According to Kubr (1994, p.18-19), counsellors may be physical persons or organisations, fulfilling four criteria:

• Counsellors offer and provide something that the clients do not have or what they would like to gain in various fields of knowledge, vocational abilities, experience or know-how. While working for one client, counsellors should devote all their attention to the given problem;
• Counsellors are specialists who know how to cooperate with clients and help them identify and resolve their problems. They are aware of the fact that clients may have various needs and that they represent various personalities and have various experiences with counsellors. Counsellors make use of various methodological tools to help their clients. Apart from vocational skills, they also possess certain psychological, sociological and communication capabilities;
• Counsellors are independent and objective advisors. They must be able and willing to tell clients the truth and offer them a quite independent and impartial standpoint. They must be independent of the client, any superior body, organisation or people with vested interest in the client; and
• Counsellors are persons willing to follow the rules of professional ethics and conduct.

Průcha and Veteška (2012, p.29) perceive counsellors as fulfilling one of the traditional roles in andragogic vocation and later Veteška (2016, p.186-187) states that from their position they have influence over other individuals, groups and organisations but it is not in their authority to change or implement anything directly. Although they are accountable for their qualified recommendations, they still do not bear responsibility for their practical fulfilment. Oravcová (2013, p.153) defines counsellors in general as persons whose role, profession or mission is to help people in need. It is ideal if counsellors define themselves as types of people wishing to help; on the other hand, it is less ideal if they were placed in this position by someone else – they were forced to be in a helping vocation. Self-definition, an image of oneself as a helper, forms an inevitable prerequisite for successful counselling work. Andragogic counsellors according to Mayer (2017, p.67) are professionals who by means of counselling activities may facilitate clients’ decisions concerning education, self-fulfilment, and development of their potential (education being the determining factor of socialisation, personalization, professionalisation, the concept of one’s own identity, self-reflection and value-orientation). Svobodová (2015, p.81) correctly notes that counsellors acting as providers of counselling intervention should not consider themselves as experts on life and should lose a false belief in their omnipotence. Counsellors should be aware that no linear causality will ever exist in clients’ lives since the same reason leads to similar consequences.

Counsellors and clients are the central figures of counselling support. The basic areas of problems that need to be explored (in relation to andragogic counsellors) are as follows:

• The definition (comprehension) of andragogic counselling activity performed by the counsellors;
• Counsellors’ prerequisites for performance of andragogic counselling activities;
• Counsellors’ tasks to be completed during performance of andragogic counselling activities;
• Approaches (principles) applied by the counsellor in the process of andragogic counselling intervention for clients;
• Tasks to be fulfilled by the counsellors during the andragogic counselling process;
• Ethical aspects occurring in the work of andragogic counsellors; and
• Counsellors’ competencies to be mastered in order to attain quality, professional andragogic counselling activity.

Andragogic counsellors are qualified persons offering counselling services to adults (typically in the role of a vocational or career counsellor or as a learning counsellor). The scope of activities provided as a part of andragogic counselling dwells in support of the docility potential through counselling intervention if clients’ problems  could be resolved by learning (in various working conditions and environments). The general requirements imposed on andragogic counsellor are close to other counselling specialisations of helping professions (pedagogic, psychological, social counselling, etc.). These are personal prerequisites (abilities and qualities) and the level of vocational preparation (degree and type of qualification).

Dryden (2008, p.8-10) states requirements of counsellors’ personalities:

• To be of benefit to the client;
• To show respect and acceptance;
• To listen to and understand any mental pain as viewed by the clients;
• Therapeutic communication skills;
• Training of the capabilities needed to conduct the counselling process with clients; and
• Personal prerequisites and any shortcomings.

Svobodová (2015, p.82-83) describes the basic types of roles that counsellors need to undertake:

• Assessing – lead and evaluate clients in a directive manner (criticism and praise) and make decisions about the course of the counselling process;
• Interpreting – commenting on clients’ problems and striving to understand and interpret them, even though it is complicated and may be incomprehensible for the clients;
• Supporting – supporting the clients, helping and protecting them, to take over their own responsibility and at the same time having them depend on counselling intervention;
• Being a good listener – listening to the clients, collecting information even about topics unrelated to their problems even if clients are exposed to large number of irrelevant questions;
• Being active – motivating the client to perform activities but not providing them with an abundance of opportunities to think through their own behavioural strategies;
• Being reflexive – making it apparent to the clients that they understand but avoiding one’s own interpretations, leaving the initiative and independence up to the clients and not taking over their responsibilities;
• Being practical – operating with a large number of pragmatic experiences from counselling practice and not trusting only theories;
• Being a technical expert – finding their way around counselling technologies based on relevant research and its practical application so that interaction with a client is impersonal; and
• Being a facilitator – understanding that there never is just one correct answer to clients’ questions and problems, thus using a holistic approach and encouraging the client to engage in critical reflection.

Gabura (2005, p.102) and Juríčková (2008, p.34) point out several mistakes occurring in counsellors’ counselling activity in relation to their personal qualities, such as dogmatism, dirigisme, exaggeration or trivialization (belittlement) of clients’ problems, moralising, monologuing, making a hasty diagnosis, engaging in excessive rationalisation or empathy, incomprehensible abstraction, projection, protectionism, and loyalty presented to clients who tend take blame for their situation and others. Well-known are counsellors’ typologies depending on dominant features, e.g., engagement/non-engagement (Kopřiva 2006, p.14), directiveness/non-directiveness (Gabura – Pružinská 1995, p.70-71), mediator/therapist/ administrator (Řezníček 1994, p.57-58) or agent/expert/therapist (Oravcová 2013, p.156-160). Through analysis of several resources, Langer (2017, p.32) outlined requirements for counsellors’ proficiency (distinguishing between general and specific). As for general, he means formal vocational education, informal educational activities, former counselling practice, including supervision, membership in vocational association and chambers, further certificates, licences and attestations documenting proficiency, reputation and sound name. Specific requirements encompass: knowledge of particular methods pertaining to counselling specialisation, knowledge of the further education market, legislation and ways of financing educational activities  in cooperation with providers.

Processes leading to standardisation of vocational competencies may acquire an international nature even in helping professions. A proposed framework of career counsellors’ vocational capabilities results from the work of an international professional team (CEDEFOP 2010, p.61-71) and contains basic capabilities, capabilities focused on communication with the client and support capabilities. The European network NICE (Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling) established standards (six areas with hierarchically integrated competencies) for professions in career counselling, applied in several countries. Within one standard there are three functionally and hierarchically distinguishable professions in career counselling (Grajcár et al. 2016):

1. Career guides/consultants seek, collect and process information to be provided to clients needed for study selection, choice and change of profession in Slovakia as well as abroad; while such information mainly tackles modes of education, finding and maintaining a job, information on necessary skills, general capabilities, practical experience and other prerequisites and requirements expected for performance of particular professions; they also help clients seeking vocational career counselling services and career development, provide vocational assistance when study application needs to be submitted, and help to draft a CV, motivational letter, job application, etc., partake in career training of future and present labour market participants, including enhancement of their skills allowing clients to chart their own educational and vocational pathway.

2. Career counsellors lead clients to independent and responsible decision making during initial, additional and life-long education, choice of profession, selection and change of employment and finding and maintaining a job via vocational counselling methods, procedures and techniques. They practically operate in various sectors and their dominant occupational approach is to offer individual and group career counselling. Such activity helps clients get a clearer picture of their own knowledge, skills and capabilities, leading to their independent decision making concerning their own educational and professional pathway.

3. Career specialists take part in creating, regulating and controlling the system of career counselling services based on stipulated strategic objectives and priorities. Furthermore, career specialists analyse a target group’s needs, draft counselling programs, monitor their course and assess their results and outputs based on current counselling trends. Moreover, they may provide support in formation and implementation of educational programs and vocational preparation of career guides/consultants and service career counsellors.

