SOUTH AFRICAN CAREER DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONThe South African Career Development Association (SACDA, Reg. 099-765-NPO) is a country wide professional body for the ethical regulation and professional development of Career Development Practitioners (CDPs) in South Africa. SACDAs core responsibility is to protect the public and the profession by upholding a code of ethics and maintaining minimum standards for career development delivery. SACDA has been one of the key stakeholders in the Outcome 5.1 Task Team, a team whereby the Minister of Higher Education and Training was tasked in 2010 to coordinate career development activities in the country.

As per its constitution, SACDA is established to:1. Create Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) opportunities onto national registry of CDPs;2. Support articulation within and through the field of career development;3. Quality assess and endorse the role of CDPs;4. Maintain competency requirements of CDPs; 5. Provide value added services to support the role of CDPs;6. Collaborate and cooperate with the Quality Councils as a representative of CDPs;7. Lobby support and feedback on initiatives from CDPs; 8. Provide a platform for CDPs to share empirical findings in the field; 9. Provide professional support on ethical issues facing CDPs; and10. Provide a boundary network for CDPs.

The Framework for Provision of Career Development Services (Information, Advice and Guidance) in South Africa is one of Government’s outputs relating to the Delivery Agreement: Outcome 5, A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path. The Framework was developed by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in consultation with representatives from the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Department of Labour (DoL), the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), the National Artisan Moderating Body (NAMB), the Universities South Africa (USAf), the South African College Principals Association (SACPO), South African Careers Development Association (SACDA) and the South African Graduates Development Association (SAGDA).

As per the Framework for Provision of Career Development Services, SACDA is established to:1. Function as the PB for CDPs in South Africa; 2. Grow and develop the professional status of career development in South Africa; 3. Establish and maintain minimum standards for career development delivery; 4. Promote the role of Life Orientation teachers, career information officers, career advisors, and career guidance practitioners/career counsellors; 5. Improve the continued professional development of Life Orientation teachers, career information officers, career advisors, and career guidance practitioners/career counsellors; 6. Develop competency requirements for career development practitioners; 7. Assist the development and education of members as professionals; and 8. Respond to government policy initiatives.

As per the Competency Framework for Career Development Practitioners in South Africa: ‘‘A strong industry specific Professional Body needs to be established and supported. The South African Career Development Association (SACDA) was established in 2010 with the intention of becoming a professional body for career development practitioners in South Africa (Herr, A. SACDA Chairpersons Address; 2012). It is important to emphasise that SACDA is not yet recognised as a professional body. Their application for recognition is however underway. Other professional bodies such as the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), the Institute for People Management (IPM) and the Southern African Association for Counselling and Development in Higher Education (SAACDHE) also have an important role to play as they too may have members who wish to become career development practitioners.’’

Mr Puleng Phala: Deputy-chairPuleng Phala holds a Master of Philosophy Degree (Ethics); B. Ed Honours Degree in Education, Training and Development; Diploma in Educational Management and Senior Education Diploma. Puleng is a registered Assessor, Moderator and Skills Development Facilitator. He currently employed as Senior Education Specialist: Project, Curriculum, Skills with Tshwane North TVET College. His experiences includes positions as project manager, career development advisor, acting campus manager, school principal, Head of school department, senior educator. Puleng has a strong passion towards human capacity development and motivating young people. He has received many accolades in motivating young people at educational institutions and communities.

Ms Estelle Crafford: Continuous Professional DevelopmentEstelle has over 39 years of experience with the Department of Labour, during which time she has built experience in career development, career information, psychometric assessment, selection as well as skills development. Estelle manages the employment counselling in the labour centres across South Africa. She oversees over 90 registered psychologists, psychometrists and counsellors. Estelle holds a Master’s in Psychology from the University of Pretoria, BA Honours Psychology and registered as a Counselling Psychologist with HPCSA. She served on the National Standards Body for Human and Social Studies and the Executive Committee of the Standards-generating Body for Life Skills of SAQA. Her special interest fields include life skills, the development of self-help counselling media and people with disabilities. She is also an assessor and moderator.

Ms Candice Chetty: Regional BranchesCandice has always been passionate about career development and enjoys working with adolescents and adults of all ages. She has a 11-year history of working within higher education at a student counselling, career development centre in the Eastern Cape. She has lectured in career psychology and provides accredited workshops to counsellors and psychometrists in career counselling and assessment. Furthermore, Candice is a director of a company that provides Career Development Services (CDS) to disadvan-taged youth. Candice has presented at various local and international conferences and has also co-authored in the South African Journal of Higher Education (SAJHE) and the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (BJGC). Her educational experience entails B.Psych (Counselling); Diploma in Human Resource Management and Training; BA Hons Industrial and Organisational Psychology and MA Psychology.

