Career orientation program
The Vocational Orientation Program (BOP) , initiated in 2008, is a program to promote vocational orientation for 7th and 8th grade students at general schools . It consists of the two instruments potential analysis and workshop days.
In the potential analysis, the young people get to know their personal strengths better. In the following workshop days, they explore various professional fields in technical, technical and social areas in training workshops.
organization
The career orientation program (full name: "Promotion of professional orientation in inter-company and comparable vocational training institutions") is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research . Grant recipients are supra-company and comparable vocational training centers for inter-company training . The BOP is part of the Education Chains Initiative . The program center is located in the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Bonn.
The young people take part in the BOP with their school; Over 3,000 schools are involved as cooperation partners of the over 300 project sponsors. According to the sums approved so far, over 1.5 million young people will be reached throughout Germany by summer 2020.
Instruments: potential analysis and workshop days
The career orientation program consists of the two instruments potential analysis and workshop days. The duration and structure of the two instruments may vary depending on the federal state.
The potential analysis takes up to three days. In various individual and group exercises, the young participants get to know their personal potential better. These include B. Ability to concentrate, work accuracy, ability to work in a team and problem-solving skills. The students are observed during the exercises and then receive feedback from the trained observers. The potential analysis in the career orientation program is subject to the quality criteria of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The workshop days last up to two weeks. The young people can choose three out of at least five professional fields that they want to try out. As a rule, there are significantly more than five professional fields to choose from. In training workshops (i.e. in a protected area, not in real companies) they manufacture workpieces themselves or solve certain tasks. Trainers set the tasks and look after the young people. The teachers accompany their school classes through the program.
18 professional fields
In the workshop days of the vocational orientation program, a total of 18 occupational fields are presented, depending on the offer of the respective educational institutions:
- construction
- Electric
- vehicles
- Color and interior design
- Health, education and social affairs
- Housekeeping
- Wood
- Hotel and restaurant services
- IT, print and media
- Cosmetics and body care
- Warehousing and Logistics
- Agriculture and Food
- Metal and plastic
- Natural sciences
- Sanitary, heating and air conditioning technology
- Textile, leather and clothing
- sale
- economy & Administration and Management
Video diary as a reflection tool
The video diary in the workshop days of the career orientation program is a method that provides a framework and stimulus for feedback and reflection. As an essential learning outcome of the workshop days, the pupils should develop an understanding of their strengths and interests and what professional activities are convenient for them. The video diary supports you in this: At the end of each workshop day you formulate a statement for yourself in words and pictures. The video diary thus strengthens reflection throughout the workshop days. In addition, the video diary serves as the basis for the reflective conversation following the workshop days. The educational staff can specifically reactivate and evaluate the experience during the workshop days with the video diary. The success of the career orientation measure also depends on the quality of the feedback process.