Authentic education for meaningful work:

Beyond ‘career management skills’

Ronald G. Sultana

Abstract tools and encourage the moral resolve to

This paper focuses on work education in imagine more socially just and fulfilling ways of
schools and explores how it can be living together, and to gain a measure of
conceptualised so that it contributes to the individual and collective control over the forces
flourishing and wellbeing of students in a that shape lives.
democracy. It first provides an overview of the
recent developments in ‘career learning’
worldwide, noting the increasing importance
Introduction:
that it has been given as a contributor to Situating career development work
enhanced competitivity in knowledge-based Across Europe and in many countries
economies. The paper notes that the centrality worldwide, note several authors, there has
of work in the curriculum is justified: despite been an increasing policy emphasis on aligning
major societal and technological transforma- formal education with the ‘needs’ of the labour
tions presaging a ‘post-work’ world, ‘meaning- market, and to prepare students for the ‘world
ful work’ maintains its importance as a source of work’ (Grubb & Lazerson, 2004; Kuhn &
of fulfilment and wellbeing, and the hallmark of Sultana, 2006; Mazawi, 2007; Vally & Motala,
a flourishing life. Much of the work that is 2014; Allais & Shalem, 2018). While such
available in neoliberal economies, however, is global-level policy priorities and discourses are
increasingly the cause of distress, hardship, mediated by local context, they nevertheless
exploitation and abuse. A case is made for an powerfully shape education, and exert a
authentic career education that helps students homogenizing influence (Mundy et al., 2017).
understand the nature of meaningful work, to The story line that is often presented – by
aspire to it, and to decode the causes that national governments, supranational entities
frustrate access to it. It is argued that, as with (such as the OECD, the European Union, and
all truly educational enterprises, authentic the World Bank), influential think tanks and
work education should provide the intellectual ‘policy entrepreneurs’ – is that in a knowledge-
1
based economy young people need to develop Benefits of career learning
a range of ‘career management skills’ that will It is easy to see how, in this narrative, the issue
help them navigate complex, non-linear and of providing ‘career management skills’ and
unpredictable transitions between learning ‘career guidance’ to students is bound to gain
and earning, where the traditional boundaries traction, for it promises to help young people
between the spheres of education, training, navigate through the vicissitudes of life, to
working, and leisure have become increasingly steer them towards relevant curricular
blurred (Sultana, 2012a). An important if streams, to encourage continued commitment
somewhat contradictory part of that narrative to further education and training thus impro-
is that we actually do not know much about ving the ‘human stock’ of required skills, and to
what ‘the real world of work’ will look like in develop particular orientations to, and
the future, and what skills will be needed – connections with, the labour market. Since the
other than the disposition and commitment to experience of being ‘mismatched’ can be
‘learn how to learn’ in a lifelong process of self- damaging in all sorts of ways to the economy
creation in response to constant changes and the individual alike (Kalleberg, 2007), the
brought about by technological innovation, claim can be made that career development
including automation and artificial intelligence work with citizens is more likely to lead to a
(Hooley, 2018). happier and therefore more productive
workforce, and less wastage of public funds
Some present such a scenario as being exciting,
due to attrition.
taking humanity to the cusp of a ‘brave new
world’. Others express grave concerns about Students who choose their educational and
the ability of schools – whose formal and training pathways wisely and who develop a
informal curricula hark back to the Fordist life project are less likely to change courses or
mentality that shaped them as much as it drop out, and are more likely to engage
shaped mass production systems – to prepare purposefully with learning, to remain motiva-
the next generation for what is to come. Both ted, and to achieve more highly. Research
hopes and fears have brought wholesale evidence that confirms the economic and
reform efforts in their wake, including what educational benefits of career guidance work
Sharma (2016) calls the ‘STEM-ification’ of (inter alia Killeen & Kidd, 1991; Hughes et al.,
curricula, with increasing importance being 2002; Bowes, Smith & Morgan, 2005; Hooley &
given to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Dodd, 2015), and that it is therefore both a
Mathematics. It is these subjects, it is argued, private and a public good, together with
that will provide the knowledge and skills base national and regional preoccupations with
on which innovative technologies can be economic performativity, have led to a
developed, and which will therefore give remarkable resurgence of policy interest in
countries and regions a competitive edge over career education and guidance (CEG), with
others. Schools are also tasked to further international reviews of services covering over
buttress this curricular core with a bevy of 55 countries across both the global North and
scaffolding ‘21st century skills’ and dispositions South (Watts, 2014).
– such as entrepreneurial attitudes and
Much guidance work involves helping students
competences, digital literacy, innovative and
think about the world of work, about their
critical thinking, communication skills, and self-
current understanding of it, and about their
regulated learning – all of which will make the
future relationship to it. Work education – also
next generation job-ready and ‘employable’ in
referred to as ‘career development learning’,
the new economy (Kuratko, 2005; Griffin,
‘transition learning’, ‘career management
McGraw & Care, 2012; van de Oudeweetering
skills’ and ‘school-to-work curriculum’ – gene-
& Voogt, 2018).
rally aims to make students more aware of
2
themselves and of the work environment, and Attention has been given to questions relating
to develop a range of meta-cognitive skills, all to the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of career learning: i.e.
of which help them make life-related choices, what a career education curricular framework
plans and decisions. In the best of cases, such should include (e.g. Hooley et al., 2013;
work-related learning and guidance encoura- Thomsen, 2014; Education Scotland, 2015),
ges students to become aware of the influence and how best to teach and assess ‘career
of such factors as social background, gender, management skills’ (e.g. Law, 1999; Sultana,
and ethnicity in limiting their ‘capacity to 2013). Career learning curricula may exhibit
aspire’ (Appadurai, 2004). various degrees of sophistication in relation to
rationale, content, learning theories and
