J A dilemma in South African vocational guidance-and a possible solution

A dilemma in South African vocational guidance and a possible solution The dilemma in vocational guidance in the new democratic South Africa is clear. The rapidly changing social, demographic and economic features of life in South Africa require the immediate provision of culturally relevant vocational services to historically disadvantaged individuals and groups services which have been as yet non-existent because of the previous systematic and structural exclusion of persons of colour from the develop­ ment of relevant vocational guidance tests and procedures. In this article the authors suggest the implementation of self-help vocational guidance instruments (SHI’s) as a possible solution to the dilemma. An example of a self-constructed SHI is given as an illustration of how teachers can construct self-help instruments for their schools.


The dilemma
Changing social, econom ic and political conditions in South Africa since the first country-wide dem ocratic elections in 1994 have called for different approaches to labour, education, training and development, and also to vocational guidance.Such transitions are not unique to South Africa (cf.Skillen's [1987] reference to the ram ifications o f the 1840 transition from church to public/secular schools in the USA).The populations o f education institutions have become more diverse, re fe c ting more than ever the racial and gender com position of the country's population.In line with universal tendencies, the workplace has also changed dramatically, i.e. from a m anufacturing to a knowledge and inform ation-based industry -to such an extent, says Goudzwaard (1997: 43), that creation is groaning under the fantastic plans to expand econom ies and technologies to the highest possible limits.Even the individuals whom vocational counsellors previously had to serve have changed.The general group o f young people with relatively stable and predictable futures in steady jobs has changed to insecure individuals facing an uncertain future.
The post-1994 econom ic and political transform ation has changed the dem ographic features of South Africa dramatically.Urbanization, loss of em ploym ent, large scale redeploym ent of workers in form erly relatively stable occupations, changes in em ploym ent patterns and the recognition of the em ploym ent needs of the previously disadvantaged people of colour have all emphasized the need for vocational guidance to adapt to new circum stances (Marais, 1999:2-6).Despite these changes, much of w hat we do in education is unconsciously preparing the young to live in the world in which the previous generation grew up in, instead of preparing young people for the third millennium.Apropos to this, Sine (1997:25) rem arks the following about conditions in the USA: " I have seen little in ... education that is intentionally designed to enable students to anticipate and creatively respond to the challenges o f tom orrow 's w orld".
The changes that have already taken place since 1994 are likely to be perpetuated well into the twenty-first century.South African society will remain increasingly m ulti-ethnic and multi-cultural.
The substantial im provem ent in the educational and vocational oppor tunities for people o f colour implies the need for more and more efficient vocational guidance.If South Africa is to become an efficient inter national role-player, the developm ent of its human resources will have to improve.This implies inter alia the more effective provision o f information about career options, em ploym ent opportunities, and the m ost effective ways o f accessing education, training and developm ent opportunities (Van der W esthuizen e ta l., 1999:103-105).This viewpoint, however, presents a dilemma.Our knowledge base about the developm ent o f population groups that have been system ati cally and structurally discrim inated against is very restricted.Research results generally available are those on white m inority groups in South Africa, such as the white hetero-sexual middle class youth (Hackett & Byars, 1996:322-338;Chartrand & Rose, 1996:341-350).
There is a danger that in tackling the back-log in vocational guidance for the previously disadvantaged people o f colour, culturally-biased instru ments, techniques and procedures will be followed, in the process doing further dam age to the clients involved as well as to the image of voca tional guidance as a respected profession.
The dilemma of having insufficient expert knowledge about such histori cally disadvantaged groups also has an ethical side.Korman (1974:443) warns that the provision of "professional services to persons of cultural diverse backgrounds by persons not com petent in understanding and providing professional services to Such groups shall be considered unethical".This opinion is widely supported (inter alia by Gysbers et al., 1998:39;Hernández & Morales, 1999:45-50;Clearly, 1968:115).
There is an obvious need for culturally sensitive services to replace the culturally biased measuring instruments which have been standardized for white people (Fouad, 1993).Test bias as a problem has attracted much interest and attention, also in the USA, because o f concern about the treatm ent of minority groups (Hernández & Morales, 1999:45-50;Clearly, 1968:115).
Test bias can also be viewed as the phenomenon w here certain identi fiable groups of persons tested, for reasons that have nothing to do with the characteristic that a specific test is supposed to measure, gain higher or lower ratings on the relevant test or parts of the test.A mere difference in test averages between sub-groups in the norm population is not proof o f test bias (HSRC, 1989:40-42).
Vocational guidance instruments and procedures are also regarded as biased and unfair if they do not provide for critical variables such as unsettledness due to migration, race discrimination and poverty.The provision of truly ethical vocational guidance which has the w elfare of the target group or individual at heart should therefore be placed within the relevant socio-cultural context (cf.Sue & Sue, 1990).
The dilemma in vocational guidance in the new dem ocratic South Africa is clear.The rapidly changing social, dem ographic and econom ic fea tures o f life in South Africa require the imm ediate provision of culturally relevant vocational services to historically disadvantaged individuals and groups.The question is: how can this impasse be overcom e? W e suggest the implementation o f self-help vocational guidance instru ments as a possible solution to the dilemma.In the following sections of this article we briefly glance back at the history o f vocational guidance in South Africa to determ ine the cause of the dilemm a and to see whether there are any resources available for the self-help instruments that we suggest.W e then develop a num ber o f criteria against which the suitability of a solution to the dilem m a can be measured, and then suggest a few guidelines for the developm ent of a self-help instrument.

