The System of Career Guidance for High School Students in the United States of America

Abstract

The aim of the article is to examine the system of career guidance of high school students in the United States of America.

The methodology is based on the analyses of the process of career guidance work in the USA, the structure of secondary education in the USA, the role of career counselors, the principles of professiography, three stages in the work of counselors in the Unites States of America. In order to analyse the general system of professional self-determination of students in secondary schools in the United States, it is considered the structure of secondary education in this country. The 10 participants in the action research were career counselors from the USA.

The results. It was determined that the main role in career guidance is played by the National Career Development Association. The structure of secondary education in the USA, the role of career counselors, the principles of profession, three stages of the work of counselors in the USA are analyzed.

The article found that secondary education in the United States of America is compulsory and consists of different types of schools: public, private, and schools run by religious organizations. It was noted that at the end of the 20th century about 90% of students studied in state (free) educational institutions; the secondary education system consists of primary, secondary and high school; the total duration of education is 12 years. It is noted that in order to optimize the transition of students from secondary school to high school, schools can change the terms of study. Thus, primary education is reduced to 4-5 years, the duration of high school education varies from 2 to 4 years.

The main role in the coordination and management of career guidance and employment of students is played by the employment services and education departments of individual states. Various councils of the association of business representatives and members of communal communities are of great importance for the organization and implementation of this work.

The principles of professionography are clarified: the specificity of the description of a certain activity; step-by-step study of activities – procedural sequence of material collection and analysis focus of description – compliance with specific goals of the research and implementation of a specific practical task; selectivity of the research object – concentration on the most difficult tasks of the labor process; learning dynamics – taking into account the development of the subject and changes in activity; systematicity – the study of interaction of individual components of activity at all its hierarchical levels; identity of methodological techniques and training programs and description for correct comparison of professions; use of qualitative and quantitative research methods – complementing content and statistical information.

It was concluded that the features of career guidance are: the degree of professional self-determination; strengthening the role of non-state forms of career guidance of students and the connection of their schooling with practice; the timely response of the education system to changes in the structure and labor market; use of the competence approach in pre-vocational and professional training of youth; psychological and pedagogical support of the process of choosing a future profession for a young person in the context of solving a broader problem of preparation for choosing a professional career.