Vietnamese educational leaders as border crossers : Vietnam and academic and career guidance and counseling activities

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to seek a deeper understanding of Vietnamese high school principals' perceptions of academic and career guidance and counseling (ACGC) activities in terms of preparing students for their future academic and career paths. Moreover, this study also sought to understand difficulties they perceived and faced in the design and implementation of ACGC activities, then explored strategies which the principals used to sustain their abilities to implement these activities. The primary data for this research mainly came from individual semi-structured interviews with 11 Vietnamese high school principals from eight urban and three suburban areas of Hanoi, Vietnam. Findings from this study showed that there were differences in the ways the principal participants in this study thought about ACGC activities, viewed challenges, and spent resources, which affected the success or the failure of ACGC activities. As a theoretical contribution, this study emphasized the significance of becoming "border crossers" or border crossing principals who are able to improve education by adopting a new educational opportunity like ACGC activities to better facilitate the academic and career development of all students. In the last chapter, the discussion of the key findings and their implications drawn from the study have the potential to benefit a variety of audiences, including Vietnamese high school principals who want to better prepare before designing and implementing the activities and Vietnamese policymakers, teachers, school staff, college leaders and faculty, parents, and interested individuals and community organizations who would like to provide support for high school students' career and academic development and to boost related educational reforms.