The shaping of discourse positions in the development of support and supervision for personal advisers in England

A policy of inclusion has focused the 'gaze' of the UK government toward youth services and resulted in the development of the Connexions service in England. Within that context, the practice and professional identity of careers advisers (now called personal advisers) has changed. Many are working intensively with so-called 'harder-to-help' young people in 'challenging' situations where support and supervision appears to be essential. This paper discusses the findings from a qualitative case study, which sought to question that need and to investigate the perceived purpose of support and supervision. The study explored these perspectives with the aim of foregrounding differences and similarities. It is not suggested that the themes discussed are fixed; however, the discourse of practitioners needs to be heard and not silenced by louder definitions about purpose. The findings, however tentative, may be pertinent for circumstances where guidance and counselling are seen as relevant activities for the promotion of social inclusion.