The education professional: From imaginary to knowledge. A laboratory experience

Abstract

The Autor describe a training orientation experience intended for fourth and fifth year of secondary school students aimed at promoting conscious access to the university world and facilitating the process of building their own professional prefigurations. These paths led by career advisors, experts in the world of work and guidance representatives involved 16 classes from four institutes for a total of 278 students.

Each meeting was structured in two moments: a Photolangage workshop and a seminar, which consisted in making the experts in the field talk with the students of the schools participating in the guidance activity.

The Photolangage workshop was followed by a moment dedicated to the meeting with experts from the world of training present in the territory, each of whom described their field of action. As it is written in the Guidelines, the guidance activity should also be done by those who have specific professional skills, who are outside the school and who can introduce the girls and boys to the world of work in order to promote the process of work inclusion. The experts in the area working in the field of education were asked to present to the students the professional profiles for the degree course: social educators, child educators and trainers.

The experts called to converse with the students each represented different areas of education and social work: one coordinator of an educational service for children, two company trainers, two social planners.

Each of the eight meetings included, at the beginning of the activity, the administration of a semi-structured questionnaire aimed at surveying the students’ previous knowledge about the educator’s field of action, the skills of this professional profile, as well as future aspirations and expectations with respect to the guidance experience.