This can lead to a greater understanding of the
pedagogical and assessment approaches, but
way one’s ‘horizons for action’ (Hodkinson,
ultimately their main preoccupation seems to
Sparkes & Hodkinson, 1996) have been socially
be in reiterating the three aims of self-
constrained and curtailed, increasing the likely-
development, career exploration and career
hood that ‘adaptive preferences’ (Nussbaum,
management, as expounded in the DOTS
2001) are duly challenged. In these and other
model (Law & Watts, 1977; Law, 1999).
ways, therefore, career-related work can also
Important texts have been published in this
claim to advance the social justice agenda
regard (e.g. Barnes, Bassot & Chant, 2011;
(Sultana, 2014; Hooley, Sultana & Thomsen,
McCowan, McKenzie & Shah, 2017), as well as
2018a).
handbooks, web-based and digital material,
and a plethora of resources, including
International developments in career learning guidelines as to how CEG services in schools
programmes can be improved (Gatsby Charitable
The international interest in the potential Foundation, 2014; NCGE, 2017; Sultana,
benefits of CEG has led several countries to 2018a).
take initiatives to broaden access to services,
The international reviews referred to earlier
by, among others, embedding career learning
have also noted that, in many contexts, school-
more formally in curricula, from primary (e.g.
based career education has evolved from being
Magnuson, 2000; Welde et al., 2016) right up
a one-shot intervention, aimed mainly at one
to higher education levels (e.g. Foskett &
or more key transition points, to being more
Johnston, 2006; Frigeiro, Mendez & McCash,
developmental in scope; from being aimed at
2012; Rott, 2015). Initiatives have included
adolescents, to an appreciation of the fact that
introducing or reinforcing work-related
one should start laying the building blocks
teaching in the curriculum through ‘new’
earlier, at least with older primary school
timetabled subjects (such as ‘Career Educa-
children; from targeting individuals, and
tion’ or ‘Personal and Social Education’),
especially those experiencing difficulties, to a
through ensuring that established subjects
programme that is more universal in
connect to work-related issues and ‘career
orientation, engaging whole classes and year
management skills’ (e.g. teaching successful
groups; and from focusing on career
job interview techniques in the creative arts
information and educational guidance, to
lessons; writing a job application letter or c.v.
looking at education for the working life and
in a language class), through the promotion of
citizenship more holistically and critically
entrepreneurial skills thanks to setting up
(Simon, Dippo & Schenke, 1991; Pouyaud &
mock companies under the tutorship of sea-
Guichard, 2018; Irving, 2018; Midttun &
soned business mentors (such as the Young
McCash, 2018).
Enterprise Scheme), through organising work
shadowing and work experience placements, All this ‘busyness’ around career education and
and so on. guidance – which has seen the setting up of
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transnational networks focusing on policy (e.g. Brown, Lauder & Ashton, 2010; Sukarieh &
the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Tannock, 2017), CEG can serve to reinforce the
Network; the International Centre for Career neoliberal agenda of ‘responsibilisation’ (Kelly,
Development and Public Policy; CareersNet), 2001; Hooley, Sultana & Thomsen, 2018b),
and practitioner training (e.g. the Network for whereby structural, systemic problems like
Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling graduate unemployment and underemploy-
in Europe) – is both significant and revealing. ment are represented to be problems with
Descriptive accounts of these initiatives individuals, who only have themselves to
abound and are often presented to illustrate blame for their misfortune (Savelsberg, 2010).
‘examples of good practice’. They tend to be If only they had better ‘career management
highly valued by practitioners due to their skills’, if only they had made better educational
concreteness, promissory benefits to students, and occupational choices, if only they had
and direct relation to action. However, they edited their curriculum vitæ, their manners,
should not replace analytical and evaluative their looks even (Hakim, 2010; Yates, Hooley &
study, which carefully examines wider Kaur Bagri, 2016) – then they would have got
contextual relations. It is to a consideration of the job. In this narrative, then, CEG promotes
this that we now turn. the notion of the individual being an ‘entre-
preneur’ of the self (Peters, 2016; Irving, 2018),
involved in a process of ‘life design’ (Savickas
What is the problem that career learning is et al., 2009), with career learning carving a role
an answer to? for itself both in schools, and in public and
A powerful way of seeing the links between private employment services.
policy initiatives and trends and the wider
matrix of power relations, including the In many countries, deficit narratives that
complex interplay between the local and the pathologise both schools and young people
global, is to ask: what is the problem that a abound, with the former being presented as
specific policy, or raft of joined-up policies, is out-dated institutions unresponsive to the
an answer to? As the critical policy analysis ‘needs’ of industry, and the latter as being
tradition reminds us, asking what the ‘deficient’ in character, competence and
‘problem’ is represented to be, and how such commitment, and thus to blame for their
representations effect the kinds of policies and protracted transitions and marginalisation in
practices developed, can help us avoid the labour market (Brunila, 2013; Brunila &
becoming trapped within the assumptions of Ryyännen, 2017). With the problem defined in
the particular field, policy context, or practice this way, career education and guidance tends
being studied (Simons, Olssen & Peters, 2009; to adopt a ‘technocratic’ rationality (Sultana,
Bacchi, 2009). 2018b), with practitioners seeing their role
largely in terms of tightening the bonds
Asking these sorts of questions is especially between school and work, of helping students
important in the case of career education and develop those qualities that are presumed to
guidance because its attraction to policy be lacking, thus rendering them more attrac-
makers is also ideological, in the sense that it tive to employers. If, on the other hand, the
provides a narrative that serves to mask problem of difficult, delayed and truncated
system failure, or to lay the cause of failure at transitions is located in the way the economy
the wrong door. In a context where the is organised, and in what it gives most value to,
presumed ‘cure’ to economic recession – then career education and guidance is more
increased investment in education and training likely to take on a different, ‘emancipatory’
– is giving diminishing returns to youths and role – one that contributes to the overall
adults alike (Collins, 2000; Tomlinson, 2008; educational enterprise of helping students

