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

Conclusions 229
parents of the student cohort report spending considerable amounts of
time discussing options with their children throughout their schooling
career (Byrne and Smyth, 2011). In sixth year too, students regard their
parents, particularly their mothers, as important sources of advice in
terms of their post-school plans.
Formal guidance emerges as having a more important role in sixth
year than previously; not surprisingly, given that in the context of constrained
resources, schools tend to target provision towards senior cycle,
especially sixth year, students (see McCoy et al., 2006). The role of formal
guidance was found to vary across the case-study schools at junior
cycle (Smyth et al., 2007). Variation across schools is evident too in the
amount of guidance and the way it is provided to sixth year students. The
most common pattern involves several classes devoted to career guidance
coupled with one or two individual meetings with the guidance
counsellor. Classes were seen as providing information on a broad range
of options, which was particularly useful where students were unclear
about what they wanted to do. The use of aptitude tests, having guest
speakers and attending college open days were also seen as useful
sources of information. In some cases, guidance counsellors tailored the
class content to reflect student preferences, and many students commented
on the personal commitment and enthusiasm of their guidance
counsellor. However, students were generally more positive about individual
sessions than guidance classes, since it allowed them to ask questions
and access information relevant to their own specific interests.
Students were broadly positive about guidance provision but at the
same time expressed the desire for more information on the possible
courses and jobs open to them. Criticisms centred on the lack of time for
guidance, particularly for individual meetings with the guidance counsellor.
Time was seen as constrained by the dual role of guidance counselling
and classroom teaching, and, in some cases, this dual role was seen
as affecting the level of trust students had about issues remaining confidential
(see McCoy et al., 2006, for similar findings in Irish second-level
schools).
In terms of the content and focus of guidance, many students were
critical of the way in which guidance provision focused on higher educa-