Oravcová (2013, p.236–239) states that counsellors must join the relationship with a client as humans,  incorporating their wishes and needs into this interaction while striving to satisfy them. Self-awareness, being conscious of one’s needs and their separation from the clients’ interests and needs which are preferential in counselling, perception of clients as full-fleshed, autonomous individuals with the right to make decisions about themselves forms the essence of ethics guiding the work with clients. Key requirements safeguarding the ethics of counselling dwell in counsellors sufficient knowledge, skills, experience, protection of clients’ dignity, removal of prejudice, maintaining clients’ full authority to make decisions and expression of continued interest in clients. The Code of Ethics also contains professional responsibility, accountability for the standard nature of services and cooperation with others, while preserving confidentiality. Among the principles guiding the counsellors work with clients, we consider the following: respect towards clients, conviction of humans’ social nature and faith in each individual being capable of positive change, growth and self-perfection.

CEDEFOP (2010, p.54-55) – The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training  (established in 1989) has developed an Ethical Code. CEDEFOP is an organisation of professionals working in small counselling agencies or even large companies, typically established in the private sector. They offer services to employers, such as career management for employees, services needed when employees are being laid-off, assessment, coaching, maintaining talented employees and organisational-consulting services. Alongside, members offer services to individuals seeking a job, assistance required for career management strategies, personal and professional development, career-related changes, entrepreneurship or retirement.  Members of the association commit to honour its Ethical Code, which at the same time reveals the nature of this professional group:

• Constantly enhance professional skills, competencies and knowledge to provide top quality services to organisations and individuals;
• Comply with laws, articles and regulations, concerning commercial activities and relationships while providing services;
• Openly admit any conflict of interests that could occur throughout their professional practice;
• Report any illegal activity of their employers, co-workers or business partners to respective institutions;
• Clearly define offered services and make sure that such services do not cross boundaries of their knowledge and skills, while providing only services and tools, techniques or devices for which they are qualified through education, vocational training or experience;
• To market their services matter-of-factly, without lies, misinterpretations, faking unachieved professional qualifications and consciously introducing services that they are unable to offer;
• To administer or interpret only those evaluation tools for which they are adequately qualified;
• Offer results of a third-party evaluation only if it is suitable and only after obtaining an individual client’s written consent;
• Observe confidentiality of information by notifying an individual client that the organisation paying for the services may (if the organisation requires it) receive general information about the client’s progression without providing any personal or confidential information;
• To adequately respond by informing any third, endangered party and respective authorities when having a justified suspicion that the individual client, ordering company, or someone else is threatened by a clear and immediate hazard;
• Never offer any financial remuneration to employees of an ordering company for provision of reference, and equally to not accept any inappropriate gifts; and
• Never support, help, engage or benefit from violation of these rules.

Competence profile of andragogic counsellor as a central professional feature

Counselling serves an important social role. It is deeply connected to a high level of responsibility to clients, while it cannot be standardised as an individual service based on communication. In the light of aforementioned, an andragogic counsellor is expected to have gained a high level of competence (hereinafter only as “counsellor”) and a respective system of expertise and professional ethos (maintaining values and commitments). Professionality in counselling is based on the defined professional competence of the counsellor that is transparent and comprehensible for all counselling stakeholders (counsellor, counselling organisation and client). Delimitation of competencies reflected in counsellors profiles serves as a reference system, e.g. for counsellors in order to safeguard their further vocational education and self-evaluation, for counselling organisations in order to choose the counsellors well and for provision of quality, for clients as a checklist to identify counselling professionality and quality, for experts (researchers) as a starting point for further research in the counselling field (e.g., preparation of tools, materials suitable for diagnostic and didactic purposes). Considering this background, counsellors are expected to exhibit a certain professional “habitus“ in contact with the client, as well as with other relevant stakeholders. Engagement of counsellors is based on a professional context, e.g., membership and participation in professional associations, further vocational education including supervision should facilitate professionalisation of andragogic counselling.

Theoretical bases of andragogical counsellors’ competence profile

Counsellors’ personalities play a central role in andragogic counselling practice, even if we may presently witness a shift of responsibility for one’s own development to a learning individual. Counsellors’ competencies and responsibilities are delineated by the process (working with a client’s problem in a counselling relationship) and accountability; however, the counsellor is not responsible for the client. Adult clients are in charge of their decisions and changes caused by learning. One of the ways to describe the structure of counsellors’ vocational competencies is to rely on the model of so-called essential competencies (e.g., Dehnbostel, 2008; Münch, 2003; Pahl, 2010):

• Professional competency represents counsellors’ capability to intentionally, adequately, methodologically-correctly and independently resolve the tasks and problems and to assess the result.
• Methodological competency is characterised by the capability of a purposeful, planned approach while processing tasks and problems, e.g., planning individual work-related operations.
• Social competency means a capability to perceive and comprehend social relations and interests, to be responsible in a relationship with others, to get along with them, to work in a team and resolve problems cooperatively. This mainly involves social responsibility and adequate solidarity.
• Personality competency defines a capability to reflect one’s own development and make further progress in line with individual and social values. It entails qualities such as independence, ability to accept criticism, self-confidence and reliability, as well as a sense of accountability and duty.

In this chapter, we have applied a systematic counselling model as a starting point for establishment of a counsellor’s competence profile, authors of which are Schiersmann et al. (2008), see also Schiermann, Weber (2013). Before we go into detail description of its individual components, we find it important to explain the way in which we understand andragogic counselling, for whom it is meant, what are its goals, specifics and what aspects it takes into consideration.

We believe that the counselling process is built around two systems: counsellor and recipient of counselling/advice, and client, such as a learning adult, group of adults and/or organisation(s). For the purpose of the aforementioned we perceive andragogic counselling  as a service of an educational nature offered to adult individuals, groups and organisations with the aim of transforming their problems into problems which could be resolved by learning – laying the grounds for the general nature of andragogic counselling oriented on various topics and target groups. Focusing on the results, this type of andragogic approach generates developmental as well as preventive and stabilising potential.

Specification of andragogic counsellors’ competence profile

Andragogic counsellors’ competence profile – the essence of this subchapter – is based on the above-mentioned systematic, context-based counselling model introduced by Schiersmann et al. (2008). The following groups of competencies lay down its fundamentals:^[1]

1. Transversal competence. They dominate other groups of competence since they represent subordinate premises for counselling as a professional activity. Independent of counselling offers, justification and context, it is of utmost importance to regulate the clients’ requirements and options, transparently open the entire counselling process, follow the Ethical Code and take part in constant improvement of counselling quality.
2. Competence related to formation of the counselling process. They take care of requirements for counsellors’ professionality in relation to establishing the counselling process. Its steppingstones are building a potential counselling relationship, explaining counselling requirements and contract establishment, situation analysis, clarification of clients’ abilities and potential and elaboration of prospective solutions.

Andragogic counselling is comprehended as an interactive process oriented on results and objectives between the client and counsellor as a result of active cooperation between both parties.

1. Competence in relation to the client. Within the counselling process, they are oriented towards the use of andragogic and psychologic expertise. The aim is to support clients in generating their own educational and professional biographies and developing their self-organisational skills.
2. (Self)reflective competence. Aims as development of a professional attitude in the counselling context. They point to permanent interaction of self-reflection and enhancement of professional activities.
3. Competence related to co-formation of the organisation. They define requirements imposed on counsellors in regard to organisational framework conditions. Counsellors co-create organisational strategies and effectively enforce them in practice, partake in building an agile organisational culture and support its enhancement, facilitate efficient and sustainable use of organisational resources, cooperate with specialists and other relevant stakeholders and, last but not least, build networks.
4. Competence related to society. They define demands imposed on the counsellors, emphasising the importance of a relevant social framework (e.g., profession or labour market) and support of generally accepted social objectives (e.g., reinforcement of clients’ self-organisation, increasing their participation in further development, the labour market, etc.), minimising individual and socially-mistaken investments, increasing social participation, social inclusion, etc.

1. A) Transversal competence

1) Client oriented approach

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of focusing all their counselling related efforts on clients’ needs, requirements and possibilities.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Respect their clients as autonomous individuals with their own social and cultural background while putting them in the centre of their counselling activities; and
• Take into consideration their clients’ interest even if they fail to comply with social or organisational

2) Making counselling offer and counselling process transparent

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of organising the counselling process so that with regards to its structural conditions it would still be transparent for all its stakeholders .

