From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

Guidance and Decision-Making in Sixth Year 151
We don’t have a guidance teacher.
Interviewer: You don’t?
No, so that’s actually probably the worst thing about school for sixth
years like, because I’ve a few things I want to ask but there’s no one
there to.
Yeah I think everyone has questions like but… (Wattle Street, boys’
school, mixed intake)
A broader issue was evident among some students who found the process
of deciding on a future career very daunting. In these circumstances,
it was felt that school-based guidance was of little assistance unless students
had already decided on the path to take:
Just the guidance counsellor, if you go to her like, she’ll just ask you
what you want to do, you have to tell her what you want to do and
then she’ll just tell you, if you don’t really know what you want to
do there’s not a lot of information.
There’s nothing if you don’t know what you want to do, there’s
nothing really like. (Dawson Street, coed school, mixed intake)
Views on the Content of Guidance Classes
Another issue which arose during the interviews related to the content of
guidance classes, which many of the students felt were too narrowly
framed in terms of third-level choices and CAO applications. There appeared
to be a relative neglect of non-third level educational and training
opportunities such as PLCs, training courses and apprenticeships (see
McCoy et al., 2006, p. 191). In Dawson Street, one student had to research
their own options as the guidance counsellor appeared to focus
solely on going to college:
There was some things I had to look into myself a bit more but even
just for the other options, other things you can do after finishing
school apart from going to college. (Dawson Street, coed school,
mixed intake)
In Dawes Point, students appeared frustrated by the emphasis on going
to college. Some felt they did not get enough information on trades: