Career theory at the cutting edge Putting theory

Career theory at the cutting edge Putting theory into practice Tristram Hooley, Professor of Career Education, University of Derby

Overview Introductions What is theory Questions for the session Emancipatory theories Chaos theory Life design www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Overview Introductions What is theory Questions for the session Emancipatory theories Chaos theory Life design www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Overview Introductions What is theory Questions for the session Emancipatory theories Chaos theory Life design www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

OECD definition Career guidance refers to services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers… The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including help lines and web-based services). (OECD, 2004) www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

How can theory help with this? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What career theories are you aware of? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

A theory of theories Theories of career context Theories about careers work Theories of career psychology www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

So what theories do you actually use…? How do you use them? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Different levels of understanding Ontology Epistemology Theory Models Tools www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Theories make things simple It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. Albert Einstein - On the Method of Theoretical Physics, the Herbert Spencer Lecture, Oxford, June 10, 1933. www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Overview Introductions What is theory Questions for the session Emancipatory theories Chaos theory Life design www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What is it? People use stories to organize their lives, construct their identities, and make sense of their problems. Clients enter counseling with a story to tell about some transition. The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. By holding those stories in the relationship, counselors enable clients to reflect on their lives. Dwelling in their own stories often destabilizes old ideas that block decision making and usually enables an awareness that prompts a choice. As clients give voice to their stories, they hear what they already know and find the answers which they seek. Mark Savickas www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

The importance of narrative and stories www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Who are its advocates • Mark Savickas • Laura Nota • And many of their colleagues But also lots of other people working with very similar concepts around the use of narrative in career decision making building and counselling. E. g. Hazel Reid, Norm Amundson and Mary Mc. Mahon. www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Mark Savickas www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What do you do? • Help people to find and control their narrative. • Are they telling you – – the same old story – how can you help them to a new story untold story – how can you help them to tell the missing part of their story unstoryed emotions – what is making them feel they way they feel transitional story – how can you help them to turn the transition into the story that they want – empty story – how can you help them to connect to their story – competing plots – how can you help them to focus on the story they want to tell www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Exercise: Savickas style interview • How can I be useful to you in constructing your career? • Whom did you admire when your were growing up? List three role models. • What magazines do you read regularly? What do you like about them? What TV shows do you like? And why? • Tell me about your favourite book or movie. • What do you do with your free time? • Do you have a favourite saying or motto? • What were your favourite and least favourite subjects in school and why? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Criticisms/concerns? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Overview Introductions What is theory Questions for the session Emancipatory theories Chaos theory Life design www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What is it? The chaos theory of careers characterises people as complex dynamical systems that interact with and are embedded within other complex dynamical systems and are comprised of complex dynamical systems. They are complex because they are subject to a multitude of different influences and they are dynamical because all of these different influences are continually changing. Jim Bright www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

The nature of chaos and complexity www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Fractals www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Who are its advocates • Robert Pryor • Jim Bright • And their colleagues and associates Also talked about by some other people e. g. Bloch, Duffy, Amundson and Mc. Ilveen. www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Jim Bright www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What do you do? • • • Change perception Preparedness for uncertainty Luck readiness Planmanship Persistence www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Using the attractors • • Point – attraction to a single point Pendulum – attraction to two points Torus – attraction to repeated points in a regular way Strange – attraction to complexity www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Exercise • Where do you see uncertainty? • Where do you see luck? • What are the patterns? • How would you talk to Alison about her career and her future? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Criticisms/concerns? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Overview Introductions What is theory Questions for the session Emancipatory theories Chaos theory Life design www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What is it? Careers education and guidance is a profoundly political process. It operates at the interface between the individual and society, between self and opportunity, between aspiration and realism. It facilitates the allocation of life chances. Within a society in which such life chances are unequally distributed, it faces the issue of whether it serves to reinforce such inequalities or to reduce them. Tony Watts www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Socio-political ideologies of guidance Radical (social change) Progressive (individual change) Conservative (social control) Liberal (nondirective) www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

IAEVG statement on social justice “IAEVG, as the largest worldwide guidance association, appeals to providers, practitioners, academics and policy makers, to increase their efforts by embracing social justice as a core value that guides their practices. ” IAEVG (2013) www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Key ideas • • Careers emerge out of context The fate of individuals is linked to their community Power organises life chances Solutions need to move people forwards both individually and collectively • People should learn more about how the world works (even if it is unfair) and their position within it www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Who are its advocates? • • Ronald Sultana Rie Thomsen David Blustein and me… www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

