cupboard guidance

What role does place and space take in career guidance? I studied social geography, and so I find it easy and obvious to think of things spatially. Different spaces undoubtedly impact on how we read and use the world.

So, should guidance be in an office? on the high street? in the school? in the school ‘broom cupboard’/guidance office? in the local community? in the home? online? In a field?

The same guidance technique conducted in the school ‘broom cupboard’* would be a very different thing if it were conducted in a field! What spaces empower and what spaces intimidate?

If you find yourself working in a 'formal' environment should you act a little more 'informally' to balance it out (and vice versa)?

And everyone has a different sense of spatial distance. Some people can't leave their own homes. Lots of people can't get a bus. Lot's of people wouldn't travel somewhere minutes away. I used to work in Musselburgh - to me that is 'in' Edinburgh (25 mins up the road from my flat on a bus). But for a lot of people who live there Edinburgh city centre is on the other side of their world.

So I don't think there is any one 'right' place for guidance. Some clients will find it more convenient to come to you when it suits them. Some clients will be sent to you. And some clients will need you to come to them.

On top of this there is the issue of community, which is quite different to the issue of place and the issue of space. It's not only clients who may problematically lack the right social capital for work, guidance workers in some communities will also need the right social capital if they are to be accepted and respected. Although this can be difficult it isn’t really something you can shy away from.

*[n.b speaking from experience, it is not a good idea to get into the habit of affectionately calling your tiny office “the cupboard”. This can lead to confusion and mild horror when colleagues ask you where you have just put an upset client!]