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"THERE IS A TIME FOR EACH AND EVERY THING"
from Germany raises the guestion Do Acceleration and Boundless Work Lead
to Accelerated and Boundless Coaching? He argues that a supervisor or coach
can only be considered as competent if he (she) is able to take care of himself
(herself) in this time of fast acceleration, understood as a sweeping social
trend. Ihis thesis he develops in steps, taking recourse to Foucaults concept
of self-care?. He focuses secondly on the “courage for truth”, and thirdly on
“critique”, understood as the art not to be governed so much. He concludes that
in accelerating times, it is crucial that coaching serves as an appeal to self-care,
promoting critical reflection in line with the practice of freedom.
In a second theoretical approach, Volker Walpuski, also from Germany
invites us to ergonomic findings, thereby also focusing on acceleration in labour.
His contribution is entitled Always on — Dealing with a Constant Availability
— an experience revolutionising our daily lives and our working conditions.
With ubiquitous computing, reality and virtuality merge, overcoming the
contrast between them. Thus boundaries are blurred in multiple ways. Total
availability influences the organisation of work and has various health effects.
In consequence it becomes a serious topic for health sustaining programs.
Although the red threads are recognized, organisations find it difficult to
handle the problem because of its hidden contradictions. Walpuski very
concretely points out these contradictions, explaining the various interests
and perspectives. He goes on tot demonstrate the influence of this post-mo¬
dern phenomenon on supervisory and coaching processes, and why and how
supervisors and coaches are affected by it.
With this contribution we change the topic and take on the perspective of
development:
DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERVISION AND COACHING IN EUROPE
Two articles are combined under this heading. Heidemarie Müller-Riedlhuber
from Austria raises the question How Do We Describe What We Are
Doing? Supervision and Coaching in the Context of European Competence
Orientation. The title indicates how we are dealing with policy instruments
of public interest. Competences and learning outcomes are important means
to facilitate transparency as well as increased comparability of professional
profiles with regard to the mobility of learners and workers within Euro¬
pe. Ihus the article leads into the European policy development, outlining
3 Michel Foucault, Histoire de la sexualité 3: Le souci de soi, Paris, Gallimard, 1984.
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