An Analysis on School Psychological Counselors’ Dealing With Difference In Multicultural Contexts

Abstract

Migrations caused by wars and economic depression have become one of the most important problems of Turkey. Considering multicultural structure of the country and the migration wave from Syria, it is aimed to find out how school psychological counselors perceive difference, how they cope with conflicts and how they perceive themselves with respect to multicultural competencies. For this reason, 28 school counselors were interviewed from two cities of Turkey. This study, conducted with a qualitative research design, aims to describe the current perceptions of school counselors. In order to analyze the data, content analysis was used. According to the findings; most of the counselors perceive differences as wealth. However, it is also stated that multiculturalism causes conflict. While the counselors' schools seem to have a culture that fosters and nurtures differences in general terms, it has become clear that some schools do not welcome cultural differences. A significant amount of school counselors do not regard themselves competent, while others find themselves partially competent.