Levels and phases of andragogic counselling

Counselling activity possesses certain peculiarities concerning depth, duration, and extent in which it tackles client’s problems. Clients’ specific problems, needs and expectations determine how the counsellor chooses the suitable level of counselling intervention. Pacnerová (in Maříková et al., 2013, p.98–101) defines three basic levels of psychological counselling work, while each of them requires diverse qualification prerequisites for counsellors:

• Fundamental counselling – provides mainly information,
• Specialised counselling – helps clients to perform desirable change in life,
• Psychotherapy – enhances clients’ deeper personal changes.

Kliment (2003) and Prusáková (2005, p.34) introduce three counselling approaches and possibilities for their combination (differing in their intensity or depth of work with clients) as applied to adult counselling:

• Provision of information – to educational institutions, educational programs, educational contents, organisational forms, finances, anticipated results and conditions for education, etc.;
• Guidance, orientation – provides short term assistance in order to select the pathway, way of education containing e.g., analysis of possible modes of education and the most suitable type of educational program (its forms) while emphasising its requirements, advantages and risks; and
• Intensive counselling assistance – as a long-term aid (more intensive personal contact) oriented on “awakening”, defining educational needs, identifying bottlenecks and their elimination, driving an active client’s cooperation and efforts to enhance their self-awareness and identify personal educational needs.

In reflecting on these concepts, we constructed a three-level model of andragogic counselling,  graduating upwards in terms of  demands (specificities) posed by counselling approaches. At the same time, it represents limits in individual levels that are significant in the counselling relationship (Scheme 6).

Scheme 6 Levels of andragogic counselling

Source: Pavlov

In line with the approaches described above, we outline three levels of counselling practice in andragogy depicted through three components (Table 3):

• Definition of overall level (its focus and purpose);
• Definition of clients’ expectations and needs; and
• Definition of counselling intervention.

Table 3: Definition of levels in andragogic counselling

Source: Pavlov

The levels of counselling work differ based on the subjective depth felt by clients in relation to particular problems based on their declared desires and the counsellor’s capabilities (related to qualifications, time, space, etc.). These aspects are not always in accord, i.e., for example, a client with a serious issue may seek only a basic level of counselling, etc. Counsellors should take into consideration their abilities and the client’s needs and direct them towards the level of assistance  desired by the client. The evaluation of the necessary level of client’s assistance forms the basis for success of the provided counselling. In everyday counselling practice, these levels may overlap and spontaneously transition into a different (higher) level or oscillate around the border. It is important for the counsellor to discern the level suitable to the work with clients, identify clients’ requests and offer appropriate counselling support to individual, group or the entire organisation. Each level of counselling offered to various clients takes place in certain counselling phases and it is subject to specific counselling procedures.

The next part contains an outline of several approaches and techniques that can be applied in andragogic adult counselling within the framework of the three levels of counselling that apply (overlap) in various counselling forms (method of aligning the mutual relationship between counsellors and clients). According to Oravcová (2013, p.131–141), Langer (2017, p.33) and Pavlov (2018, p.176) there are the following forms:

• contact (personal) or individual (dyadic);
• free of contact or distance (via telephone, correspondence, internet or mass media);
• a couple (triadic);
• a group; and
• a mass event.

So far we have not accumulated enough scientific expertise concerning practical application of the above-mentioned counselling forms in an andragogic context. However we can rely on rich experience and counselling practice derived from other fields (such as psychology, social counselling and others) and particular experiences from counselling practice.

1. Basic (information level of andragogic counselling)

One of the key messages in Memorandum on life-long education (EC 2000, p.22) defines the future role of counsellors-specialists as a “brokerage”, where “counselling broker” is able to gather an abundance of information adapted to the client’s needs in order to help them evaluate the chances for success and choose the best procedure for future development. Sources of information and diagnostic tools based on ICT/internet open up new horizons for extending and improving the quality of counselling services. They may also enrich and extend the role of professional; however, they cannot replace it. Counsellors must achieve a high level of abilities needed for processing and analysing information. They will be expected to help people seeking a personal pathway within the labyrinth of information to assist them in finding meaningful and useful information corresponding with their requirements. In a globalised world of educational opportunities, people will expect information on the quality of the offer. That is the reason why counselling must focus on more “holistic” forms of providing service addressing very diverse demands and requirements from various users and must also be locally accessible. Counselling also needs to be closely connected to networks of related personal, social and educational services as well as non-formal and unofficial channels. The wording of a memorandum can also clarify the role of information in counselling and even though the declaration is twenty years old, its key ideas remain relevant. Lepeňová – Hargašová (2012, p.53–72) comprehends information counselling as all the information that may help clients satisfy their needs and expectations linked with vocational development, their career and further learning. Informational services and androgogic counselling services may be divided into several phases:

1. Collection of accessible information from publicly available sources – internet, print, information leaflets, catalogues with educational programmes, posters, personal communication with partners (educational institutions, employers, school, etc.).The types of information:

• contents; these are information about individuals containing typical features of individuals’ social and economic environment, basic biographic data, information on qualifications, competencies, information on their psychical and health-related prerequisites, on their cognitive abilities, personal qualities, interests, motivation and information about the world of work, the situation of the labour market, jobs and employers’ requirements to be met by members of the workforce;
• users; who may be ranked into several types according to professional information provided to the lay public, youth, parents, unemployed, specific information for career counsellors in counselling agencies,government labour authorities, personnel agencies, information for educational and career counsellors at schools and information for employers;
• means/sources of providing information: personal contact (counsellor and client), mastering vocational information via practical activities, by way of experiential learning (hobbies, seasonal work and manual instruction), means of mass information and promotion (print, radio, television and film), use of computers, video-technology, ICT and internet. Each single means of information provision prides itself in different advantages regarding the extent, flexibility, visual exposure as well as irrational parts of human behaviour. Therefore, it has its special use. A combination of effects generated by accumulation of various forms of information seems to be the optimal solution.

