The history of career development in Australia began with a combination of a rudimentary matching process and welfare-driven interventions. Practices over time were sourced from overseas, were ...interrupted by world wars, and were the subject of government and political interventions. From the 1970s and 1980s, many interventions in Australia were developed in parallel with those from other countries. Some of these included career education programs (the draft Australian Blueprint for Career Development (Morgan, 2003) was adapted from the Canadian Blueprint for Life/Work Designs, (Hache et al., 2000) and government sponsored information websites (e.g. the National Career Information System (NCIS), myfuture). However, by the 2000s, a number of Australian interventions were acclaimed as leaders in the field (e.g. the establishment of the national peak body, the Career Industry Council of Australia CICA), a world first). Indeed, Hughes (2014) commented that in the OECD (2004) 'seminal assessment of careers guidance and public policy' there were 'over fifty specific references to Australia, key features of an emerging careers ecosystem' (p. 6). This article will briefly document this history, document themes which recur such as different practices and policies occurring across jurisdictions, and political influences which serve to cause uncertainty as to the actual concept of career development. The paper will celebrate current strengths of the field in Australia and connect the 30 years of the Australian Journal of Career Development and the history of committed endeavour of those who worked toward the instigation of the journal to this dynamic history and to Australia's ongoing international leadership.
This 30th-year anniversary edition of the Australian Journal of Career Development (AJCD) represents a milestone for the Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development, the genesis of which was ...published in the 1992 first edition. Beginning as a contextual model of adolescent career decision-making, subsequent research and refinement resulted in the first publication of the STF in 1995 in the AJCD. At a time when constructivist and social constructionist ideas were only just beginning to influence career development, the STF introduced news of difference to the field. In subsequent decades, the STF has consolidated its place as an important theoretical contribution to career development as attested by the fourth edition of its seminal textbook. The STF's history is marked by a continual integration of theory, research, and practice. This article briefly overviews the STF, its applications and contributions, and offers suggestions for its future directions.
Career Development as a Partner in Nation Building Australia details the valuable historical place of career development in contributing to the broad growth of Australian society. It challenges ...policy makers and practitioners to provide a more sustained national systemic approach.
This fourth edition of the book attests to the Systems Theory Framework's contemporary relevance. It introduces systems theory and the STF, overviews extant career theory, describes the STF's ...applications, and highlights the STF's contributions and future directions.
This special issue of the Australian Journal of Career Development marks the milestone of its 30th year of publication. Under the leadership of its editors, the Journal has made a major contribution ...to Australian career development practitioners, theorists, and researchers as well as international readers. This special issue documents its history, overviews its theoretical contributions, and evidences the firm foundation on which its future will be built.
This special tribute to Emeritus Professor Audrey Collin has a particular Australian flavour as her work has had a significant influence on a number of Australian researchers and thinkers. However, ...it is a mark of her influence that she has worked intensively with colleagues from around the world and has had a strong influence across a number of areas of career development, in particular career development theory.
This article documents the 50 years of contribution and service of Dr Col McCowan OAM to the career development field in Australia and in many other countries. Over 50 years, he has contributed to ...policy development and significant practice innovations based on his research. His work continues to influence in all areas of career development, especially in education settings from primary through to tertiary. It is written to not only acknowledge his work but to ensure the history of our pioneers is not forgotten.
This article emphasises the challenging nature of the leadership role of Faculty of Education Dean in the twenty-first-century university, noting the demands of the managing up, down and out nature ...of the role. The author argues that leadership expertise is developmental and evolutionary, requiring continual refinement, with experience acting as a scaffold and even perhaps an incubator as leaders develop their own nuanced skills and perspectives. Using her experience of 15 years as Head of School and then Dean in the same Faculty, the author describes the many faces of her leadership, and reflects on the often hidden personal face of enacting walk the walk and not talk the talk leadership practice.
This paper provides an overview of narrative career counselling, which is presented as a predominant variant of constructivism. Constructivist theories have relatively recently emerged as a ...significant force within vocational psychology and the practice of career counselling. The systems theory framework and the theory of career construction are introduced as theoretical frameworks amendable to constructivism and narrative career counselling. Although a stable definition of narrative career counselling cannot be presented at this stage in its theoretical and technical evolution, core theoretical tenets of this new approach to counselling are presented. Exemplars of the practice are described to provide an introductory account of the process of narrative career counselling. Some of the limitations of the approach are described along with a recommendation for the development of theory and research that adequately address counselling outcome and process.
This collection of reflections from the five former editors of the Australian Journal of Career Development demonstrates the efforts which have been undertaken over time to hold true to its original ...goals and to ensure that it has continued to develop to ensure its survival and growth within an everchanging career development research and practice landscape.
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