At some point or other in their academic careers, most tertiary-level students will become engaged in the planning and execution of research projects. It is a fundamental part of further education that many students find daunting, which need not be the case. First steps in research uses the most current perspectives in the field both locally and internationally to provide theoretical and practical guidelines on how to conduct and report on research at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

First steps in research brings together the views of academics, theorists, researchers, and practitioners. It presents perspectives and theory on how to facilitate the understanding and application of theories, goals, methods, and strategies.

The book is easy to read and use without diluting the conceptual and terminological complexities of the field. It examines the historical and philosophical underpinnings of qualitative, quantitative, and integrative (integrated) or mixed methods of conducting research, and suggests how these three approaches may be used most appropriately. It also elaborates on the methodological dimensions of action research processes and exemplifies participatory reflection.

This book sets out to provide context for innovating counseling for self- and career construction. It gives readers insight into the theory underlying an innovative, integrative qualitative-quantitative approach to career counseling. Three key ideas recur throughout the book. First, the idea of not dispensing "advice" to people-instead, enabling them to advise themselves. Second, the idea of listening for instead of to people's stories to help them choose and construct careers and themselves and shape their career identities. Third, the idea of helping people connect what they know about themselves consciously with what they are aware of subconsciously. The book confronts some of the main challenges posed by Work 4.0 on the workplace but also foreshadows the imminent advent of Work 5.0. It endeavors to promote career counselors' ability to help people "thrive" at a time when many speculate that work itself is at risk, occupational contexts no longer "hold" workers in the way they used to, and the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the workplace.

This book examines how the career counselling profession should respond to the changes in the world of work that have resulted from the increasing need to communicate faster and disseminate information more efficiently. It emphasizes the twin aims of enhancing a persons' career adaptability and helping them to become more employable, rather than linearly trying to find a job and remaining in one organisation for their entire career-lives. The book shows that, to achieve these aims, people need to acquire career resilience, especially since the world of work no longer provides workers with work-holding environments for the duration of their career-lives. It takes into account historical analyses which show that whenever major technological change has occurred and widespread job losses have ensued, people have managed to use the new technology to create new employment opportunities. Readers from career psychology and management research, vocational and professional career coaching, and students of career psychology will find this book delivers sound, updated theory demonstrating how perceived threats in the 21st century can conceivably be turned into opportunities.

This book sets out to provide context for innovating counseling for self- and career construction. It gives readers insight into the theory underlying an innovative, integrative qualitative-quantitative approach to career counseling. Three key ideas recur throughout the book. First, the idea of not dispensing "advice" to people-instead, enabling them to advise themselves. Second, the idea of listening for instead of to people's stories to help them choose and construct careers and themselves and shape their career identities. Third, the idea of helping people connect what they know about themselves consciously with what they are aware of subconsciously. The book confronts some of the main challenges posed by Work 4.0 on the workplace but also foreshadows the imminent advent of Work 5.0. It endeavors to promote career counselors' ability to help people "thrive" at a time when many speculate that work itself is at risk, occupational contexts no longer "hold" workers in the way they used to, and the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the workplace.

Career Counselling: Techniques that work is a much-needed introductory text for all practitioners involved in primary, secondary and tertiary education, psychology and social work. It is also suitable for corporate coaches, academics, researchers, scholars and students interested in becoming familiar with career construction counselling for life designing. A unique feature of the title is that the work of an extensive range of international experts (theorists, researchers and practitioners) has been brought together in one publication. Representing the main schools of thought in career counselling today, this title identifies and reflects the growing global interest in innovative approaches to career counselling and, more particularly, Mark Savickas's career-story interview technique for career construction counselling. Career counselling: Techniques that work was inspired, firstly, by the ground-breaking work of and global response to Mark Savickas' publications and workshops on the life style approach to career counselling. Secondly, it was motivated by the increased emphasis on career counselling in training institutions. The contributors collectively meld traditional and contemporary traditions in the field of career counselling in this accessible, hands-on text that can be used to design the future lives of persons of all ages.

In this book, career counselling history, best practices as well as contemporary models and methods are brought together. In reflecting on the past, present, and future of career counselling, the story of the postmodern, narrative or career construction approach and the model and methods used to advance careers in the 21st century is told. A meta-reflection concept is proposed, based on career construction principles and practices and aimed at providing an examination of repeated reflection in career counselling. Overall, an attempt is made to craft a text that is not just specifically instructive but also more generally so. Whereas the theory section includes much that is hands-on and practical, the inclusion of narratives in the practice section turns theory into practice. Narratives illustrate the complexity and contextuality of partnering with clients toward (re-)designed lives. Ultimately, the volume aims to demonstrate how Mark Savickas' counselling for career construction approach can be used by clients to connect life themes in order to construct life portraits under the guidance of counsellors. "Counselling for Career Construction harnesses the power of story to yield an innovative, inclusive, and context-rich perspective on career development and counselling for the digital age. Through brilliant scholarly analysis and vivid practical application, Professor Kobus Maree explains and demonstrates in this book how self-reflection and reflexive self-construction - key processes of career construction - assist people across the diverse spectrum of life to use work as an instrument of self-making and self-healing. Counselling for Career Construction sends up a resounding call for us to construct and shape our lives through work with confidence and conviction. More importantly, it shows us how to answer that call." Prof. P. J. Hartung, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, United States of America. "The highest compliment to either paradigm or theory is when someone kindly and carefully nudges either toward further definition and utility. Kobus Maree has accomplished the aforementioned both thoroughly and brilliantly." Prof. W. C. Briddick, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota "This book ... is a treasure trove of innovative thinking in counselling that provides a launching pad for the next generation of research in this exciting field." Prof. J. D. Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, University of the Free State, South Africa "This book is an exemplar of enlightening, and enlightened, scholarship. Its instructive, avant-garde contents support early-career and veteran practitioners' partnering with clients towards meaningful career construction, interrogate positivist or purely quantitative approaches to career designing, and fuel scholarly debate on the theory and practice of career counselling. Essentially, this text is requisite reading, for psychology students, academics, and practitioners." Prof. L. C. Theron, the School of Education Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, South Africa "Offering a unique, inspiring and meaningful contribution to the field of career counselling, this volume advances the Savickian perspective of career construction by advocating reflective self- and career construction under the watchful eye of a career counsellor. It represents essential reading for scholars and career counsellors in the post-modern era." Prof. A. Di Fabio, Department of Counselling Psychology, the University of Florence, Florence, Italy