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Act in a way that objectives, contents and other counselling categories would be easy to comprehend and accessible for all target groups;
• Clearly explain all substantial criteria of their counselling offers such as accessibility, forms, costs, timeframe, quality, etc. to the clients and other stakeholders; and
• Comprehensively explain the framework in which a particular counselling offer takes place to the clients and other stakeholders.

3) Acting in compliance with the Ethical Code

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of performing all counselling activities in line with Ethical Code.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Within the frame of their activities, they exhibit positive stands towards areas vitally important for their clients, such as work, education etc;
• Their basic attitude towards their client is emphatic and supportive;
• View their clients as individuals firmly rooted in their own lives, having their own rights and interests;
• Provide confidential advice, respect personal data protection, and are impartial;
• Act in a way that the Ethical Code guides their counselling practice so it is transparent for all stakeholders;
• While fulfilling their tasks, they comply with the Ethical Code and act professionally; and
• Reflect their professional action vis-à-vis the Ethical Code.

4) Participation in quality enhancement

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and able to focus their counselling activities as well as activities concerning the organisation based on a quality concept and at the same time take active part in its further development and enforcement.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Focus their counselling activities based on defined criteria or counselling quality standards;
• Transform quality criteria into particular counselling steps corresponding with respective work orders;
• Reflect and evaluate quality criteria and partake in their continuous development; and
• Regularly contribute to safe-guarding the planning, implementation and documentation of activities and improving quality.

1. B) Competence related to counselling process formation

1) Creating an acceptable counselling relation

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and able to build a relationship corresponding with a particular counselling subject and framework. They also strive for establishing active and worry-free cooperation with clients.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Actively support formation of acceptable relationship, e.g., with regard to clients’ structural and emotional safety;
• Show respect to clients and act in a way that clients feel safety and a genuine interest in their problems;
• Create an environment corresponding with previously communicated framework conditions;
• Show an effort to make tasks, roles and functions relevant for counselling transparent. As part of counselling process, they initiate changing roles, make use of feedback and metacommunication, as an inseparable part of building the counselling relationship;
• Shape the counselling process so that it is clear and comprehensible for all clients and encourage their active participation;
• Act congruently and authentically on all levels of communication (verbal, non-verbal); and
• Maintain a professional balance between a close and distant relationship with their clients.

Note: The counselling process in general is all about communication between clients and counsellors. It is therefore key for counsellors to build up a tailored relationship for a particular counselling need. Building a plausible relationship between a counsellor and the client form a key prerequisite for a successful counselling process. E. M. Verová et al. (1999) analysed in their study how the formation of a counselling relationship is affected by similarity or dissimilarity between clients and counsellors. Their findings claim that if the initial phase went well, clients tended to introduce more similarities between themselves and counsellors. However, should this phase be rather disappointing, clients had a tendency to emphasise the differences between counsellors and themselves.

Counsellors are responsible for their relationship with the client; however, they are not accountable for their clients’ views. They guarantee what needs to be done, possibly also for what they forgot to do. Unfortunately, no one can learn responsibility. It is an utmost personal decision of a counsellor to guarantee whatever needs to be done.

With regard to the fact that stabilised stereotypical patterns are being shattered while resolving the clients’ problems, one of the most important counsellors’ competencies is to create stable framework conditions needed for the change process to take place and facilitate clients’ structural and emotional security. This process entails all the measures aimed at forming a so-called “safe place”, such as a pleasant counselling environment^[2], counsellors’ offering to explain planned procedures and thereby make them transparent, etc. As part of this framework, counsellors need to be able to decide whether they can be helpful in resolving a given issue.

2) Explanation of requirement and conclusion of counselling contract

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and able to conduct dialogues with their clients in which they could explain requirements and expectations. Together, they agree upon the counselling approach and conclude a contract.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Make use of adequate and effective techniques along with methods for conducting an interview to clarify the needs, requirements and expectations of their clients;
• Harmonise demands and expectations of their clients with the counselling offer (identifies whether the counselling offer may satisfy the clients’ needs);
• Take various specific, institutional, legislative and other relevant aspects into consideration while concluding a counselling contract and explaining them if necessary;
• Respond sensitively to clients’ needs which might trespass the counselling contract and explain the limits and potential of counselling; and
• Notice whether clients’ expectations and objectives transform during the counselling process and, if relevant, to decide to conclude a new contract.

3) Situational analysis and clarification of possibilities

Characteristics: Together with their clients, counsellors are qualified and capable of identifying their expectations and support reflections allowing them to reassess situations as well as achievements of their stipulated objectives.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Together with their clients they identify patterns of their thinking and behaviour, attitudes, feelings, motivation, biographical prerequisites, etc., relevant for fulfilment of their stipulated objectives;
• Together with their clients they identify environmental factors relevant for achievement of their stipulated objectives;
• Along with their clients, they identify their options and competencies;
• While working with their clients, they apply scientifically-proven and effective diagnostic procedures;
• In a dialogue with their client, they interpret results of diagnostic procedures or competency analysis in a comprehensible manner; and
• Hand in hand with their clients, they strive to reveal and clarify potential incompatibility in their expectations.

4) Outlining perspective solutions

Characteristics: Together with their clients, counsellors are qualified and capable of elaborating perspective solutions or actions leading to fulfilment of stipulated counselling objectives.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Provide support to their clients while identifying and evaluating information;
• Along with their clients, they generate effective strategies containing solutions and actions to achieve defined objectives, such as feasible tasks and activities;
• They are helpful in navigating obstacles and problems;
• They offer advice needed to develop potential and capacity with the aim of increasing their clients’ chances for success, e.g., on educational grounds or the labour market;
• (Taking the counselling process into consideration) they check whether their counselling offer fits achievement of stipulated objectives, or whether it is necessary to make use of additional counselling activities, including external ones; and
• At the end of the whole counselling process, they summarise the course and results of counselling in cooperation with their clients.

Note: The perspective of expounding plays a central role in the counselling process while potential changes on the part of clients require their radically active approach. In the light of aforementioned it is the counsellors’ ability to generate conditions supporting motivation, activate resources, as well as to elaborate the emotional and motivational significance of objectives, requirements and perspectives of clients themselves. The whole process should lead to fascination, identification with objectives and modes of transformation while at the same time avoiding fear from (excessive) performance pressure, to recognize and appreciate (interim) results, to strengthen one’s self-awareness and to support clients’ accountability and actions.

Counsellors’ chief aptitude dwells in their skill to create accommodating conditions for the clients, allowing them to acquire desirable types of competencies. The aim is to destabilise (disturb) existing cognitive and behavioural schemes. Achieving such objectives requires counsellors’ expertise in regulating and employing adequate techniques such as role playing, behavioural experiments, elaborating new meanings and interpretations (“reframing”), confrontational and provocative procedures. At the same time, initiated learning processes need to be strengthened, new stimuli should be identified, transformed meanings should be supported along with language games and interpretation. Counsellors’ ability to make adequate use of assessment tools and procedures, identifying competencies plays a vital role as well. Furthermore, counsellors must be equipped with tools necessary for clients seeking information on ways for their further education and development as well as enhancement of their capacity to handle information.

In the following stage of the counselling process aiming at achieving particular changes, counsellors should be able to help transform jointly stipulated objectives and potential options into particular actions^[3]. If the counselling process manages to achieve positive cognitive, emotional and behavioural schemes, they need to be stabilised.

1. C) Competences regarding counsellor-client relationship

1) Integrating biographically and professionally-oriented knowledge

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable to include knowledge on personal transformations and life stages conditioned by developmental processes into their counselling.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Incorporate knowledge on personal changes and transformations into their counselling process (including vocational education, changes in employment, job termination, returning to the job after maternity leave, developmental processes conditioned by individual life stages) and duly focus their counselling activities;
• Support their clients while performing vocational changes and development; and
• Help their clients to reinforce their self-organisational abilities, such as the ability to plan and handle complicated tasks within the context of their own learning and educational biography.

2) Integrating knowledge on personal development

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable to implement their knowledge on personal development in relation to individual personal qualities of their clients and ways in which they behave into their counselling activities.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Take knowledge about individual personal qualities and behaviour of their clients into consideration in their counselling processes (accumulated via interview or diagnostic methods), such as motivation, interests, readiness to learn, ability to adopt decisions, ability to cooperate, etc.; and
• May manage to adequately and responsibly react to individual qualities of their clients, their worries and needs as well as to identify crisis and critical situations.

