Dear colleagues,
This methodological publication, which you are about to become acquainted with now, is the result of ten years of sincere work with young people, that was implemented by many specialists from three countries – Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus. Several key aspects connect all of these professionals. Once upon a time, they all realized that the formal education system did not meet all of a young person’s learning needs and that it does not provide him or her with the knowledge they need to realize themselves in the world outside of school. At one time, these professionals also realized that they did not intend to put up with that, and took active steps by involving thousands of young people of all ages in their career guidance initiatives and activities. These proactive people – youth workers, career consultants, mentors and educators – share another common important characteristic. It is an endless and sincere passion to create by carefully observing the needs of the young people around them and creating opportunities that allow them to discover the space, community and tools to pursue their dream career, to develop self-confidence and to feel safe when realizing their full potential and talents. This format of the methodology was born in 2013, when I first sent a five-page program from Lithuania to Belarus to my like-minded colleague Nadzeya Putsiat, the co-author of this methodology, describing in detail all the career guidance activities I implement with 9-12 grade students. In the program, I reviewed the most relevant topics for the participants, the methods I used, the structure of the sessions, the frequency of recurrences of the sessions. I also described the specific steps I take to attract participants.
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