Mr Christopher John Beukes: Chairperson Chris is a registered Industrial Psychologist with the HPCSA. He has worked directly in the field of career development for over 10 years. He headed up the information unit for the Ministerial Flagship Career Advice Services project initiated by SAQA and DHET. Subsequent to this, Chris worked with the DHET Career Development Services unit on a number of national projects that ranged from the design of enterprise architecture to the development of information systems. His research focus areas are in skills assessment and development. Applying the framework of a tree and that of nature to skills, Chris has developed the first holistic African individual skills framework for work. This framework is based on his 2010 model of self-regulatory employability.

Dr Boitumelo Diale: Recognition of Prior LearningBoitumelo Molebogeng ‘Tumi’ Diale is the Head of Department: Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). She is also the Programme coordinator for the Masters in Educational Psychology (MEd Psych). Dr Diale specialises in the field of Career Development and is involved in the training of Honours (registered counsellors) and Masters Educational Psychology students (educational psychologists) and BEd Senior Phase and FET undergraduate students in career development. Her niche area of research is in the field of career development across the life span and is currently focusing on the implementation of Technical Vocational Education (TVE) in senior phase of the education system.

Ms Carmen Hoffman: Local PartnershipsCarmen Hoffman started her career in Education as a teacher in 1986. Now holding a B. Ed Honours in Education, Training and Development (ETD) from the University of Johannesburg and 31 years later, her career path has evolved into various roles relating to programme and project management in the ETD arena on a local, provincial, regional and international level. After completing a four year stint at MERSETA as the National Career Development Project Manager, Carmen headed the South 32 Career Centre at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre from 2013 until March 2017. Currently, she spends her time as a consultant in Skills Development Facilitation, Instructional Design and is the CEO of Isibopho a Social Entrepreneurial, Non-Profit Company aimed at supporting career development for the youth market. In her view, establishing partnerships that make the sharing of resources possible is the key to a sustainable career development network.

Dr Maximus Sefotho: Differently AbledMaximus Monaheng Sefotho is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology (with a specialisation in Career Guidance and Disability) at University of Pretoria. He is interested in research and teaching in Career Guidance, disability as well as Philosophy of Education. More specifically, his research and teaching work focuses on Career Choice/Construction within the sphere of Contemporary Careers and Hephapreneurship (A concept he coined). Dr Sefotho’s work is a socio-political act geared towards social change. He chooses to use the phrase ‘differently-abled’ instead of ‘disability’ because he encourages ‘seeing abilities in disability’. He spans extensive experience in career guid-ance. He presented at a European Centre for Career Guidance in Greece, Universidade de A Coruna in Spain and Morelia in Mexico recently all in the name of Career Guidance.

Mrs Magriet Malan: EthicsLabelled a true pioneer of career development by the Department of Defence (DoD), Magriet Malan is an experienced social worker and registered psychologist. Prior to her appointment in the DoD in 1999 Magriet established a vocational services department in the Namibian Police Service and introduced career development programmes in the SA Police Service. Magriet presented a research paper on career development in the Public Service of South Africa at the 3rd International Symposium on Public Policy and Career Development in Sydney, Australia, in 2006. Magriet is a public speaker of note and has presented many career related presentations to DoD students, Joint Senior Command and Staff (JSCS), the Policy Writers Course and at Personnel Service School. These individuals have greatly benefited from her vast experience.

Professor Kobus Maree: RegistrarKobus Maree (DEd; PhD; DPhil (Psychology) is a Professor in the Department of Educa-tional Psychology at the University of Pretoria. His main research interests are focus on career construction (counselling), life design (counselling), emotional-social intelligence and social responsibility, and learning facilitation in mathematics. Past editor of the South African Journal of Psychology, managing editor of Gifted Education International, re-gional editor for Southern Africa: Early Child Development and Care, and a member of several national and international bodies, including the Society for Vocational Psychology (SVP) (USA), the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) (USA), the Psy-chology Association of South Africa (SA), and the Association of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). In 2009, he has a B1 rating from the National Research Foundation.

Pearl Ndlovu: Student RepresentativePearl is a final year BCom. Industrial and Organisational Psychology student with the University of South Africa (UNISA). She has noticed a possible disconnect between career development theory and the real life application of the theory. This is further compounded by international models not always being locally applicable. The South African context has a particular history, demographic and geographic reality that requires community level career development interventions. This disconnect can be effectviely addressed through career development practitioners who both serve the public as well as serve up and coming career development practitioners. She truly believes that with exposure, emerging career development practitioners will be best positioned to not only transition but serve the public through such transition from a legacy perspective.