3) Considering clients’ social environment

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of taking the particular social environment of their clients into consideration – life conditions, education, connection to communities, family situation and vocational environment.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Identify relevant aspects of family, educational, vocational, corporate and other parts of clients’ social environment;
• Review external resources, requirements or restrictions related to their clients’ social environment; and
• Handle information in a discreet and accountable manner, while initiating changes induced by clients’ specific situation.

4) Managing diversity

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of enforcing relevant knowledge and experience corresponding with diversity.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Are aware and respect peculiarities of their clients, referring to their age, ethnic and cultural identity, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.;
• Depending on the particular counselling situation, they focus on their socioeconomic, developmental-psychological and cultural background;
• Identify values steering their clients’ thinking and actions;
• Support their clients’ reflection and potential revision of their values; and
• Analyse their own attitudes, while enforcing a motivating and respectful approach.

Note: Counsellors need to have mastered competency, helping them to naturally integrate knowledge on educational, professional and life journeys into the counselling process. Such approach assumes knowledge of various personality theories, dynamics of individual behaviour, e.g., concerning motivation, self-reflection, self-efficacy, interests, decision making and learning process as well as development of competencies.

Apart from that,  counsellors need to adapt to the diversity of their clientele, e.g., considering the age, ethnic identity, gender, socioeconomic status and integrate specific knowledge on target groups into the counselling process, encompassing various ways for their support. For this process to be successful, counsellors should also demonstrate a certain level of social and intercultural sensibility. For counsellors, it should be equally significant to take the social background of their clients into consideration, either as a variable affecting the counselling process or to make use of it in a practical way.

1. D) (Self)reflexive competences

(Self)reflexion of counselling activities

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of reflecting on their counselling activities even in the scope of society and organisation.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Integrate reflection as an immanent part of each counselling process and constantly assess their professional performance with regard to the needs, capacities and expectations of their clients while also considering relevant framework conditions;
• Taking into consideration criteria or quality standards and current vocational discussions, they reflect their counselling competencies and quality of their counselling;
• Plan their further professional development and stipulate their objectives;
• Strengthen their counselling competencies, e. g. by means of coaching, supervision or well-chosen further education;
• Focus on topical vocational discussions, information techniques, etc., important for counselling, take an active interest in their application and test their use in the counselling process; and
• Critically reflect their uncertainties or potentially incorrect judgements and learn about their boundaries.

Note: In their counselling practice, counsellors incorporate features of their individual educational, professional and lifelong trajectory. Regarding the attempt to act professionally  a self-reflective competence needs to be noted. They need to be able to constantly reflect upon their actions, be aware of their blind spots, and last but not least to perceive their own performance potential and boundaries. In order to do so, counsellors are expected to take regular part in further education, supervision, as well as exchange of experience in teams, groups of colleagues and professional associations.

1. E) Competences related to joint establishment of the organisation

1) Initiating development of policies and strategies

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of initiating and enhancing counselling policies, offers and strategies in their organisations.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Steer their counselling activities based on organisational policies and strategies;
• Take part in enforcing, verifying and further development of counselling policies and offers in their organisation;
• Clarify counselling policies and strategies to their clients depending on the situation; and
• Actively discuss counselling policies and strategies with other stakeholders, e.g., with partners with whom they cooperate, educational institutions, sponsors, etc..

2) Establishment of formal organisational structures and processes

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of taking part in establishing formal organisational structures and processes as well as steering their activities based on valid structures and processes of their organisations.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Regularly compare their vocational roles, functions and responsibilities with day-to-day tasks; and
• Stipulate necessary adjustments of structures and processes while considering interests of their clients, and if needed, formulate proposals for optimization of their actions within the organisation.

3) Further development of organisational culture

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of supporting transparent and lively organisational culture while actively co-creating a constructive culture of communication, decision-making, cooperation and conflict resolution.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Through their behaviour, they contribute to a positive organisational culture;
• In their communication, they apply predetermined or jointly conceived rules of internal and external communication;
• Make considerate use of the space for counselling activities and ways to make joint decisions in their organisation;
• Apply informal and structured discussions with colleagues dealing with significant counselling topics, mutual support, as well as maintaining and improving counselling quality; and
• Make use of “feedback” structures related to counselling and organisational activities, e.g., talks with colleagues, supervision, interview with clients and other counsellors, etc.

4) Considering resources

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of delineating and aptly justifying framework conditions significant for professional counselling: objectives, content, target groups and duration, including parameters such as consulting hours, premises and equipment.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Make adequate use of material and financial means to improve working conditions and achieve strategic counselling objectives;
• Within the frame of their competencies, they cooperate with other stakeholders to pool resources necessary for maintaining or extending counselling offers; and
• Within the frame of their competence they strive to make efficient use of allocated resources.

5) Cooperation and interaction with the professional and social community

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of applying and further developing their own professional networks along with the broader social environment in relation to material and specific information, cooperation and mutual links.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Monitor relevant external offer for their target group ;
• Establish and maintain contacts with partners and stakeholders in the counselling field;
• Use their network to respond to important changes; and
• Propose relevant activities, options and forms of cooperation helping to achieve stipulated objectives.

1. E) Competencies in relation to society

1) Take social framework into consideration

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of considering social conditions relevant for expectations of their clients and for further development of counselling offer.

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Deal with importance of social conditions or effects in the light of further developing counselling offers and programs;
• Bear in their minds benefits for counselling and their clients, thus they actively participate in evaluation and application of knowledge on social framework conditions;
• Take social framework conditions into consideration in case they are relevant for clients’ particular needs and expectations (e.g., labour market, further education system);
• Make sense of socially relevant knowledge-based areas (e.g., labour market, economy, educational system, typology of professions, professional, competence related and qualification requirements, etc.);
• Comprehend social trends (e.g., globalisation, growing complexity, demographic transformation, life-long learning and diversity); and
• Know respective databases, source of knowledge and procedures of knowledge-based management.

2) Considering social objectives

Characteristics: Counsellors are qualified and capable of considering, within the frame of their activities, various categories of objectives (such as facilitation of information and knowledge, support of competencies needed for responsible composition and development of educational and professional biographies, increasing participation in further education and labour market, minimization of individual and socially erroneous investments, social participation support, inclusion of stereotypically disadvantaged groups, etc.).

Specifications:

Counsellors

• Discuss socially relevant objectives with regards to professional and career counselling;
• Deal with impact of counselling activities on society;
• Integrate their experience and knowledge from counselling to social processes (e.g., on local level or on the level of vocational associations);
• In their organisations they take part in defining relevant categories of objectives for particular counselling offers (these can be applied e.g., during evaluations as output criteria);

Support their clients with the intent to establish meaningful harmonisation of their individual objectives and final social representations;

• Acknowledge social objectives related to educational and vocational counselling (e.g., support of self-organisation, social participation and social including);
• They are well aware of approaches supporting abilities needed for self-organisation, social participation and social inclusion; and
• They acquired knowledge of problematic areas in educational systems, employment systems etc. (e.g., disadvantages, ways of participation) and measures for their handling.

Deliberations on andragogic counsellors’ personality

As mentioned above, counsellors’ personality plays a central role in the andragogic counselling practice. It is personality which encompasses all groups of competencies introduced in the part devoted to the competency profile. In elaborating on counsellors’ personality it is clear that it is their attitude which matters the most. No one goes through life without an attitude; right from birth we are influenced by education and adaptation, the social environment shapes our values and wherever you go there are rules, restrictions, various role-models, etc. Counsellors’ attitudes are not present from the actual start; instead, it gradually takes its form. Such a process takes place through repetitive comparison of preceding personal experience e.g., as part of self-experience activities, coaching, supervision, further education, etc. All counsellors are expected to choose a suitable form of self-reflection. In this way, they should be able to handle basic personal conflicts. Moreover, counsellors should be aware of the influence that their personal schemes might have on the counselling process and know how to reflect it as well as to incorporate them as a working tool. To quote Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, consciousness and knowledge of one’s own affects and emotions is in terms of individual attitudes (valid also for counselling process) equally defining reflection of their own convictions, prerequisites, values, prejudices, sympathies and antipathies. Considering so-called transference and countertransference, along with the work engaging these two phenomena, takes a central position within the course of the counselling process.