4
make sense of the world they live in, including has, unsurprisingly, always been preoccupied
the world of work. That would include helping with preparing the young to take on the task of
them understand how, despite permitting the making the wheel go round. It is just that
state to confine them between the four walls historically and anthropologically – i.e. across
of institutionalised compulsory or near-com- time and space – cultures have adopted
pulsory schooling during the best years of their different ways of inducting the young into
life – in principle as a preparation for indepen- work, according to a typology that includes
dent and productive living – society fails to socialisation (through close daily mimetic
offer them access to decent livelihoods. A case interaction between the young and initiated
in point is the UK, where in 2017, half of recent adults, often in community settings), appren-
graduates were officially classified as working ticeship (which, as a form of learning, is
in a non-graduate role (Beckett, 2018). inscribed in the Code of Hammurabi in 18th
century BCE, but which assumed its character
The contention in this paper is that work edu-
as a craft guild in 12th century Europe, and
cation of the latter type – that is, a form of
which is currently enjoying something of a
authentic career education that helps students
comeback in many countries), professional
decode what is happening around them, and
accreditation (which tied esoteric knowledge
equipping them with the knowledge, skills and
in theology, law and medicine – and later in the
dispositions to aspire to, and help bring about,
so-called ‘new professions’ – to licensure), and
a world in which all can flourish and attain
bureaucratic schooling (with its hierarchy of
wellbeing – is important, possible and
grades, examinations, and certification, all
necessary. In the sections that follow I will first
hallmarks of modern education systems world-
outline why I think it is important for the world
wide). The nature of the mix-and-match
of work to feature prominently in school curri-
between these Weberian ‘ideal types’ depends
cula. I will then make a case for the critical
on the interplay between local context and
career education that is necessary if the
global ideologies and trends.
‘flourishing’ and ‘wellbeing’ of all students
were indeed the goal and raison d’être of our If work is so central to human flourishing, it
schools. should follow like night follows day that an
education predicated on the goal of promoting
Schooling and the world of work and facilitating such thriving will prepare all its
The argument that school curricula should give students for it, so that they enjoy as much of
importance to the world of work is, in many the benefits accruing from it as possible. But
ways, an easy one to make: work remains herein lie at least two major problems: firstly,
central to human flourishing, providing for the nature of work in the contemporary world;
such human needs as shared experience, a secondly, the nature of work in the world that
structured experience of time, collective is yet to come. The first suggests that work is
purpose, and status and identity, besides far from meaningful for vast swathes of the
livelihood. Veltman (2016) provides an population; the second predicts that automa-
impressive and wide-ranging, interdisciplinary tion will render human work obsolete. Both
overview of the place of meaningful work in have major implications for the kind of work
our lives, making a number of claims which I education to be implemented in schools, as we
paraphrase and synthesise in Box 1. will note below.

