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Career learning

This chapter explores qualitative career assessment as an identity learning process where meaning-oriented learning is essential and distinguished from conditioned or semantic types of learning. In order to construct a career identity in the form of a future-oriented narrative, it is essential that learners are helped through cognitive learning stages with the help of a dialogue about concrete experiences which aims to pay attention to emotions and broadens and deepens what is expressed.

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Career Writing and the Tale of Two Sisters

What do a grandmaster Jedi and a grandfather have in common? The answer will become clear in this story of two sisters who used the Career Writing method to identify career questions, life themes, and tapped into the wisdom of their childhood heroes. Lengelle, R., Haggerty, E. (2022). Career Writing and the Tale of Two Sisters: The Family Project, Heroic Drive, and How No Sibling Has the Same Parents. In: Schreiber, M. (ed) Narrative Ansätze in Beratung und Coaching (pp. 163-172). Springer, Wiesbaden.

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Reflective Career Dialogues

Due to the challenges produced by the individualisation of society and the flexibilisation of employment relationships, universities are increasingly investing in career guidance. Managers, however, have little or no vision regarding guidance and counselling. In this article we make a plea for an approach in which students are enabled to develop a career identity (i.e. a story about the meaning of their lives) as a basis for self-directedness. Such stories emerge during a dialogue about felt experiences. Evidence is given that such dialogues are to a large degree absent in educational contexts. Universities are to a large extent ‘disembodied’ places where almost no room exists for emotions and felt experiences. Therefore, a work/learning environment is needed within universities that enables ‘passionate self-directedness’. A short outline for creating such an environment is given. https://doi.org/10.20853/30-3-636

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Is self reflection dangerous?

Reflection is considered necessary and beneficial within career learning and is deemed to be a condition for successful career-identity development. Indeed, reflection is generally seen as a key competency in learning how to respond effectively to a complex and dynamic post-modern world in which individuals are increasingly exposed to risk. Paradoxically however, reflection can itself form a risk when it results in rumination. It is therefore important to identify the conditions and personal (risk) factors that make reflection a detrimental or beneficial activity and to identify elements within career learning interventions that promote benefit. The purpose here is to increase awareness about reflective versus ruminative processes and promote responsible use of interventions that aim to stimulate reflection in the process of career-identity formation. Based on the “career writing” method, the authors conclude that a successful career intervention must especially provide good facilitation and a safe holding environment. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416216670675 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/

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The relationship between learning environment and career competencies of students in vocational education

This article focuses on which aspects of the learning environment, aimed at fostering career learning, correspond with the development of career competencies among students (aged 12-19 years) enrolled in prevocational and secondary vocational education in The Netherlands. Aspects of the learning environment that are taken into account here are the following: career orientation and guidance methods used, instruments implemented, and the degree to which the curriculum is practice-based and dialogical. In the study, three career competencies are identified: career reflection (reflective behaviour), career forming (proactive behaviour), and networking (interactive behaviour). To research the relationship between the learning environment and the presence of career competencies, a study was done among 3499 students and 166 teachers in 226 classes in 34 schools. The results show that career guidance in school, in which a dialogue takes place with the student about concrete experiences and which is focused on the future, contributes most to the presence of career competencies among students. Without this dialogue, career guidance methods and instruments barely contribute to the acquisition of career competencies.

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The relationship between learning environment and career competencies of students in vocational education

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Career learning and career learning environment in Dutch higher education

