Hazel Reid was invited to give a two hour workshop in Austria in April 2012 at the annual conference of the Bundesinstitut fur Erwachsenenbildung (the Federal Institute for Adult Education - bifeb). This took place at their educational headquarters on Wolfgangsee, near Salzburg. The aim of the conference was to bring together researchers, experts and career guidance practitioners from different sectors of guidance and counselling, in order to encourage discussion and dialogue. Delegates came from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Strobl, Lake Wolfgangsee |
Career guidance and counselling in Austria is not yet established as a discrete profession, very often it is one activity among others. The individual professional identities of delegates were diverse and the conference sought to bring these professionals together to discuss their different and similar interests. The papers and workshops at the conference were concerned with theoretical and practical perspectives that aimed to enthuse those attending.
Dr Hazel Reid |
Hazel’s workshop was entitled: “‘Telling tales’: Making narrative approaches count in career counselling”. In her workshop, participants had an opportunity to learn about the approach and to practise using the techniques and strategies. A keynote presenter had discussed constructivist approaches in the morning and this provided a useful foundation for the afternoon's activity. Delegates enjoyed the workshop and as a result, Hazel has been asked to give a keynote presentation to another conference in Vienna in the autumn of 2012.
Rebecca Tee