This seminar posed questions for career education and guidance which span the age range from school to retirement. It addressed the ‘people’ element within a broad concern for more sustainable development.

 

At school, a significant proportion of young people are known to have interest in and concern for the environment and how our planet can be sustained to support human life and biodiversity. In contrast, careers education and guidance has become increasingly skills-based, narrowing its horizons to little beyond employability and economic well-being. How can young people be helped to incorporate personal values into their career planning? What dilemmas does this pose for staff involved in careers work and how can a way forward be found?

 

Challenges arise for careers advisers/personal advisers, too. Is it sufficient, or even possible, for advice to be ‘impartial’? Some choices of career or employer may contribute to climate change and compromise sustainability, in the long term threatening the well-being of our clients themselves, and their families (and ours too). This raises ethical issues for career practitioners which are not adequately addressed in current codes of professional ethics.

 

Recent research shows that older workers tend to shift their concern away from career advancement and towards a better balance between personal values, work involvement and financial reward. This too has implications for the orientation of adult guidance services and for the way that advisers see their role.

 

In this seminar, participants considered the implications for the guidance community of the emerging career issues, choices and responses of grandparents and grandchildren on a threatened planet.

This seminar was  run by Lyn Barham and Anthony Barnes.