School Counselors Research Articles

Sociálny pedagóg ako člen multidisciplinárneho tímu v postpandemickej situácii na Slovensku

In light of the post-pandemic situation in education, adopting a transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach is vital. Social pedagogy encompasses a range of strategies and practices that can compensate, support, innovate, and provide services that align with the current needs of individuals, communities and the global challenges facing humanity. Social educators have become members of support teams, whether at the school level, educational and counseling institutions or local governments. These teams require multidisciplinary, interdepartmental or transnational collaboration. This paper presents the current post-pandemic situation in Slovakia and offers an overview of the latest development in social pedagogue education. Also, it describes the current process of standardising the social pedagogue profession and the functions of multidisciplinary teams in the school and counselling system.

Strengthening the Language of Love as a Prevention Measure School Bullying Prevention

Bullying in schools is a complex problem that requires serious attention. This study aims to examine the potential for strengthening love language as one of the effective prevention efforts in bullying cases in schools. The study focuses on literature that discusses the relationship between love language, positive social bonds, and prosocial behavior. The methodological procedure of this article uses a literature review approach. The results of the study show that love language with indicators of affirmative words, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch has great potential in creating an inclusive and supportive school climate. This study also identifies several factors that can affect the success of the implementation of love language in efforts to prevent bullying in schools, namely; training for educators, parent involvement, and support from the school environment. The practical implications of this study are the importance of integrating love language in school curricula and counseling programs to prevent and overcome bullying in schools.

Psychosocial predictors of attitude toward premarital sexual practice among university students, Ethiopia

ObjectivesPremarital sexual practice during adolescence may lead to different sexual and reproductive health problems, including HIV/AIDS. The objective of this study was to assess psychosocial predictors of attitudes toward premarital sex among Bahir Dar University students.MethodsA correlational design was used. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 375 respondents for the study, although the analysis was based on the 361 questionnaires that were returned from the field and found useful for analysis. Data was collected using a self-developed and modified instrument on standardized scales. The internal consistency of the Perception of Peer Pressure Scale was 0.83, while the self-esteem measuring scale had a reliability of 0.77. The internal consistency of the sexual attitude inventory scale was 0.97. The data were quantitatively analyzed using (inferential statistics) logistic regression, one sample t test, and an independent sample t test.ResultsThe findings of the study showed that all the psychological variables investigated were found to significantly predict premarital sexual relationships among the respondents. Male students with the experience of premarital sex have a higher level of self-esteem and exposure to peer pressure than their female counterparts. A study suggests that male students with the experience of premarital sex have a higher level of self-esteem and exposure to peer pressure than their female counterparts. Self-esteem negatively predicted attitudes toward premarital sex.ConclusionScaling up the level of school counseling, especially in the area of sexual adjustment and modification of the psychological variables investigated, was recommended.

Adolescents’ perceptions of autonomy-supportive parents and social-emotional health: Serial multiple mediation of positive stress and mental toughness

Adolescence may bring some developmental challenges that affect social-emotional health. However, it is also possible to turn challenges into opportunities. Parental autonomy support, psychological stress, and mental toughness can contribute to adolescents having a healthy period. This study examined the mediating role of positive stress and mental toughness in the relationship between parental autonomy support and social-emotional health. The study included 441 (female 56.46%, male 43.54%) adolescents in Turkey enrolled in a high school. Self-report scales were used in this cross-sectional study. The results showed that positive stress and mental toughness were serial mediators of the relationship between adolescents’ perceptions of parental autonomy support and social-emotional health outcomes (indirect effect = 0.05 [0.03, 0.08]). These results extend the implications of self-determination and positive psychology theories. It guides parents, educators, and school counselors in strengthening adolescents’ social-emotional health. Adolescents’ socio-emotional health can be enhanced through workshops and counseling services that offer parental autonomy support, positive management of stress, and mental toughness.

Career counsellors’ perspectives on educational mobility in Denmark

AbstractThis article explores career guidance counsellors’ (GC) perspectives on their role in relation to social mobility, presenting a thematic analysis based on 14 in-depth interviews with Danish upper secondary school GCs and managers. The analysis included Watts’ typology on the socio-political function of career guidance and generated three perspectives on social mobility: (a) an upward mobility perspective, (b) an alternative mobility perspective and (c) an equality perspective. The implications for career counselling in upper secondary schools in Denmark are considered and possible avenues for further research on social mobility and social justice in career guidance are identified.