If meaningful work is such a quintessential

aspect of our life, it is to be expected that
education prepares the next generation for it.
Indeed, as Collins (2000) has noted, humanity

5
 Box 1: Why meaningful work is necessary for human flourishing

Work:
• gives access to a livelihood, and under the best circumstances, provides security and independence,
and defines adulthood, giving an individual a title, role, and status, and supporting (or undermining)
a sense of autonomous agency;
• typically takes up a large percentage of our waking lives, such that our fulfilment or frustration in it
spills over into – and strongly impacts – other aspects of our life; habits and orientations developed
at work also impact on non-work, including leisure;
• exercises and makes demands on several of our capacities as human beings – whether intelligence,
emotions, character, competence, or creativity – and it thus shapes us in profound ways;
• helps us develop several aspects of the self, going well beyond job-related skills to include a whole
range of life skills that can help us flourish in other spheres outside work;
• provides us with a context in which we put into practice the knowledge and skills we have acquired,
thus becoming a source of enjoyment and fulfilment; meaningful work is a prime vehicle for creative
self-expression, through which we contribute in the collective task of building the world,
reciprocating the benefits of social cooperation by putting ourselves at the service of our
communities;
• generates respect from those around us, who acknowledge the effort that has been invested in
developing and enacting competence. This heightens our feelings of self-worth;
• seems to be vital for developing a positive sense of one’s own identity, to the extent that the lack
of work achievements renders the latter difficult if not impossible; in many cases, humans define
themselves with reference to the work that they do;
• influences our physical and psychological health in all sorts of ways: dissatisfaction leads to a range
of ailments, negatively impacting mood, well-being, and positive self-regard; lack of work, or of
decent work, gives rise to contexts where social tensions are more likely to be present;
• provides us with the opportunity to develop and to reinforce such personal values as honour, pride,
dignity, and self-discipline;
• helps satisfy two key sources of human happiness: a sense of purpose, and connection. When the
work we do is experienced as meaningful, we benefit from a third source of happiness, arising from
a passion for what we do.

