Lifelong Learn. 2012, 2, 19-39
Information Sources, Information, and Their Effectiveness in Determining Secondary School Students’ Choices of Further Educational Pathway and Careers
The present study is an overview of formal and informal sources of information that are currently used by students of upper-secondary technical and vocational schools in deciding on the course of their education and careers, and their availability and effectiveness evaluate on the basis of respondents’ subjective assessment. It also maps information that students consider to be important in career desicion-making. These findings are necessary to make the work of educational consultants, school psychologists and career counsellors more effective. They are also necessary for teachers of career education. For this purpose, a quantitatively oriented empirical survey, designed by the National Institute of Education, School Counselling Centre and Centre for Further Education of Teachers was carried out. Data was collected via paired questionnaires for students in the final year of upper-secondary school and their parents. Data collection was carried out in 2011 at twenty secondary technical schools and vocational schools in four regions of the Czech Republic. The sample consists of 442 students and their parents.
