‘Then I’ll go home and google it instead’

Improvisation and co-creation in meetings between pupils and counsellors

Abstract

Based on focus group interviews, this study explores secondary and upper secondary school pupils’ experiences with counsellor meetings. Individualization forms a central context for pupil choices. Improvisation (i.e., the counsellor’s alertness to the pupil’s wishes and needs and their ability to be present in the here-and-now situation) is used to expound on pupils’ experiences of meeting the counsellor. The counsellor’s balance between information, reflection and action is a central factor in the pupil having a good experience with counsellor meetings. There are indications that a counsellor’s ability to improvise is vital to a pupil’s counselling experience. This requires a balance between the counsellor’s perception of the pupil’s wishes and needs and the action of adapting their role as a counsellor accordingly. The study proposes that this can be done through an improvisation-based counselling practice. Furthermore, if pupils are given the opportunity to be co-creators in their own choice process, this can contribute to their willingness to continue meeting with their counsellors.