2. Information processing – establishing and updating respective databases of information; having a system of processing usable information is one of the key prerequisites for provision of counselling services. An abundance of current and usable information allows for free and responsible decision making concerning activities and behaviour. Both employers and employees may receive this information provided they are needed for their development. The form, contents and range of information resources will have to be adapted to the nature of the users, their needs and competencies as well as tasks for which such information is required.
3. Provision of information to clients represents provision of basic information and advice on possibilities for further education, providers of education, qualifications, recognition of educational results, ways of financing education, trends and innovations in the field of lifelong learning, labour market needs, current regional developments, employers’ current needs; help while seeking information with assistance of state-of-the-art information and communication technologies.
4. Quality checks of the provided information/services comprises questions posed to graduates of educational activities, focusing on their satisfaction and relevance to the educational activity, etc..

Apart from looking at information-counselling services from a process viewpoint we also need to take into consideration its form. Among various forms of andragogic information counselling, there are contact counselling and distance counselling (other than distance education). Distance counselling typically takes the form of telephone conversations (by means of landline, mobile telephone, internet telephone service, such as Skype or video-call) or written counselling (via internet, e-mail, chat, social media, or internet counselling). According to Vaňousová, D. – Kulich, D. – Kršková, Z. – Auxtová, L. (2015, p.23–29) distant counselling may function without the necessity of organising a personal meeting between a counsellor and the client. For clients, distant counselling allows for fast, accessible, safe and anonymous assistance. It is especially attractive for certain types of clients, e.g., those who live far from any counselling facility, those with health impairments or clients who have difficulties talking about their current situations face-to-face, etc. Distant counselling offers several advantages, such as a high-level of anonymity and a relatively low threshold of service that clients may benefit from in the comfort of their homes or another safe environment; easier ways of establishing first contact; counsellors may take their time to consider their best answers; it may speed up resolution of the clients’ requirement; it optimises accessibility of counselling service even from distant places; it simplifies access for people with health impairments; in general it saves time and costs by both parties; in email counselling, neither of the parties need to be present at a certain time and in a certain place; it may minimise a counsellors’ sympathy or antipathy and its related too low or too high engagement while tackling the clients’ situation. A disadvantage of this form of counselling is that it usual lacks clients’ direct feedback since it is often only one-off contact and the counsellor sometimes has no way of knowing whether clients have managed to resolve their situation; how did they manage it; or what sort of change occurred in their life. Dependence on accessible communication tools (telephone, internet) and on clients’ computer literacy play a significant role along with: possible misunderstandings and a potential addiction to written expression since some people dislike calling and instead they write; incomplete information in clients’ requirements such as an incapacity to request complementary information immediately and assumptions and hypotheses, an inability to verify the true nature of the information.

1. Extended level of andragogic counselling

This part will present an approach, which according to theoretical inspirations and practical experience meets the criteria of the second level-extended andragogic counselling support and sufficiently describes the activity of the counsellor confronted with the clients’ issue. It is an approach offering a systemic framework that helps to manage various practical problems (educational needs). Its fundamentals lie in following ideas:

• That it is directive, short-term counselling concerning educational needs (often caused by the work-related problems) of adults (who possess no special deviations in their learning process);
• That even small success develops human self-confidence and self-respect;
• That people feel more involved in tasks that they have chosen themselves;
• That a cooperative, partner relationship evolves between counsellors and clients while the clients are the dominant authority when seeking and resolving problems for which they are qualified;
• That counsellors build their counselling relationship with a client on a voluntary basis and with positive qualities; they empower clients in their activities and motivate them to participate in change;
• That counsellors help clients to define their problems, explore which educational needs should be activated and adopt decision on tasks which they would like to fulfil (provided that the client is capable of such choices); and
• That it is possible to apply it in individual as well as group counselling.

These are approaches (built around theories related  to counselling psychology or social work) that may be adaptable and applicable to the andragogic problems of adults. Such counselling approaches are embedded in cognitive-behavioural fields linked with educational theories and focused on influencing, modifying and mastering such forms of behaviour and cognition which enhance adaptation within the system of human behaviour. For cognitive-behavioural approaches in counselling it is typical that they are limited in time, structured, operate in partnership, focus on current issues and the use of measurable behavioural changes. These ideas are incorporated in works of Culley – Bond 2008 (integrative approach), Úlehla 2004 (systematic approach), Špiláčková – Nedomová 2013 (task-oriented approach^[1]). Fundamentals of humanistic psychology built by Carl R. Rogers (a client-centred counselling approach) were further developed by T. Merry (2004). It is regarded as applicable in situations where support of personal growth and a client’s change are desirable. Furthermore, it is also regarded as a way of experiencing situations based on certain attitudes and values. Helping relationships are based on deeply rooted respect for individuals and faith in clients’ capacity for growth, development and creativity. It is a democratic, non-authoritative and non-directive approach that stresses the importance of constructive  human relationships as a key for the process of change (Merry 2004, p.14–24). The theoretical approaches described above, and counselling approaches verified in practice became an inspiration for our eclectic model of andragogic counselling.