Repeated reflection in counselling gradually creates and also re-evaluates attitudes. Therefore, it may happen during the counselling process that settings and convictions applicable so far become doubtful and subsequently are replaced by others. Reflections of this type are desirable in order to answer the question: what is the system that the client and counsellor live in. Such ability to reflect maintains one’s existing counselling attitude. The counselling attitude may be acquired in touch with mentors, practitioners or supervision. It also requires mastering of vocational knowledge and various competencies, introduced in this subchapter. To shape the personality of an andragogic counsellor, the requirement of wisdom could be inspirational and G. Egan (2002 in Hvozdík, 2010, p. 44-45) described it in relation to helping individuals as follows: self-knowledge, knowing life commitments and objectives. Understanding cultural conditions and courage to admit mistakes and learn from them. Psychological and human comprehension of others and understanding human interactions. Capability of seeing beyond the facts and situations. Capability to comprehend the significance of events. Tolerating diversity and the ability to handle it. Being capable of preserving their inner balance while being in touch with a lack of order and a problematic case structure. Understanding the mission and being of individuals. Openness to events that are not in line with the logic of traditional categories. Capability to frame the problem, reframe information and avoid stereotypes. Holistic, open and contextual thinking. Meta-thinking or ability to think about thinking. Capability to increase consciousness, revealing relationships between diverse factors, pinpointing errors in solutions, synthesising, resolving problems and the capacity to act in a mixed position; on one hand as someone who offers help and on the other hand as someone who challenges, which may be frustrating. Finally, it is the need to comprehend spiritual dimensions of life.

We shall conclude our short deliberations on the personality of andragogic counsellors with characteristics identified by  G. Corey in his study Case approach to counselling and psychotherapy (2001) since we believe that they apply to counsellors as well:

• They possess their identity. They know who they are, who they may become, they know what they expect from life and what is important;
• They value who they are. They help and draw energy from feeling of their own value and strength;
• They recognize and accept their own power. In the company of others, they feel they are in the right place and they wish that others feel well with them;
• They are open to changes. They are courageous enough to abandon the safe and known place if they are not satisfied with the qualities they have. They are able to make decision about the way they would like to change and how to become the person they desire to be;
• They make decisions, shaping their life. They are aware of decisions they made in the past in their own lives and the lives of others. They do not sacrifice anything as a result of these decisions since, if needed, they are ready to revise their consequences;
• They feel full of life and their decisions are focusing on life. They are convinced that it is necessary to live and not just exist;
• They are authentic, generous and happy to learn. They neither hide behind a mask nor are they building defence walls;
• They have a sense of humour. They can laugh about things that happened in the past and still distance themselves from these events;
• They can admit mistakes that they made without trivialising them and without closing themselves into the feeling of unhappiness;
• Most often they live in the present without being stuck in the past or in the future;
• They respect cultural influences. They are aware of the way their culture affects them. They appreciate the variety of values built up by other cultures;
• They are genuinely interested in others’ wellbeing;
• They are engaged in their work and they draw value from it. They accept rewards related to their work but they are not enslaved; and

They can maintain healthy boundaries. They are not carrying their clients’ problems with them. If they are not working, they are resting. They know how to say “no”, helping to keep a healthy balance.

^[1] Closer specification of the individual group of competence dwells on results of findings by working groups Qualitätsmerkmale und Kompetenzen Kompetenzprofil für Beratende (2012) and the work of Petersen, C., Schiersmann, Ch., Weber, P. et al. Professionell beraten: Kompetenzprofil für Beratende in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung (2014).

^[2] Formation of “a pleasant counselling environment“ means decorating places and premises where counselling takes place with aesthetic elements. Counsellors should be aware of the fact that humans prefer places that are aesthetic and nice to look at. Being aware of various bottlenecks, related to “beautiful” as a highly subjective category, aesthetic elements in counselling could serve as certain corrective, utilitarian and economically focused formation of desirable competencies and qualifications.

^[3] Actions form an inherent part of counselling. Counselling interviews may instigate deliberations on new contents, i.e., new ideas, feelings, and life concepts. However, as long as these contents remain only in consciousness, they can never acquire the actual dimension. The inner human world becomes external reality only through actions. Counsellors should therefore make sure that together with those with whom they provide advice that they also elaborate an activity plan and monitor its implementation. Meanwhile, it should be emphasised that inactivity is actually also an activity. Humans need balance between physical activity and resting time; otherwise, they will fail to achieve mental balance. Talking about actions, one should not omit the fact that our knowledge significantly influences our course of actions. In fact, if we intend to treat ourselves and the world around us responsibly, we need to learn to take responsibility for what we know and for how we perceive the world.

A closer look at andragogic theoretical thinking in Slovakia shows obvious several ways of striving for a definition and an outline of andragogic counselling that indicate its potential. Resources introduced below, opinions of andragogic theoreticians, give us a quite clear though so far vaguely delineated subject of andragogic counselling, its status and tasks (Čečetka 1943, p.100–101; Machalová 2008, p.65; Livečka a Skalka 1983, p.121–123; Ďurič – Hotár – Pajtinka eds. 2000, p.338; Švec 2000, p.115; Palán 2002, p.159; Kliment 2003; Hloušková in Rabušicová a Rabušic 2008, p.290–291; Prusáková 2005, p.32; Švec 2008, p.61–62; Machalová 2008, p.67; Pirohová 2008, p.111; Porubská – Határ 2009; Šírová 2010, p. 36; Oravcová 2013, p.61-72; Machalová 2017; Mayer 2017, p.15). Their opinions illustrate quite diverse perceptions of the issue and their comprehension of andragogic counselling reaching beyond the borders of Slovakia. We assume that it is so since up until now a fundamental question has not been answered properly: What is the purpose of andragogic counselling?

Human educability and trainability are comprehended in terms of human docility. Docility is the ability (level of human potential) to learn in the broadest possible sense of the word. It is a habitual human quality, a disposition for learning about personal development. Each single individual is equipped with a certain degree of ability to learn. Docility (lat. docilitas – learning how to be a man, but also willingness to learn, also capable of learning) is an ambiguous notion, having several equivalents; from a semantic viewpoint it is close to ancient Greek paideia in its understanding as “caring for soul” Švec (2008, p.89) defines the following key terms: educability, trainability and the ability to learn – docility. Hartl (1999, p.163) equates docility and capability to learn. According to his theory, elderly adults may learn equally well as younger ones. Even if their scores might be as high, it is because of declines in other abilities than the mental one. Capacity and speed play a key role in adult learning. Capacity depends on the ability to learn (docility), which is usually not affected physically, or by age; in fact, many adults maintain the same level into old age. Velocity (meaning the time needed for mastering knowledge) is affected by age as a result of physiological alterations accompanying ageing. Even preparedness and alertness to learning limits the willingness to accept it (several barriers in learning, such as mental and emotional factors as well as anxiety, uncertainty, fear and unwillingness to modify a value system or attitudes). According to Průcha (2005, p.25) “docility is the ability to learn“. Dvořáková and Šerák (2016, p.80) state that the necessary prerequisites for participation of adults in educational activities are their capability to learn, educability (docility) – the extent to which an individual can be changed by education. Průcha (2014, p.10) comprehends docility as the ability and capacity of individuals to learn. Furthermore, this author stresses that it is extraordinary that neither andragogic nor pedagogic theory are interested in the notion of docility, even though dispositions for learning vary with every single individual; as if it was presumed that everybody has equal disposition for learning and acquiring knowledge. Špatenková – Smékalová (2015, p.8-22) explain the docility of individuals based upon their active approach (former results and preparedness, openness to learning), mental dispositions (subject to dynamic changes in ontogenesis such as perception, attention, memory, creativity, etc.) and personal transformation (shaped by situational and life contexts and also self-reflection, self-evaluation, self-confidence and values). Docility originates from autoregulated mental processes of personality in the broadest sense as the ability to regulate one’s behaviour (including learning). Each and every one of us has a certain level of abilities enhancing autoregulation of self-learning defined by neurological dispositions, environmental conditions, qualification, but also suitable educational interventions.