Impact Factors of Student's Abandon Learning Activities: Case Study in Dili

This research aims to explore the factors causing the problem of abandoned learning and gather perspectives to solve the problem of abandoned learning activities. This is a case study with a qualitative approach. This study was conducted in 18 schools, where the informants were 82 people from June to December 2021. The result of this study discovered internal and external factors. The internal factors included students’ interest and motivation, discipline and attitude, disinterest, and physiological. The external factors were family, teachers, school, and peers. While dealing with these factors, researchers concluded that school conditions and the quality of teachers promoted non-violent education. The results suggested that schools must design and reinforce the control instruments and implement school counseling. The Ministry of Education recruits competent and professional teachers; parents and society in general establish a co-operative spirit, paying attention to the students to obey the rules. The next research needs to involve another subject, schools at different levels. Keywords: factors, abandon, learning activities

Patterns of professional identity in school counselors: A latent profile analysis

AbstractUnderstanding school counselors’ professional identity development is important to promote positive work‐related outcomes and provide appropriate support for more quality school counseling services. The purpose of this study was to examine the patterns of professional identity in school counselors. As a result of latent profile analysis using a sample of school counselors (N = 343), we found five types of professional identity, including (1) Well‐Developed (n = 99; 28.9%), (2) High Competence (n = 53; 15.5%), (3) Moderate (n = 156; 45.5%), (4) Professionally Disconnected (n = 18; 5.2%), and (5) Vulnerable (n = 17; 5.0%). Based on the profiles, we identified significant differences in their work‐related attitudes and experiences (i.e., burnout, stress, job satisfaction, and years of school counseling experience), but there were no significant differences in demographics except for the American School Counselor Association membership. Implications and recommendations for counseling professionals are suggested.

Early Career School Counselors’ Experience of Developing Group Counseling Skills: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

ABSTRACT Group counseling is essential to school counselors’ practice, but training may be insufficient. Little literature exists on school counselors’ post-master’s experience of gaining group skills. The research question for this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study was as follows: How do early career school counselors (ECSCs) experience developing group counseling skills post-master’s? Interviews with ECSCs, use of IPA data analysis, and application of trustworthiness strategies yielded themes. Findings described participants’ experience of learning group skills in the context of colleague connections, group scarcity, motivation, and tension between barriers and motivations. Implications for group training in counselor education, continuing education, and supervision are provided.

Teen Dating Violence Programming in Schools Overall and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study of Iowa School Counselor Perceptions

Teen Dating Violence Programming in Schools Overall and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study of Iowa School Counselor Perceptions

THE POWER OF CONTROL: TRANSFORMING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN A POST‐PANDEMIC WORLD

AbstractThe author is a corporate and governmental advisor with a background in executive search and leadership advisory. She points to the changes in workplace motivation: a “list of motivating factors was given to each of us by a high school or college guidance counselor, meant to assist us in plotting out future educational paths based on the career choices expected of us by parents, teachers, friends, and potential employers.” These factors, in her words and further described in the article, are Mission, Leadership, Challenge, Scope of Impact, Acquisition of New Skills, Prestige, Personal Needs, and Money. She contends that “when we use the old metrics of success, and only them in only one order, we mistake filling in checkboxes for what our people really want: consonance.” She describes the latter as “the sense of frictionless belonging, of momentous stride, of core relevance.” The “new definition of success,” is built around, in her words, calling, connection, contribution, and control. Related factors are, in her words, flexible work arrangements, autonomy in task management, involvement in decision making, clear communication and expectations, professional development opportunities, empowering middle management, and leading with inspiration.

Psychological difficulties and the needs for psychological services for high school students

Adolescents experience numerous changes, both psychologically and physically, and they are also the age group with a high prevalence of mental problems that need counseling help. The study aims to assess the difficulties and the needs for psychological support, factors affecting the need to use psychological services among adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 672 high school students in Thu Duc City, Vietnam. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between grades 10–12 in student’s difficulties (DS) and a statistically significant difference in needs for psychological services (NPS, RPS). Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference in academic performance for DS. The findings also implied that RPS was predicted by a DS, NPS, and factors affecting the need to use psychological services (FA), in which NPS and DS were mediators in the relationship between FA and RPS. The study significantly contributes to research practices and the theoretical framework that the parliament and the government use to make counselors mandatory in schools. Meanwhile, the study suggested that school counselors, educators, and teachers must appropriately evaluate students' counseling needs and psychological difficulties; this is essential to providing support and interventions when students deal with challenges promptly.

