DMH ASSOCIATES NEWSLETTER No.1
DMH Associates will now be releasing a quarterly newsletter to provide an update of our recent activities and publications.
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MARCH 2019
BRIEF SUMMARY dmh associates SELECTED ACTIVITIES AND INVITATION TO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 2019
Career-Related Learning in Primary Schools: January 2019 saw the publication of a new report “Career-related learning in primary: The role of primary teachers and schools in preparing children for the future” co-authored by Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, in association with Dr Elnaz Kashefpakdel and Jordan Rehill both from Education and Employers, London.
https://www.educationandemployers.org/research/teach-first-career-related-learning-in-primary/
This paper, commissioned by Teach First in England, provides evidence on the benefits of career-related learning (CRL) activities for children in 
primary schools, alongside a range of teacher roles. In doing so, the research sets out what primary schools can do to tackle the influence of socio-economic issues that affect children’s future transitions. It considers how we can get a step closer to ensure best practice in CRL provision. In line with the Careers Strategy, the Department for Education, through The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), is investing £2 million in developing and extending career-related learning in primary schools. The CEC published ‘What Works? Career-related Learning in Primary Schools’ in December 2018 –
https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/research/career-related-learning-primary-what-works
In 2019, this is a hot topic in primary schools linked to strategies for improving social mobility and life chances. Dr Deirdre Hughes and Dr Elnaz Kashefpakdel have jointly written a Book Chapter for a new international publication (Springer Books) to be published later this year. In the meantime, Deirdre is working with Geoff Dunn MBE, Headteacher (Ballysally Primary School), Nick Chambers, CEO, Education and Employers (and his team) to launch Primary Futures in Ballysally Primary School, Coleraine on 21st March 2019. It is hoped through this event to broaden and raise pupils’ awareness of the world of work with many volunteers already offering to visit the school to meet with children, parents and teachers. A video will be produced to capture the impact of the activities.
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EMPOWER TO SHAPE CHANGE: Learning and Identities in the Changing World of Work
DMH Associates has worked on this newly published book with a dynamic European team of ICT, Public Employment Service and Private Practice experts including: Graham Attwell, Christine Kunzmann, Andreas Schmidt, Katarina Ćurković, Jordi Fernández, Pablo Franzolini, John Marsh, and Karin Their. We wish to thank all the members of the EmployID project as well as the members of the associate partner network for their contributions to the insights reflected in this book. EmployID received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 619619
Ask yourself are you embracing and shaping change, or are you being driven by it? We see technological developments such as digitisation and automation in an ever increasing number of sectors and intensity. Companies and public sector organisations have to reshape their value creation processes and guide their employees to new job roles, creating an uncertain outlook. In this short book, we look at strategies to empower and shape change, including the role of technology and identity transformation for learning in the workplace. The contents of this book follow a deliberate path focusing on contemporary themes. It is aimed at practitioners, managers, researchers and policymakers.
The new free online book is now available from: https://consultancy.employid.eu/book/
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BRITISH JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING: INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM SERIES, SPECIAL ISSUE
Migration: theory, research and practice in guidance and counselling
It has been a great privilege to work closely over the twelve months with Professor Fusun Akkok, Professor Emerita, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey; Gideon Arulmani, Director, The Promise Foundation, India; and Helmut Zelloth, from the European Training Foundation (ETF), Senior Specialist in VET Policies and Systems, Turin, Italy. As co-editors of this Special Issue we, alongside other authors of nine contrasting and content-rich articles have put the spotlight on this important topic. We urge more people to engage in career dialogue and counselling to support migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in their search for appropriate new opportunities.
Visit: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03069885.2018.1564898
Note: Scroll down in the link to access the full article.
