Information approaches and the construction of ‘good’ guidance in career guidance counsellors’ professional practice

Abstract Adopting a reflexive research approach, this study offers insights into how career guidance counsellors (CGCs) conceptualise the role of information in their work with students, and how its use aligns with their notions of good practice. In total, 25 CGCs were interviewed to describe and reflect on how they support upper secondary students’ transition to continuing education and work. The iterative engagement between theory and data enabled the identification of five different approaches to information use in guidance practice. The five approaches embody a spectrum of theoretical orientations, ranging from traditional matching paradigms to emancipatory perspectives. The analysis highlights an information paradox, concluding that information may have multiple roles in guidance. Although matching-oriented perspectives on information are prominent in their everyday practices, this study suggests that information use grounded in developmental and socially informed theoretical frameworks aligns more closely with CGCs’ conceptions of good guidance.