Impact of Stress and Depression on the Mental Health of in-school Adolescents’ in Ondo State, Nigeria

This study therefore investigated the impact of stress and depression on the mental health of in-school adolescents in Ondo State. Nigeria. A total of 400 in-school adolescents were selected from public secondary schools using a multistage sampling technique. A self-designed questionnaire titled Assessment of the Impact of Stress and Depression on Mental Health of in-school Adolescents Scale (AISDMHAS) was used to elicit information from the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that the adolescents had moderate levels of stress and depression which affected their mental health. There was a relationship between stress, depression, and mental health of the in-school adolescents. Based on the findings, it was recommended that school counselors and non-governmental organizations should organize seminars and programs to create adequate awareness on the issue of stress, and depression as it affect the mental health of adolescents.

Public school teachers' perceptions of internet gaming problems among students: current status and challenges

Objectives This study aimed to identify and understand the challenges faced by public school teachers regarding issues related to Internet gaming.Methods An electronic questionnaire was administered to 400 public school teachers in the Saitama Prefecture from September to November 2021. A total of 352 valid responses were obtained. The survey content included teachers' knowledge of gaming disorders, whether their students experienced gaming-related problems, difficulties perceived by teachers, how they discovered the problems, how they dealt with them, the challenges they faced in dealing with the problems, and desired support. Data were analyzed based on the teachers' roles, responsibilities, type of school, and knowledge of gaming difficulties. Fisher's exact probability tests were used to determine significance, and adjusted standardized residuals were used to assess the differences between groups.Results Nearly 63.1% of the teachers already had knowledge of gaming disorders, and 49.4% acknowledged the existence of students with gaming problems. The most common reasons for discovering problems were disrupted daily rhythm (51.7%) and increased tardiness and early dismissal (34.7%). The main actions taken to address gaming problems were "consultation and information sharing with families" (48.6%) and "individual guidance by teachers" (34.1%). Approximately half of the teachers indicated that they regularly experienced difficulties in activities related to prevention, early detection, student support, and interaction with parents. Specific challenges included limited guidance and involvement with families (61.4%) and the inability to intervene and provide effective support (62.5%). Teachers' support included programs for addiction recovery (56.8%), awareness programs for parents (56.0%), and staff training to increase the understanding of gaming disorders (50.5%). The responses varied according to teacher role and school type, indicating that implementation rates and difficulties were higher in middle schools.Conclusion We found that teachers tended to view internet gaming problems as family problems and provide complementary support for home education. Teachers also found it difficult to deal with students with gaming problems. Depending on the teacher's role in the school and the type of school, requests for support varied. Elementary and special-needs schools needed teaching materials that could be used for classroom and school-wide instruction and guidance for concerned students and their parents; junior high schools needed a consultation system with school counselors and other professionals and cooperation with healthcare; and high schools needed measures and support, including social support.

Predictive Factors of School Counselor and School Counseling Intern Use of Creative Intervention with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students: A Multiple Regression Analysis

ABSTRACT This quantitative study examined the relationship between school counselors’ and school counseling interns’ knowledge of culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDS), advocacy interventions, self-efficacy with CLDS, and multilingualism on participants’ use of creative interventions with elementary CLDS. Pearson correlations, independent sample t-tests, and multiple-regression analysis helped assess the relationships among all constructs. Advocacy intervention, CLDS knowledge, and size of CLDS population contributed significantly to using creativity with CLDS. Implications on how to further meet the diverse needs of CLDS are provided.

Exploring the Experiences of Florida Elementary School Counselors Implementing the Parental Rights in Education Act

Anti-LGBTQ+ school legislation has proliferated across the United States in recent years, with potential consequences for both students and school counselors. Florida’s controversial 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act offers one such example. In this descriptive, phenomenological, qualitative study, we examined the experiences of 10 Florida elementary school counselors regarding the implementation of the Parental Rights in Education Act. We identified three distinct themes from the participants that related to understanding, implementation, and impact of the Act. We discuss these themes and implications for training, practice, and advocacy in the school counseling profession.

Exploring the role of school psychologists/counsellors in addressing bullying: Current practices and suggested future directions

Bullying is widely accepted as a significant issue confronting schools across the globe. The potential short and long-term consequences of bullying for involved students include negative academic and mental health impacts. It is known that a whole-school approach is required to effectively manage bullying. As such, school psychologists and counsellors are well-placed to play an important role in the prevention of and response to bullying in their workplace schools. By virtue of their training and skill-set, school psychologists and counsellors could be involved in the training of other staff, educating and collaborating with stakeholders, and counselling the involved students utilising methods such as motivational interviewing. In order for these staff members to play an effective role in bullying prevention and intervention, they require professional development on bullying, a supportive leadership team and a workplace that provides a clear delineation of their role.

