Ethical and Supervision Issues in the Use of Counselling and Other Helping Skills with Children and Young People in School

This paper explores the use of counselling and other helping skills with young people in schools, focusing on how teachers, who may not be formally trained, work in this area. The author argues that counselling in schools may not be common but that teachers’ use of counselling skills and the involvement in intensive case work is much more so. The ethical issues in this work are identified. It is argued that schools should draw up their own ethical position statements and that staff who are involved in intensive support work with pupils should receive supervision.     

Ethical and Supervision Issues in the Use of Counselling and Other Helping Skills with Children and Young People in School

This paper explores the use of counselling and other helping skills with young people in schools, focusing on how teachers, who may not be formally trained, work in this area. The author argues that counselling in schools may not be common but that teachers' use of counselling skills and the involvement in intensive case work is much more so. The ethical issues in this work are identified. It is argued that schools should draw up their own ethical position statements and that staff who are involved in intensive support work with pupils should receive supervision.     

The role and the training of teacher-counsellors

The example of teachers not seeking counselling was used. Some reasons for this situation were given as well as one possible way to change it by providing early information and training during the students' regular studies. My hope is that if teachers have the necessary information, abilities and positive experiences, when they have problems, it should be easier for them to use counsellors than it is for other today.Teachers were used as an example of how one group could be encounraged to make use of counsellors. However, similar strategies could be used with other groups whose jobs involve high personal stress (for example social workers, medical doctors etc.). The example of teachers was also used to show how change can be introduced within a system. Here it might be useful to develop the ability to work with a counsellor during the regular education, so that it becomes part of their understanding of their professional role.     

A Proposed Procedure for Suspension of Pupils

It is a reality of schools today that most teachers are overwhelmed by daily demands on their time and energy. In particular, they find it difficult to allocate enough extra time for purposes of counselling individual pupils with problems. Any arrangement that enables them to fulfil this counselling role quickly and effectively – and with positive results – would therefore be welcome. This paper reports a teacher’s application of a brief form of solution‐focused counselling with pupils attending a primary school in Hong Kong. The teacher’s personal reflections after using the approach support the view that this form of counselling can be effective with children of this age. The authors believe that teachers who use solution focused counselling in helping their students would benefit from clinical supervision of a reflecting team.     

Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling Programmes in the Primary Schools of Hong Kong: Teachers' Perceptions and Involvement

This article describes teachers' and Life Education Coordinators' perceptions of, and involvement in, the guidance and counselling activities in primary schools in Hong Kong. Respondents who completed a survey questionnaire comprised 367 class teachers and 66 Life Education Coordinators from 82 primary schools. The results indicated that guidance and counselling activities (including guidance curriculum, individual planning, responsive services, and system support) were being implemented in their schools to some reasonable extent. Some differences between teachers and Life Education Coordinators in terms of their involvement and perceptions are discussed. The survey identified a major weakness in the present guidance system in that many teachers who are involved in, and responsible for, implementing a guidance curriculum do not have any training in guidance work. Implications are discussed.     

Sex differences in the sources of academic and social guidance sought by secondary school students

Four hundred and five students made up of 220 boys and 185 girls from eight secondary schools in Lagos State of Nigeria were chosen for this study. A survey was undertaken to find out the frequency (or the amount) of guidance services sought by both male and female respondents to each of the following sources: teachers, relations, friends, and trained counsellors on academic and social problems.The results showed that even though the students consulted the four sources of guidance under investigation in this study, there were sex differences in the frequency at which the four sources were consulted. Girls in this study were found to have made greater use of their friends on social and academic problems. Boys were found to have made greater use of their teachers on their academic problems and their relations on social problems.On the basis of the findings in this study, recommendations were made that students be encouraged to consult their teachers and guidance counsellors on academic problems in particular more than they were presently doing: that as much as possible students be discouraged from consulting their friends and relations on social and academic problems; that both the State and the Federal governments should make some effort to increase the provision of guidance and counselling services in Nigerian schools and where counselling services are available, students should be encouraged to make use of them.     

Supporting the kindergarten–primary school transition in Hong Kong: reform in a teacher training programme

ABSTRACT

The conflicting education values in Hong Kong kindergartens and primary schools pose various challenges to kindergarten teachers in providing pupils with a smooth transition to primary school which requires collaboration from schools and families. This study explored these challenges as well as the benefits of a professional teacher training programme. In-service teachers (N?=?35) and tutors (N?=?2) engaged in the module ‘The Social and Emotional Aspects of Teaching and Learning’ participated in this study. The trainees’ weekly reflective journals throughout the 22-week module were subjected to documentation analysis. Group interviews with the in-service teachers and individual interviews with the tutors were conducted on completion of the module. Findings reveal a gap between teacher training and providing pastoral care for pupils through supporting the social and emotional aspects of their families in Hong Kong, and indicated that traditional beliefs associated with the teaching profession should be widened. Meanwhile, counselling knowledge and skills should be contextualised and integrated into teacher training programmes.     