What do you do Reframe the concept of career more broadly Recognise power dynamics and be willing to discuss them. Socialise Encourage people to talk about their context and the people who matter to them. Think of social capital as a career resource. Build community capacity. Open up the possibility for collective solutions as well as individual solutions. Act Empower individually and collectively Advocate for those who can’t speak for themselves Provide feedback at a system level (notice common problems) www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Challenging the faces of oppression Face Challenge Exploitation. Unfair compensation and coercion. Notice, highlight and challenge issues of inequality, low pay and precarity in the labour market. Empower individuals and groups to challenge this. Marginalisation. Loss of work, power and respect. Understand who is marginalised and locked out of the labour market and work to help them to reingage. Powerlessness. Always being on the receiving end of orders. Help people to understand what power is and how it operates. Encourage people to seek autonomy and selfefficacy. Cultural imperialism. Imposing ‘norms’ on people. Respect difference and reaffirm pluralism. Violence. Random, unprovoked attacks. Challenge individual and institutional violence (advocacy) and encourage others to challenge it (empowerment).

5 questions career guidance should ask • Who am I? • How does the world work? • Where do I fit into the world? • How can I live with others? • How do I go about changing the world? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Exercise: Have you ever felt that a client/student has… • talked about working in a job (or considering working in a job) that doesn’t pay them fairly? • been being marginalised in their life and work? E. g. feeling that they aren’t respected. • been fed up with being told what to do by their boss or colleagues? • been forced to conform to ‘norms’ by others? e. g. being told how to dress, act or behave in a way that makes them uncomfortable. • experienced aggression that makes them uncomfortable or actual physical violence? How did you talk to them? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Criticisms/concerns? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

References Amundson, N. E. , Mills, L. M. , & Smith, B. A. (2014). Incorporating chaos and paradox into career development. Australian Journal of Career Development, 23(1), 13 -21. Bloch, D. P. (2005). Complexity, chaos, and nonlinear dynamics: A new perspective on career development theory. The Career Development Quarterly, 53(3), 194 -207. Bright, J. (2016). The Uncertain Story of Career Development. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby. Blustein, D. (2013). The Psychology of Working. London: Routledge. Bright, J. (2016). And Pryor, R. (2005). The chaos theory of careers: a users guide. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 291 -305. Duffy, J. A. (2000). The application of chaos theory to the career-plateaued worker. Journal of Employment Counseling, 37(4), 229 -236. Hooley, T. (2015). Emancipate Yourselves from Mental Slavery: Self-Actualisation, Social Justice and the Politics of Career Guidance. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby. Hooley, T. and Barham, L. (Eds. ). (2015). Career Development Policy and Practice: The Tony Watts Reader. Stafford: Highflyers. Hooley, T. and Sultana, R. (2016). Career guidance for social justice. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 36, 2 -11. Law, B. (2012). The uses of narrative: Three scene storyboarding – learning for living, http: //www. hiho. com/storyboarding/sb. L 4 L. pdf. www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

More references Mc. Ilveen, P. (2014). Hope-narratives as a chaos theory of career intervention for failure. Australian Journal of Career Development, 23(1), 37 -43. Pryor, R. and Bright, J. (2011). The Chaos Theory of Careers. London: Routledge. Reid, H. , & West, L. (2014). Telling Tales: Do Narrative Approaches for Career Counseling Count? . In Handbook of career development (pp. 413 -430). Springer New York. Savickas, M. L. (2015). Life Design Counseling Manual. Available at http: //vocopher. com/Life. Design. pdf [Accessed 11 th January 2017] Thrift, E. , and Amundson, N. (2005). Hermeneutic-narrative approach to career counselling: An alternative to postmodernism. Perspectives in Education, 23(2), 9 -20. Thomsen, R. (2012). Career Guidance in Communities. Aarhus, Denmar: Aarhus University Press. Watson, M. B. , and Mc. Mahon, M. L. (2005). Postmodern (narrative) career counselling and education. Perspectives in Education, 23(2), vii-ix. www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Tristram Hooley Professor of Career Education International Centre for Guidance Studies University of Derby http: //www. derby. ac. uk/icegs t. hooley@derby. ac. uk @pigironjoe Blog at http: //adventuresincareerdevelopment. wordpress. com www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk

Conclusions and final thoughts There is nothing as practical as a good theory. What will you use? How will you review its use? www. derby. ac. uk/icegs www. derby. ac. uk