Research on user involvement in guidance is very scarce, if existing at all. The presented evaluative research, titled "Voice of users – promoting quality of guidance for adults in the Nordic countries", examines both the value of adult guidance to its users and their involvement in developing and organising guidance services in adult education.

Premises and goals

Guidance for adults has been gaining ground in lifelong learning services in the Nordic countries. These services have grown out of public policy that in turn is responding to an increasing demand for a lifelong and individualised educational and vocational guidance of adults. Previous evaluative research in the Nordic countries has focused on aspects of the guidance service rather than providing data for service development purposes (Vuorinen & Leino, 2009). This is in concordance with research within the OECD countries that has largely focused on theories, tools and methods and less frequently been of direct policy relevance (OECD, 2004). Another gap that has been identified in the policy making and organisation of guidance services is that users are not involved in policy development or organisation of guidance services (Vuorinen & Leino, 2009). Research on user involvement in guidance is very scarce, if existing at all. The involvement of users in organising and developing guidance services is both an important way of empowering citizens as well as giving valuable information on the guidance experience and thus contributing to the improvement of the guidance services (Plant, 2006). This present evaluative research, titled Voice of users – promoting quality of guidance for adults in the Nordic countries, examines both the value of adult guidance to its users and their involvement in developing and organising guidance services in adult education.

• The first goal of this study is to describe if and how adult users of guidance have an impact on the services provided, as well as to compare user involvement in adult guidance in the Nordic countries.
• A second goal is to evaluate learning outcomes of guidance for adults in the Nordic countries that seek guidance in adult learning centres.

The project, which is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic network of adult learning, started in 2010 and its results are being published later this summer. The project group consists of researchers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden under the management of the Centre of Lifelong Guidance Expertise at the University of Iceland.

Implementation

The study consists of two research phases. First, several focus group interviews were undertaken in all the countries (6-8 groups in each country) among users of guidance, counsellors and managers of guidance services in adult education. Following that, a web-based survey was conducted in all the countries among clients of guidance in adult education within the past two years. The number of respondents in the web-based survey varies considerably across the countries, ranging from around 160 to 500 respondents.

Main results

The results show that face-to-face interviews are, by far, the most common mode of delivery of guidance. Somewhere between 62-88% of the respondents, depending on which of the countries we look at, had experienced face-to-face interviews with a guidance counsellor in the previous two years. Other modes of delivery were less common (3-25%), such as telephone interviews or group sessions with counsellors, web-based guidance or guidance from teachers. However, web-based guidance and guidance as integrated in lessons and teaching activities was more common in Finland (42-48%) than in the other countries, as well as guidance provided by a teacher in Finland and Denmark (36-39%).

The findings indicate that the benefits or the outcomes of guidance are mainly threefold, i.e. educational, vocational and personal. An example of an educational outcome is to get help in making educational choices. An example of a personal outcome is to learn something about one’s abilities. An example of a vocational outcome is to get help with job search. Overall, respondents rated statements concerning educational outcomes of guidance more strongly as benefits of their guidance than statements that concerned vocational or personal outcomes. Similarly, statements that concerned personal outcomes were rated to a more extent as benefits of guidance than statements about vocational outcomes. These results can be seen as indicating the focus of guidance provisions in adult education in the Nordic countries, where the main focus is on providing guidance on educational and personal issues but to a lesser extent on vocational issues.

Respondents were asked if they were satisfied with the guidance they received, and overall they are rather satisfied with the service, since on average their level of satisfaction is well over 5 on a scale of 1 to 7, where higher value indicates more satisfaction.

The active involvement of users of guidance can be described at different levels, ranging from involvement at a more individual level, where the user implicates himself in his guidance and gives feedback on his experience, to a more intense participation in shaping services and policymaking (Plant, 2006). The results indicate that overall users of guidance are not systematically involved in terms of providing feedback on services nor do they participate in shaping services and policies in career guidance for adults in the Nordic countries. Around half of the respondents (49-55%) in Denmark, Iceland and Sweden reported that they had not been given a chance to evaluate the guidance service and up to one third (28-35%) in Norway and Finland. Some reported giving informal feedback about services to their counsellor, either verbally or by e-mail (20-49%), whereas others had been given a chance to take part in surveys, either on paper (12-15%), the web (7-32%) or through telephone interviews (1-11%). When asked about involvement in shaping services and policymaking somewhere between 75% and 92% of the respondents, depending on country, said that they had not participated in any decision making and designing of strategies about guidance services. However, results from both focus groups interviews and the web survey show that users of guidance feel that it is important that users of guidance are consulted and are interested in having their voice heard on different aspects of guidance services.

Who would benefit from the results and how?

This research gives valuable information on the provision of guidance services as well as on the current approach of users to policy making and organisation of services. Users are not participating in policy making and organisation of guidance services, but this research tells us that they would very much like to be involved. In fact they are eager to be involved. It is a sad fact that guidance is seldom evaluated and this has to be a concern for the organisers of guidance services. It is a happy one that users are satisfied with the guidance they receive, which emphasises educational and personal issues. The reason why users get less help with vocational issues might be that guidance takes place in learning institutions and not public employment agencies or workplaces.

So who benefits from the results of this study? No doubt, both providers and organisers of guidance could benefit from the information this study provides and hopefully the users themselves will benefit in becoming more active agents in policy making of guidance services. Experiments in user involvement are being made in public services and they need to be adopted by policy makers in adult guidance.

References:

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development. (2004). Career Guidance and Public Policy. Bridging the Gap. Paris: OECD.

http://www.oecd.org/document/35/0,2340,en_2649_201185_1940323_1_1_1_1,00.html

Plant, H. (2006). Involving the users of guidance services in policy development. Leicester. The Guidance Council.

 Vuorinen, R. & Lailo, L. and and contributors, Mjörnheden, T., Plant, P. Søgaard, B. Vilhjálmsdóttir, G.

(2009). Expected outputs/outcomes of guidance services for adults in the Nordic countries. Submitted to the Nordic Network for Adult Learning NVL.

http://www.nordvux.net/download/4984/expected_outputs.pdf