs because they understand that they have [enough] time. But 11 th and 12 th grades are really interested in these fairs, because they understand that this is really important, they can take information about universities, about education system itself in different countries and they can meet people from a lot of universities. CC 2 of school B revealed his view of the CCP and pointed out the importance of delivering the program starting from grade 7. He stated, It [career counseling] should start for example, in our school from 7 th grade. It should include working with parents, working with universities, working with manufactures and companies, with staff, with international team and universities. And actually, we’ve done it. For example, we already do the test of Holland or the test of Klimov on how to identify own skills from 7 th grade. We also give full support on how to apply, how to write recommendation letters, essays, what kind of tests should be taken. The CCs work with students from grade seven. However, they start cooperating with students closely when they reach grade ten, as in school A, for instance, students need to choose subjects for the DP in grade ten, which somehow determines the students’ future careers. As a member of the leadership team of school A reported, According to our International Baccalaureate Program, students in 10 th grade have to choose their subjects – what they are going to study in Diploma Program. That’s why career guidance in 10 th grade is crucial. And in that period, CC meets not only with students in general meetings, but she has individual meetings with student and parent together. The CCs’ work is not limited solely to career and university counseling, but also they constantly work on the development of the program in terms of finding local and overseas universities to establish partnerships. CC 1 reported, Starting from this year our students should pass Kazakhstan National Test which is CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 31 really difficult after IB exams. I am trying to make connections of local universities with IB school. I made agreement with Kazakh-British Technical University and this year they will provide us with 10 full scholarships just for IB school. Almaty Management University will give us 5 full scholarships. Table 1 below shows the number of students graduated from PFSSs A and B, who got admissions to universities in and outside Kazakhstan. These statistics confirm the CCs’ words: Table 1 Statistics about graduates of PFSS A Year of graduation Number of Graduates Local Universities Nazarbayev University Foreign Universities Scholarship Self-funded 2012 44 30 10 1 3 2014 41 16 13 4 8 2015 42 9 16 8 9 2016 This academic year the school had no graduates. Table 2 Statistics about graduates of PFSS B Year of graduation Number of Graduates Local Universities Nazarbayev University Foreign Universities 2012 45 12 17 16 2014 86 29 42 15 2015 91 29 44 18 2016 130 54 52 24 According to the two tables, after introducing the CCP in 2013, the number of students CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 32 enrolling at Nazarbayev University, one of the flagship universities in Kazakhstan, increased every year. The reason why NU is not included in local universities in the table is that unlike in other local universities of the country, the academic process at NU is solely based on international educational and academic standards (Nazarbayev University, 2017). Apparently, NU differs from local universities not only regarding the academic process, but also regarding admission requirements. To be precise, to enter any local university, students have to pass Unified National Test upon completion of school education. However, in order to get into NU, students do not need to pass this national test. Instead, they are required to take certain international and university entrance exams such as SAT and IELTS. Similarly, the number of students enrolling in foreign universities has also increased in both schools. This shows that the CCP is making a positive impact on students’ choices of universities. The CCs are confident that they have gradually developed the program as they gained exposure to effective and wider professional development opportunities. The CCs’ willingness to improve the program delivery can be seen in the individual approach they practice with indecisive students, who experience difficulties in career decision making. CC 2 reflected upon such a case and stated, In 2014 we had an alumnus, Gaziz. He is studying at Nazarbayev University now. In 12 th grade I remember him asking what subject to choose. He wanted to choose medicine and economics subjects. To be honest it’s not easy as medicine or economics are different fields. And I have a friend who works as an economist at one big national company. I invited him and the physician of our school. They gave him advantages and disadvantages of each field. And finally he chose medicine as he thought there were more advantages. Overall, the CCs of each school perform a wide range of duties starting from helping students make their career-decisions to getting them through their university application processes. Moreover, they constantly work on the development of the program through CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 33 integrating international best practices, making partnerships with organizations, local and international universities. 