Sandra D. Gunnarsdóttir, a study and career counsellor, joined us for a coffee and a chat with Edda, the professional director of study counselling at IÐAN, about her master's thesis.
Sandra says she was surprised by how focused on academic studies compulsory school is. That alone creates all sorts of obstacles. Academic studies always take precedence, and compulsory school is constrained by the national curriculum when it comes to academic subjects. Career and guidance counseling is not defined in the national curriculum as a separate subject with competency criteria, unlike in Norway, for example, where it is a compulsory subject in grades 8-10.
For her master's thesis, Sandra interviewed seven career and guidance counselors. Five of them said they managed to provide some career and guidance counseling in the 10th grade, but two had to seek opportunities in collaboration with teachers to get into class. Over a hundred vocational study programs are available, so it's a challenge to get acquainted with that environment. In contrast, there are twenty academic study programs. She believes that the current standards regarding the number of career and guidance counselors per student in Icelandic compulsory schools are long outdated. Career and guidance counselors also provide daily services to students throughout the school year, which can be very demanding.
Sandra says she feels that promotions of vocational and technical training are having an effect, even though Iceland is far below European standards in terms of the number of students in these fields. In Iceland, about 10% of students enter vocational training, while the figure is around 20% in our neighboring countries.
She also believes that the urban legend that vocational and technical training closes certain opportunities for university studies is still alive and needs to be eradicated. The option of taking a matriculation examination alongside vocational and technical training and the various opportunities for further education need to be better promoted. This also needs to be well-presented to parents, as they influence students' educational choices. She would also like to see increased collaboration with the business community, but also notes that there are examples of very strong collaboration all the way down to the 2nd grade.
Sandra believes that the government must formalize career and guidance counseling within the national curriculum, and she calls for the work on a comprehensive policy for career and guidance counseling, which has been in progress for a long time, to be completed. Then this delightful woman smiles and says that the policy must be absolutely foolproof when it is finally released after all this time.
We thank Sandra for an interesting, informative, and enjoyable chat. It is certainly good to know that there are people out there who see that change is needed and are willing to work towards it in a constructive way.