Costa Rican Journal of Guidance & Counseling

Guiding in complex contexts: Paths of vocational guidance in the Costa Rican educational system

2024-02-20T21:51:42-06:00

This article presents some reflections on the paths for vocational guidance in the Costa Rican educational system. It reflects on the complexity of the contexts within which guidance is circumscribed and on the need to establish professional practice on a paradigm of complexity. This position will allow for timely responses to the challenges inherent to professional practice, so that these are addressed with a broad and dynamic perspective that considers the complex framework that characterizes the person being guided based on political, economic, social, cultural, and axiological circumstances, as well as their interrelations and perceptions. At the same time, it revisits some elements of the life designing approach, which allows vocational guidance intervention to be operationalized from a perspective of complexity, by proposing the need to move towards a model adapted to current realities that consider the context, values, interrelations, perceptions, and personal capacities in the construction of trajectories in the different areas of life. Finally, some key points are proposed for optimizing vocational guidance, ensuring that the guiding actions are rooted in the substantial elements proposed by both theoretical perspectives. The goal is to enhance employability, career development, and social justice for the target populations served.

Career Choice in the 21st Century: Between uncertainty and undecidability

2025-04-10T10:40:32-06:00

This essay reflects on the debate about free will and undecidability in the career choice process. It is approached from a transdisciplinary perspective, using classical and contemporary authors as the focus of analysis. It questions free will in the context of technological disruption and proposes updating the counselor toward self-guidance and centering all action on the subject.

Pilot Test of the Comprehensive Training Program: Designing My Future for New Students at LCI VERITAS University, Costa Rica

2024-11-12T17:11:59-06:00

Objective: To evaluate the main results of the application of the pilot test of the Comprehensive Training Program: Designing My Future, specifically the MOOC Time for Everything, to first-semester students at LCI Veritas University.

Methodology: This is a mixed-method study using a sequential explanatory design. Quantitative data collected in the evaluation survey and an instrument of time management habits (post- and pre-test) were used. Qualitative data from this evaluation, course products, and information from interviews with instructors were then used in-depth. The primary source was the participating students (n=161), while the other sources were two instructors representing the courses participating in the pilot test and 483 documents.

Results: There is a high pedagogical quality, and the expected time management skills increased. 76% of students were highly satisfied, especially with the learning resources, instructional design, and content. In fact, 86% of students would recommend the MOOC to another peer, and 87% of the population achieved a high frequency of time management habits at the end of the MOOC, mainly in planning.

Conclusions: The results of the Time for Everything MOOC pilot are evaluated as highly positive for both student training and the efforts of faculty and the Guidance Office. Its implementation is recommended across all university programs, with actions at enhancing student motivation and placing greater emphasis on effective time management strategies.

Paradigmatic review of theoretical approaches to vocational guidance: a proposal for an integrative model

2024-11-20T15:05:53-06:00

Objective: To construct a paradigmatic classification proposal, contextualized in the Costa Rican reality, based on the sociohistorical development of theoretical approaches to vocational guidance.

Methodology: A critical literature review is used, which seeks to synthesize and analyze materials from diverse sources to present a proposed paradigmatic classification model for vocational approaches. For this purpose, paradigmatic classifications from reference authors were sought, and three specific proposals were analyzed: Savickas (2012), Rascovan (2013), and McMahon (2014).

Results: Among the main results, it stands out that the highlighted proposals of McMahon and Rascovan classify vocational approaches into four paradigms, while Savickas classifies them into three paradigms. Furthermore, all proposals identify a psychometric paradigm as the starting point for vocational guidance, while the social justice and career education paradigms are presented in two of the three classifications analyzed. In turn, each proposal identifies the most recent paradigm with a different name (life design, critical, complex, and new trends, respectively). Based on the study's methodology, a proposal for an integrative model for Costa Rica is presented, consisting of five paradigms (positivism, naturalism, constructivism, sociocritical, and complex), including paradigmatic overlaps. As part of the study, the approaches within this proposal are classified.

Conclusions: The paradigmatic situation of guidance in Costa Rica is located right in the middle of the current proposal from the global north (constructivist paradigm) and the Latin American one (sociocritical paradigm).

Professional Development in ICT: Analysis of Training and Usefulness for Guidance Counselors in Public Schools in Costa Rica

2024-12-02T13:29:09-06:00

Objective: This article analyzes the professional development in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the institutional support for guidance counselors in public schools in Costa Rica.

Methodology: The methodology is quantitative, with an ex post facto, cross-sectional design and descriptive scope. The sample (n=328) comprises guidance professionals from the Ministry of Public Education, who completed a questionnaire.

Results: The main findings reveal a critical perception of institutional support, particularly in aspects related to support for the exchange of technological experiences and attention to professional development needs. Although most of the sample reports receiving ICT training, the most valued modalities are those that promote collaborative learning and flexible access to resources. In contrast, less contextualized options, such as visits to other schools or short courses, are considered less effective.