4.2.4 CCP from the perspective of beneficiaries. Students and graduates shared similar understanding about the CCP. All the participants interviewed understood that the program should be performed only by a CC. None of them considered the delivery of the program as the responsibility of the whole school staff. Lara, a student of school A perceives career counseling as a program that should help students with searching for universities and getting through the application process. She stated, I understand it when a counselor helps a student to find a good university that it would be easy for students to enter there, that student is aware of every requirement necessary for enrolling. I think they [counselors] should do the official part of the admission, they are responsible for our documents and they have to provide us with the list of required papers that we need to send to universities. They should give us enough information about universities we want to know about. I also think that this is not career counseling, but university counseling. We, students, come and ask them to give us information about a certain university and their requirements, not a profession. Students in school A are to make their career choices by grade 11, because IB requires students to choose subjects for DP in grade 10, depending on their career aspirations. Thus, choosing subjects during the transition from grade 10 to grade 11 is vital, as the subjects they select for DP somehow determine students’ future careers. Therefore, as most high school students have already made informed career decisions by grade 11, during high school they tend to seek CC’s guidance mostly regarding university choice, rather than career guidance. Zhan, another student of school A described his understanding of the program by stating, “I think it’s a program which helps you with choosing your profession, with choosing the universities where you can study. We have a lot of things to do. That’s why we might need help in applying to universities.” Another student of school B also perceived the program as CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 34 an opportunity to get good guidance “I think they [counselors] give us a light when we are in the darkness. They show us and give us good, appropriate advice to direct our knowledge to a right way.” Tim, a graduate of school A considers the program to be useful for those who are indecisive about their career choices, and also who do not know how to find universities and apply their documents to universities they are interested in applying to. He said, Career counseling…maybe the program is important for some people, for those who don’t know how to apply documents themselves, who are not very good with searching universities...maybe it’s more of a psychological support. For me, it’s the combination of psychological support with some routine activities like collecting documents. Apart from students, CCs also work with parents to explain to them the functions of the program and to discuss the career and university choices of their children. However, one of the parents interviewed was not aware of the program, stating, “I do not know much about the program. Therefore, it is difficult for me to evaluate its usefulness and effectiveness.” In contrast, parent A was well-informed about the program saying, “Their aim is to help students in getting to a university. Career counseling program tries to advise universities where students can study. In addition, it helps to collect documents and apply to universities.” The participants’ views and expectations of the program matched with what actually occurred, as most of them claimed to have received necessary help regarding career decision- making, university choice and the application process. Zhan, a student of school A stated, The career counseling program gave me some knowledge about studying in Europe, because I wanted to study in Europe. So they gave me a little list of European universities, medical universities. At the end, I successfully got through the admission process to a Russian university. The opportunity to apply to Russian universities was introduced to me at the meeting with representatives of the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan which was organized by the CCP. Parent A of a student from school A affirmed the students’ answers stating, CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 35 This program helped my son very much. The coordinator of this program invited professionals from the Russian Embassy. They are responsible for testing students and giving them a “road” to universities. My son went to the meeting where they were talking about the program. Then he collected all required documents and applied to the program. He got into first 20 students, who are going to receive a full scholarship from the government. Lara, another student expressed that the CC helped her look at other important aspects when choosing a university such as the political and economical situation of the target country where the university is located. She said, They helped me to see which countries I can apply to, which I cannot. Apart from universities, they also showed me the living costs and we discussed the economy – every sphere of the country where the universities were located. This really helped me to compare and decide which country I would like to apply to. Student 2 of school B echoed the answer above, But they [counsellors] have organized many meetings with universities, so that we could ask our questions to the representatives of those universities. And also they suggested us to take part in different fairs so that we go there and find more information. Of seven students interviewed, only two students highlighted that the CCP offers individual support to students and that the guidance received from CCs helps them make informed choices. Student 1 of school B stated, I want to add something about this person (CC 2), because in previous years, he was my teacher of geography. And we had some conversation with each other. And whenever we had scientists of physics visit us, he’d come to me and say “I know you want to learn from this university something new. Just go” And If I had some other work to do, he’d come to me and take me to that meeting [chuckles]. Tim, a graduate of school A, also expressed, My main interest was economics, but because this field cannot provide any good job opportunities in Kazakhstan, it was better to study computer science. So I was kind of hesitating between these two professions. When I came to the CC 1, she told me “Tim, CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 36 you have very good communication and critical thinking skills. I believe you’re going to be a good economist, but I don’t see you as an IT guy.” Then I came home and really asked myself do I really want to be a computer scientist for the rest of my life… after that conversation with the CC, my final decision fell into economics. Apart from helping students with career choices and university application