H. Reid

Struggling for space: narrative methods and the crisis of professionalism in career guidance in England

We report in this article on the second phase of an in-depth project examining practitioners’ use of a narrative model for 1-1 career guidance interviews in England, derived from the work of Mark Savickas. Using biographical narrative interviews, we explored the impact and constraints experienced by eight practitioner participants when engaging with a new model, and their struggles to learn, reflexively, from the experience. Further, in-depth interviews were conducted with four practitioners who ‘risked’ engaging with narrative methods to enhance practice, and achieved some success, but not without struggle and difficulty, professionally and personally. The narratives were analysed using protocols developed in previous research. The results illuminate the difficulties of creating space for experiment within a hard economic environment, dominated by outcomes and targets, as part of what can be seen as the ‘technicising’ of the guidance profession. Although drawing on all the interviews, we focus in this article on two participants’ narratives which are particularly evocative of the need for creative space, in contexts where professionalism appears to have diminished. The research itself provided space to think and imagine career guidance in more holistic ways.

Career Guidance for at Risk Young People: Constructing a Way Forward

Policy makers in different countries have given increasing attention to those young people who leave education early and then spend time in short term, often unskilled employment, combined with periods of unemployment (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2004). Different countries have applied a range of strategies to try to address young people “at risk” of social exclusion, as a prelude to helping them with educational and vocational decision-making (OECD, 2004). This requires various agencies to work holistically, across professional boundaries, in order for effective change to be implemented. When working with young people who are the focus of an inclusion policy, social needs have to be addressed alongside decisions about “career”: discussions about career cannot be separated from the wider circumstances of real lives in an uncertain world. This chapter considers how practice needs to adapt to accommodate this. The chapter begins with a definition of the terms used when considering the specific issues that at risk young people present for career guidance, and moves on to discuss the focus on inclusion for such young people. It then introduces the constructivist framework for the chapter and explores the usefulness of motivational, outcome-focused and narrative-based approaches within this context. Having considered the possibilities of such approaches, it advocates a move to narrative thinking in order to construct a way forward for face-to-face, career guidance work with young people at risk.

The shaping of discourse positions in the development of support and supervision for personal advisers in England

ABSTRACT A policy of inclusion has focused the ‘gaze’ of the UK government toward youth services and resulted in the development of the Connexions service in England. Within that context, the practice and professional identity of careers advisers (now called personal advisers) has changed. Many are working intensively with so-called ‘harder-to-help’ young people in ‘challenging’ situations where support and supervision appears to be essential. This paper discusses the findings from a qualitative case study, which sought to question that need and to investigate the perceived purpose of support and supervision. The study explored these perspectives with the aim of foregrounding differences and similarities. It is not suggested that the themes discussed are fixed; however, the discourse of practitioners needs to be heard and not silenced by louder definitions about purpose. The findings, however tentative, may be pertinent for circumstances where guidance and counselling are seen as relevant activities for the promotion of social inclusion.

Negotiating professional and personal biographies in a liquid world: creating space for reflexive innovation in career counselling

ABSTRACT This paper explores the constraints to innovative, creative and reflexive careers counselling in an uncertain neo-liberal world. We draw on previously reported research into practitioners’ use of a narrative model for career counselling interviews in England and a Europe-wide auto/biographical narrative study of non-traditional learners in universities. The latter draws on a number of narrative interviews with an asylum seeker, to debate whether such a way of working with people, ‘in a clinical style’, offers contextualised insight into peoples struggles to construct a career and a methodology for doing so. The paper also examines the difficulties of creating a ‘good enough’ professional, psychosocial space for experimentation with creative approaches in a marketised guidance world, where more is expected from less.

Telling Tales: Do Narrative Approaches for Career Counseling Count?