PENANGANAN PERILAKU MEMBOLOS SISWA DI MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH AL-IHSAN, SIDOARJO

The phenomenon of truant behavior in students is a real phenomenon experienced by schools. Responding to this requires handling from the school through the counseling teacher to follow up on student truant behavior. This research uses a qualitative approach as case study in MTs. Al-Ihsan Sidoarjo. The informants of this study were school principals and counseling guidance teachers, by using interviews, observation and documentation as data collection method which were then analyzed qualitative-descriptively. The findings showed that the handling of truant behavior that occurred in MTs. Al-Ihsan Sidoarjo was responded by counseling teacher in preventive and curative approaches. For the preventive approach, the counseling teacher provides advice and motivation to all students not to commit truant behavior. Apart from that, parenting sessions were also held as an educational effort and to establish communication with parents and to strengthen social control efforts by involving the role of the surrounding. In the curative approach, the counseling teacher conducts individual counseling sessions to students who have problems intensively to be able to explore reasons and determine solutions centered on the students' own awareness. In addition, the counseling teacher also conducts home visits to the house as a form of communication and checks the condition of students in the home environment. The last treatment taken by the school if truancy behavior is still being carried out is by enforcing discipline through imposing sanctions on students.

Efektivitas Bimbingan Kelompok Melalui Teknik Sosiodrama Dalam Meningkatkan Sikap Respek

Students' respect for teachers and peers can be increased with sociodrama technique group guidance services. The aim of this research is to reveal how effective sociodrama technical group guidance services are in increasing students' respect for teachers and peers. This study uses a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental design and an experiment with a one group pretest-posttest design. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed quantitatively and the results were described. The research location is SMP Negeri 2 Gunungsitoli Utara. The research population was all 69 class VII students and the sample was drawn by purposive sampling, 48 people for the experiment and one class for the control class. The research results concluded that sociodrama technique group guidance services were effective in increasing students' respectful attitudes and lecture or conventional methods were not effective in increasing students' respectful attitudes. This is proven by the very high increase in their respect. The students' respectful attitude before being given treatment, namely sociodrama technical group guidance services to 48 people with a test average of only 69.67%, was in the ineffective category. Meanwhile, after being given treatment, namely the sociodrama technical group guidance service and the average post-test result was 97.67 with the category being effective and the treatment result was 28%. It is recommended that guidance and counseling teachers or school counselors plan and implement sociodrama technique group guidance services with appropriate material to increase students' respect.

Pengaruh Kemampuan Menghadapi Konflik dan Kritik Terhadap Hubungan Sosial

Social relationship abilities can be improved by the ability to deal with conflict and criticism. The aim of the research is to reveal the influence of the ability to deal with conflict (X1) with the ability to deal with criticism (X2), using a quantitative associative strategy method. The research location was SMP Negeri 2 Gido, the research population was all class VIII students and the sample was taken purposively as many as 60 people. The data collection instrument was a closed questionnaire which was distributed to a number of respondents. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis to answer research questions according to the proposed hypothesis. The research results concluded that the ability to deal with conflict (X1) partially had a significant effect on improving social relations (Y). The regression coefficient value for the variable ability to deal with conflict is negative, namely 0.071 and every 1.00% increase in ability will be followed by an increase in social relations of 0.071%. The ability to face criticism (X2) partially has a significant effect on increasing social relationship abilities (Y). The regression coefficient value for the ability to face criticism is positive, namely 1.102 and for every 1.00% increase in the ability to face criticism, it will be followed by an increase in social ability of 1.102%. Variables X1 and X2 together have a significant effect on variable Y and every increase in X1 and the contribution of the influence of variables X1 and it is recommended for school counselors to provide special guidance and counseling services to handle, develop and improve students' social abilities.

BREAK FREE and Fly: A CBT School Counseling Group Curriculum for Anxiety

A junior/senior high school counselor used an innovative psychoeducational group counseling curriculum based on cognitive behavioral therapy to meet the social/emotional needs of identified students. This article provides a summary and evaluation of the small group plan conducted via practitioner research. Results indicated that, although participants’ overall feelings of anxiety did not significantly improve, the curriculum enabled study participants to meet defined learning objectives. We discuss implications for school counselors.