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

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

“…in public services, cannot meaningfully be called career counselling; it is more instrumental, having to do with information, advice and guidance (Reid & West, 2011a, 2011b. Moreover, what is offered tends to be grounded in 20th century theory and practice (Bimrose, 2009); and is less likely to draw on interpretative, constructivist or critical psychological approaches that constitute career counselling; albeit these approaches are included in University training programmes.…”

“…Our starting point is an in-depth auto/biographical narrative study of a number of career guidance professionals and their clients in England during 2008 -2010 (Reid & West, 2011a, 2011b. Many of the tensions illuminated in that study may resonate with colleagues working in career guidance and counselling in other countries.…”

“…The narrative career construction model represents a deeply interpersonal, reflexive process: it is more complex than information giving, advice or job preparation; and drawing on the work of Donald Winnicott (1971) it takes place in what we term a transitional space for self-negotiation (Reid & West, 2011a, 2011b, Put another way, it is not about career planning, which can suggest a relatively stable employment market, but about working alongside the client to identify (co-construct) meaningful career projects, within a wider notion of life/career and potential agency. Savickas states (2011, p.8) 'Career counseling, from the project perspective of individual design, views clients as authors who may be characterised by autobiographical stories and who may be helped to reflect on life themes with which to construct their stories'.…”

“…In the time frame of our study with career guidance practitioners (2008 -2010), services were obliged to offer targeted support to prevent 'at risk' young people becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). During this period, eight practitioners participated in our research (reported in Reid & West, 2011a), which they viewed as a welcome space to reflect on practice, to learn about 'new' approaches and also to think about their own struggles in frenetic workplace environments.…”

“…We explored practitioners' struggles to learn, reflexively, from experience, as they 'risked' engaging with new methods to enhance their practice at a time when the manualisation/standardisation of practice, and a focus on relatively crude outcome measures and 'efficiencies', have become the norm (Reid & West 2011a, 2011b.These concerns echo anxieties in many professional fields in the United Kingdom, such as social work (Munro, 2011). 'Manualisation' has come to predominate, which can include rigid adherence to designated procedures and a lack of creativity, accompanied by anxiety about getting things wrong as well as limited time for clients: rather than working more creatively, over time, and exercising nuanced judgement in a developing human relationship.…”