优秀教师与普通教师家庭的调查研究

以368名教师为对象(其中优秀教师143名、普通教师225名),用问卷调查的方式获取具体的数据,通过分析不同类型教师家庭的差异,探求教师家庭的基本现状以及家庭对教师工作的影响。结果显示,优秀教师家庭幸福感要高于普通教师;普通教师中,幼儿园教师要高于小学、初中、高中教师。在对调查结果进行分析的基础上,提出建议:学校要关心教师的家庭经济生活,提高教师的经济收入;教师也要保持良好的心态,多参加艺术、体育类活动。     

A conceptual framework for developing an activity-based approach to career counselling

The present paper develops a conceptual framework for an activity-based approach to career counselling. The main objective of this approach is to combine clients' practical activity, such as visits to educational institutions, work practices etc., with their psychological processes leading to occupational choice. Some basic ideas that are relevant to developing an activity-based approach to counselling in postmodern work life and some recent changes in work life itself and in the individuals' relation to work are discussed. These include plasticity, which emphasizes the individuals' capability and activeness in shaping both their working environment and themselves; the nonnormative nature of the developmental tasks that postmodern work life sets for the individual; the openness and nonlinear nature of the counselling process and the implications of this on the role of the counsellor; and the usefulness of conceptualizing the counselling process as a metaphorical reality. Also, some preliminary findings from a research project aimed at developing a counselling process model which is congruent with activity-based approach are presented. The implications of these findings on the framework are also discussed.     

When the black box springs open: practical work in schools and the nature of science

The aim of this paper is not to bury practical work in school science but to (once again) reconsider it. We draw on three main areas of discussion: accounts of science and ‘school science work'; teachers and others’ views of the nature of science; and our own data on teachers’ reactions to ‘critical incidents’ and practicals which go wrong. We use this as a basis for re‐thinking the role of practicals. An account of practical work is suggested which has as its main feature diversity rather than a single model or template. Within this diversity we believe that teachers should be open and honest with pupils about which type of practical work they are doing and why. We advocate that students should be made aware of the different kinds of practical work they do and the purposes of this practical work. In short, teachers should explain to students what type of practical work they are doing and why. Our second message is that teachers’ views about the nature of science both inform and are informed by their classroom practices and experiences‐‐especially during lab‐work. To encourage, promote and support critical reflection of these classroom practices and experiences is therefore a vital part of teacher professional development; this in time will promote science curriculum development.     

The outcomes of three models of counselling and consulting

This empirical investigation evaluated the outcomes of three models of counselling with students in the elementary school who were identified as having Learning and behavioral problems. It was hypothesized that model one, counselling with parents, teachers and students was the most effective: model two, counselling with teachers and parents was the next most effective and model three, coun selling with students only was the least effective. It was discovered after 5 months of counselling, that although the student reading scores of the combined counselling groups improved significantly in comparison to the control group, no statistically significant change occurred between the counselling models either on student reading or classroom behavior. Model one counselling, however, produced cooperative relationships between teachers, parents and students.The University of British Columbia     

Teachers,time and work: findings from the Evaluation of the Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project

Teacher's work and workload have been major factors in the recruitment, retention and revitalization of the profession. In January 2003 the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) launched a major reform known as remodelling, by which the work–life balance would be improved by freeing teachers up to teach, and using other members of the workforce (teaching and learning support assistants, administrators and bursars, technicians and welfare and counselling staff) to take on work that teachers need no longer do. This reform is in progress, and while there is anecdotal evidence of both the benefits and concerns of remodelling, there is no formal research evidence. However, prior to this initiative the DfES trialled these changes in 32 pilot schools, and a team from the University of Birmingham evaluated it. In this paper we examine this data with regard to the possibilities and opportunities afforded by remodelling and we consider how the pilot data generates important questions and illuminates contradictions in the modernization project.     

Teachers’ enactment of policy in classrooms: making students accountable through inscriptions from the curriculum in classroom interactions

The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex relationships between educational policy and classroom practice. By employing a sociocultural perspective, we examine formulations inscribed in socio-material artifacts about what students should learn and how they should engage with knowledge. We explore how these formulations are mobilized in instructional work and the implications this activity has for student participation. To address this issue, we analyzed video data of how teachers invoke competence aims from the national curriculum in their instructional work in six classrooms. The analytical procedures were derived from interaction analysis. The analysis focuses on how such formulations explicitly mediate social interaction as it unfolds on a micro level. The findings show that competence aims gain different functions as they are mobilized in classroom practice; in other words, they serve different purposes in teachers’ instructional work and anticipate different modes of student participation. In this study, the competence aims were (a) invoked as a source of authority, (b) translated into instructions, and (c) mobilized to obtain social order in the classroom. More rarely, the competence aims were used in meta-level discussions, where they functioned to reach agreements on how to pursue work toward joint goals. We discuss the implications of these ways of invoking competence aims for student participation.