The cause of the dilemma
W e assum e that colonialism and the apartheid ideology have been sufficiently identified as the general causes o f the educational malaise in South Africa.This is the background and context o f our discussion.
Vocational guidance can be traced back to ancient Greek civilizations with their em phasis on the developm ent o f human potential (Gibson & Mitchell, 1995:4).Parsons' book On choosing a vocation (1909) supplied vocational guidance with a much needed scientific base.He emphazises the importance o f a person understanding his/her own personality, skills and aptitudes well, and o f aligning such self-knowledge with insight into career opportunities (Naude & Bodibe, 1986:2;Landsberg, 1996:1;Kruger, 1995:34-35;Herr & Cramer, 1996:8-12).
Subsequent developm ents in the fields o f testing, research (cf.question naires), the education of learners with special needs, mental health, learning theory, developm ental education and learning problems enabled vocational guidance take great strides forward (Fagan & Wise, 1994:25 28).
Education in South Africa has always been modelled on systems and practices in the colonizing m other-countries, and invariably targeted the needs of white colonists.The earliest form s o f vocational guidance in South Africa focused on persons who had already left school.W ith the advent o f more differentiated schools (industrial, technical, arts, academic) from the 1950s onwards, there w as a need to guide learners towards a sensible school choice, and concomitantly, a career choice (Naude & Bodibe, 1986:3, Liebetrau, 1987:3).This differentiated approach was firmly entrenched in the A ct on National Education Policy (Act 39 of 1967), an approach which emphasized the significance of repeated appropriate career choices for the purpose o f leading a fulfilled and successful life (Jacobs et at., 1988:58).Vocational guidance, as a form of education, was instrum ental in aiding and enabling learners to m ake such choices (Barnardt, 1971:15).
Because o f the system atic implem entation of apartheid education (1948 1994), relatively great differences gradually became part o f the provision of vocational guidance in the different sub-system s (Raad vir Geesteswetenskaplike Navorsing, 1984;Naude & Bodibe, 1986:3).Vocational guidance was gradually introduced to black people from 1984 onwards, but has up to now rarely m et the requirem ents and expectations of the Human Sciences Research Council (Naude & Bodibe, 1986:3-5).Despite all such constraints, the provision of vocational guidance had the same basic structure everywhere: it consisted of psychological counsel ling as well as school guidance (Isaacson, 1984:145-150;Kruger, 1995: 1-7).Psychom etric testing and evaluation are done by practitioners registered with the South African Medical and Dental Council.A large percentage o f the school population unfortunately still does not have access to these services, resulting in a lack of self-knowledge and self understanding, which are prerequisites for successful school and career choices.The problem of practitioners applying assessm ent instruments with which they are fam iliar and which they feel "work for them ", to the exclusion of newer and more appropriate instruments (Herr & Cramer, 1996:652-660), however, still exists.
Concerns have been raised in the past about the abuse and excessive use of psychom etric testing (Joubert, 1983:48;Jacobs et a!., 1988:217;Gysbers et al., 1998:12).The Green Paper on Education and Training (South Africa, 1998) and Quality Education for All, (South Africa, 1997)recent policy docum ents -also warn against excessive testing.
With regard to the dilemma in vocational guidance in South Africa (cf.section 1), it has become clear that vocational guidance, such as there had been and still is, does not satisfy the needs of South African learners.Herr and Cram er (1996:433) sum m arize the dilemma as follows: "Vocational guidance has been seen for too long as useful to only a highly restricted sample of the total learner population rather than to all or m ost learners".Energy and expertise ought now to be expended to re-conceptualize and develop a totally new model or solution which has the potential of satisfying the needs o f m ost individual learners and/or groups.
One needs hardly stress the point with educators and vocational guidance counsellors that the full in-born potential of each and every learner that has been entrusted to us should be identified and optimized.Not only does South Africa need it for the growth o f its econom y and the prosperity o f its people; it is a deeply rooted need of all people, all created in the image of their Creator, all with inherent potential, all with a purpose in life, i.e. to serve and honour God in and through their work and deeds.No man or woman can achieve this on his or her own; everyone needs guides, mentors, educators, advisors, counsellors -and this is why vocational guidance is accorded such an im portant place in the process of enabling and "discipling" learners as educands.
Every human being is created in the image of God (im ago Dei), and as such was created for a specific purpose as well as with the potential to actualize this purpose or life-goal.Although some o f this inherent potential can com e to fruition through self-education (the "self-m ade" man or woman), it can only be realized in full under the caring and persistent efforts o f an educator, or a whole series of educators.Education is required to assist and lead us to fulfil our purpose in life, which in the case of Christian educators and educands, is seen as to love, honour and to serve the Lord with all our might, and to love and serve our fellow human beings as we love and serve ourselves.Guidance, as a rather special way of educating (equipping) the educand, plays a significant role in all these processes.G uidance as a form of education should "em power" the youth for their task and calling in life, i.e. should equip them for their life-task (Van Dyk, 1997:35 ff.) Educators, including guidance specialists, have an obligation to prepare young people to deal with the new realities of a global society in which they are com peting with other people all over the world.However, this preparation should not be for the world as it is in its broken (imperfect) state, but for a world that can improve by the power o f the Gospel o f Jesus C hrist (Sine, 1997:39).This stance is emphasized by W alsh (1997:11): "Christian education in precarious tim es needs to be prophetic in character, criticizing the forces that render us numb and energising young people to an alternative way o f living in this world, subject to an alternative sovereignty".
If, as is presently the case in South Africa, such special and specialized form s o f education are not available, responsible guidance counsellors and educationists have to come forward with creative and innovative solutions.The solution must also be financially viable and relatively simple to adm inister in order to m eet the needs and requirem ents of even the most far-flung com m unities (Marais, 1999:10).
In the following section we discuss a possible solution in more particular.