Úlehla (2004, p.37) designates counselling as cooperation between a client and a counsellor. When assistance develops in line with clients’ wishes that is also oriented on development of clients’ own possibilities. Clients may feel there are some obstacles that may stand in the way of achieving their objectives so they wish to minimise them. A counsellor should be prepared to offer advice, instructions, ideas and suggestions specific for that client and the particular types of problems and the client’s needs and situation. Moreover, counsellors find inspiration as well in their own resources, the repertory of verified advice, procedures, tasks and strategies, which may be adapted to current situations and a client’s needs. Counsellors help clients to seek the most useful pathway, while the clients are the ones to assess its usefulness. Clients own their problems and expect the counsellor to help them in using their capacities or potential. A counsellor helps a client by co-creating advice.

Špiláčková – Nedomová (2013, p.58–59) introduced the following features of the task-oriented approach (adjusted):

• Empirical orientation – preferred theories and methods are those that are empirically sound, to eliminate space for speculative theorising about clients’ problems and behaviour.
• Integrating attitude – the counsellor makes a selective choice from theories and methods that most correspond with clients’ problems (e.g. cognitive approach, systematic, theory of motivation, structural approach and others). That is the reason why a task-oriented approach is regarded as an eclectic and integrating model, which selectively chooses from individual methods and theories based on and justified by empirical research.
• Orientation on client-confirmed problems – a condition for applying this approach is to focus on problems identified and accepted by the client, forming the basis of cooperation.
• Systems and contexts – clients’ problems do not exist in isolation, instead they occur in the context of several contexts. To resolve or avoid such problems and to eliminate their reoccurrence, a contextual alteration might be necessary. Or vice versa, resolution of the problem might have a positive influence on its context.
• Planned short-term duration – service or cooperation is usually planned for a short-term period 6 to 12 weekly sessions within a perspective of four months.
• Cooperating relationship – the partner relationship between clients and counsellors as well as other cooperating stakeholders form part of the collaboration. The aim is to provide support and mobilisation to the client to be cooperative and actively involved in resolution of their problems.
• Structured approach – this represents a structured and transparent process of intervention, including intervention sessions with a clearly-defined sequence of activities.
• Problem solving activities (tasks) – alterations in problems can be achieved via individual activities that clients fulfil during the sessions and also out of their frame. Mobilisation of clients’ own activities is frequently emphasised. The main function of counselling sessions is to help in forming the basis and conditions for such actions.

The specific- integrative approach to counselling was introduced by Culley and Bond (2008). Vis-à-vis clients and assistance provided to them, this approach helps to differentiate between application of counselling  or counselling capabilities. They comprehend it as a recognised specialised profession with established requirements, procedures and responsibility systems, implemented typically under auspices of a vocational institution. Furthermore, they designate counselling capabilities as those whose application enables the clients to handle their problems based on a helping relationship based on stages in the process. Both approaches found in Table 4 illustrate the diverse comprehension of counselling and counselling capabilities based on selected aspects.

Table 4  Typical features distinguishing counselling from a counselling approach

Source: Culley – Bont 2008, p.12–13

In our opinion, the approach of above-mentioned authors captures the current situation in andragogic counselling in this country very well, since at its current stage of development, it inclines more to the model applying counselling abilities rather than counselling itself. We believe that it is just a natural development, which on one hand fails to beat the maximalist prospect of “miraculous effect“  of andragogic counselling and on the other hand it allows it to handle theoretical inspiration and practical needs pragmatically. One can naturally assume that with enhancement, professionalisation and institutionalisation of andragogic counselling services it might gain more of a  “counselling-like“ nature.

The following notions are central to our andragogic counselling approach: problem, need, and task in a precisely defined context. Each work-related situation that an employee realises (or so far has failed to realise) and which hinders e.g., satisfaction at work, working performance or professional self-actualization can be defined as a problem. Defining problems reveals possible learning needs that a client should satisfy via active engagement via  individual or team learning. In order to resolve these problems, clients are asked to participate in certain activities or tasks focused on meeting their educational needs while emphasising mobilisation of the client’s educational potential, motivation and independent activity. Counselling takes place in three phases (introductory, central and final), although this is just the theoretical delimitation, since the phases may overlap. The purpose of the first phase is to get ready for an intervention; during the second phase, clients and counsellors tackle various tasks and the third phase finishes cooperation with the clients. Phases of counselling may be also divided according to the number of sessions since in our opinion each phase represents at least one session or even more. The approach has a nature of short-term counselling intervention where the timeframe is agreed upon during the first session (although it may alter as a result of the nature of the tasks and their handling). Counsellors and clients approve regular dates for their sessions (at least three, but no more than five-six sessions, and counselling should not take more than six months). For illustration, we can describe our approach in andragogic counselling by means of fluent and interconnected phases that may or may not repeat themselves in cycles (Scheme 8).

