The implementation of a career development and planning programme for under-privileged learners as part of their training at a bridging college.

M.Ed.Making a career choice is most probably one of the most important decisions any person, or school leaver, has to make. Research has shown that a large percentage of learners are not equipped to make the right career choice (Stead & Watson, 1999:169). It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that, as an Educational Psychologist, career guidance should be seen as a very sensitive process that should be handled with the utmost respect to ensure that the client’s needs are addressed through the process. Because we live in such a dynamic world that is constantly changing, it is important to make sure that the career guidance process keeps up with the latest trends. As the Trait-and-Factor Approach is being relied on very heavily, in the South African context, one must ask if this theory still fulfills all the career guidance needs in the modern age. Although Frank Parsons, the founder of this specific theory, was responsible for a great number of reforms in a modernist era, should we not look for a theory that leads us into a postmodernist era? When talking about a postmodernist time frame, it should be seen in its totality, not just in the information era, but also on a personal level for each individual as to recognise personal differences. Clients present more challenging needs and have greater expectations of a career in a very competitive market. It is, therefore, important for a counsellor, in a postmodernist era, to address these additional needs and to allow the client, not just to be a part of the process, but to make the process more beneficial, in all regards, to the client’s needs. This research study was aimed to describe students’ experiences of a career guidance and development programme. The students attended a bridging college for underprivileged students who had passed matric and were given the opportunity of increasing their mathematics and science marks. The students with the highest mark would then qualify for a bursary to attend a tertiary institute to further their studies in electronic engineering and information technology. The students were from the local area living in the townships and attending the local schools in the townships. There are two college campuses, one in Alberton and one in Boksburg, with fifteen students attending each campus. The students that are successful at the tertiary institute will be offered a position at the company supporting the college as a social upliftment programme for equal opportunity. It was decided to give the students who were attending the college the opportunity to go through a career guidance and development programme as they indicated that they had very little exposure to career guidance programmes while still at school. The programme that was used with the students was based on a constructivist approach using narratives. The programme consisted of a number of different tasks that the students had to do, in order to help them identify their own personal characteristics, and to identify their own values and interests. The knowledge they gained through these tasks helped them to construct a personal narrative. The clients themselves, at the end of the process, edited this narrative after having gone through and completed the process. Focus group interviews, as well as the students’ personal journals, where the different tasks were recorded and deliberated upon, were used as data collection methods. From the data that was collected, it was established that the students’ experience of the career guidance process, was very positive. The students also indicated that they had certain preconceived ideas of a career guidance process, but that they experienced this intervention programme as very insightful on a personal level, and it also made them more aware of their needs with regards to career guidance. The main themes that emerged during the research study were mainly on the students experience with regards to the career guidance processes and the process of self-discovery that was one of the aims of a constructivist approach using narratives. The students indicated that they enjoyed the programme, and that they had gained personally from the process