Adult guidance – where from, and where to?

Abstract

This article is based on a presentation on adult guidance, made as part of the celebration of NICEC’s 50th Anniversary. It reflects on how the policy questions in England have changed over that period, from the perspective of someone who was involved in national policy for much of that time, having come to adult guidance, like many of its founders, from adult education, where you see vividly how learning can transform the lives of adults; and with qualifications in English literature, which provides a foundation of understanding of the diverse ways in which people understand themselves and the world. Adult guidance exists to help people address the questions: ‘Who am I’, ‘Who do I want to be’? and ‘How might I get there?’ Devising ways of addressing them remains a challenge for practitioners, and Government continues to be uncertain about how far it wants to engage. I suggest that four issues continue to concern us: our definition of ‘guidance’; the notion of ‘adultness’; the relationship between learning and career; and the nature of professionalism. Each is discussed, before some comments on implications for the future.