Pastoral power manifestations within the guidance professionals’ talk on guidance practices
Harjula, S., & Kalalahti, M. (2024). Pastoral power manifestations within the guidance professionals’ talk on guidance practices. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, Early online. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2024.2304284
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Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational PolicyDate
2024Copyright
© 2024 the Authors
Young people in the Nordic countries have many options and face obligations to participate in career guidance and counselling (guidance). In Finland, young people are subjected to multiple institutionalized guidance practices especially in educational transition phases. Guidance has various objectives as a public policy, thereby setting a framework for guidance professionals too. By using Foucault’s conceptualization on ‘pastoral’ power, we studied how guidance professionals (‘shepherds’) guide young people (‘the flock’) towards ‘wellbeing’. Our aim was to analyse how pastoral power is manifested in guidance practices by asking what governmental discourses the guidance professionals refer to when talking about guidance and how these discourses are practiced in guidance. Our data comprise Finnish guidance professionals’ interviews (n = 15). As a result, dominant governmental discourses of employ-ability, economic efficiency and lifelong learning were identified. Guidance involved pastoral power and demanded employability and educability for the young. Guidance professionals have a crucial role in implementing governmental discourses into guidance practices. These practices create a narrow perspective for young people and guidance professionals, who are simultaneously the mediators and targets of governmental power.
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Taylor & FrancisISSN Search the Publication Forum
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https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/201995356
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The data collection for this article was supported by The Foundation for Municipal Development.License
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