If meaningful work is such a quintessential as a craft guild in 12th century Europe, and
aspect of our life, it is to be expected that which is currently enjoying something of a
education prepares the next generation for it. comeback in many countries), professional
Indeed, as Collins (2000) has noted, humanity accreditation (which tied esoteric knowledge in
has, unsurprisingly, always been preoccupied theology, law and medicine – and later in the
with preparing the young to take on the task of so-called ‘new professions’ – to licensure), and
making the wheel go round. It is just that bureaucratic schooling (with its hierarchy of
historically and anthropologically – i.e. across grades, examinations, and certification, all
time and space – cultures have adopted hallmarks of modern education systems
different ways of inducting the young into worldwide). The nature of the mix-and-match
work, according to a typology that includes between these Weberian ‘ideal types’ depends
socialisation (through close daily mimetic on the interplay between local context and
interaction between the young and initiated global ideologies and trends.
adults, often in community settings),
If work is so central to human flourishing, it
apprenticeship (which, as a form of learning, is
should follow like night follows day that an
inscribed in the Code of Hammurabi in 18th
education predicated on the goal of promoting
century BCE, but which assumed its character
6
and facilitating such thriving will prepare all its fulfilment for nearly 90% of the world’s
students for it, so that they enjoy as much of workers. Think of the social, emotional, and
the benefits accruing from it as possible. But perhaps even economic waste that this statistic
herein lie at least two major problems: firstly, represents. Ninety percent of adults spend half
the nature of work in the contemporary world; their waking lives doing things they would
secondly, the nature of work in the world that rather not be doing at places they would rather
is yet to come. The first suggests that work is not be” (p.3). The International Labour
far from meaningful for vast swathes of the Organisation reports (1999, 2016), which
population; the second predicts that present fine-grained portraits of the
automation will render human work obsolete. experience of work in the global North and
Both have major implications for the kind of South, echo such a pessimistic conclusion. ILO
work education to be implemented in schools, data regarding ‘decent work’ across the world
as we will note below. are increasingly negative for an ever larger
number of people, in terms of the four
The dark side of work
indicators of employment, social protection,
When Veltman (2016) celebrates the
workers’ rights, and social dialogue, leading to
importance of work in people’s lives, she is of
world-wide disillusionment arising from
course talking about meaningful work. She
people’s own experience of work, whether
spends a good portion of her book noting that
exclusion from the labour market, poor
for many, work is far from meaningful or
working conditions, low wages, exposure to
fulfilling, and indeed argues that, given the
vulnerability and insecurity, and job quality
complex division of labour in contemporary
(Ryder, 2017, p.1).
societies, it is tragically not possible for
meaningful work that supports human A synthesis of the characteristics and trends
flourishing to be available to all people, even that mark the contemporary labouring world
when the work they do is socially necessary. makes for depressing reading: Work, in many
This does not detract from her claim that work contexts, is hard to find and easy to lose. It calls
is nevertheless central to our lives as humans, for ludicrously long periods of study, while
to the extent that most of our experiences of doing its utmost to automise skills, either
exploitation can be traced back to it, be this in rendering humans obsolete, or driving them to
the form of unfair compensation, lack of work ever harder to compensate for lost
respect, or siphoning off of the results of one’s earnings due to labour-replacing technologies.
energies and efforts to the disproportionate It demands loyalty but gives little if any back. It
benefit of those who already enjoy higher is increasingly marked by intensification, by
levels of power, status and wealth. insecurity, by short-to-temporary-to-zero
contracts, and by informal Uber-like arrange-
The task of describing the contemporary
ments that circumvent labour laws and unions.
labouring world is a challenging one, given that
It often pays below-subsistence wages, giving
one’s experience of work varies greatly
rise to a new class of ‘working poor’.
depending on what one does, and where. Even
Workplaces have roped in the new technology
so, if we had to paint with a broad brush, we
to install disciplinary and surveillance regimes
would be justified in arguing that work in the
based on micro-management strategies that
21st century is, for many, a bane: a Gallup study
shackle with a smile. Workers are expected to
carried out in 2013 and involving 230,000 full-
smile back: one of the new work trends
time and part-time workers in 142 countries
reported by The Economist is management’s
reports that only 13% of people feel engaged
efforts to regulate employees’ psychological
and fulfilled by their jobs. Citing this report,
states, “turning happiness into an instrument
Schwartz (2015) concludes: “Work is more
of corporate control” (2016, p.1).
often a source of frustration than one of
7
We are primed to depend practically and Will there be work?
emotionally on work, only to find jobs (if we’re A second consideration revolves around the
lucky) that are simply too small for our spirit – thorny question of whether work – meaningful
not surprising given that jobs all too often jobs or otherwise – will be there for the taking for
are designed with efficiency targets rather than the majority of our students, as we hurtle
human flourishing in mind. We are schooled forwards into a period of widespread
into being creative and sociable but spend our automation and artificial intelligence. Here we
days in jobs that are devoid of reciprocity, are held hostage to representations as well as
mutuality, and conviviality. Citizens are predictions that range from the most upbeat
constantly exhorted and admonished to find a and positive on the one hand, to the most
‘work-life’ balance, as if this were an alien forbidding gloom and doom scenarios
aspiration that needed prodding, when the imaginable on the other. Some hail the arrival
very right to ‘disconnect’ has long been lost. of a new golden age of leisure, an idyllic
Youths desperate to find a job after indebting Arcadian society where everybody’s needs are
themselves for years to come in order to pay met thanks to technological wizardry and
for their studies, relentlessly edit their c.v. and personal robots that render human labour
self, and go through all the hoops and hurdles superfluous. Here, some argue, an education
– including accepting that newest form of for leisure rather than for work would be
exploitation, unpaid ‘internships’ – in order to relevant, recalling the lycea and gymnasia of
improve their ‘employability’. classical Greece where the elite, having
exported labour onto slaves, could dedicate
All this might sound rhetorical and even
themselves to enacting democracy and
melodramatic. But one only needs to consult
contemplating philosophy and the finer things
the recent spate of books about the nature of
of life (Hemingway, 1988; Kleiber, 2012). Other
work in neoliberal times to sink one’s teeth into
accounts paint a dire picture, forecasting the
the empirical evidence that gives substance to
arrival of workerless workplaces marked by a
this grim portrayal (inter alia Sennett, 1998;
deepening chasm between a technological
Procoli, 2004; Cederström & Fleming, 2012;
elite and the rest. Yet others recall that this is
Frayne, 2015; Fleming, 2015). All these
not the first time that humanity has survived
authors, and many more besides, reinforce the
technological innovation, with new work
point made by a long line of critics of
opportunities being created at the same time
capitalism, starting with Marx and on to Gorz,
as others are destroyed, and new skills
and more recently Standing (2011), who, in
replacing old.
discussing the ‘precariat’, distinguishes ‘work’
(which, he says, captures the activities of Reviewing several prognostications made by
necessity, surviving and reproducing, and companies, think tanks, and research
personal development) from ‘alienated labour’ institutions about predicted job losses (and
(whose function is to produce marketable some gains) at the hands of automation, robots
outputs or services, with those who control it and AI, a team at the MIT Technology Review
often oppressing and exploiting those synthesised the main findings and concluded
performing it). That distinction has been that there are as many opinions as there are
obscured by the sanctification of paid experts. Predictions ranged “from optimistic to
employment over the past two centuries, with devastating, diverging by tens of millions of
even progressive forces buying into the notion jobs even when comparing similar time
that a ‘job’ brings ‘dignity’, ‘status’ and a sense frames… In short, although these predictions
of belonging in society (Standing, 2018). are made by dozens of global experts in
economics and technology, no one seems to be
on the same page. There is really only one