Mr Paul West: International RelationsPaul West is based in the United Kingdom with the Commonwealth Secretariat with the aim to connect education policy makers and professionals in sharing knowledge through centres of excellence. Prior, Mr West invested 5 years establishing a Ministerial Flagship Career Development Project together with the South African Qualifications Authority and the Department of Higher Education and Training. Mr West has also committed 9 years in Canada as Director: Knowledge Management and Information Technology at the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). During this time, Paul spearheaded an open learning initiatives in collaboration with Ministries of Education in over 30 countries. Further to this remarkable career, Mr West worked at Technikon SA for 12 years, during which time he lectured in Management and established ICT centres to support learners.

Mrs Gillian Schultz: MembersGillian Schultz is an Industrial and Organisational Psychologist with a special interest in Career Coaching and Psychometric Assessment. She began her studies with a degree in Child Psychology, completing her honours degree through the University of Johan-nesburg. Following qualifying as a Psychometrist she furthered her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Industrial Psychology, going on to complete her MCom through the University of the North West. She is currently consulting to organisations to assist with the selection and development of their staff, offering report writing and study skills courses as well as individual career assessments and workshops. Her passion lies in guiding clients of all ages to discover the work that gives them meaning.

Professor Melinde Coetzee: Advisory CommitteeMelinde Coetzee holds a doctoral degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology and is currently fulfilling the role of professor in the Department of Industrial and Organ-isational Psychology at the University of South Africa. She is a National Research Foun-dation (NRF) rated researcher. Her core research focus areas are industrial/organisational psychology, careers, graduate attributes and the psychology of retention. Melinde is a professionally registered Industrial Psychologist with the HPCSA and a master human re-source professional with the South African Board for People Practices. She is a member of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and Society of Industrial Psychology, South Africa (SIOPSA). She fulfilled the role of section editor for the South African Journal of Human Resource Management for a number of years and appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology in April 2013.

Professor Maria Eduarda Duarte: Advisory CommitteeMaria Eduarda Duarte is a full professor in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Lisbon, where she directs the master’s course in the Psychology of Human Resources, Work and Organisations. Her professional interests include career psychology theory and research, with special emphasis on issues relevant to adults and the world of work. As the Research Director of Career Guidance and Development of Human Resources Services, her publications and presentations include topics related to career problems experienced by adults, testing and assessment, and the counselling process. She has been the Chair of the Portuguese Psychological Society since 2005 and served and still serves on the editorial boards of a number of Portuguese, European and Iberian-Amer-ican journals. She is the President of the Counselling Division of the IAAP and a former Director of the National Institute of Guidance (2009 –2014).

Dr Kamilla Rawatlal: EngagementKamilla Rawatlal is a Counselling/Career Psychologist, in the College of Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She recently achieved a PhD in Psychology based on adolescents sense of future orientation and school connectedness in relation to preven-tion of high-risk behaviour. She has had several years of experience in career and per-sonal counselling, as well as facilitating group career counselling sessions. Her research interests include career development, and prevention of adolescent high-risk behaviours. She has presented at various local and international conferences and has also published in the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) and the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG).

Mr Avron Herr: Advisory CommitteeMr Avron Herr is founding member SACDA. He is also the founder and owner of PACE Career Centre which is South Africa’s longest standing career guidance organisation. Over the past 27 years PACE Career Centre has managed many international and na-tional career development projects for governments. PACE Career Centre is a social benefit organisation. It assists over 3 000 000 youth annually on the African continent through various career development interventions. Mr. Herr has both authored and co-authored several career development related publications and has presented at both national and international conferences on matters relating to career development. Mr. Herr has a particular interest in building career development capacity in small and de-veloping countries.

Doctor Mary McMahon: Advisory CommitteeDr Mary McMahon is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland where she lectured in career development, narrative career counselling and professional development, mentoring and supervision. Dr McMahon has been very involved in a similar process to that of SACDA with the Career Industry Council of Australia. She understands and appreciates the work of SACDA as a professional body. Her research focuses on career development across the lifespan and narrative approaches to career counselling and qualitative career assessment. She is particularly interested in the career development of children and adolescents and how young people may be supported by career programs. She is also interested in assisting guidance officers and school counsel-lors develop their supervision practices.

Dr Simon Taukeni: Advisory CommitteeDr. Taukeni is a lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology and Inclusive Edu-cation at the University of Namibia. His research interests are in the areas of counseling psychology, psychosocial support, mentoring and emotional and behavioral disorder. Dr. Taukeni is a member of the following Advisory Boards at the University of Namibia: Teaching and Learning Improvement and Regional Continues Professional Development. He is the current coordinator of Guidance and Counseling module at the University of Namibia. He is also an executive peer-reviewer for International Online Journal of Educa-tional Sciences. He has presented at various local and international conferences and has published many journal articles.

