Hello from the Korean Youth Educational Development Institute (KYEDI).

To research a new educational model supporting young people's career development and self-directed growth, KYEDI is launching a joint research and development project based on the BvB (Berufsvorbereitende Bildungsmaßnahmen, career preparation measures) programme of the German Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit).

BvB is Germany's flagship career preparation programme, supporting young people who have finished school to explore their aptitudes and capabilities and to prepare for working life before entering it.

Building on our own research into youth career development and metacognition, KYEDI has been analysing BvB's core educational principles and operating structure, and considering how they might be reconstructed for Korea's educational and career environment.

This workshop is the first step: reviewing the main components of the German BvB model and discussing a joint R&D direction that could develop it into a form applicable within Korea's formal education and youth-support infrastructure.

Rather than importing an overseas model wholesale, we will explore the possibility of a Korean BvB — ‘K-BvB’ — that takes account of the difficulties Korean young people actually face in choosing a career, and of the educational environment they are in.