The chapter begins by exploring the rationale for experimenting with narrative career counseling. Our motivation was to provide space to work with practitioners, who were, like us, concerned about the effects of time constraints and, at times, hasty interventions made with clients. In the introduction we outline the two phases of the project and the development of the research, with reference to the location within which the work took place. Next, we explain the usage of key terms, identifying the debates and confusions involved. We also discuss what we mean when we use the term telling tales. Third, we describe the research project in detail and the context within which the work was developed as well as its impact. This is followed by an explanation of the framework for the narrative career counseling model used. We also provide examples of using the approach in practice, detailing the steps that can be taken, although we stress that a flexible approach is required. We move on to explain how the analysis was undertaken, demonstrating the use of an analytical profoma developed for auto/biographical and narrative research. The findings from the first phase of the project are then discussed, after which we describe in-depth interviews with our four practitioners who “risked” engaging with a new model (phase two of the project). We outline the successes achieved, but also discuss the struggles they experienced within, frankly, frenetic environments of work intensification, pressure to achieve targets, and demands for processing larger number of clients in “efficient” ways. We summarize the main points resulting from our analysis of the adoption of a new concept within career counseling and consider the relevance of the model for multiple cultural settings. Our conclusions focus on the need to think of career counseling, and education for career counselors, in more creative, culturally significant, and personally meaningful ways. Our aim is to encourage more telling stories.

Barriers to inclusion for the disaffected: Implications for ‘preventive’ careers guidance work with the under-16 age-group

Abstract Issues arising from Careers Service refocusing its work with the ‘disaffected’ in the UK are examined, with particular attention to preventive work with the under 16s as a new direction for careers practitioners. The extent to which ‘inclusion’ is likely to be achieved via enhanced guidance is discussed. The benefits of such intervention are questioned. It is suggested that guidance is ineffective if it fails to consider social difference, and that it must pay adequate attention to the social and personal context within which the individual operates. Assumptions behind individualistic ‘lifelong learning’ policies are called into question.

Constructing a space for career reflection: ‘The gift of time to think’

This paper reports on an in-depth qualitative pilot study with three participants which adapted Nancy Kline’s thinking session to develop a new approach for career counselling. The Career Thinking Session focuses on enabling clients to challenge their limiting assumptions. This paper outlines the approach and a brief review of the literature that underpins the work is then offered. The research methodology is then critiqued and the approach taken to data analysis is described, noting the questions that we continue to ask of the material. The case study of Helen is used to illustrate the possible strengths of the model and the challenges it poses. Some commonalities and themes that are suggested across the transcripts are then discussed. This paper concludes with thoughts about the usefulness of the model and its potential for further development.

‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’: opportunity structures for four un/underemployed young people living in English coastal towns

ABSTRACT Long-term unemployed young people are a ‘social concern’ in many countries. The focus for research is usually cities, but may also include rural areas. The qualitative study described in this paper focuses instead on four young people living in coastal towns in South East England. The study suggests that their experiences in education and employment markets are shaped, negatively, by their particular location and the ongoing opportunity structures. The paper outlines their views and discusses the three main themes that emerged from the analysis: opportunity structures, supported resilience and the impact of living in a coastal town. Implications for targeted youth guidance are considered, alongside a consideration of the reflexive role of the researcher in such work.

Providing support to senior managers in schools via ‘clinical’ supervision: a purposeful, restorative professional and personal developmental space

Abstract This paper reports on the first part of a research case study that provided senior leaders and SENCOs in schools with an opportunity to reflect on, air and discuss professional practice issues in a confidential, non-judgemental setting. The project was evaluated using qualitative questionnaires at three stages of the project and via a thematic analysis. The paper explains the genesis of the project and gives a brief overview of the relevant literature on clinical supervision. It outlines the model used and describes the process and issues identified. Key findings were that the participants found clinical supervision to be a powerful and restorative experience, professionally, personally and emotionally. National data detailing entry and retention figures to the teaching profession, alongside the pressures of meeting targets and work/life balance, suggest that the experiences of these seven participants in a small sample are not unusual or isolated. The findings will be of interest across the teaching profession.

Providing support to senior managers in schools via ‘clinical’ supervision: a restorative and purposeful professional and personal space

This paper reports on the first part of a research case study that provided senior leaders and SENCOs in schools with an opportunity to reflect on, air and discuss professional practice issues in a confidential, non-judgemental setting. The project was evaluated using qualitative questionnaires at three stages of the project and via a thematic analysis. The paper explains the genesis of the project and gives a brief overview of the relevant literature on clinical supervision. It outlines the model used and describes the process and issues identified. Key findings were that the participants found clinical supervision to be a powerful and restorative experience, professionally, personally and emotionally. National data detailing entry and retention figures to the teaching profession, alongside the pressures of meeting targets and work/life balance, suggest that the experiences of these seven participants in a small sample are not unusual or isolated. The findings will be of interest across the teaching profession.