Locating Social Justice in Career Education: What can a Small-Scale Study from New Zealand Tell Us?

Abstract

Career education occupies a pivotal position, relating school to the wider social, political and economic world. Yet it remains an under-researched curriculum area, with little attention given to issues of social justice. In this article I discuss the findings from a small-scale qualitative study, which consisted of an hour-long semi-structured interview with a secondary school careers teacher in a New Zealand provincial city. While acknowledging the limitations of this research, the findings do provide a degree of illumination when considered alongside the literature, thus contributing to the debate about the concept of career education, the role of career educators, and where social justice fits. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, the findings explore how social justice is understood and located within this particular setting, providing the reader with an opportunity to critically reflect on the conclusions reached, and consider these within the context of their own localised programs and practice(s).