The more I have talked to career practitioners about the Guangzhou assignment, the more I come to realize that the provision of labour market information to the Chinese immigrants is MOST EFFECTIVE when they are given the opportunity to process the information in relation to what is already familiar to them. If they are not able to integrate the LMI into a meaningful frame of reference, the information becomes something external and outside to them.
This makes sense in light of adult learning, as the immigrants are already established professionals who perceive the world (of work) in a certain manner, affected by their own cultural background and life experience. Their processing of "new" information (such as LMI about Canada) is necessarily based on an "existing/old" paradigm, which may or may not be in congruence with the paradigm of the Canadian labour market. To test if learning has actually happened, the immigrants need to be given the opportunity to express their understanding of the information and begin to integrate such information into their normal frame of mind.
I did some preliminary research on the labour market in China. as I believe that the immigrants are going to rely on their experience with the Chinese labour market when they are processing the "new" LMI about Canada. Knowing more about the Chinese labour market helps me see things from the immigrants' perspective.
Based on my research so far, it seems that the Chinese labour market is indeed a complex one. This market consists of elements of an open economy, as well as elements of a state planned economy. Workers move into jobs and career tracks in many different ways, some using more market-oriented channels while others depending on state-controlled mechanisms. It would be interesting to find out what experiences the CIIP clients have.
Understanding LMI is very much a conceptual process for the immigrants before they arrive in Canada. It may be essential to check their conceptual learning by using a variety of learning methods that ask them to "apply" the concepts, including role play, case analysis, skill profiling, etc.
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Hi Michael,
Your comments re clients having a conceptual understanding of the labour market information they are receiving is really key. As adults we look for what is familiar to us and attempt to apply it within our own context. Ensuring clients have the opportunity to 'reframe' in a meaningful way can do much to build their confidence.
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