The present research focuses on a problem for secondary school studentstheir inability to make crucial decisions on their future profession as well as to understand themselves, their interests, abilities and needs. Many secondary school graduates do not know what profession to choose. The aim of the research is to develop a guidance model for promoting self-directed career decision-making by secondary school students as well as to approbate the model and perform an expert evaluation of the model. The approbation of the model was done at two secondary schools in Latvia's regions. Thirty-two school pupils were involved, of which 16 were students from grade 12 from each school. Individuals investigate own interests, abilities and talents, sets learning and career goals, plans own work and does reflection on their own initiative in self-directed learning. During this process, students build up their abilities and their need to self-guide increases; their personality grows, and the students become more active and assume a greater responsibility for their decisions related to their learning and careers. The students, involved in the experimental approbation of the guidance model for promoting self-directed career decision-making, acquired a new knowledge, identified their abilities, interests and values, became self-confident and got a clear vision of their goals; their internal motivation to make a responsible and thought-out career decision increased. The guidance model is intended for career counsellors, pedagogues-career counsellors and class teachers working with secondary school students.

Consumer education in Latvia is in the early stages of development and should be seen in the context of the rapidly changing society in the post‐Soviet era and the increasing influence of the marketplace, and Latvia's position as a new accession   country. The   Latvia   University   of   Agriculture   is in the process of developing an adult consumer education programme. A comparative study between the UK and Latvia was designed to test the hypothesis that many adult consumers lack knowledge and understanding of their consumer rights and responsibilities. A sample of adults in both countries completed a consumer rights questionnaire investigating attitude, knowledge and critical thinking ability. The UK questionnaire was modified, taking into account the different consumer environment in the two countries, to compare the need for adult consumer education in Latvia and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom results showed that the group overall were not confident that they knew enough about consumer rights and legislation or to resolve consumer problems and were unsure about their consumer responsibilities. Levels of knowledge were poor, leaving adults vulnerable to exploitation in the marketplace, uninformed about their responsibilities to voice dissatisfaction about goods and services, and unaware of how their consumer behaviour can affect the wider community. Adult participants in Latvia thought that they lacked education in consumer legal rights and responsibilities and did not have the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to manage consumer problems effectively. Results in both countries indicate that adult consumer education is needed, supplemented by a comprehensive package of adult consumer education. Despite the cultural differences between the two countries, the analysis showed that similar adult consumer skills and attitudes were needed. This joint research has shown that this methodology could be used to determine adult consumer and life‐long consumer education needs in other European countries and internationally.

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Information and communication technologies (ICT) used in career guidance have fast become both a necessity and an opportunity for new professional challenges playing an increasing role. The use of ICT is an integral component of the daily life of youth, and it is useful for them to professionally apply the ICT in their career guidance. The aim of the research is to develop an ICT-based Career Guidance Model and perform an expert evaluation of it. The aim of the Model is to contribute to the purposeful, conscious, responsible and persistent choice of careers by the youth. According to the theoretical aspects analysed in the present research, the best approach is to integrate ICT as an inclusive model, in which the ICT are used in parallel with other guidance activities. Three expertsprofessionals in pedagogy and career counsellingwere involved in the expert evaluation. The expert evaluation of the model allowed finding that career counsellors, using ICT in their counselling, have to plan carefully their career guidance and combine the educational content, theory and technology. The expert evaluation allowed concluding that the model would contribute to the purposeful, conscious and independent choice of careers by youth if career counsellors confidently use adequate digital technologies in their career guidance for the youth.