Abstract:
This research aims to 1) study a learning process in promoting career education at the provincial level, 2) develop a learning process in promoting career education at the provincial level, and 3) present the guidelines for developing a learning process in promoting career education at the provincial level using a mixed-method research methodology both quantitively and qualitatively, and participatory action research methodology. The results were as follows. 1) A learning process in promoting career education at the provincial level of Chonburi and Trad consisted of five steps which were (i) people collaboration which referred to the collaboration of stakeholders in the educational management to analyze the present conditions, problems and needs in career education at the provincial level with the governor as the mainstay, (ii) collaboration of ideas which referred to the collaboration of networks to brainstorm and specify guidelines to promote career education at the provincial level so that career education could make tangible progress, (iii) working collaboration which referred to collaborative development of provincial protocol and information technology, organization of collaborative stages, planning preparation and follow-up evaluation, and communicating campaigns, (iv) collaboration in concluding lessons which referred to collaborative evaluation of operational results following the guidelines of promoting career education at the provincial level. The lessons were then concluded, and the results were extended to improve the operation, and (v) collaborative acceptance of consequences which referred to collaborative acceptance of both the positive and negative operational results for future improvement, adjustment, and development. 2) The development of a learning process in promoting career education at Nan provincial level followed participatory action research methodology in three main stages. To illustrate, for Stage 1, during the preparation stage, it was found that, for Nan province, the promotion of career education which corresponded to the people and geographic contexts was needed. Occupations which should be promoted were those related to 1) tourism and hospitality, 2) modern agriculture, 3) small and medium enterprises, and 4) border trade and logistics. For Stage 2, there were six steps in the development of a learning process to promote career education at the provincial level, which were (i) people collaboration, (ii) collaboration of ideas, (iii) working collaboration, (iv) collaboration in concluding lessons, (v) collaborative acceptance of consequences, and (vi) collaboration in a learning process development, the step not found in the first two case studies of Chonburi and Trad. Then, the Guidelines for Developing a Learning Process (No. 1) were drafted. For Stage 3, the draft was checked and advised by nine experts, and was developed into the Guidelines for Developing a Learning Process (No. 2). The Guidelines for Developing a Learning Process (No. 2) were approved by the experts and were assessed by five specialists on appropriateness and feasibility. It was found that their overall appropriateness was at the highest level ( x̄ = 4.75, S.D.= 0.43). Their feasibility was also at the highest level ( x̄ = 4.52, S.D.= 0.49 ). 3) In conclusion, the guidelines for the development of a learning process in promoting career education provision at the provincial level were proposed in terms of objectives, goals, participants, learning points and activities. The learning process that comprises six steps aims to help those in civil society as well as education, public and private sectors to contribute to changes in provincial career education provision. Regarding the learning process that had an effect on the career education, the duality of structure and agency according to Anthony Giddens structuration theory was found. That is the initiation and active involvement in the learning process of/by the agencies led to the acceptance and adoption of the career education guidelines of the province, thereby changing the structure. As a result, a meaningful practice to/by the agencies happened accordingly.