The kindness of strangers

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that curriculum‐based careers education is part of a wider move to treat higher education students as holistic learners and to reframe the ways in which careers educators can learn from, and contribute to, these wider developments.Design/methodology/approachThe paper conceptualises students as “embodied learners” who require opportunities for reflection to understand and process the existential, affective and pedagogic challenges inherent in their learning. Drawing on Palmer's notion of “paradoxical spaces”, careers education is shown to be one of many related responses to these student needs.FindingsConsequently, while sometimes perceived as an anomalous feature of the higher education landscape, careers education is found to share important commonalities with other pedagogic initiatives which inform and extend current debates about careers in the curriculum.Originality/valueBy showing the familial characteristics that careers education shares with related initiatives, a new basis for including careers within the curriculum is proposed and a new collaborative mode for careers educators to engage with other teaching staff is encouraged. A new rationale for curriculum based careers education is advanced, that differs from utilitarian and vocational arguments by being derived from a pedagogic discourse, which seeks to establish common ground between careers educators and other academics.