A possible solution: self-help instruments (SHI's)
W e concur with Sue and Sue (1990) that vocational services should be provided in appropriate cultural contexts if they are to be regarded as ethical.Cultural variation should be seen as a reality and be provided for; the rigid and uniform application o f supposedly universal constructs and instruments should be avoided if all the needs of all the clients (i.e.learners) are to be accom modated.Clients should be assisted, say Fouad and Bingham (1995), not to all make the sam e choices but to m ake career choices that are culturally appropriate.
Self-help instrum ents m eet these requirements, as well as other criteria which we outline below.The application of such instrum ents is relatively new to South Africa but have been tried and tested in several other countries (Kok, 1995).A self-help instrument (SHI) is a non-standardized questionnaire, and therefore complies with tests of validity, reliability and generalizability in unique ways (Jacobs, 1981:14).An SHI is completed by the learner, allowing him/her to relate the results to his/her schoolwork, achievem ent in a certain subject or school grade, course, study or possible career choice.An SHI is not a psychological or psycho metric instrument, and can therefore be used by any individual.
In some instances SH I's have clear advantages over standardized instruments.They can, for instance, be used in environm ents that have a shortage of trained persons who can help learners m ake career choices.
Although not as dependable as standardized psychom etric tests, they can supply "clients" with workable suggestions with regard to educational and career choices.They are not as sensitive to teacher-learner ratios as standardized instruments, and can supply virtually imm ediate feedback to the user on the basis of his/her own decisions.Frequent application of SH I's helps learners gain mastery o f life-skills and knowledge.SH I's are also economic, cost-effective, culture-and race-bias free, they demythologize test procedures and can be adm inistered by "ordinary" regular teachers; they encourage self-exploration, are instrumental in integrating self and career knowledge, and supply the outcomes in a readily digestible way (Jacobs et al., 1988:219).