Scheme 8 Andragogic counselling cycle

Source: Pavlov

1. Specialised level of andragogic counselling

The specialised level provides andragogic counselling to adults with special needs who require special assistance and support. So far, no comprehensive theoretical model or institutionalised forms of support to adults with special educational needs have been published in Slovakia. While in fact it is more than clear that if the system of lifelong learning and counselling should be inclusive, open, democratic and truly accessible for all the adults, it will be necessary to also take on this task..

Phases of the andragogic counselling process

The actual counselling process from an andragogical perspective is subject to universal counselling approaches. No specialised text on counselling can bypass the process inherent to counselling itself (stages and phases). Depending on the theoretical background and practical experience from counselling, the authors have determined a certain number (very variable) of phases in the counselling process in which each one has its meaning, objective and focus, an expected result and logical continuity. In this way phases form, in theory, a harmonic unit representing specific creators’ counselling approach. For the purpose of our andragogic comprehension of the counselling process, we have chosen the phases (introductory, central and final). The following scheme describes its main features (Scheme 9).

Scheme 9 Phases of andragogic counselling process

Source: Pavlov

1.Introductory phase of the counselling process

1. The counsellor and the client get in personal touch (first session). The client has voluntarily sought the assistance of a counsellor since he/she has some kind of issue to resolve. The counsellor welcomes the client, creates an atmosphere of warmth and interest in the client’s issues, then the counsellor clarifies the counsellor’s and the client’s role, the purpose of counselling, collects basic data (education, practical experience, possibly some information about previous experience with counselling services and their effects) and the counsellor presents an outline of his/her proposed counselling process and key conditions for a successful course (a condition being the client’s willingness to cooperate and be actively involved in process of change).
2. Exploration (analysis and research) of problems then takes place between the counsellor and the client in a friendly discussion. In reality, it means that the counsellor is trying to create conditions in which the client would spontaneously talk about her/his problems (active listening and encouragement) to find out what the problems are that require the most attention within a counselling process. During this phase the counsellor can address other professionals whose advice could help improve exploration of the client’s issues. The aim of the problem exploration should be a description about the frequency of occurrence and severity as perceived by the client and then to determine what steps the client has already taken in order to ameliorate the problem and the results. The process of problem exploration is coordinated by the counsellor, nonetheless the client contributes to the discussion with personal experience and related facts framing the issue. This part of the helping process may be disrupted:

• If the client is too focused on details and the counsellor fails to understand the situation in a holistic view;
• If the client is distracted and jumps from one problem to another; the counsellor should have enough patience and time;
• If the counsellor defines a problem that wasn’t mentioned by the client it is up to the client to decide on his/her standpoint;
• If the client talks in a very generic and ambiguous manner, while avoiding particular facts, the counsellor should encourages the client to be more open and to state more examples justifying the problems; and
• If too many problems are defined or they transform during discussion (they dissolve in many others or partial problems).

Exploration is a process in which the counsellor, together with the client, defines the problems based on answers to questions like these:

• What happened (impulse), what was induced by the issue and how did it evolve?
• Where did the client become aware of the developing issue, in which situation?
• When did the problems occur, how long do they last, and how often are they demonstrated?
• Who else can confirm that the issue actually exists?
• How severe is the issue in the client’s experience?
• What has the client done so far in order to tackle the issue and what was the effect?
• What is the client’s prospect of problem resolution?
• Is it just the clients’ problem or is it a problem shared with other colleagues?
• What is the client’s emotional response to the problem, how intensely does he/she experience it?
• What could be the consequences for the client and his/her colleagues, family should the issue remain unresolved for too long?
• What external factors affect the issue or how can a client’s issue affect the external environment?
• What other sources (material or financial) will be needed to resolve the client’s issue?
• Is the client’s problem solvable through andragogic counselling?

In andragogy the notion-issue is closely related to the term need (each problem “requires” some “solution”). The word “need” should not be connected with a  negative connotation and the term is acceptable because people who are seeking assistance and advice rarely admit that they might have a problem. On the other hand, it is much easier for them to consider the need to resolve and handle something. In its broadest meaning, the “need” is caused for some reason (it has a source in a certain problem) and should be satisfied in order for an employee’s development to occur, continue or grow. Andragogic (educational) needs represent such a deficit in personal or work-related life that might (if the client exhibits interest or cooperation) satisfy through intervention into the client’s learning processes (education, self-education, counselling, training and other tools). Educational needs in an organisation represent a deficit (a gap between the desired situation and current reality) in an employee’s work performance, work in teams or the entire organisations, which might be saturated (satisfied) via intervention with individuals and teams as well as an entire organisation’s (organisational learning) learning processes. In light of the aforementioned we may discuss individual learning needs and organisational learning needs. “Filtering out” the actual learning needs of adults from other needs (psychological, social, economic, etc.)  is necessary for efficient andragogic assistance.

The essence of the development process is an individual’s learning with the aim of attaining a certain transformation. Education (as an organised learning process) serves as the means (tools) of further human development. Learning needs are broader than just education as they are related to the learning processes in various environments and forms while serving for satisfaction of a broader spectrum of learning needs. Education is not always a tool for employees’ growth, and “a dose” of education does not necessarily satisfy all clients’ needs. In fact, there are other tools supporting employees’ development – instruction, training, counselling, couching, mentoring, tutoring and others, which in this respect serve as tools and methods to satisfy individuals’ learning needs (Scheme 10).