Docility stands for the diagnosable human potential for learning or self-learning, which may be improved, developed, trained and supported by andragogic intervention (Pavlov 2018, p.55–56). A certain degree of human docility may also be regarded as an andragogic criterion of adulthood (disturbed, temporarily or permanently reduced docility – indocility may hinder adults from achieving their life goals). Nowadays, docility (as in educability) is appreciated as a key competence of individuals when they are seeking employment and life-long preparedness to adapt to new requirements and situations via further learning. It should be noted (Pavlov 2015), that educability is not comprehended in its narrow meaning related to new knowledge and skills, but also in relation to intentional self-training (values, character, morale) of individuals (the potential for educability and trainability). Docility as an andragogic phenomenon can be the subject of scientific research; moreover, it may also be practically supported in the following dimensions:

• To be able to – various level of potential (the complex of dispositions for learning, including life experience and results of school education);
• To want – diverse levels of motivation (preparedness, willingness to learn and to admit that there is a lot that isn’t known and that learning and accepting support may lead to improvement);
• To know – various strategies that help to maintain and develop educability from a life-long perspective.

Exploration of docility from andragogic viewpoint is significantly influenced by former experience of adults (results of learning processes, mastered learning strategies, etc.); individual’s complex mental disposition (inherent, acquired, manifested mental processes and qualities); personal setting (self-motivation, self-awareness, self-regulation, self-fulfilment, ideals and values) and external factors stimulating human learning (as a complex of stimuli, opportunities and life activities enhancing self-development). Autoregulation mechanisms lie in depth of docility processes. Adulthood will bring not only thorough improvement of externally-instigated learning accomplishments (e.g., to learn more, faster and more precisely at school) but also improvement of skills to fully exploit the potential for management of one’s own life-long learning (learning autoregulation). Adults acquire autoregulation abilities in one’s own learning not only via school instruction and learning but also through the broader learning environment. In this way, individuals gradually gain full control and responsibility for mastering autoregulation in their own learning. School education facilitates students’ preparedness (hetero-education) for taking over the responsibility for one’s own learning (auto-education) and consequently also a competency enabling life-long learning. The varied disposition of school graduates for such competency has been recently becoming a crucial challenge for schools and teachers in seeking strategies that equip students with the skills required to gain autoregulation, thus enhancing their docility potential in adulthood. For example, Průcha (2020, p.185–186) emphasises the great significance of autoregulation in adult learning, especially in its distance and combined forms.

Zelina (2017, p.237) ranks the theory of autoregulation of personality formation among personal, spiritual and neo humanist-cognitive personal theories. Furthermore, referencing other authors, he points out the diverse features of autoregulation (adjusted according to Zelina 2017, p. 225–226):

• it leads to modification of one’s presented subjective status and suggests activities necessary for reaching or alternating one’s objectives;
• a process in which the system (individual) regulates (based on positive and negative feedback) oneself with the aim of achieving specific objectives;
• the systematic process of human behaviour adapting and engaging one’s human capacities in activities that allow reaching objectives and expected results;
• individuals remove discrepancies (real and ideal ME / real and possible ME) between actual behaviour and objectives;
• management and coordination of oneself while generating high level (free and independent choice of activities) or low level (activity resulting only from external pressure) of autoregulation;
• conscious or unconscious self-management, regulation of an individual’s body status typically oriented on optimisation of one’s status quo (focusing on biological, mental and social well being).

According to Zibrínyiová (2014, p.54) self-regulation^[1] may be comprehended as “personal characteristics of an individual that remain unchanged and may acquire various values such as an ego energy model changing its capacity on a life continuum (may be exhausted or raised) while the individual remains trainable, focused on a certain objective.” Lovaš (2011, p.7-13) places “self-regulation into close relation with self-control. Understanding both these above-mentioned fields can be explained via two approaches: orientation on achievement of objectives (selection of objective, cognition of the objective, maintaining one’s direction, alternation of the direction and priorities, achievement of the objective) as well as the individuals’ ability to modify their behaviour, and thus alternate it according to certain requirements (orientation of standards, monitoring, self-regulatory power and motivation)”. Self-regulation is a notion comprising conscious and unconscious objective-oriented processes, while self-control tackles all conscious efforts to change one’s behaviour, suppress impulses and resist temptation. In our opinion, self-control plays a significant role in adult self-learning processes (along with correct nutrition, a healthy lifestyle, elimination of various forms of dependence, etc.).   

Čáp and Mareš (2007, p.506) characterises autoregulation in learning (adjusted) as follows: a learning individual becomes an active stakeholder in the learning process itself in terms of activities, motivation and metacognition. Thus, the individual is striving to achieve certain objectives (mastering knowledge, skills, social status, recognition, etc.), initiates and regulates one’s own endeavour, and applies specific learning strategies regarding the context in which learning took place. It is a process, in which individuals use self-regulation to transform their mental abilities into skills needed for learning.

Research in the area of learning autoregulation (Čáp – Mareš 2007) in occupational learning is in two different areas: autoregulation of learning as a personality trait (as a permanent attribute, human potential, which also serves as predictor of future behaviour) and learning autoregulation as a situational phenomenon (i.e., one’s temporary status, which is typically interrelated with a situational context). Mareš (In Sak et al. 2007, p.213–222) further differentiates between two approaches as understood by autoregulation of the human learning process:

1. Autoregulation as self-direction with three dimensions:

• sociological – learners manage tasks independently of the educator = learners’ self- management;
• andragogic – learners teach themselves (self-teaching);
• psychological – learners’ personal factors (mental needs, critical thinking, responsibility and others).

2. Autoregulation as self-regulation finds its roots in cognitive psychology, the psychology of motivation, social psychology, the psychology of personality and learning. Autoregulation in learning is defined as such, depending on its level, when the learner becomes an active stakeholder in one’s own learning process considering the activity, motivation and metacognition. Meanwhile, learners strive to achieve certain objectives (knowledge, skills, social recognition, practical validation) and they initiate and coordinate one’s own knowledge-based route by employing specific learning strategies to the context in which it takes place. Self-regulated learning is a specific individual learning activity used to coordinate one’s educational activities. Autoregulated learning contains three components:

• regulation of specific ways for processing knowledge, selection of cognitive strategies and styles of learning with their dominant position;
• regulation of learning processes (i.e., utilisation of metacognitive knowledge and skills for self-regulation of one’s learning);
• regulation of individuals’ “me”, outlining one’s own objectives and selection of suitable means.

Hartl (1999, p.212–213) refers to Though (1983) while introducing key elements of self-regulated learning defined by the ability to: stipulate objectives, the plan and its implementation and evaluation; choose a suitable learning plan and strategy; exercise learning in an environment which is suitable for the required activities; be realistic in stipulating and outlining a learning schedule; know how to gain knowledge and skills from the most suitable resources; know how to reveal personal and situational obstacles in learning and deal with them; and be able to revive motivation whenever it declines. Differences in pedagogical (in case of minors) and andragogic (in case of adults) comprehension of learning autoregulation is reflected in:

1. prerequisites (e.g., adults do not lose potential for learning, to the contrary, it actually multiplies; likewise the ability of internal motivation for learning improve as well as regulation of positive emotions from learning; adults are aware of new dimensions and occasions for self-control as well as self-evaluation, personal proficiency and self-awareness; they grasp the significance of autoregulation in learning as a strategy reflecting one’s life journey and professional career).
2. conditions (e.g., adults choose, optimise and transform the environment for their own learning, better manage failures in learning, make good use of strategies for joint learning and the same applies to their potential of compatibility of externally-coordinated learning (education) and auto regulated learning, self-learning (self-education),
3. interventions of support (e.g., adults understand that even externally-provided strategies supporting autoregulation will help them learn how to learn).