Criteria for self-help instruments
South African conditions dictate that certain criteria be met by instru ments adm inistered to learners (cf.South Africa, Departm ent of Education, 1995:4).These criteria include avoidance of prejudice, Eurocentrism, racism, cultural dominance and bias, test bias, the hazy myths surrounding professional testing, excessive knowledge of intimate personal particulars and teacher dom inance because of the possession of such knowledge.On the other hand, instruments should be innovative and appropriate for South African conditions (cf.COTEP, 1996), meet the vocational guidance needs of all learners and provide for cultural variation.Instruments should also accom modate the effects of previous race discrimination, gender bias, poverty and instability as a result of urbanization and other migration patterns, the needs of society and specific comm unities; the diversity o f the school population; the geographical spread and the decision-m aking needs of learners.Instru ments need to cover the following aspects: competence, racial background, attitude, gender differences, circumstances, labour values, vision -to mention only a few.
Young South Africans can no longer be satisfied with mere theoretical knowledge of the self and o f possible careers.Vocational guidance instruments should therefore be constructed and planned in such a way that they afford learners opportunities to take personal control o f their lives.Instrum ents should provide learners of every age with knowledge and skills relating to self-image, self-control, self-confidence, inter personal comm unication, stress control, recreation, health management, work ethics, decision-m aking, goal-setting, planning, readiness for change, hope fo r the future -and many more aspects o f life.M astery of such skills will enable them to take charge of their lives -and to become efficient and productive m em bers of society (Marais, 1999:10-11).
Because of their advantages over standardized instruments, especially because of their highly personalized nature, SHI's are the obvious solution to the dilem m a which we have outlined in section 1 : they are imm ediately available, can be adm inistered by any individual under all circum stances.Furtherm ore the results o f SH I's are imm ediately available in readily understandable form, they are culturally sensitive and relevant, and can be adjusted and amended as conditions dictate.

Criteria for the construction and evaluation of SHI's
Although SH I's are advocated as a possible solution to the vocational guidance dilem m a in South Africa, the impression should not be created that the construction o f SH I's is straightforward and uncomplicated.A num ber o f stringent requirem ents have to be m et for an SHI to be effective, i.e. to serve the desired purpose o f culturally relevant perso nalized and individualized vocational guidance.Benecke (1980:67-89) and Jacobs e t al. (1988:217) developed guidelines for the developm ent of SH I's.The m ost im portant o f these are as follow s (in updated form in order to m eet the needs o f South Africans in the post-apartheid era): • The SHI should supply the client with self-knowledge and personal capabilities, and assist him /her to realise his/her innate potential.
• The SHI should contribute to the realization of potentialities by asking about available opportunities, including careers.
• The SHI should connect and integrate personal and career know ledge.
• The SHI should inform the client/user about his/her personal life-view and value system, and relate these to values inherent in different careers.
• The SHI should be limited in scope as well as in duration to prevent users from losing interest or becoming fatigued.
• The SHI should be inviting and interesting to users.
• The SHI should convey a clear sense of purpose, contain clear instructions; the language use should be unambiguous and easy to follow (appropriate for the age, gender and culture o f the user).
• The SHI should be reliable and valid.
• The SHI should not be biased in any sense; it should, as far as possible, accom modate the needs o f users in a m ulticultural society in the sense that cultural variables such as race, age, ethnic culture, gender, disability, urban/rural surroundings, religion, and sexual prefe rence are treated as peripheral to the central focus o f the SHI, viz.self and career knowledge for the purpose of an effective career choice.
• Users should experience the SHI as culturally relevant to themselves and their personal conditions.
• Users should experience all the items in the SHI as relevant and to the point.
• Every effort should be made that all users will interpret the different items in the SHI in the same way.This implies extensive research within and across cultural groupings.
• The item s/questions in the SHI should com ply with criteria such as appeal to the user, clear wording to prevent m isunderstanding, conciseness, objectivity (i.e.not too personal), sensitivity, sensibility, classification, avoidance of the obvious, focus and purpose.Special care should be taken to ensure that semantic difficulties do not defeat the purpose of the SHI.

