Frans Meijers

Career Learning in a Changing World: The Role of Emotions

Existing theories of career learning do not adequately take into account the uncertain and rapidly changing conditions for careers in the modern world. Specifically, they view emotions, such as anxiety and uncertainty, as obstacles for career learning and career identity construction. We suggest a different model of identity construction in which we explicitly examine how coping with such emotions may be necessary for real changes in identity. In such a process, emotions are related to metaphors and concepts available in the cultural community, which are then given a personal meaning. Finally, we examine how such a view might change career counseling.

Narratives at work: the development of career identity

Well-developed career stories are becoming increasingly important for individuals as they navigate an unstable and unpredictable labour market. Existing narrative approaches in career guidance do not yet clearly identify the learning process by which career stories are created. In this article, a model of transformation-through-writing will be introduced to help explain the learning process that occurs when narratives are used for constructing career stories. We propose that this learning process occurs stepwise in four cognitive stages: sensing, sifting, focusing, and understanding. To progress through these stages, an internal (with oneself) as well as an external (with relevant others) dialogue is needed. The case study used to illustrate the process is a story of unemployment and effectively shows how narratives can be created through expressive and reflective writing and how such a process may foster career learning in response to a boundary experience.

Careers guidance in the knowledge society

Abstract In modern society individuals are becoming responsible for their own work allocation. They have to acquire so-called ‘actor competences’. They have to learn to form their own identity, to determine a direction and to plan a career. However, the individuals shortage of actor competences confronts him or her with many problems; several institutions risk becoming overburdened by allocation or career problems. As a result, the role of the career counsellor must change from that of a ferryman to that of a pathfinder.

Mystery to mastery: An exploration of what happens in the black box of writing and healing

In this article, a model of transformation-through-writing will be introduced that helps to explain how a transformative and dialogical-learning process occurs when narratives or poetry are used for healing. We focus in particular on how a “boundary experience” is processed—or how a painful “first story” can be rewritten to become a more life-giving “second story.” We propose that this occurs stepwise in four cognitive stages: sensing; sifting; focusing; and understanding. These stages are explained and underpinned by research on neurobiology, neuropsychology, and on identity learning. The case study used to illustrate this process, focuses on expressive and reflective writing in emotional recovery from domestic violence. To be effective, therapeutic writing requires a safe and enriching learning environment; we discuss how such an environment supports the dialogical self and what considerations a facilitator might take into account when working with a student or client.

Can Job/Training Projects be Successful? Some Research Results from the Netherlands

This article examines the possibility of motivating unemployed young people for training schemes whose instrumental pay???off is???at least in the Netherlands???mostly small or very uncertain. Using data from three research projects, it is argued that it is very difficult to motivate youngsters to join training schemes because these schemes do not provide ???normal??? work. Thus they do not allow young people to realise the life plan they have in mind. Precisely because these life plans are an integral part of a cultural habitus, they are self???evident and for that reason difficult to change. The only way to make training schemes attractive is to make them offer the participants a training for a ???real??? profession and, after that training, guarantee them work in that profession.

Collective learning, transformational leadership and new forms of careers guidance in universities

ABSTRACT In post-industrial societies, careers are to a large extent unpredictable. Therefore, individuals are expected to demonstrate more and more self-directedness. Universities in general embrace the idea of developing more self-directedness among their students but mostly fail to create the learning environment needed to foster this. In this article, an explorative and qualitative analysis is given of underlying innovation processes in three university departments that successfully implemented a careers guidance programme based on non-traditional (i.e. narrative) methods. We argue that for a successful implementation collective learning of teachers is essential, while on a management level transformational leadership is necessary to support the collective learning process of teachers. First, the connections between collective learning and transformational leadership are studied. Second, by combining the results of all three cases, we explore what daily practices constitute collective learning and transformational leadership. The study aims to contribute in an explorative and descriptive way to the extant literature, by mapping the variety and richness of the concepts collective learning and transformational leadership as they pertain to realising strong career-learning environments in higher education.

New school for the old school: career guidance and counselling in education

These are critical times for career guidance and counselling in education. Wherein the twentieth century emphasis was on training well-socialised citizens and well-trained employees with technical skills (Cedefop, 2010), the twenty-first century attention is focused on active citizenship (Veugelers, 2009), intrinsic motivation (Grugulis & Vincent, 2009; Payne, 2000), the ability to work together (Leckey & McGuigan, 1997), and proactive adaptability and resilience to changing circumstances (Hillage, Regan, Dickson, & McLoughlin, 2002). Prerequisites for these so-called twenty-first century skills are self-awareness and self-directedness of students (Savickas et al., 2009; Schulz, 2008). In education and educational policy, self-direction has until today often been conceived of as ‘self-regulation’ on the basis of individuals taking more responsibility, being in control and the development of metacognition.

Playwright Meets Career Coach

In this chapter we propose that writing dialogues in creative, expressive, and reflective ways can foster more awareness and self-direction among those who aim to start, build, or rescue their careers. In the first section of the chapter we sketch the societal issues for which narrative counselling is a response; we subsequently argue that more independent methods, like career writing (Lengelle, 2014) are needed as they are more time and cost effective as compared with one-on-one narrative counseling approaches.

Careers Guidance and Ethnic Minorities in Holland and Britain: Confronting Fear and Anger.

Abstract The development of equal opportunities for ethnic minorities through careers guidance is discussed. The provision of careers guidance services in Holland and Britain are described in relation to a model of organisational development. The emotional barriers of fear and anger are discussed in a structural context, both in relation to face-to-face client work, and in relation to service development. The concept of ‘career negotiation’ is presented to reflect the processes of internal and external dialogue needed to empower clients.

When is YTS an Alternative for Young People? Some Results from a Dutch Qualitative Research Project

ABSTRACT Data from a qualitative research project are used to examine attitudes and strategies to youth training schemes among a group of longterm unemployed youngsters in The Netherlands. The main aim of this paper is to clarify the observed contradictions in attitudes to Youth Training Schemes. Most of the time these contradictions remain unexplained because of the fact that the actual coping behaviour of youngsters with their contradictory situation is neglected. Therefore, the ‘strategic value’ of training schemes for young people remains obscure. All unemployed boys and girls want a regular (i.e. waged and steady) job and, at the same time, they all know they are underqualified and will have to invest in training and education. Therefore, they all express positive attitudes to youth training schemes. But for none of them is the governments human capital justification of youth training schemes self-evident. To them, these schemes are of little importance with regard to acquiring a regular job, becaus...