Scheme 10 Individuals’ learning needs and means for their satisfaction

Source: Pavlov

A need (according to Zatloukal, et al., 2011 p.7) is a contrast, expressing an accord of stakeholders concerning the difference between the current and a more desirable state. In order for this difference to become effective (assessed as a need), it has to be sufficiently significant and in terms of a comprehensive evaluation of needs, one necessarily needs information on:

• Desirable state – a concrete and measurable description of the state when the need is fulfilled, satisfied;
• Current state – concrete description of the current situation; and
• Social context – engagement of stakeholders (participants) into the needs assessment.

Zatloukal et al., (2011, p.6-7) describes Bradshaw’s typology of needs: (In Hartl, 1997; Royse et al., 2009):

• normative needs – specialists or scientists define this need as a required standard that is considered a sign of need when an individual or a group fails to meet it (e.g.,a  vocational standard);
• desirable needs – “hidden“ wishes, desires, expectations of individuals who are being asked whether they feel certain needs (these are not “objective“ benchmarks for needs, since people may have inadequate expectations or they might not even know that they could achieve something, or they fail to admit lack of knowledge or some other deficit);
• requested needs – declared needs expressed by one’s preparedness for active participation aiming at their satisfaction (signing up for an educational program); it is assumed that individuals would not do so unless they feel the need. This statement should not be simplified by saying that if there are no requirements there is also no need (a requirement might exist but the reason for it is not a need; instead, it could be an attempt  to be in the same course with a particular colleague); and
• comparative needs – the need derives from the pertinence of a target group that has very similar characteristics (e.g., teachers in kindergartens with a small number of classes or teachers of vocational education). Since it is a need obviously shared by the entire target group, it is highly likely that it would be needed by all its other members.

Vocational literature offers a lot of approaches to research classification of (learning) needs. Following classification points out to extraordinary variability of approaches and complexity of their analysis exploration:

Subjective/objective (aspect of the subject):

• subjective (assumption on existence of the need on employee’s part);
• objective (getting to know the actual need, typically by a different entity operating independently from the needs of evaluated entities);

Grouping the employees based on their number (the aspect of multitude):

• individual;
• working group, team (pedagogic council and schools’ methodological structures); and
• organisational (school);

Urgency (aspect of immediacy):

• urgent, acute that requires immediate resolution and satisfaction (e.g., biological or physiological);
• not urgent, latent, dormant (e.g., developmentally higher needs conditioned historically and culturally);

Awareness (ownership aspect):

• unconscious, attributed, tacit, unexpressed, covert, unrealized (unexpressed does not necessarily mean non-existent), typically, designated by someone else which decreases a client’s motivation for its satisfaction; it can still be useful, but if the client identifies with it, accepts it as his or her own there is higher motivation for its resolution; and
• conscious, acknowledged, explicit, titled, expressible (expressed does not mean that it actually exists); an individual typically has higher motivation for its satisfaction;

Implementation (aspect of feasibility):

• satisfied, fulfilled, saturated, already implemented; and
• unsatisfied, unfulfilled, unsaturated, not implemented so far;

Orientation (aspect of focus):

• personal life and free time;
• civic life; and
• work, profession;

Stimuli (aspect of motivation – why do I want to satisfy the need):

• saturation for economic effect (money);
• saturation for working, career advancement, employment;
• saturation justified by an order (finding and maintaining a job, qualifications, prospect on the labour market);
• saturation for mastering, expressing values; and
• other motives;

Self-confidence (aspect of devotion and independence):

• heteronomous – requiring support, advice, assistance from outside;
• autonomous – relying on oneself, my internal self-help; and
• combined – requiring both approaches;

Reactivity/proactivity (aspect of reaction):

• reactive need when an individual responds to an immediate situation that he/she needs to handle (orientation on a deficit); and
• proactive need – an individual views an objective or challenge that needs to be handled in perspective (orientation on development);

Vocational pathway (aspect of vocational experience or career position):

• beginner;
• experienced, independent; and
• expert, licensed;

Cause for its origin (the aspect justifying origin of the need):

• legislative regulations and internal organisational standards;
• the absence of competencies necessary for performance of work (due to their external evaluation); and
• self-reflection of work-related activities;

Type of learning need (aspect of “didactic” deficit):

• lack of knowledge;
• lack of skills;
• lack of experience; and
• lack of attitude;

Levels of analysis and satisfaction of learning needs (hierarchical aspect in the social context):

• individuals;
• age-related, socio-economic, ethnic and social-economic groups (young adults, unemployed, members of ethnic minorities, soldiers, teachers, clerks, etc.); and
• the entire society (as national priorities, strategies and citizens’ educational policies).