This Special Issue is dedicated in memory of Professor Frans Meijers who sadly passed away on 16th November 2018. In talking to Frans about the subject of migration he remarked
“All individuals have their own unique journey in life. The movement by people from one place to another brings about displacement from familiar surroundings and exposure to different cultures, values and norms. Guidance and counselling provides a ‘safety net’ that enables individuals to reflect on and give meaning to their life and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
We are also greatly indebted to Dr Siobhan Neary, Associate Professor, University of Derby, International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS) and Prof. Hazel Reid, Emeritus Professor, Canterbury Christchuch University. Siobhan arranged for Hazel to undertake a Book Review of: Crawley, H., Duvell, F., Jones, K., Mcmahon, S., & Sigona, N. (2017). Unravelling Europe’s ‘Migration Crisis’. Journeys over land and sea, University of Bristol, Policy Press, 2017 which features in the Special Issue.
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CAREERS WALES – Working Wales
Last year, on behalf of the Welsh Government, Deirdre reviewed international approaches to employability assessment and referral, as part of the 
Welsh Assembly Government’s programme – Prosperity for All – https://beta.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-10/prosperity-for-all-annual-report-2018.pdf Since July 2018, she has worked closely with Careers Wales to inform and support their ongoing work in preparation for Work Advice Wales, due to launch in April 2019.
In January 2019, Deirdre contributed to a staff training and development programme with senior managers and careers advisers from across Wales. This covered need-based approaches to guidance, assessment and referral, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused approaches to career guidance and coaching working with vulnerable young people and adults. Feedback from these sessions was very positive:
“I just wanted to drop you an e-mail to thank you for your support during the workshops last week. We’ve received fantastic feedback from staff following your session, they found it really informative, valuable and were left feeling motivated, thank you for that!…I’ve also had the chance to view your session via the video recording you made on Friday and they are brilliant, we will be using those during the workshops this week and I’ll also look to see if we can add them to our intranet for staff across the organisation to view.”
Emma Benger – Working Wales Project Manager………………………………………………………………………
Scottish Government – New Careers Strategy
The Scottish Government is developing a new careers strategy with its partners following the earlier published careers strategy ‘Career Information, Advice and Guidance in Scotland – A Framework for Service Redesign and Improvement’ (Scottish Government, 2011). The Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Jamie Hepburn MSP, signalled his intention for a new careers strategy to be published in September 2019. The new strategy will look at equity of access to careers information, advice and guidance and quality of service, with a specific focus on adults – both in work and unemployed – ensuring careers provision is both flexible and responsive to the ever changing labour market conditions. A Steering Group will provide strategic oversight to guide the development of the Careers Strategy which will be drafted by the Scottish Government. This strategy will support the ambitions set out in Scotland’s National Performance Framework to ensure all people in Scotland are able to fulfil their potential. Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE and Dr Anthony Mann, Senior Policy Analyst at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been appointed by the Scottish Government to act as an Independent Advisers.…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Skills Northern Ireland 2019
In 2015, Deirdre Hughes and the Prospects Events Team co-founded Skills Northern Ireland. Since then, on average 6,581 students per year have 
attended the annual Skills Shows. Last year, students had an opportunity to engage with 70 exhibitors, including major employers and universities from across the UK. A Senior Advisory Group meeting took place in Belfast in January 2019 to reflect on lessons learned from the 2018 event and to assess impact. Contributors were formally thanked for their invaluable contributions, particularly the main sponsor Northern Ireland Electricity Networks.
A survey of young people’s career choices was completed by dmh associates – https://dmhassociates.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DMH-report-skills-061118-FINAL-REPORT.pdf The aim was to connect with young people in schools and colleges between the age of 14 years old to 19 years old to find out more about their views of the world of work, the opportunities available to them, and what they think their future might look like. Plans are underway to extend this survey in N.Ireland and other parts of the UK in 2019. If you are interested in this research topic contact: [email protected] For more information on how to get involved in this year’s event visit: – https://prospectsevents.co.uk/our-events/skills-northern-ireland/northern-ireland-2019/ Follow us on Twitter: @Skills_NI
INSIGHTS TO SOME SELECTED RESEARCH AND EVALUATION PROJECTS
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Building Better Opportunities (BBO) UCan, Dorset
dmh associates have been awarded a major contract to undertake an in-depth evaluation of the Building Better Opportunities (BBO) UCan project in Dorset (February 2019 – December 2019). The programme supports organisations in Dorset to tackle the root causes of poverty, promoting social inclusion and driving employment growth opportunities. It aims to help the most disadvantaged in local communities. Deirdre is programme Director working closely with Chris Percy, Karen Adriaanse, Helen Plant, Robert Hughes and Dr Erika Kispeter (Research Fellow, University of Warwick, IER).
