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Abstract
This article examines the implications of a new school counselling policy, namely, ‘one school social worker for each school’, for the professional identity of school counsellors and guidance and counselling services in Hong Kong primary schools. This paper reviews primary school counselling development since the 1970s with a focus on workforce planning. As a result, it identifies two themes: (1) counselling workforce planning has gradually shifted from purely government-led to more school-based planning, and (2) school counsellors with master’s-level counselling training qualifications are not adequately recognized in primary school settings. Making school counsellors visible to school principals, the Education Bureau and the public before the full implementation of the new policy in 2021/2022 is critical. The strategic positions of counsellor educators and counselling associations that are central to the advancement of the professional identity of school counsellors are discussed.
Highlights
The tragic and violent death of a five-year-old girl by her family in January 2018 shocked the people in Hong Kong, one of the 37 “advanced economies” in the world (International Monetary Fund, 2015, p. 150)
This article examines the implications of a new school counselling policy, namely, ‘one school social worker for each school’, for the professional identity of school counsellors and guidance and counselling services in Hong Kong primary schools
This paper reviews primary school counselling development since the 1970s with a focus on workforce planning. It identifies two themes: (1) counselling workforce planning has gradually shifted from purely government-led to more school-based planning, and (2) school counsellors with master’s-level counselling training qualifications are not adequately recognized in primary school settings
Summary
The tragic and violent death of a five-year-old girl by her family in January 2018 shocked the people in Hong Kong, one of the 37 “advanced economies” in the world (International Monetary Fund, 2015, p. 150). All parties urged the government to implement ‘1+1’” https://www.hkptu.org/ptunews/682/headline-s; “Primary school ‘One school social worker for each school’ policy, eager to do things, not yet optimized first chaos” http://www.hkswgu.org.hk/news_detail.php?id=176) (Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union Newsletter, 2018; Hong Kong Social Workers’ General Union, 2018) They all expressed that ‘one school social worker for each school’ should not be the ultimate goal of student guidance and counselling services in primary schools. The current paper is an effort to continuously respond to the ‘one school social worker for each school’ policy, and it has two major goals It aims to identify and discuss the implications of the new policy for the professional identity of school counsellors and guidance and counselling services in Hong Kong primary schools. At the end of the paper, strategic actions for counsellor educators and counselling associations are proposed
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