The inception of an adult person’s needs start with a problem which is beyond their own help or they have failed to resolve them on their own (either because of the current situation or perspective plan, objective in personal life, or at work). In our context, we are not trying to resolve all the needs, just those related to development of a manageable or solvable path via an adult learning process. This tackles every need related to the potential of an individual’s docility and shows potential for development with various means and tools. Development in its broadest (andragogic) meaning is the individual’s dynamic (educational) activity, helping to satisfy their needs which, as a result, may remove a certain deficit and acquire a higher level of educational potential in terms of quality (knowledge, skills, capabilities and attitudes) for tackling personal and work-related tasks. For example, can employees realise their former needs which used to be (in the past) successfully satisfied and led to improvement of their work-performance? If yes, which were those needs and what tools were used for their satisfaction? Were they able to learn from them in order to evaluate their current needs? Which needs does work context require to be constantly in balance with their saturation (e.g., the need to learn)? Vocational development (and its support) should not only modify those parts which seem to be insufficient or undesirable, instead, it should focus on evaluation and satisfaction of those needs that for employees generate abilities to be ready to take over new, prospective competencies and responsibilities.

Průcha (1996 p.37–38) tackles education as a complex of activities that should satisfy certain needs of individuals, social and vocational groups or the entire society (priorities of national educational policies). He points to theory and research assessing educational needs and defines educational needs of individuals as experiencing, feeling a lacking or need for something that the individuals are missing, which is perceived as a prefered or ideal achieved via some form of education. On one hand, educational needs are closely related to values that individuals share; on the other hand they become a motivational incentive for their activity even though they do change throughout life. Evaluation of educational needs deals with identification, description, analysis and assessment of educational needs exhibited by individuals or groups.

Andragogic (educational) needs represent a deficit in personal or working life, which can be (if client shows interest and cooperates) satisfied via intervention into the client’s learning process (education, self-education, counselling, training and other means).  Educational needs in an organisation represent a deficit (a gap between desired situation and reality) in work performance of employees, working teams or the entire organisations, which can be saturated (satisfied) via intervention into the learning process of individuals, teams or the entire organisations (organisational learning). Hence, we may differentiate between individual educational needs and organisational educational needs. To facilitate efficient andragogic assistance it is necessary to “filter out” the actual adult educational needs from others (psychological, social, economic, etc..). Evaluation of educational needs (in our understanding) is not the only way leading to improvement of processes in organisation, it is the way which typically heads towards andragogic tools (education, self-education, training, instruction, etc.). However, it may still be accompanied with other impacts (organisational, personnel, and others). The andragogic reference framework of evaluation applied on educational needs of employees may be described via a checklist of questions, which may differentiate it from other needs (social, psychological etc.): Is the defined problem or deficit solvable by the employee’s learning? Will creation of suitable conditions and support for employees’, teams’, even entire organisations’ learning (new objectives, topics, strategies, etc.}  improve the results at work? Is learning the most efficient tool for achieving better results at work (or are there other more effective resources such as better organisation of the work, conditions of work and relations, etc.)? What feedback tools will always be effective while evaluating practical impacts of professional learning?

Through exploration, the counsellor and the client formulate a set of problems that they have agreed upon, that are relevant, and solvable through andragogic counselling. Resolution of each of them requires fulfilment of certain needs (the problem is actually experienced as a deficiency of something that needs to be saturated or satisfied). A client who seeks the help of a counsellor typically deals with more than one problem but in order for the counselling assistance to be effective it is not possible to tackle all issues at once. When a client and counsellor formulate an overview of the topics (problems) they should focus on individual problems in greater detail. Here it is necessary to decide  that it would make sense to refer the client to a different institution or recommend a different type of counselling assistance or mediate for the client if accumulated problems may not be subject of andragogic counselling. Furthermore, it is necessary to stipulate priorities amongst problems. Based on exploration, all possible problems are summarised and ranked according to their priority and urgency for the client. Sometimes, clients are not able to assess their situation or they may give preference to a different problem than the counsellor. Defining priority problems should not be accidental or purely dictated by the counsellor; instead it should be the result of discussion and agreement between the client and the counsellor. 

According to Zatloukal et al. (2011, p.9) there are many ways in which needs may be efficiently and professionally identified while they may be classified, e.g., to a problem-centred approach and a solution-focused approach. Counselling approaches focusing on problems emphasise the necessity of comprehending the causes of problems (dynamic), a description of mutual conditionality between aspects of a problem or detailed description and prioritisation according to various viewpoints (task-oriented approach). The solution-centred counselling approach “intervention” doesn’t take knowledge of the problem into consideration while planning; instead, it requires knowledge of the objectives and resources available (e.g., Erickson’s approach, solution-centred approach, systematic approach, etc.).

The problem-centred approach (Zatloukal et al., 2011, p.10-11) is based on the definition of the problem or deficit (current status) that is being compared with an objectivized standard (desirable status). The approach contains these elements interwoven in the counsellor’s procedures while assessing the client’s needs:

• engaging in a relationship with client – the aim is to start cooperation and gain the client’s confidence in order talk about his/her issues;
• thorough identification of client’s information (anamnesis) – the counsellor can hardly know what could be relevant in terms of the problem and what facts are interrelated, therefore the counsellor needs to collect maximum information on a client and verify their true nature through various resources (such as education anamnesis);
• definition of the problem or deficit (diagnosis) – precise and objective in determination of the nature of the problem, dwelling in comparison of the current deficit status and the norm (diagnostic criteria). The key question is: “What kind of problem is this? What symptoms can we see?“;
• revealing the cause of the problem – based on the prerequisite that revealing the cause of the problem may successfully remove the problem itself. The counsellor is trying to determine the cause of the problem via questions: “How long has the problem been lasting?”, “How did the problem occur?”, “What is it related to?”, “What preceded the problem?”, “What keeps the problem alive?”, “What would the client lose if the problem was not resolved?”;
• negative consequences of the problem – possible risks or obvious negative consequences of the problem are being considered, client is often instructed about them and convinced to do something differently;
• working with “resistance” – a concept based on psychoanalysis describing the situation where the clients “unconsciously resist the treatment”; thus it is necessary to work with their preparedness and motivation for change;
• verified intervention – based on detected needs, a counsellor being an expert should choose “correct” intervention, apply it and evaluate it (if it is successful, it means that even the needs-defining process was successful).

