Lärande i professionellt samtalsstöd : Villkor för vuxna arbetssökandes karriärprocesser

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to contribute knowledge to how professional conversations such as career guidance and coaching contribute to adults’ learning in their career development. Unemployment is a topic that has recently gained much attention in the political debate as well as in society. Career guidance and coaching have largely been used as a means for supporting the unemployed in their career development. This thesis takes the adult job seekers’ perspective for increasing our knowledge of the learning-process taking place in professional conversations. The study draws on theories of learning, recognition, career development, dialogue and relationships. The thesis focuses on the following research questions:How do participants experience professional conversations?What learning conditions emerge from the participants’ experiences?How does learning take place and what meaning does this have for the participants in their career development?The study was conducted in two municipal labor market projects. The empirical data is based on 22 qualitative interviews with 16 long-term unemployed, 16 initial interviews and six follow-up interviews one-and-a-half year after the first interview. The interviews were conducted as reflective conversations, about participants past experiences of professional conversations in order to benefit participants’ own stories.The results show that:Learning in professional conversations is influenced by the tensions between participants’ self-image, societal demands on the outcome of conversations and how the conversations are organized.The participants’ previous experiences of different forms of employment measures seem to affect their experiences of the professional conversations.Participants’ previous experiences of professional conversations affect the participants’ learning in different ways.How the professionals have treated the participants affects the participants’ confidence or skepticism towards the professional helper. It opens or closes for the relationship and work alliance between them.The participants’ emotional experiences in their encounter with professionals appear to be an important driving force in the learning process. Small nuances such as how the professional attitude is perceived are crucial to the learning process. The dissertation shows that emotional and relational aspects, largely, influence participants’ learning process in professional conversation. Three conditions for learning were identified: Pre-existing conditions, organizational conditions, and conversation related conditions. Four learning processes have also been identified: The positive, the turning, the adaptive and the negative. These learning processes seem to affect the continuing career process in different ways.