working
with Connexions as a system
BUMPY
RIDE FOR PERSONAL ADVISERS
Learner
centred... impartial... and neutral help? Thats what we want to
offer. But are we in any position to deliver it?
No guidance system is perfect: at best systems help - but most are imperfect,
some are damaging. And all systems need people who know how to work with
them. At times they need people who know how to work around them.
a
cautionary tale
I
want to tell you about my friend. He used to work with 16-19 year-olds,
helping them plan their education and career. But, as so often happens,
talk turned to personal and family life - friendships and hostilities.
At times it touched on love life..., or drugs... and crime....
It was troublesome he was working with troubled people. But his
managers were laced straighter; and they wanted no sensibilities ruffled.
Life should be so convenient!
Take the day a couple of drugs-squad cops dropped in, saying he was needed
as a witness for the prosecution. They knew he knew something, and they
were right. In a fraught interview, he argued that just one betrayal of
confidence by him would be the end of his work there. They were hesitant;
but they were also sane - and backed off.
People
talk; and a head teacher in a feeder school got to hear of it. The head
thought he saw a threat to the good name of his school. He wanted the
names of users and dealers. He demanded access to my friends notes.
But my friend is not a pushover. So, a within a week, he was carpeted
for an hour by the Deputy Director for Education, the Principal Education
Welfare Officer and the Head Teacher. They were all too worried to hear
any appeal to trust. It seemed that, although some police could see the
sense in backing off, these bosses could only think of one way of dealing
with their fears.
My
friend knew he couldnt go on in that atmosphere. Before leaving,
he destroyed his notes. A confidence, he said, is a
confidence.
that
was then, this is now
And
now, I need to know if he did the right thing? It doesnt take much
to work up a situation like this. There are all kinds of ways of getting
pinioned by a learners needs and other peoples safety. Social
workers and clinicians get caught. Lawyers and journalists can be. Personal
advisers are not going to escape. So, suppose another crisis like that
came up; what do you think an adviser should do?
The thing is this: Connexions is a good name for what we do,
because it faces up to all the links - between learning for work and for
life, between all of that and doing drugs and crime, and about how all
of that links to love and allegiance. It means we are working with what
people learn among their friends, through the media, at home, in the neighbourhood
- not just at school. There can be a lot of disentangling to do. Learners
tell you things that you dont necessarily want to hear. And other
people, when they realise this, get worried and feel threatened
people in families, among colleagues and who are your managers.
But our learners need us to be steady; and its not easy. The easiest
way to stay steady is to find the straightest routes to Connexions
targets. If we bump into serious complications drugs, pregnancy,
crime a nervous manager might want us to distance ourselves. Others
might expect us to report the crime. Some might want to see our notes.
Thats what happened to my friend.
My friend says, There are always more than two players in the helping
game and a helper can be under more pressure than her learners!.
Hes right: whether we are in McDonalds, a walk-in centre,
or our own office, freedom from pressure is not an option.
We can duck out by sticking to the rules and Connexions has plenty
of those. Where learner needs dont fit Connexions targets, its
neednt be too hard to persuade them to give way. We can stick to
plans for ok forms of education and employment. We can keep
our eyes and ears open to the systems expectations. If somebody
wants to see confidential notes, why is that such a big a deal? The fact
is a person can stay out of trouble by not risking company time on work
that will not realise company targets. Thats our seat belt, and
this is a bumpy ride.
Otherwise an adviser could be getting to where she can only help her learners
careers by risking her own. Thats what happened to my friend. I
dont think he should do that again.
So, thanks for listening. The only question left in my aching head is,
If I do as youve so kindly advised me, how do I justify my
professional claims for learner-centred impartiality? But I dont
want to think about that now. Ill think about it tomorrow.
Oh!, and, before I go, I said this all started with my friend. It wasnt
really my friend. But you knew that.
Didnt
you?
You
are in the magazine section of The Career-learning Café - www.hihohiho.com
WHERE
NOW?
research into what dilemmas
like these can mean for personal advisers
back to the magazine front
page
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back to café career magazine
- in touch articles
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"'A
confidence, he said, is a confidence."
"There
are always more than two players in the helping game and a helper
can be under more pressure than her learners!"
"A
person can stay out of trouble by not risking company time on work that
will not realise company targets."
"How
do I justify my professional claims for learner-centred impartiality?"
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