The solution-centred approach emphasises compliance in terms of goals, discovery and development of sources for the client’s abilities, strengths, and ways to support surroundings (originates in existential and humanistic philosophy, emphasising human freedom and responsibility). Moreover, it is primarily focused on finding solutions rather than the problem and its analysis. Typical for this approach is:

• connection with client – creating a cooperative, non-judgmental, understanding relationship with the client;
• orientation in the context – defining who and what forms part of the “problematic system” and what are the expectations and desires; the key questions being: “Whose idea was it to seek help?”, “Who is expecting what?”, “Who is supporting you?”, “With whom can you negotiate?”, “Who would benefit from your wishes?”;
• vision of preferred future and defining objectives – detailed description of a desirable status and a deduced definition of the objectives;
• monitoring progress achieved and exceptions – detailed discovery of the client’s past activities and how far they got in terms of an objective and defining situations in which the issue was less of a problem or rarer; the key questions being: “On the scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst situation and 10 being the situation when problem is resolved – where are you now? What is the difference between A (current status as identified by the client with a figure) and 0?“, “Has it ever happened that the problem did not occur even though you expected it to? Or that it was of lower intensity?“; and
• identification of resources – description of abilities, skills and other support factors that helped the client to improve the situation or to maintain it at the same level; the key question being: “How will you manage to get from 0 to A?“

At this stage, the need (the difference between desirable and actual status, taking context into consideration) has then been defined in detail and instead of applying verified intervention, which is a typical problem-centred approach, what follows is an exploration of the client’s motivation for change and his or her confidence in making change, analysis and selection of resources and definition of a first small step towards achievement of the objective.

1. Prioritisation of the needs requires continuous discussion between a counsellor and a client who select three most urgent and serious problems according to their importance (prioritisation, selection of priority problems and their specification in form of recognised needs). If the counsellor finds it difficult to remember all the information, he/she may take notes, use notepads, scaling tables or record the session upon the client’s approval. A counsellor should respect the client’s choice and sincerely offer their viewpoint. The counsellor’s competency depends on his/her experience, as well as knowledge of results coming from scientific research (at home and abroad) on specific problems related to one’sprofessional performance. As a result, counsellors will learn about the essence of the problems and finally make recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the client’s activities.
2. Agreement on counselling cooperation is a formal result of dialogue between a client and a counsellor, framing the cooperation in which a client agrees to collaborate with the counsellor in order to jointly tackle the individual tasks. It may be formulated verbally; however, a written form is always preferred. If needed, it may be adjusted upon agreement of both parties should new facts occur that should be considered. The agreement contains:

• Rights and duties of participants to the counselling process (including personal data protection) and the reasons for any possible termination of cooperation;
• Prioritised needs and tasks that satisfy objectives (the objective is to resolve or satisfy diagnosed needs via completed tasks), joint selection of particular tasks leading to problem resolution also consists of an implementation plan on these tasks. Sequence of steps and their planning plays an important role also due to increased awareness of what needs to be done by stakeholders in order to repair the situation (who will do what, on what conditions and on what deadlines). The tasks are formulated in a positive mode, concretely, unambiguously, in measurable indicators (dynamic verbs, deadlines) based on dialogue between the counsellor and the client, but always viewed from the client’s perspective, to stimulate his/her activity and motivation;
• Assumed, planned number of counselling sessions, a deadline for ending cooperation, stipulation of conditions allowing for amendment of the agreement.

2. Central phase of the counselling process

The central phase contains planning and implementation (or modification) of planned tasks. Throughout the course of the task-planning process, it is advisable for the client and the counsellor to jointly discuss all the possibilities of reaching the objectives. The aim is to engage the client in a planning process as much as possible and thus increase his/her motivation. The counsellor takes notes of the issues and needs to be satisfied. This is the time for selection of tasks that the counsellor offers to a client and through a discussion they jointly choose from several alternatives that may potentially resolve the client’s problem. Advice offered by the counsellor and selection from offered possibilities (why don’t you try this, etc.) for those clients who are capable of choosing.  Tasks may be resolved individually, in a team, under supervision of the counsellor or independently. The task consists of the sequence of specific activities helping client and the counsellor to achieve the counselling objectives. Tasks are not being planned automatically, without discussion or relevance to the client’s problem or identified need. The same way as for objectives, the tasks are described in measurable verbs (taxonomy), they contain deadlines in order to be able to evaluate their completion or failure to complete (and possibly the degree of completion). The clients may be capable of defining their problems and needs, they might have the potential to stipulate the tasks relevant to their activity and the counsellor monitors following principles like these: the best task is the one selected by a client, the planned change should not go beyond the client’s capacities; instead, it should be feasible and any selected objective may never hurt anyone else. To make recorded data transparent, provided that they form part of the counselling process, it may be helpful to structure them as in  Table 5.