Example of a self-constructed SHI
Adherence to the above-mentioned criteria for SH I's will obviously result in the application o f more than one SHI in a school, or even a class.The following are exam ples of items in a self-constructed SHI aimed at helping learners assess and understand their personal abilities, talents and aptitudes.The items have been constructed in such a way that respondents will not be able to complete them in the prescribed time.
After the prescribed time, respondents will be aware of both their strong and weak points (Dewuld, 1999:76-81).The content m atter as well as the difficulty level o f the various items o f an SHI should be appropriate for the age and school grade of the respondents.

Creativity: creative ideas
To what extent, and how effectively, can the respondent make use of creative ideas in problem -solving?This aspect o f creative thinking is an im portant com ponent of aptitude and talent though extrem ely difficult to measure.The respondent can be requested to perform the following task within the limit of 3 minutes:

Example:
Design as m any postage stam ps as possible, the various motifs and designs o f which should depict the advent o f dem ocratic governm ent in 1994.(Supply an example, e.g. a 45c stam p with a photograph o f a sm iling ex-president Nelson M andela appearing on it.) or: Design as many stamps as you can in 3 m inutes in which you depict the various aspects o f South A fricans' struggle against AIDS.
Self-assessm ent: How did I fare?(Mark one of the following:) Extrem ely unsatisfactory 1

.1.2 C reativity: V erbal expression
To w hat extent can respondents express feeling?To assist respondents in assessing their verbal capacities, they can be requested to perform the following task within 3 minutes:

E xam ple:
Construct as m any short sentences as possible in which you express or portray the feeling o f hunger.(Supply an example, e.g.I feel faint with hunger, or: I feel like having been on a hunger strike for a month, or: m y stomach grumbles).
Construct sentences to express and portray feelings o f fear (or anxiety, or uncertainty, etc.).
A pply the same self-assessm ent instrum ent (see 6.1.1Creativity: creative ideas).
S elf-assessm ent as before.

S peed o f thinking: sym bols
The speed at which one thinks and can react form s an im portant aspect o f aptitude and ability.Set the following task: The following is a long set of symbols.Some sym bols are directly followed by an "em pty" 0. See how many of these "em pty'' 0 's you can strike through in 30 seconds.

Attentiveness
These are memory tests.

Attentiveness: ve rb al com prehension
Set the following task: Example: Read the following story, and then answ er the questions w ithout referring to the text again.(How good is yo u r m emory?) (A short story o f 50-60 words is presented, and approxim ately 5 questions, o f which the answers can be found in the story have to be answered.Note that the level o f the story [content and vocabulary] as well as o f the answers has to be compatible with the age, language proficiency, culture, and so forth o f the respondents.) S elf-assessm ent as before.

Attentiveness: num erals
Set a task like the following:

Example:
The following table consists o f train num bers in the left-hand column, and their departure tim es in the second column.In column three the numbers o f the trains are presented in another sequence.See w hether you can find all the corresponding departure times in the right-hand column.You have two minutes.Do not look a t the first two colum ns once you start filling in column num ber 4! Self-assessment, as before.

Capacity to process
The ease with which complex data can be processed is an indicator of the presence o f considerable talent in respondents.

C a p a c ity to process: v e rb al
Set a task like the following: Respondents are required to read a short paragraph (100-150 words) about the intricate and involved relationships/kinship in an extended family (nephews, nieces, cousins, aunts, in-laws, grandparents and grandchildren, etc.)They are then requested to determ ine the relation ship/kinship between two or three persons from the available data in one minute or less.
Self-assessment, as before.
6.4.2C a p a c ity to process: num eral Set a task like the following: Respondents are required to perform relatively difficult com putations like 2.25 x 8 , and then to select the correct answ er from a set o f multiple choices.As m any as possible calculations and com putations of this nature should be done in two minutes or less.
Self-assessm ent as before.