8
meaningful conclusion: we have no idea how As I have noted in my reviews of career
many jobs will actually be lost to the march of education and guidance programmes in many
technological progress” (Winick, 2018). parts of the world, there is a distinct tendency
for students to be encouraged to adapt to and
Authentic career education ‘feed’ into the world of work as it is, rather than
We are thus confronted by the fact that much to question it in the light of already existing and
that passes for work nowadays is hardly possible alternatives (Sultana, 2012a, b).
conducive to human flourishing, and, more-
over, that it is difficult to know what the future As decades of scholarship in educational
of work will look like in a world that is possibly sociology have shown us, this is an endeavour
without work. This, however, does not render in which the whole school colludes: schools
work education irrelevant. If anything, with so teach the specific skills (e.g. vocational and
much that is at stake in terms of having access digital proficiency, literacy and numeracy) and
to flourishing and meaningful lives, it is generic competences (e.g. ‘soft skills’) that are
reasonable to claim that all students are functional to the economy; they invest a great
entitled to a truthful, authentic work education deal of resources in selecting, sorting and
programme that helps them both recognise credentialing individuals, thus organising the
and understand the way work is shaped now, distribution of ‘hands’ and ‘minds’ across the
and how it might be shaping up in the future. whole spectrum of vacancies available, while at
The question that we now need to ask is: is this the same time legitimising that distribution;
what students are getting? And if not, what they teach about ‘work’ through the formal
would such a truthful, authentic career curriculum, and even more so thanks to the
education look like? way of life that schools inculcate through their
ethos, their routines and rituals, and their
That begs other existential questions as: What institutional and pedagogical cultures. Schools
does it mean to be human? What does it mean thus instil such habits as time discipline, they
to live a ‘good life’? How can people organise normalise the notion of authority, they
themselves to produce and consume the inculcate the disposition to postpone grati-
requirements of life, in ways that are in fication, they demand the acceptance of a
harmony with each other, and with nature? disciplinary regime that subordinates body
What kind of social arrangements could/should movements and bodily needs to external
be put into place so that everybody can lead demands, they expect students to expend
dignified lives, free from domination and effort for extrinsic rewards (such as grades)
exploitation? Several historians of education rather than intrinsic ones (such as pleasure in
have documented the extent to which these doing something), they teach them to consider
sorts of questions have been given importance as natural the socially and historically
or have instead been eclipsed by the more constructed distinction between ‘work’ (which
utilitarian concerns of ‘making a living’. Unsur- is demanding, often boring, requiring a
prisingly, we find here a recurrent pattern: disciplined effort) and ‘play/leisure’ (which is
economic downturns have tended to about self-expression, freedom, and enjoy-
marginalise the kinds of educational visions ment – an opportunity to ‘re-create’ oneself)
that a long line of educational protagonists – (Apple, 1995).
from Socrates down to Dewey and Freire –
promoted (Carnoy & Levin, 1985), promoting In all these ways, schools powerfully commu-
instead a troubling utilitarianism that nicate to the younger generation hegemonic
subordinated education to economic notions about how to inhabit the world.
imperatives. Educators are here faced with a predicament:
should they teach for work, encouraging stu-
dents to adapt to the ‘new spirit of capitalism’
9
(Boltanski & Ciapello, 2007) so as to stand a resolved, courageous practitioners need to
better chance of securing insecure livelihoods endure the productive discomfort of working in
in a liquid world (Bauman, 2006). Or should the field of forces between the two. It is by
they teach about work (and against labour), by remaining open to the seemingly contradictory
helping students develop the thinking and demands represented by the adjust/challenge
activist tools to challenge the way in which the dilemma that new insights into emancipatory
neoliberal labour market is letting citizens action can be generated, avoiding the twin
down? Or should educators perhaps do both? temptations of idealism on the one hand, and
Prilleltensky & Stead (2012) speak about this in pessimism on the other.
terms of what they call the ‘adjust /challenge’
That leads us to a number of final reflections in
dilemma, noting that career work can encou-
this paper, in response to the question: “What,
rage students to (a) adjust to, and challenge
then, would an authentic work education in a
the system, at the same time, (b) adjust to the
democracy entail?” The following deliberations
system but not challenge it, (c) challenge the
are meant to open up critical conversations
system but not adjust to it, and (d) neither
rather more than serving as a blueprint in any
adjust to the system nor challenge it.
shape or form.
This dilemma is duly acknowledged. Those who
From common sense to good sense
teach about work – as much as any other
A first point to be made is that it is crucial that
educator – act in loco parentis, i.e. they
an authentic work education examines the
seriously take into account Dewey’s well-
common sense assumptions and ‘presentism’
known dictum which states that “What the
on which it is based. The current ‘planet speak’,
best and wisest parents wants for their own
utilising as it does a set of ‘elevator words’ such
child, that must the community want for all of
as ‘lifelong education’ and ‘lifelong guidance’,
its children. Any other ideal for our schools is
serves to identify what is (and what is not) a
narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys
‘problem’, creating ways to talk about it, and
our democracy” (1907, p.19). Most parents –
offering ‘solutions’ to it (Simons, Olssen &
even those most critical of the status quo –
Peters, 2009, p.46). It conjures up an image of
would nevertheless want their children to have
an economic world subject to constant, rapid
access to a livelihood, even if that entails a
and ultimately ‘inevitable’ change forces, in
temporary compromise on the basis of which
front of which individuals have no other option
one then has more robust access to stronger
but to adapt if they are to survive – and to do
community representation and action that
so throughout their whole lifetime. Within this
brings about social change.
discourse, the dynamic flows of capital
An authentic education however cannot simply worldwide, which contribute to instabilities
focus on helping students ‘adjust’. While that are increasingly difficult to manage at a
schools and educators cannot be expected to nation state level (Bauman, 2017), tend to be
resolve systemic problems, the answer is not a reified – that is, they are often assumed to be a
resigned withdrawal from the political, since ‘given’ and not open to question, and that
this in itself would be a political act, and furthermore there is no viable alternative.
ultimately collusion with the prevalent state of
The implication is that it is individuals that must
affairs. Rather, as educators, we are called
adjust their way of being in the world
upon to navigate the tensions and
(Bengtsson, 2011, 2015), with CEG being one of
contradictions that necessarily arise in the
the services that supports such adaptations by
‘messy’ field of practice where pragmatism and
providing information, advice and guidance
realism have to respond to the moral and
where and when needed, lifelong. It is in the
ethical imperatives of education. While the
nature of totalising ‘ideology’ to persuade that
‘adjust/challenge’ dilemma cannot be readily
10
the prevailing order is ‘natural’, ‘normal’, ‘self- dignified living that have sometimes flourished
evident, ‘universal’, and that it works in the and sometimes been devastated, the interests
interests of all – while mystifying, excluding that are at stake, who stands to gain and who
and denigrating alternatives (Eagleton, 1991). to lose in shaping the workplace in particular
It is equally in the nature of an authentic ways, and what can be done to gain a measure
education to reveal the masking that goes on of collective control over such forces and
around social conflicts, where a state of affairs dynamics. It will remind students of past
which works in the interests of the powerful is struggles that saw subordinate groups claim for
presented by the latter as if it satisfies the themselves a raft of rights at work that, while
interests of all. far from being comprehensive, nevertheless
did make substantial differences in the ability
One way of helping students become aware of
of the majority to live decently if not actually
the contingent nature of their understanding of
flourish. Box 2 recalls some of the more
the world of work is by developing a historical
important of these hard-won rights, gains that,
imagination. An authentic career education
under current neo-liberal regimes, are under
programme would therefore help students
constant threat as capital tries to claw back its
understand how work has come to be what it
privileges.
is, the hopes and dreams for decent and

