Projecting the Future: A Study of Vocational Decisions From a Narrative-Autobiographical Approach

Abstract

We explore the vocational decisions of seven students with learning challenges living in a rural area in Spain and who were completing their final year of compulsory education. Our design combined research and intervention strategies based on notions of sociocultural mediation and re-mediation. Our objectives were both analytical and practical. On the one hand, a sociocultural approach was used to explore how identity meanings are used by the students on a discursive construction related to their vocational choices; on the other hand, students had been provided with tools that facilitated the reflexive act of constructing and projecting their own academic and professional careers. We conclude that the reflexive use of autobiographical narratives makes it possible to provide vocational guidance in social, cultural, and institutional environments, helping to increase its impact on students' lives.