Discussion
As was intimated in 6 above, the 11 items presented above are concen trated only on ability, talent and attitude, and should be seen as mere exem plars o f items that can be devised by the counsellor/teacher to assist learners to assess the extent and quality o f their own aptitude etc.
The num ber of items can be extended and can be form ulated in such a w ay as to concentrate on specific aspects of respondents' ability, personality, interests and so on.Care should, however, be taken not to overburden respondents, thus tiring them and causing them to lose interest and to respond inaccurately or carelessly.The purpose o f an SHI is to guide learners to greater self-understanding, and the num ber of items as well as their level o f difficulty should be appropriate to the age, grade, sexual preference, culture etc. o f the learners.Although most items should be appropriate fo r the m ajority o f learners, teachers/ counsellors m ay find them selves in situations w here certain items will have to be "custom m ade" for specific learners.
The self-assessm ent scale that follow s after each item is expressly for the personal use o f the respondent/learner.A respondent, assured o f the confidentiality o f his/her response, can therefore be blatantly honest with himself/herself.The respondent can assess his/her own ability on an item for item base, or can add the results o f all items to get an overall picture o f his/her ability, aptitude, personality and so on.Teachers/ counsellors should respect the private and confidential nature o f an SHI, but should be available for advice, assistance, guidance and counselling -should the respondent wish to share the results o f an item or o f the whole SHI with him/her.SHI's are essentially self-devised instruments and their construction dem ands a great deal of skill on the part o f the counsellor/teacher.It can be expected that a degree o f trial and failure will occur in constructing SHI's, especially in unique cases, e.g.mentally or physically retarded learners, immigrants, members o f minority culture groups, gays and lesbians, and so on.The results of an SHI cannot be generalized; it is a highly individualized assessm ent of aspects of a unique individual.Despite the highly unique and individualized nature o f SHI results, the upshot can be used for a profound and penetrating discussion on the needs and requirem ents of the individual whose results are being used as the basis of a discussion or counselling.
As was indicated in previous paragraphs, SH I's do not require highly trained practitioners (although they do require a great deal o f skill based on experience), and are relatively inexpensive to develop and administer.
Because of this characteristic of S H I's, they are extrem ely suitable for application in poorer communities.SH I's can be applied repeatedly, but will need updating from time to time, and will also need adjustm ent as the learner population develops (for instance, become more sophisticated because o f exposure to higher level mass media, like television, radio and newspapers).

Concluding remarks
The criteria and guidelines presented above emphasize the fact that the construction of SH I's is by no m eans a less onerous and responsible task than that of standardized tests.However, SH I's are more adaptable to the particular circum stances of the user, and with the necessary care they can be used to avoid bias, prejudice and stereotyping which are a constant threat in the implementation of other instruments.South African conditions call for innovative solutions.S H I's seem to be a solution for the dilemm a in vocational guidance that had been created by South A frica's unfortunate past.

6. 2
.2 S peed o f thinking: ve rb al Set the following task (or something similar): E xam ple: Underline all the four-letter w ords in the following sequence (you have 30 seconds): W ITHALLM AN NERC O M EN O W D O G SAN DLAM BD O G SFALLSBU M PS Self-assessment, as before.6.2.3 S peed o f thinking: num eral Set the following task (or som ething similar): Add as many o f the following figures as you can in 30 seconds: BAR N AR D T, H.V.D W . 1971.'n O ndersoek na die invloed van die voorligtingsdienste op die studierigting van leerders aan die A frika a n se h o ë r o n d erw ysin rig tin gs in Transvaal.P otchefstroom : PU vir CHO .(V erhandeling -M Ed.) BENECKE, F.C. 1980.'n P e d a g o gies-verantw oorde on tw e rp van vraelyste vir e va lu e rin g van beroepskennis.Pretoria : UP. (V erh a n d e lin g -M .Ed.) C H A R TR A N D , J.M & ROSE, M L. 1996.C a ree r inte rve n tio n s fo r at-risk populations.Incorporating social cognitive influences.The C a re e r D e ve lo p m e n t Quarterly, 4 4:341-350.CLEA R LY, T.A. 1968 Test bias: P rediction of grades o f N egro and W h ite learners in integrated colleges.Jo u rn a l o f E d u ca tio n a l M easurem ent, 5:115-124.