processes, the PFSSs provide an opportunity for all students to take IELTS for free as the results of this language proficiency examination are required by all universities with English as a medium of instruction. As student 2 of school B stated, “… students also have such opportunity to take IELTS for free, because not everyone is able to pay this amount of money.” Graduates of both PFSS also shared their positive attitudes towards the CCP in their schools. A graduate student of school B stated, They sent us a lot of emails with scholarship opportunities in overseas universities on different majors, also, the CC provided us with a unique opportunity to have a scholarship at Poly University in Hong Kong and Busan University. Also we had many workshops with representatives of these universities. I was really interested when representatives of PolyU came and presented us their university, campus. They motivated us to study in this university because they have contracts with big companies and you will be for sure, employed. All beneficiaries within this study expressed positive experiences with the CCP despite their different understanding of the program. Students, graduates and parents shared their stories about how they made their career choices and what the role of the CCP was in their decisions. As was uncovered, most participants’ expectations of the program are high. 4.2.5 Satisfaction of students and graduates with the CCP. Beneficiaries of the program were asked to estimate the efficacy of the CCP on a 1 to 100 percent scale. According to students’ responses, they have mixed observations about the program – they are happy with the program in certain respects, but they also have some observations or dissatisfaction about the program. In his response, Zhan pointed out the CC’s dearth of experience, “They [CCs] CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 37 are good, but still, sometimes they don’t know about the universities, because they are not too experienced in this area. When I asked them some questions about universities, they could not help me, because they did not know.” Student 2 of school B was quite dissatisfied with that the CC does not provide any information about scholarship programs at good universities overseas. With frustration in her voice, she said, Hmmm, well…first, they cannot find for us good universities with scholarships. Before, I have never seen good universities except for PolyU with scholarships or with programs for gifted children. So we should find scholarship programs by ourselves, but it is too hard because when I faced with this problem, I found only master’s programs, not bachelor with scholarships. And it’s hard. Maybe the CC and teachers know more than us. All participants of the program stated that the CCP organizes a wide range of activities aimed at helping students with their career decision-making. Despite that, a majority of students’ responses regarding their satisfaction with the program mostly derived from the experiences when they could not receive all necessary help and support that they had expected to receive from the CCs. However, there were students who expressed absolute satisfaction with the program. Student 1 of school B candidly expressed, I want to give 10 out of 10 marks to the CCP because not many schools have opportunities to talk to representatives of different universities. I chose my own profession in this school last year because of my meeting and discussion with some famous people, and people from my field. I am just very glad to have an opportunity to get information about foreign countries’ education. I think if I had studied in another school, I wouldn’t have much opportunity like I have here. Lara also expressed satisfaction with the program as she believes that the CC’s work is to provide students with needed information and the rest is the responsibility of the student. She stated, I am satisfied with it [CCP], because they [CCs] give us information and everything they give us is for our own responsibility like [preparing] documents – this is not their CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 38 job. Their job is just to say what to collect and give to them. So it satisfies me. Arman, a graduate of school B was also positive about the CCP delivery in his school as he was in constant contact with the CC throughout his high school. Arman genuinely believes that if a student is interested in his career choice and is aware of the support the career counseling office can offer, there is a lot the student can benefit from the program. He states, Programs organized by the career counseling centre do not work for all students. If students are interested, CCs provide them with all needed information and help. But students need to be aware of their own responsibility, too. If not, the program would be inefficient. In general, the participants expressed quite a positive attitude towards the program efficiency having pointed out areas that need to be better organized in the future. 4.3. The Role of Stakeholders in the Delivery of the CCP The Career Counseling Program is developed and delivered by different stakeholders in the school. The school leadership, CCs, teachers, students and parents have different roles in the program. 4.3.1 School Leadership’s Role in CCP. There is a senior staff member in the management company who coordinates the career counseling program in all PFSSs in Kazakhstan. Career counseling is not this coordinator’s major focus, but one of the responsibilities that he/she has to fulfill. This person organizes professional development courses for CCs and provides support in the development and implementation of the program in a number of ways. CC 1 claimed, The management company supports us and it is trying to make some agreements with industries and factories and trying to help schools to organize such kind of events. For example, last year we visited several places as Kazaktelecom, Kazakstan Temir Zholy, and Samruk Kazyna – such kind of places. I think that our students are busy, they are studying full day and it‘s not so useful to organize such kind of field visits. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT TWO SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN