Creativity: A key concept in guidance and career counselling

Abstract

Creativity can be considered a key resource in human development, education and adaptation. It is often defined as the ability to generate novel productions (ideas or work) that are valuable in their context and are also frequently surprising. In the context of the 21st century skills movement, creativity is systematically cited as a life skill, together with critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills. In this article, we explore the role of creativity in vocational guidance and suggest how it may be further integrated into discussions of career counselling. The article first offers a collection of perspectives from the French guidance counselling literature, educational guidance and training perspectives. This material illustrates the pivotally important modern expansion of the field’s mission from helping students making career choices to that of providing individuals of all kinds with the skills and perspective necessary to begin the lifelong process of building their own ‘life project’. In this expanded vision of career counselling, we argue that the understanding and development of an individuals’ creativity becomes even more centrally important.