Studie- och yrkesvägledares upplevelser av kompetensutveckling

Sammanfattning: Society, including the education system and labor market, is constantly evolving, placing demands on career counselors to continuously develop their skills and stay up to date with these changes. Previous research has relatively little information on how career counselors in Sweden themselves experience professional development. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of professional development among career counselors in municipal primary and secondary schools. The study adopts a qualitative approach through interviews with six practicing career counselors. To investigate the purpose, two research questions have been formulated: How do career counselors in municipal primary and secondary schools experience the influence of themselves and their colleagues on their professional development? And: How do career counselors in municipal primary and secondary schools experience the influence of external factors on their professional development? The empirical data has been analyzed using Illeris' formula of competence and Patton and McMahon's STF-model. The analysis reveals that career counselors have a natural or acquired curiosity to learn more things. It was found that career counselors receive the greatest support and can discuss questions about new relevant professional development within their network. The analysis also indicates that career counselors may need more guidance from policymakers regarding their professional development to maintain a high quality.