Conclusions: The importance of collaborative learning and access to updated resources for efficient training is highlighted. However, the lack of contextualization in some modalities and the limited institutional support hinder the integration of ICTs in guidance counseling. The design of practical and relevant programs is recommended, with greater involvement of the educational institutions in identifying the technological needs of the guidance counseling community.

Strengths and Challenges of Counseling Professionals in Serving Trans Students in Daytime Secondary School

2024-12-04T15:24:23-06:00

Objective: The results of the fourth objective of the research on the care of transgender adolescents in secondary school are presented. This objective seeks to identify the main strengths and challenges of the Counseling professional in caring for transgender students.

Methodology: The research was based on the naturalistic paradigm, using a qualitative approach and the phenomenological method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants to collect the information (two counselors, two trans and cisgender students, one parent of the trans student, and two teachers). The analysis was conducted through triangulation between the interviews, theory, and guiding criteria, utilizing categorization and open coding to group the units of meaning into two analytical categories: strengths and challenges in the counseling intervention.

Results: Respect, empathy, assertiveness, and confidentiality were identified as strengths. Regarding challenges, a lack of training on sexual diversity and tools for serving trans students was noted.

Conclusions: The purpose emphasizes the need to enhance professional development and training on topics related to sexual diversity and inclusive sexuality education models. It also highlights the importance of inter-institutional coordination to strengthen care for transgender people in secondary school. A human rights-based approach and ongoing professional development are recommended to ensure safe educational environments for transgender people in their identity development.

Guidance Action in the Costa Rican Humanities School System for the Development of Comprehensive Student Well-being

2024-12-09T14:33:44-06:00

Objective: To analyze the influence of guidance work in pre-university settings on the development of comprehensive student well-being.

Methodology: The research was performed in the Costa Rican Humanities School System (SCHC, its acronym in Spanish). It was carried out from a positivist and naturalistic paradigm, using a concurrent triangulation design with a non-probabilistic sample as a starting point. A total of 85 participants were selected based on the following criteria: representatives of SCHC executive directors and eleventh-year students.

Results:Adolescence is influenced by a series of changes that affect the construction of identity and life plans. Therefore, the analysis of the information obtained confirms the functions that characterize the Guidance service in this educational modality and reflects the three dimensions of the comprehensive well-being circle that are prominent in guidance and collective interventions.

Conclusions: To ensure the comprehensive well-being of students, the Guidance Department provides personalized services on various topics, such as the sense of identity and belonging, mental health, emotional regulation, decision-making, as well as an approach focused on adaptability in a transitional context, which facilitates understanding of the personal present and life design.

Ninth-Grade Students' Demands Related to Educational and Career Guidance at Two Panamanian Schools

2024-12-15T12:56:34-06:00

Objective: To describe and analyze the demands of ninth-grade students related to educational and career guidance at the Instituto Profesional Técnico Leonila Pinzón de Grimaldo and the Instituto Profesional Técnico e Industrial de Aguadulce, in Coclé, Panama, during the second semester of 2023.

Methodology: A basic, non-experimental, cross-sectional, retrospective, and quantitative study was conducted. This study was based on fieldwork through the administration of a structured survey to 60 students. The survey was validated. Descriptive statistics were presented, and analysis was performed using the chi-square test.

Results: Ninth-grade students articulated specific demands for educational guidance, emphasizing the need for support in personal, social, and vocational aspects. They expressed a preference for the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and dynamic, interactive, and personalized guidance modalities.

Conclusions: Educational guidance faces the challenge of adapting to a complex environment, where the significant incorporation of ICTs requires not only infrastructure but also the development of professional skills in guidance providers. Overcoming these limitations would allow for optimizing interventions and expanding the formative impact on the development of academic and professional careers.

Intercultural Educational Guidance: Theoretical and Practical Approaches for its Understanding in Pluricultural Environments

2025-05-13T13:16:52-06:00

Objective: To deepen the understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity, promoting the development of competencies that foster interculturality in pluricultural educational environments.

Methodology: Based on an updated bibliographic review, the relationship between educational guidance and interculturality is analyzed, highlighting the importance of promoting mutual understanding and social cohesion.

Results: The findings indicate that intercultural educational guidance is based on the premise that knowledge and appreciation of diverse cultures enrich individual and collective life, which overcomes stereotypes and prejudices. Furthermore, this perspective recognizes cultural diversity as a source of wealth that entails the responsibility to build more inclusive and respectful societies. To this end, emphasis is placed on implementing educational strategies such as the pedagogy of questioning and critical reflection, which are key to consolidating an intercultural educational guidance approach. This approach not only promotes equity and inclusion in educational settings, but also prepares individuals to face the challenges and seize the opportunities of a globalized world.

Conclusions: In this sense, the role of the guidance professional is fundamental in promoting equity and social justice within educational settings. Their work involves guiding learning from an intercultural perspective and promoting awareness-raising and training processes that empower students, teachers, families, and communities to understand and respect diversity, thereby building more just and supportive communities enriched by values that enhance social and cultural coexistence.