Shadow to Shadow - a new format for reflecting on experience acquired during job shadowing

The national job shadowing event coordinated by Junior Achievement Latvia is popular among students, employers, and educators, providing deeper insight into the world of work. While Shadow Day is valuable and motivating, the main beneficiary of the experience is usually just the individual who has shadowed a representative of a particular occupation. The event has lacked a reflection process, sharing and evaluation of experience gained.

To address this challenge, Agnese Čīče, a school career counsellor with over six years of practical experience, designed a new attractive format for a careers information event called: “Shadow to Shadow”, which involved young people on a deeper level, motivated and encouraged them to reflect and share what they had learned during Shadow Day, to tell their peers about the profession they had shadowed, and do it from their point of view. Agnese Čīče offered her advice and assistance to pupils preparing video materials and presentations that the “Shadows” used to reflect on their experience and to discuss the gains with their peers. “Shadow to Shadow” encouraged active engagement, fostering curiosity about how to access job shadowing opportunities, and creating a space for young people to share their questions on career opportunities in the county and surrounding region.

The event was organized on April 22, 2022 at the Kuldīga County Children’s and Youth Centre within the framework of the informal education programme “All About Career” and has been recommended as good practice for use in other municipalities.

More information: www.kuldigasbjc.lv