Training Needs and Life Planning in The Educational and Social Landscape, An Empirical Study With Adolescents Living in South-Eastern Sicily

Adolescence is a period of physical and psychological changes, it is the potential scenery to develop a life planning coherent with their own values and aspirations (Bandura, 2000). In order to avoid the state of "learned disenchantment" (a kind of defence useful to harmonize the contrast between their own desires and complex reality: Gheno & Scrignaro, 2005), a deep analysis of personal and social educational needs is essential in order to promoting adequate development of the Possible Selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986; Oyserman & Markus, 1990). This study explores the representational framework in a sample of 360 adolescents living in South-Eastern Sicily in relation to: Self, job, possibilities/limits offered by their own territory, values and Possible Selves articulation, in order to test the hypothesis that these dimensions are closely related. Likert Scale, Values Schwartz Scale (2003) and Semantic Differentials were used. Data seem to confirm the hypothesis and underline the need of a better correspondence between education received, personal expectations and demands of the job market, as well as the learning of meta-skills useful to address social scenery characterized by an increasing flexibility, insecurity and instability (Schmidt, 2003). Attitudes of psychological distance emerge in relation to their own territory, both with regard to the job and the present and the future social success.