Box 2: Historical achievements of workers’ struggles over time

• awards (minimum entitlements) • meal breaks

• bereavement leave (paid) • paid annual leave
• child labour rendered illegal • paid overtime
• right of workers to form unions • benefits for work injury
• collective bargaining • unemployment insurance
• equal pay for women • parental leave (paid)
• establish the 40-hour week • redundancy pay
• establish the 8-hour work day • rest breaks
• guaranteed minimum wage • shift allowance
• health care insurance for workers • sick leave (paid)
• job discrimination (race, colour, religion, • superannuation/ pensions
sex or origin) outlawed • unfair dismissal protection
• family medical leave • uniform allowance
• health and safety guarantees • workers’ compensation
• long service leave

There are alternatives – another world is world is possible”. It would do so by giving

possible witness to the myriad exciting grass roots
Another way to help students become aware of movements that have arisen across the world
the contingent nature of their understanding of to challenge ‘dead labour’ and to enact
the world of work is by developing an meaningful work. In doing so, critical work
anthropological/comparative imagination. In educators would be providing students with
other words, an authentic work education the intellectual tools and moral resolve to not
programme would also encourage students to only trouble the present, but to also imagine
understand that, as the clarion call of the more socially just ways of living together,
World Social Forum reminds us, “another furnishing them with examples of how such
11
aspirations are neither idealistic nor dystopic subjects” (Dinerstein, 2014, p.1049). They thus
pipe dreams. offer “alternative forms of sociability, social
relation and solidarities, caring practices,
These ‘new economies’ constitute a broad set
learning processes, and emancipatory
of ideas and practices that share a common
horizons” (Dinerstein, 2014, p.1050).
critique of mainstream economic thought, that
ideologically range from ‘defensive struggles’ And yet few if any career education pro-
(Dinerstein, 2014) that try to modify and grammes in circulation make any reference to
humanise capitalism, to approaches that such social and economic experiments. Few if
articulate alternatives to the market, and set any discuss what, following Piketty (2014), one
out to prefigure a better, post-capitalist society could call ‘pragmatic utopias’ – such as the
in the belief that personal flourishing is really four-day week, flexicurity, universal basic
only truly possible within the norms and income, and a global tax on wealth – which
institutions of civil life. They thus contest such require grassroots support for progressive
neoliberal canons as “the focus on growth as an taxation and for the socialisation of profit in a
economic goal, faith in markets as efficient world where, by 2030 the world’s richest 1%
allocative mechanisms, and the role of will own two thirds of global wealth (Frisby,
government and national banks in issuing 2018).
money and credit” (Avelino et al., 2015, p.5).
Fewer still discuss the even more far-reaching
They however do not only contest, but also tap
experiments in ‘solidarity economics’ that
into embedded values, cooperative practices,
represent alternatives to both capitalism and
mutual aid, reciprocity, and generosity, in
planned economies, where what matters are
order to build diverse, ecologically-sound, and
‘life values’ rather than ‘profit values’ (Miller,
directly democratic economies (Avelino et al.,
2005), and which therefore more profoundly
2015).
unsettle, challenge, and generate alternatives
These are not oddball, one-off, ephemeral to the kinds of identities, lifestyles, and political
initiatives: the plethora of concepts and terms and institutional modalities that have become
in circulation demonstrates the sheer vitality in hegemonic.
the search for meaning and for alternative
Some of these ‘real utopias’ – as Olin Wright
ways of organising production and con-
(2010) refers to them in a series of book
sumption, including ‘green’, ‘communal’,
projects which evaluate the value, processes,
‘community’, ‘collaborative’, ‘sharing’,
and effects of substantive and radical
‘inclusive’, ‘solidarity’, ‘informal’, ‘social’,
economic, political, and cultural projects and
‘social impact’, ‘social entrepreneurship’, ‘core’
assemblages – feature in Box 3 below. These
and ‘commons-based’ economies. We are
are not ‘utopic’ – the Greek meaning of which
therefore here talking about a groundswell of
is ‘no-where’. Rather, they are ‘some-where’,
local, but thanks to anti-globalisation
enacted by real people in real situations
movements, increasingly transnationally
mobilising a range of collective, grassroots
connected responses to the imposition of
methods to organise economic activity.
market-led restructuring (se Sousa Santos,
2006), that represent what Dinerstein (2014)
calls ‘hope movements’. These efforts enact
‘territories of hope’ which “articulate a wider
conceptualization of work, as dignified work
that moves away from the traditional division
between work and labour, and engages rather
with the possibility of conceiving work as a
wider social activity by a multiplicity of
12
 Box 3: ‘Pragmatic utopias’ and ‘Territories of hope’

