Postmodernising Career Counselling in a Deep Rural Context

Abstract

Society’s collective response to the effect of sweeping changes in the occupational world on people living in poverty has been inadequate as has been its ability to turn global changes and challenges into prospects for sustainable decent work for all people, especially those in disadvantaged contexts. Moreover, little if any innovation in career counselling has been witnessed in these contexts. This chapter examines the value of an innovative strategy aimed at postmodernising the approach to and practice of career counselling in a deep rural part of South Africa. First, I briefly cover the effect of global changes in the workplace on people’s career-lives. Next, I discuss some aspects of a postmodern approach that draws on life design counselling with respect to self- and career counselling theory, research, and practice. This is followed by a brief discussion of the background to a research project aimed at postmodernising career counselling in a deep rural area of South Africa during a three-phase project (2016–2018), after which I elaborate on the research approach followed as well as the key elements of the intervention used in this project. The research findings are presented and discussed before the way forward is mapped out and the chapter concluded.