Guidance in Catalan secondary education : main features and challenges in a Spanish region

Abstract

This chapter provides an account of the development of career education and guidance in the region of Catalonia in Spain from the early 1930s onwards. It details the services currently in place, while pointing out the gaps in provision for particular groups of citizens and the weaknesses in the current system, particularly in as far as it concerns secondary education. Data generated by recent research projects is used in order to outline the structural constraints limiting the development of effective career guidance, highlighting in particular the absence of career education from the formal curriculum, the ad hoc and uncoordinated nature of services offered, and the lack of specialised training of school staff with guidance responsibilities at school level. Quality and impact of guidance services are not monitored, and little if any research is carried out about student satisfaction with guidance-related activities. The chapter concludes by presenting four promising initiatives that point the way towards addressing the gaps and weaknesses identified.