Grác (2019) discusses the original concept of autodidacticism (self-learning – individual mastering of knowledge outside the normal classes) as a performance-based and relation-based process among individuals. His concept of autodidacts reveals internal determinants of self-learning processes which may be applied even in the environment of adult learning. A principal question for andragogy as an educational science is how to comprehend learning autoregulation (as a complex and difficult human mental process) so that it does not substitute for the function of psychology, and how to find its own field of research and application. Ondrejkovič (2014, p.312) stipulates that “the main task of educational science (pedagogy and andragogy) is to teach individuals in the broadest possible sense to take responsibility for one’s own learning in their own hands, and thus pass the life exams”. In fact, it means to focus on ways in which learners can be taught not only certain content but also learning skills and how to apply them and how to independently proceed in learning without assistance from teachers or peers. The questions of theories, contents and research in autoregulation of learning processes should be left solely to the subject of psychology. In the light of aforementioned scientific grounds and approaches we formulate three andragogic dimensions in adult-learning autoregulation and their indicators, for which andragogy should develop suitable diagnostic, interventional and evaluation tools (Pavlov – Neupauer 2019, p.30-31). For instance:

1. Planning (as a subject of diagnosing andragogic docility)
2. capability to define and outline the necessary time for learning, monitoring, maintaining and modifying demands of learning tasks;
3. positive life and learning objectives, stipulating an hierarchy (closer, more distant, easy and more difficult) along with a plan for their achievement;
4. being aware of learning capabilities, internal motivation implied by value orientation, self-confidence in managing tasks and attribution;
5. Implementation (as a subject of intervening andragogic docility)
6. a learning space (physical and social) as part of optimal conditions for heteronomous and autonomous learning (suitable educational sources and elimination of disruptive elements, etc.);
7. the capability to monitor the course of educational activities and the efficacy of educational strategies; the adequacy of exerted efforts and the achieved stipulated objective as well as the capacity to complete an educational task; and if it is too demanding to reactivate one’s learning efforts;
8. Evaluation (as a subject of evaluating the andragogic effect of docility):
9. a capability to self-monitor learning results (comparison of the result with the objective of the learning);
10. changes in self-perception (cause of potential lack of success and finding success in educational strategies and experience, i.e. for controllable factors rather than those which are out of the individual’s control);
11. changes in capability to autoregulate one’s learning processes (in the form of new or more effective learning strategies and objectives);
12. control and evaluation of the learning processes and one’s own input (self-evaluation);
13. flexible adaptation to changing requirements and conditions within learning processes.

Each and every specialised activity is based on scientific, theoretical (and practical) approaches evolving under the influence of diverse philosophical, psychological, counselling and psychotherapeutic fields. Knowledge of these theoretical bases enables counsellors to better comprehend the purpose of counselling, its possibilities and mainly opportunities provided during specialised counselling activities for clients. Drapela – Hrabal et. al. (1995, p.15) classify counselling theories (schools) into four categories depending on the area of human expression upon which their counselling intervention is centred: psychodynamic – sphere ME (Freud, Adler); emotional – feelings (Rogers); cognitive – thinking; behavioural – human behaviour. A cross-section of two or more schools gives rise to several other schools such as cognitive-behavioural or multi-dimensional approaches. Authors Mydlíková – Gabura (2005) divide counselling approaches in social work into dynamic, behavioural and experiential. Lazarová (in Knotová et al.  2004, p.93–113) introduces in social pedagogics a division of personality theories and counselling strategies into a dynamic (psychodynamic) behavioural, humanistic, systemic approach and constructivism in counselling, eclectic counselling and integrating efforts. Šlosár et al. (2017) found all the below-mentioned theories of social work: cognitive-behavioural theories, ecological and eco-social theories, social-psychological and communication models, existential and humanistic theories. The relationship between counselling and andragogy is well-known because counselling theories (specialised disciplines) are being applied to specific conditions, the environment and the adult learning context (relations between general and specific). Such a perspective allows one to view adult learning problems from non-traditional and innovative views. It is advisable to determine what is general and utilised from broad counselling theories and what is specific and useful from counselling theories that are unique in adult education and training. Both parts guarantee mutual enrichment by new theoretical, research, and practical findings.

The study of vocational sources, research and experience coming from the practice supporting vocational employees’ development leads us to acceptance of eclectic^[2] approaches, applying those elements out of validated theories which may serve for specific needs of andragogic counselling. In the light of aforementioned designation of stages (phases) in the process of andragogic counselling takes place as part of some of above-mentioned theories or it has an eclectic nature. In relation to designation of andragogic counselling, several authors take process-related parts of these activities into consideration, in fact, they set out the contents outlined for counsellors’/andrologists’ to  follow when working with clients and modes that can possibly be applied. When describing counselling stages, several authors even include methodology which basically should serve as instruction.

Counsellors are constantly confronted with a question about which theoretical direction they should use in their everyday practice, what should they follow and what should serve as their inspiration? The choice is to incline towards and follow one acceptable and applicable approach, theory or to decide for a merger of diverse elements selected from various approaches and directions, even though they may be contradictory (an eclectic approach). None of the above-mentioned directions (established abroad) are deeply rooted in Slovakia, which is because of the fact that they penetrated in a very spontaneous manner, failing to create a scientific, institutional and application-based background. However, that does not mean that counsellors work without conscious reflection or that they apply counselling approaches without any theoretical basis or without a certain behavioural strategy and decision making. According to Mydlíková – Gabura (2005, p.3) an eclectic approach dominates in Slovak counselling practice, facilitating symbiosis by connecting or selectively applying various counselling approaches, methods and forms of work adapted to the nature of the problem or the type of client. Counsellors should be prepared to make use of effective elements from all the approaches in order to help the client as quickly and effectively as possible. Similarly, Brnula et al. (2015, p.23–24) claim that eclecticism is typical even for social work. They are referring to ideas of Laura Epstein (in Matoušek et al., 2001, p.199), who formulated a typology of eclectic models (applicable even in andragogic counselling):

• model of systemic integration – this is an integration with clear criteria for selection of knowledge or theories that the model will contain;
• pragmatic model – a model generating a set of knowledge and theories based on practical needs and counsellors’ experience;
• model of systematic selection – counsellors will choose the main model to be enriched by further ideas, while maintaining the consistency of the main model;
• model of random applications – counsellors collect expertise via random selection and subsequently apply it in their work if needed.

There are many arguments advocating for eclecticism, which Navrátil (2001) adjusted for social work that  may be applied to andragogic counselling:

• the client should be able to make use of all accessible expertise;
• empiric experiences acquired via practical application are valid and they should modify the theory;
• theories cover various levels and spheres so they may complement each other;
• many aspects of various theories are similar or identical;
• human existence is manyfold and it may be assumed that it should not be ascribed with one single theory.

The elements of various counselling approaches are either identical or very similar and it seems as though the eclectic approach suits best for counselling. It does not have to always be so and it always depends on the nature of needs and client’s situation, but also on the counsellor’s capabilities. Few of the proven theories can fully clarify the nature of clients’ problems in their complexity and ascribe them just one suitable procedure. Thus, it is more optimal to apply a combination of several approaches in a way that allows the counsellor to make “the right decision“. How to simplify this choice for counsellors regarding the nature of the clients’ problems, the level of the counsellor’s capabilities and the overall context of the “counselling situation“, remains a permanent challenge. In relation to occupational counselling concerning specialised eclecticism, Svobodová (2015, p.113–114) suggests creative integration of two or more methodological counselling approaches or concepts. The basis for theoretical eclecticism (higher level of universality) is formed by metatheories enabling wide integration of elements coming from diverse methodological concepts and counselling approaches into a holistic model. This is the way in which original hybrid counselling approaches are being formed and might be respected in counselling practice if they meet following criteria:

• they define their subject to a full extent, accept methodology and create an objectivised system of categories;
• they extend the subject into so far theoretically uncharted areas involving new contents and dynamic changes;
• they describe their subject in their complexity, continuity and quality while observing the client’s needs;
• they align the conceptual system based on scientific approaches to the system’s formation;
• they bear responsibility for a client who makes use of the counselling service.

