12th Conference EUSE Lisbon 2015

1. “ Improving Diversity through
Supported Employment ”

2. The Employment
specialist as a tightrope
walker between power
and user involvement
Tonje Sanden Sannes
Øystein Spjelkavik
hosted by:
In association with:

4. • My intention:
Critical reflection about your mandate as an
employment specialist

5. MOTIVATION

6. In order to balance adequately
between power and user
involvement, it is necessary to
have a high level of awareness and
also adequate knowledge

7. • What is critical reflection?
• It is about understanding how knowledge in a
certain context is constructed and maintained
• Through a deconstruction and a reconstruction
of power in our context as employment
specialists, we can identify our assumptions
about power and user involvement

8. • Age
• Gender
• Clothing
• Ethical beliefs
• Your perspective on the system
(alienating or strengthening?)

9. What is your political context
and your formal role as an
employment specialist?

10. Power as a complicating factor

11. “This leads Foucault to point out that any form
of knowledge, even knowledge of the self, is
linked to a form of power: to a network of
scientific discourse, knowledge, professions,
institutions and practices, the function of which
is to classify, normalize and regulate human
behavior” (Burkitt 2008:86).

12. Checkmate?

13. • The job seeker’s power
• The job seekers bear the
consequenses of the
constructions

15. • Respect
• Adequate knowledge
• User involvement
• «I know you can do this»
• Inner motivation

16. • Critical reflection
• What is your mandate as an
employment specialist?