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of career development and guidance among students (age 17-23) enrolled in higher education in The Netherlands. First the paper explores whether the development of career competencies contribute to career identity, learning motivation, certainty of career choice and drop out, and also whether the learning environment affects these variables. In the study, four career competencies are identified: career reflection (reflective behavior), work exploration (exploring behavior), career action (pro-active behavior) and networking (interactive behavior). Aspects of the learning environment that are taken into account are practice- and inquiry-based curriculum and career guidance conversations. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire-based study was carried out among 4,820 students and 371 (school) career counsellors in 11 universities. Findings: The results show that career competencies are related to learning motivation, career identity, certainty of career choice and drop out threat. The learning environment also contributes to these outcome variables. Students who participate in a practice-based and inquiry-based curriculum, and who have helping conversations about their study with their teachers, feel more motivated for learning, are more certain of their career choice and are less likely to quit their study. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this study is that, due to the cross-sectional design with no control group, no strong evidence for effectiveness can be presented. Moreover, the lack of well validated instruments limits the value of the results. The explained variance of the outcome variables, however, does indicate that there are relationships between career competencies and career learning environment on one hand, and career identity, learning motivation and certainty of choices on the other. Practical implications: Constructing and attributing meaning when engaging in these dialogues is of central importance; the development of personality traits and qualities only takes place when those learning find the content meaningful (and that is something quite different than content being considered “necessary”). In order to achieve such a learning environment within the dominant educational culture, transformative leadership is essential. Such leadership, however, is rare in Dutch universities of applied sciences until now. Social implications: Universities are increasingly acknowledging that they have a strong responsibility to guide students not only in their academic growth, but also in their career development. Universities – and especially universities of applied sciences – cannot leave this task to the public or private sector for two key reasons. First, universities are funded by the government and are therefore expected to prepare their students adequately for life in our individualized society as well as for the labor market. In the second place because organizations in the private and public sector often lack the knowledge and the motivation to guide young people on their career paths. Originality/value: A limitation found in the research, as well as in actual career interventions in schools, is that they focus on change in students’ knowledge, attitudes and decision-making skills, while students’ behaviors are not examined. Hughes and Karp (2004) maintain that research should focus on exploring the relationships between guidance interventions and positive students’ behavioral outcomes. Therefore, the paper concentrates – in search of the influence of school-based career interventions – not on decision-making skills, attitudes or knowledge but on actual career behavior, i.e. career competencies of students.

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Career learning and career learning environment in Dutch higher education

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Career writing

This study investigates whether creative, expressive, and reflective writing contributes to the formation of a narrative career identity that offers students in higher education a sense of meaning and direction. The contents of writing done by students who participated in 2 two-day writing courses before and after work placements and of a control group were compared. Employers were also asked to evaluate students' performance. Writing samples were analyzed using the Linguistic Index Word Count program and an instrument based on Dialogical Self Theory. Work-placement self-reports were gathered, examined, and used as anecdotal evidence presented in the form of case studies. The results show that career writing can promote the development of career identity and holds promise as a narrative career guidance approach.

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Poetic reflexivity and the birth of career writing

The intention of this chapter is to show how autoethnographic research might promote reflexivity among career professionals. We aim to answer the question: can writing one’s own life and career story assist career practitioners and researchers in identifying patterns, idiosyncrasies, vulnerabilities that will make them more aware of the elements that are fundamental to career construction and that have been mentioned in a variety of disparate places in the existing career literature? What interested us as career researchers and co-creators of the narrative approach Career Writing in considering the innovative intention of this book, was how writing our own career story could deepen our professional reflexivity and might also help others to do so. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22799-9_30 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/

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Poetic reflexivity and the birth of career writing

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A dialogue worth having

The cultivation of intrinsic motivation is key in the 21th century, but most students in Dutch vocational education lack this quality. To foster intrinsic motivation, a strong career-learning environment is needed that enables students to develop career competencies and a career identity. However such an environment is absent in much of vocational education in The Netherlands. Research shows that the desired learning must be practice based (real life experiences are key), enable a dialogue (in order to attach personal meaning to real life experiences) and give students more autonomy in making choices in their school careers. Although there has been an increase in the use of portfolios and personal-development plans, these instruments are used mainly for improving success at school but are not in career and work. In addition research on the conversations between student and teachers/work-place mentors shows that the latter talk primarily to (65%), and about (21%), but rarely with (9%) students. The culture in schools is still predominately monological. Most teachers feel uncertain about their abilities to help students in developing career competencies and a career identity, though a growing number of teachers want to be trained in initiating meaningful career dialogues. In order to make such training successful in terms of promoting new guidance behaviours, it is essential that school managers create a strong career-learning environment for teachers. The Standards Era policies (Gatto, 2009) that dominate Dutch vocational education at the moment, however, leaves managers little space to do so. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50734-7_7 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/

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Career learning

Career Writing and the Tale of Two Sisters

Reflective Career Dialogues

Is self reflection dangerous?

The relationship between learning environment and career competencies of students in vocational education

Career learning and career learning environment in Dutch higher education

Career writing

Poetic reflexivity and the birth of career writing

A dialogue worth having