Professor Mark Watson: Advisory CommitteeProfessor Watson is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is also an honorary professor in the School of Education of the University of Queensland where he has had a long association with Dr Mary McMahon. They have a number of joint re-search projects and their cross-cultural and cross-national perspective adds significantly to the power of their research designs on career development and career counselling. Professor Watson is a B1 rated scientist with the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and a research associate at the University of Warwick, England. Mark is a member of the Editorial/Advisory Boards of the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling; the Indian Journal for Career and Livelihood Planning and a co-editor of the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance.

Professor Jean Guichard: Advisory CommitteeJean Guichard is Emeritus Professor of Vocational Psychology and Career Counseling at the Institut National d’Etude du Travail et d’Orientation Professionnelle (INETOP: National Institute for the Study of Work and Vocational Counseling) in Paris, France. Currently, he is the UNESCO Chair on Lifelong Guidance and Counselling of the University of Wroclaw (Poland). Born in 1948, Jean Guichard studied philosophy and psychology at the Univer-sity of Lille (France). He became an associate professor at the University of Lille in 1989 and a tenured professor at the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1992. Jean Guichard’s main research themes are the factors and processes of the self’s construction and the different modes of relating to occupations and professions. His synthesis of work on the dynamics of subjectification (Life long self construction) provides a general framework for two kinds of career and life designing interventions (group and face to face).

PROFESSIONAL BODY

DESIGNATIONPOLICY

CENTRES OFEXCELLENCE

CONFERRINGDESIGNATIONS

The Awarding Professional Designations for Career Development Practitioners policy document accompanies this news edition. The document constitutes the first policy for conferring the professional designation of career development practitioner in South Africa. The policy document covers only the entry-level professional designation in the category of information. This category relates to the boundary of information provision to individuals and groups. The title of this professional designation is: Career Development Practitioner–Information Officer (CDP-IO). This is the first of at least four professional designations relating to Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG). As a member, it is crucial that you provide critical views on this draft policy. Comments should reach SACDA by 31 August 2017.

SACDA is in the final stage of recognition as a professional body with SAQA. The finalisation of the Competency Framework for Career Development Practitioners now provides an adequate framework of minimum competency standards to underpin the professional designations of career development practitioners. As part of the final submission, SACDA will submit records of professional desig-nation holders who have been recorded onto the national registry. The process towards recognition as a professional body with SAQA has been a long process. While each recognition requirement necessitated a significant amount of time, they have addressed both ethical and professional responsibilities needed of a professional body to fulfill its mandate. It is for this reason that the process was imperative in better preparing SACDA to serve career development practitioners.

SACDA has received thirty applications to form part of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pilot. These applications will be considered on the basis of the Awarding Professional Designations policy once it has been adopted. Applicants will be evaluated by the Registration Committee to determine if they meet the necessary professional designation awarding criteria or if they require a specific RPL intervention. Applicants who meet all the necessary designation awarding criteria will be recommended to be conferred the professional designation and be included onto the national registry by the Registrar. Applicants who have been identified as requiring an RPL intervention will be guided throughout the process towards fulfilling the necessary designation awarding criteria.

The establishment of Centres of Excellence will lead to best practice being shared in real time on a national and international level. Further to sharing best practice, Centres of Excellence will ensure Continuous Professional Development (CPD) opportunities at local community level. The Centres of Excellence will also assist in ensuring a sound referral network is maintained. Being connected is the most important competence in remaining effective and accountable. It is for this reason that SACDA is establishing partnerships both locally and internationally to ensure that these Centres of Excellence, once established, remain well connected to key stakeholders at all times. Once established, these Centres of Excellence will assist in addressing both national and international needs from a career development perspective.

CONCLUSIONA career development practitioner has an important role to play in society. This is not an isolated role but complementary to all other professions. If it is said that teachers are the core of all other careers, then it would stand to reason that career development is part of the core of all other professions. People come first when it comes to career development. Their needs are the primary priority of career development practitioners.

To become and remain a career development practitioner, you need to strive towards growth on all levels. You first need to agree to abide by a specific code of ethics, you then need to identify your competency levels, understand the gaps and close those gaps as best you can. Finally, you need to submit your portfolio to be considered for registration onto a national register which you believe you represent and are a part of.

The value of SACDA is not just to get the credentials, the value of SACDA is an association of people who represent career development for the country and abroad. Career development practitioners serve the public in a manner which is as ethical and professional as possible at the time. The learning which takes place locally is as important as the learning that takes place internationally. Formal, non-formal and informal development in the field is important. Let us develop ourselves professionally to develop others in the same manner.