The concept of andragogic counselling forms the basis when building an applied discipline that scientifically modifies justified general principles regarding a specific subject of its research – adult learning. Currently, this relation is typical for counselling and andragogy.  Considering the low scientific and theoretical progress and application possibilities, it is premature to define andragogic counselling as a borderline andragogic discipline since it only gradually building up its own nomenclature deriving from andragogic and counselling theory as well as other related sciences (psychology, sociology, etc.) Andragogic counselling is typically applied in a specific social field of theory and practice in adult education and self-education, training and self-training (their education and learning, development of learning potential and vocational career). Prusáková (2008, p.19) dealt with the question of types and forms of andragogic exposure and identified counselling as a type of andragogic influence (along with education and training). Andragogic counselling is a type of counselling serving a target group of adults and their learning in various contexts, situations, environments and life conditions.

The traditional approach to counselling in learning “dilutes” andragogy as part of assistance tools for adults in social, vocational and cultural environment as well as other sciences which make use of it. It is key to define the target group to which a learning individual belongs (employed, socially dependent, seniors, etc.). These could be, for instance, numerous, significant groups whose disadvantage or marginalisation needs to be tackled. However, there are still many other “common” working adults who live their lives in “trouble-free” conditions and environments who are also entitled to andragogic assistance and support to possibly improve the quality of their lives. The innovative approach has a new core – docility (learning potential), surrounded by unique and specific adults’ learning needs, satisfied and enhanced by counselling. It allows focus primarily on support of (potential) learning processes regarding the contexts of individuals’ life conditions. In other words, if an adult learns to develop docility (potential), then the conditions and context of their use comes as secondary (not negligible). The above-mentioned implies complementarity of both approaches (traditional and innovative) in which the second one is definitely of an andragogic nature since it concentrates on adult learning processes.

There are two viewpoints concerning andragogic counselling:

• In a more narrow understanding of counselling in adult learning (how to learn better, how to study effectively, how to use learning strategies and how to improve one’s docility potential).
• In the broader perspective it is a counselling application concerning adults’ problems (work-related or personal) that may be resolved by mastering necessary competencies, strategies and knowledge to help resolve their issues by learning.

Characteristics of andragogic counselling:

• It is interdisciplinary (on the cross-section of andragogy and counselling psychology) with interwoven transdisciplinary elements;
• It is based on a humanistic (personal-humanistic) paradigm oriented on human development potential as a learning individual (as well as the relation between counsellor and client);
• It is contextual since it approaches clients’ problems within the context of work and life;
• It is comprehensive as far as learning processes are concerned since they improve the entire human personality even though it resolves particular problems and the learning needs of adults it still affects their self-development;
• It is professional, meaning it is provided by qualified counsellors;
• It is scientifically validated, thus based on verified theoretical approaches, methods and techniques that help clients;
• It is multidimensional in terms of clients’ problems and needs (at work, in personal life) for those who are prepared to improve their learning capacity;
• It is non-discriminatory, in other words, it is directed to all adults regardless of age (in all stages of life – lifelong counselling), regardless of the difference in acquired qualifications, and their social-economic and cultural-ethnic background and other factors.

We believe that the subject (object) of andragogic counselling has two dimensions: material object – an adult person as a joint subject of interest coming from various scientific fields (e.g., anthropology, psychology, sociology, ethics and others) and a formal object – a viewpoint that allows  exploration of the material object which determines the range of competency (stimulation of learning processes, self-learning – docility concept). Beneš (2014, p.18) eloquently defines the role of andragogy (including counselling) as transformation of life problems of individuals and society into problems that can be solved by learning. This does not encompass all the problems since many can be resolved by delegating (economically, legally, by power, technologically, via medical approach) but learning for someone else is not possible. The role of andragogy and andragogic counselling in this sense is to seek methods and forms allowing and driving adult learning (educability).

Andragogic counselling is a type of counselling for adult learners. It focuses on objectives, tasks, functions, methods, forms, means, conditions, approaches, models, fields and stages of the counselling process, counsellors’ prerequisites (personal and vocational), as well as many other issues. The nature of andragogic science implies that it mainly explores management processes, regulations of learning, education and self-learning, (teaching, self-teaching, education, self-education, training, self-training) of adults. Exploring the psychological foundation of adults’ learning processes forms the subject of psychology while their stimulation and targeted improvement belongs to the field of andragogy. The cross-section between psychology and andragogy – meaning the learning process and its targeted instigation via counselling often requires highly individualised support taking in regard:

• mental (neurological) peculiarities (limits) typical for learning processes in certain stages of an adult persons’ life;
• the social context of adult life (working, private and public aspects);
• specific andragogic approaches and tools available to be used as an intervention driving learning processes (strengthening adults’ docility potential).

Lifelong counselling provided to adults who are either employed or unemployed and elderly individuals is grasped as an activity which enables them to evaluate and verify their current work-related status (role, conditions and contents), capabilities acquired at work and learning about life as well as a plan for further education and one’s work-related or life journey (e.g., leaving for a pension). Andragogic adult counselling becomes a part of a broadly defined lifelong andragogic effect on various target groups (employed, unemployed, disadvantaged, etc.) For the counselling process itself, it manages to find broad interdisciplinary inspiration. While generating models, approaches of andragogic assistance and adult support, it is crucial to unambiguously delineate the very essence of counselling and its purpose. Andragogy perceives the major contribution of counselling in the diagnostic process, support, interventions by means of a learning process and self-learning. The study of docility as a phenomenon and potential for adult learning established the grounds of the counselling process; and the support enabling development of this potential (capability) is a purpose distinguishing it from other forms of counselling services (psychological, social, etc.). One may be tempted to ask – what is the difference between andragogic counselling and other types of educational, personal, psychological and work-related counselling? Andragogic counselling is meant to give advice on how to improve one’s learning (self-learning), joint (team, collaborative) learning, as well as teaching of others (minors, children or adults).

Beneš (1997) defined tasks, to be tackled by andragogic counselling (counselling in education): 

• Institutionalisation of counselling, i.e., creating specific organisational units, specialised institutions which facilitate specialised counselling activities in this area on various levels. For instance, it may be a special department for educational counselling.
• Professionalisation of counselling, which means delineating standards for this vocation and standards for education necessary for performance of this job, i.e., counselling services in education should be performed by professionals qualified for these activities as full-time or part-time positions.
• Process-based counselling work,e., the course of activities, the quality of processes in counselling activities in certain problem-related areas with time continuity.

Education (self-education) is a process of “you” teaching yourself or self-learning as an adult that is more or less regulated or autonomous. Although counselling has no direct relation to education since it is not education as such (it is advice, consultation, regulation); on the other hand, education can be understood as “instruction” (for solving life or work-related situations, etc.) only in its broadest sense. Counselling may or may not be linked to education (forming one of its parts), however, the two will always be related. Education may serve as counselling in its broadest sense, since it is oriented on what, how and when adults should be educated and vice versa, each type of counselling provides either information, knowledge or experience, in other words, educational attributes. A specific cross-section can be achieved if counselling is provided before education, throughout its course and after its termination. Before education it can serve as diagnosis of learning potential and its better targeting; throughout education as its correction, fixing of mistakes through improvement, optimization of educational activities and after termination of education as evaluation of educational results.

Andragogic counselling tackles clients’ problems, manageable by learning while it may contain elements focusing more on their career development, level of performance and support within the organisation (organisational) or focusing on management, gathering of information about results of their work (standardisation of vocational competence, evaluation), provision of feedback on work quality and follow-up evaluation as well as remuneration (personal) or  focused more on non-formal and individual counselling in individuals’ self-development and support of independent career management via formal and non-formal education, informal learning, self-learning, provision of materials and information concerning self-development (related to one’s career).

^[1]In relation to self-regulation of adult behaviour, it is worth mentioning so-called executive functions, which may improve, and thus render self-regulation more efficient. They are relatively plastic, in other words, they may be shaped from childhood until late adulthood. Currently, ways for creating training programmes are a subject of discussion because they could strengthen cognitive executive human functions and thus enhance the level of self-regulation. These would be training sessions oriented on behavioural procedures or neurostimulation.

^[2] Eclecticism – a scientific or artistic formation, substituting lack of one’s own invention with inspiration coming from different examples and role models. However, it can still be inventional in its connection with various sources when it comes to integrating, selecting certain elements of individual directions or theories, with regard to the nature of the problem and type of client.