Table 5  A data-log attached to an agreement on counselling cooperation

Source: Pavlov

We introduce a proposal of potential areas and tasks which may serve as subjects in counselling agreements (adjusted according to Pavlov – Bontová – Schubert 2017, p.171–172):

• Reflection and development of specific learning strategies to serve during planning and resolution of work-related tasks and problems;
• Control and evaluation of one’s own learning efficiency and ability of conscious learning strategy correction;
• evaluation (diagnostics, analysis and identification) of individual’s learning needs and teams;
• efficient procedures leading to conversion of information and expertise into knowledge/proficiency;
• diagnostics of learning – docility;
• exposure of the reasons for professionally incompetent behaviour due to education;
• processing of professional experience, sharing of information from various sources;
• structuring and presenting mastered expertise (verbal, written, electronic) for instance in form of graphs, schemes, mind maps, tables and overviews;
• elimination of difficulties concerning application of mastered and learned theory into practice;
• planning, implementation, didactic transformation of educational contents (employee in the role of learner or educator of adult colleagues);
• application of various information sources used for learning and tackling work-related tasks and problems;
• individual and group registration and evaluation of competencies and resulting assessment of vocational learning and its impact on work-related and organisational education at the workplace;
• dealing with specific educational needs and vocational questions (selection of suitable educational programs, providers, effective and innovative learning methods, as well as communication models relating to adult colleagues, etc.);
• dynamic research concerning self-learning and teaching of others in terms of benefits for the earning potential of an individual, team or organisation;
• support of organisational management in planning and implementation of its comprehensive development via support of vocational learning by individuals and working groups (learning teams); when implementing strategies of knowledge-based management (evidence-based, learning organisation); and
• support in diagnosing one’s career status, individual potential, planning of a professional career, its self-regulation, progress and elimination of barriers (stress, burn-out, inadequate labour organisation, ill-functioning interpersonal labour relations, etc.).

Planning the tasks is related to the client’s motivation, which forms a prerequisite for their successful completion. Fulfilment of a task does not have to satisfy the need immediately, however, it may provide the client guidance on how to successfully achieve. In order for the client to be able to implement a task they need to be planned on an operational level so that they provide answers to the following questions: Who will do what? When is he/she going to do it? How often is he/she going to do it? How long is it going to take him/her to do it? Where is he/she going to do it? With whom? While planning the tasks, the counsellor may overlook certain aspects but that should not be a problem because you can always go back to it during further counselling sessions and make the task more precise. Implementation of the tasks may take place during the sessions or outside of them (if the client is able to implement the tasks on his/her own without the counsellor’s engagement). Evaluation does not focus only on the tasks, but also on the ways in which their solution helps to satisfy the needs and handle the problem. At the beginning of each additional session, the counsellor helps the client to recognize and overcome obstacles while completing each task. The situation is being reassessed in retrospect along with individual tasks and identification of obstacles that may have occurred (as a result of the working environment, interpersonal interactions, insufficient abilities, low motivation of clients or lack of counsellors’ competency). It is advisable to jointly and correctly identify such obstacles and overcome them (even if it requires modification of originally stipulated tasks). The obstacle itself occurring during the counselling process may present a newly-established problem that needs to be resolved in the same way as other prioritised problems.

Tasks are always induced by the contents of clients’ prioritised needs. What tasks can be imposed on a client? We always bear in mind that the structure of the task is guided by these parameters:

• indicating the level of the task’s cognitive complexity (cognitive taxonomy);
• wording of the task;
• indicators of its fulfilment; and
• the deadline.

3. Final phase of the counselling process

The final phase contains joint evaluation of tasks (Were all the tasks fulfilled? Do they provide suitable bases for the solution of the client’s indicated problems? Where were the bottlenecks? How were they overcome?). All in all, clients and counsellors jointly assess the progress in satisfying the needs that resolve the client’s problems. It is important to point out the success (mastered procedures, strategies and overcome obstacles) that the client achieved and also stress how they can be used should the problem occur in the future (how will the client continue to work alone). Even if it seems that cooperation with a client may end, counsellors seek to give clients the tools to make use of acquired skills and abilities in real life. If needed, clients can always seek help with that particular counsellor or any other specialists in this field. A part of the final phase is an evaluation form filled by the clients to learn about their satisfaction with the counselling process.

• Evaluation of implemented tasks and achievements in terms of the agreed objective;
• Recapitulation of suitable and effective strategies or inadequate ones, defining their causes, objective and subjective obstacles in attaining the objective;
• Empowering, appraisal of the success and efforts, new plans into the future or possible continuation of counselling; assessment of one’s own potential to resolve learning needs compared to the moment when entering the counselling process; and
• Acceptance of individual correction and development plan.

[1] In 1969 W. J. Reid, A. W. Shyne published a study that should have confirmed an assumption that long-term individual work with a client is more effective than a short-term model. However, this assumption has never been proven and short-term work with clients generated equally satisfactory results as with long-term work. In 1972, A.W. Reid and L. Epstein proposed a system of short-term interventions (a task-oriented model) that strives to offer a systematic framework for handling various practical issues. Its effectiveness dwells in the idea that a small success enhances self-confidence and self-respect because clients are more engaged in those tasks that they have assigned to themselves.