     

高校教师思想政治工作与社会稳定

阐述高校教师思想政治工作的重要性,指出高校教师队伍整体思想现状是健康、积极、向上的,但也存在一些值得关注的问题。提出为了维护校园和社会稳定,应始终坚定不移地以邓小平理论、江泽民“三个代表”思想作为高校教师思想政治工作的武器;加强理论研究和思想政治工作规律探索,提高思想政治工作效能;充分发挥高校基层党组织的战斗堡垒作用和广大教师党员的先锋模范作用;引导广大高校教师参加社会实践,让他们了解中国国情,关注社会,关爱民生,增强维护社会稳定的紧迫感。     

Under-threes’ mathematical learning – teachers’ perspectives

This project highlights preschool teachers’ views of toddlers’ learning in mathematics. The Swedish national curriculum covers even the youngest children who are 1–3?years old. Interesting questions are thus: what should mathematics be for this age group and how should preschool teachers work with maths to achieve the curriculum objectives? Data were collected through interviews with six preschool teachers working in four different preschools. The data show that the teachers emphasize the body as very important for the learning process, which means that for these children, it is not a matter of simply talking about mathematical concepts, but experiencing them bodily. The teachers also report that they now pay more attention than previously to what material the children use and how they interact with it. They are more aware of how they organize and offer the various materials in the preschool and how this influences the way children use them and, consequently, their learning processes.     

普通高校新入职教师工作适应性调查研究

调查研究表明,重庆市高校部分新入职教师的工作适应性较低。基于新教师工作适应性偏低的内外缘由,可从教师自身发展和院系制度建设两个层面寻求提高新教师工作适应性的有效策略,即:自我提升教师素养、积极与同事沟通、提高耐挫力、正确处理教学与科研关系、加强教学管理制度建设、重视新教师责任感培育。     

INCLUSION: Special or inclusive education: future trends

In this article, Lani Florian, Professor of Social and Educational Inclusion at the University of Aberdeen, examines the relationships between ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education. She looks at the notion of specialist knowledge among teachers and at the roles adopted by staff working with pupils with ‘additional’ or ‘special’ needs in mainstream settings. She explores the implications of the use of the concept of ‘special needs’– especially in relation to attempts to implement inclusion in practice – and she notes the tensions that arise from these relationships. She goes on to ask a series of questions: How do teachers respond to differences among their pupils? What knowledge do teachers need in order to respond more effectively to diversity in their classrooms? What are the roles of teacher education and ongoing professional development? How can teachers be better prepared to work in mixed groupings of pupils? In seeking answers to these questions, Lani Florian concludes that we should look at educational practices and undertake a thorough examination of how teachers work in their classrooms. She suggests that it is through an examination of ‘the things that teachers can do’ that we will begin to bring meaning to the concept of inclusion.     

Educative mentors? The role of classroom teachers in initial teacher education. A New Zealand study

Classroom experience is an important part of initial teacher education (ITE) and the teachers who work with student teachers in schools have a significant impact on learning in this context. While many studies have documented what the role of these teachers should be, it is also important to consider how the role is conceptualised by the teachers themselves. This qualitative study compares the views of New Zealand primary school teachers with that of an ITE provider. The findings show some differences among the teachers and significant differences between classroom teachers’ interpretations of their role and the expectations of the ITE provider. Teacher interpretations are firmly held and there is more work to be done to explore understandings of educative mentoring and so develop a coherent shared vision of roles in the practicum community.     

Comparison of Client and Counsellor Satisfaction with Treatment Duration

Abstract

After termination of personal counselling at a large urban Canadian university, 72 subjects and their counsellors were asked to rate their satisfaction. The subjects were asked to rate to what extent the counselling had helped with the presenting problem, and with other secondary problems, and to rate their degree of overall satisfaction. Statistical analyses conducted to investigate the relationship among number of sessions attended and client and counsellor satisfaction, led to these results: clients who attended a brief number of sessions (1-3) reported no significant difference in satisfaction with the counselling compared to those who attended more sessions; and the majority of clients who had only one session were satisfied with their counselling; counsellors, however, were less satisfied overall with the briefer counselling process, and the author suggests that they were biased against it. The author recommends more research on this critical topic of counsellor expectations toward briefer treatment.     

Future teacher scholarship programs for science education: Rationale for teaching in perceived high need areas

Data from Oklahoma Future Teachers Scholarship (OFTS) recipients were collected covering awards over a seven-year period. Scholarships ($1000–$1500 per year) were awarded by the State Regents for Higher Education to attract and retain potential teachers into the teaching of science. The study focused on the reasons that these teachers (N=58) went into the teaching of science. From the survey, teachers went into (in ranked order) teaching because they wanted to teach specific subject matter, they were committed to social change, they liked to work with and be a positive force in the life of children (adolescents), etc. They did not go into teaching for money, because it was easy, because they drifted into it, or because it was not their first choice. The teachers who received scholarships like teaching science, like teaching and say they are likely to stay in the field. However, the OFTS recipients indicated they would have gone into teaching anyway, 82% were not enticed into either the field or the discipline of science by their scholarships. Those who would use scholarship(s) in the $1000–$1500 per year range, as a marketing strategy, to attract students to a discipline such as science should rethink the efficacy of this approach.