ABSTRACT
The point of careers work in schools is to help each of our young men and women to be ready to make and implement their plans for education, training, and work-life-development. This is a tall order, given that development begins in childhood and is perpetually unfolding, with education options beginning to close by the middle years of secondary education. Furthermore, in our society – continuously adjusting its social and economic structures – any kind of foresight is harder than ever to focus. Nonetheless, as each leaf of planning unfolds, we intend that each student knows what they will do, and why, that they could do something else, what the probable consequences can be, and how to deal with those consequences. Plainly, such help cannot be offered on the basis of minimal set-aside time, on the margins of timetable, leading to last-minute hit-and-run guidance. To try to do it that way is to deceive ourselves and our students.