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A Rapid Evidence Search (RES): What enables and drives adults in work to learn new skills? led by CFE Research, Leicester, on behalf of NESTA.
The research team, including Deirdre Hughes, is using behavioural insights to better understand what does or would motivate the target audience of adults in work to undertake training to acquire new skills and knowledge. The ultimate aim is to significantly increase the number of adults (and employers) participating in continuous learning, particularly in digital skills, to ensure a workforce that is fit for the future.
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Testing New Approaches to Engage Young people with Career Information led by the Behavioural Insights Team, supported by the Department for Education, Deirdre Hughes and volunteer schools in the West Midlands region.
This is an innovative project designed to motivate students (in Years 8 and 9) to engage with a wider set of education and career information. The project aims to address some of the current challenges in engaging young people in technical education and careers.
KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
Deirdre will be delivering a keynote presentation on ‘Towards a Strong Career Learning Environment’ at the Careers Live event in Leeds on 19 March 2019. This is followed by a presentation to the People and Places Board, Local Government Association (LGA) in London.
On Monday 25 March 2019, Deirdre is presenting a keynote at the sixth symposium event organised jointly by Edinburgh Napier University, Skills Development Scotland (SDS), and the University of the West of Scotland. The aim of these events is to promote a research culture in the career guidance profession in Scotland. She will focus on ‘Social Justice and Evidence-based Practice’.
MEETINGS
Deirdre will be meeting with Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 19 March 2019, with colleagues from Unison, Careers England and the UK Career Development Institute (CDI). She will focus on the ‘careers experiment’ in England and approaches in other home nations, Europe and further afield.
OCTOBER 2019 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Career Development: Identity Innovation and Impact
dmh associates plans to hold its first International Conference in central Birmingham, England on 10 October 2019 (provisional date). The aim of this one-day conference is to bring together practitioners, academics, policymakers and technology innovators from the UK and further afield to focus on career development policies, research and practice that have been proven to make a difference to people lives.
Confirmed keynote speakers from the UK, Canada and Europe include: Dr Reineke Lengelle, Assistant Professor interdisciplinary studies at Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada and researcher at The Hague University of Applied Sciences; Emeritus Professor Hubert Hermans, Dutch psychologist and Creator of Dialogical Self-Theory; Liane Hambly, co-author of ‘Creative Career Coaching’ and inspirational educator of career development professionals; Professor Graham Attwell, international guru on the use of ICT and labour market intelligence/ information (LMI); Nick Chambers, CEO, Education and Employers, London leading international expert on Primary Futures and Drawing the Future, Davos; and Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, creative methods in career development and evidence-based approaches. A series of interactive workshops will be delivered by leading specialists in career-related learning in primary schools, career education post-primary and tertiary, career coaching and public sector, third sector and private practice innovators.
The conference will pay tribute to the seminal works of Prof. Frans Meijers and Dr Bill Law and the lasting legacies of their research and practical ideas for career development. Delegates will receive a resource pack including materials and activities that can be applied in practice and copies of all presentations.
To enable us to plan well for this forthcoming conference, to register could please click on this link
The conference fee for participants is as follows:
£135 plus VAT for non-students and £60 plus VAT for students. Places will be allocated on a first-come first served basis.
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To access latest news, blogs and practical resources – visit: https://dmhassociates.org/
Telephone: 07917809234
Email: [email protected]