• The Mondragon cooperatives in the Basque region in Spain, which remind us that efficiency and the
generation (and socialisation) of profit are not mutually exclusive, in contexts where economic and not
just civic democracy is valued thanks to worker participation in ownership and management (Johnson,
2017).
• The Argentinian Movement of Unemployed Workers (Movimento de Trabajadores Desocupados, MTD
– also known as the Piquetero movement), which engaged in collective action and implemented
cooperative forms of work and social activities in neighbourhoods. These included housing
cooperatives, training and education, and environmental projects, all of which served to “generate
‘genuine’ and ‘dignified’ work and democratic and solidarity practices, in collaboration with other
popular movements, social organizations, local trade unions and small businesses” (Dinerstein, 2014,
p.1043).
• The Movimento Sin Terra (MST) which has, for the past three decades, mobilised an agrarian reform
movement involving hundreds of thousands of landless peasants who occupy large unproductive land
estates, and who pressurise the government to redistribute this land to landless families, enabling
them to collectively farm their own land through cooperatives, within the context of a solidarity
economy (Wright & Wolford 2003).
• The city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, which for decades now has promoted participatory governance and
direct democracy by allocating sizeable portions of its wealth to citizens, who decide how and where
it is used on the basis of discussions within local communities and neighbourhoods (Baiocchi, 2005).

All these social and economic experiments that much of the career learning that
contest the neoliberal given, which sees the schools offer tends to present the world of
common good as the unintended result of work in a reified manner, with students
the individual search for private interest being encouraged to comply, consent and
(Zamagni, 2014, p.193). Instead, these collude, rather than to comprehend,
movements gesture at a world where challenge and contest. This paper has
economic values are inseparable from social moreover made a case for a work education
values, and where economic relationships programme that helps students understand
and the human activity we refer to ‘work’ how across time and space, communities
are framed by ethics, where ethics concern have struggled to improve the conditions
how values are inescapably intertwined under which they laboured, and in some
with social relationships (Davis & Dolfsma, cases even set out to develop economic
2008). It is in such a context that ‘work’ – systems operating with a different logic and
even modest work – can attain meaning- values than those of the market. Such a
fulness. And it is by opening up vistas of the curriculum could be justified if education is
possible that work education can trouble understood as an endeavour that both
the numbing effect of career learning that transmits (educare) and draws out (educere)
would have students acquiesce and ‘fit in’ the best that humanity can be. Work
with what is unfit for humans. education thus understood would engage
students in conversations that deconstruct,
Conclusion
interrupt, and challenge the economic
This paper has argued that students are
system, in all of its complex forms, while
entitled to an authentic education that
pointing out to efforts that clearly showed
expands their understanding of ‘work’ as a
that ‘another world is possible.’
source of personal fulfilment. It has claimed

13
 Most of the attention in this paper focused on Baiocchi, G. (2005). Militants and citizens: The
the overt curriculum, i.e. in what is formally politics of participatory democracy in Porto
taught. Schools, however, powerfully teach Alegre. Stanford, CA: Stanford University
students how to be in the world by the kind of Press.
social relations they encourage as institutions –
Barnes, A., Bassot, B., & Chant, A. (2010). An
an insight pithily caught by Dewey’s affirmation
introduction to career learning & development
that “education is not a preparation for life; it is
11-19: Perspectives, practice and possibilities.
life itself” (1916, p.239). An authentic work
London: Routledge.
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Bengtsson, A. (2015). European career guidance
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Prof. Dr. Ronald G. Sultana is Director of the Deutscher Verband für Bildungs- und Berufs-
Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Educational beratung e.V. (dvb)
Research, University of Malta. Erich-Kästner-Weg 12
58640 Iserlohn
[email protected] Telefon 02371 / 7918012
www.um.edu.mt/emcer [email protected]
www.dvb-fachverband.de

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