Counselling Issues in Mainstream Schools

This article sets out to consider the definition of counselling, the nature of counselling in educational establishments and the identtties of those in the counselling role in order to examine counselling issues and the implications for a counselling relationship in an educational setting. Although my emphasis is upon mainstream schools, I make reference to my experience in a residential home for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties where I first became aware of the different perceptions and issues regarding counselling.     

Educational and psychological counselling in Slovakia: Keeping continuity

The Slovak counselling system playedan important role in the development of Europeancounselling, especially in the Central Europeanregion. This article presentsa short excursion on the history of the creation ofthe educational counselling system.The author presents the latest information on thecontemporary development of educational andpsychological counselling in Slovakia. The resultsof a study made recently by the Research Institute onChild Psychology and Patopsychology describing changesin working conditions of the Counsellors inEducational and Psychological Counselling Centres arealso discussed.     

The cultural and educational transitioning of first generation immigrant undergraduate students in Quebec, Canada

The diversity of Canadian society and the significance of education for occupational mobility have prompted investigations into immigrant’s educational attainment, yet little research examines immigrant post-secondary students. This phenomenological study illuminates the institutional, societal, educational, and psychosocial barriers facing immigrant undergraduates in Quebec, and examines their mentoring and career counselling needs. Recommendations for career counselling and university programming are discussed.     

Career guidance and counselling efficacy studies: an international research agenda

More efficacy studies, experimental designs, and longitudinal research in career guidance and counselling in educational and organizational settings, and for diverse cultural and economic backgrounds are needed. Research on the effectiveness of career guidance and counselling that demonstrates gains on a variety of levels is necessary to enhance the future of the field. Recommendations for internationalizing career guidance and counselling research by using a scientist practitioner model, diverse research methodology, and instruments to measure career outcomes are made.     

Global Citizenship: Implications for Guidance and Counselling Innovations in Developing Nations

This paper examines global citizenship as a way of thinking and behaving with understanding of the need to tackle injustice and inequality as a foundation for international peace and development. The conceptualized model was based on reality perspectives and eclectic counselling orientations for building global citizens in developing nations. Guidance and counselling as a crucial service for developing global citizenship, with a focus on Nigeria, is examined. Constraints and prospects for developing global citizens are analyzed. The paper concludes that integration of guidance and counselling as an educational innovation in developing countries would enrich global curriculum and instruction and contribute towards the enhancement of global citizenship.     

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.     

Adding value to education through improved mental health: A review of the research evidence on the effectiveness of counselling for children and young people

This paper is set against the backdrop of an increasing number of strategies and policies developed by the Department for Education and Skills in the U.K. regarding the promotion of positive mental health in schools and the recognition of the value of improving mental health in relation to children’s learning, achievement, attendance and behaviour. The aim of the paper is to present the results from a systematic review of the research evidence on counselling children and young people and discuss these results in relation to the educational context and the added value to be gained in addressing the mental health needs of children and young people. A systematic review methodology is used to assess the outcome research literature. The review is structured around a range of counselling issues and four groups of counselling approaches: cognitive-behavioural, person-centred, psychodynamic and creative therapies. Results indicate that all four approaches to counselling are effective for children and young people across the full range of counselling issues. However, more high quality published research evidence was located for the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural counselling than other approaches, identifying significant gaps in the evidence bases for these approaches. Other gaps in the evidence include research into counselling for school related issues and self-harm.     

“What do I Share?” Personal and Private Experiences in Educational Psychological Counselling

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to explore and develop knowledge about how educational psychological counsellors’ personal and private experiences appear in their counselling practice. We conducted four focus group interviews with twelve counsellors from Educational Psychological Counselling Service. Through Thematic Analysis four themes emerged. The first is that counsellors’ personal and private experiences functioned as a backdrop for their counselling practice. The second theme is the counsellors’ use of different types of stories. The third theme deals with how the counsellors were holding back relevant stories. Finally, the fourth theme comprises the purposes of counsellors’ self-disclosure. The conclusion is that personal experiences form a backdrop for counselling practice and are relevant for how a counsellor makes sense of and understands a situation or a problem. Self-disclosure is in some situations used explicitly in the counselling setting. On the other side the counsellors sometimes consciously hold their experiences back.     

Provision of Counselling Services in Secondary Schools: A Survey of Local Education Authorities in England and Wales

This paper explores the current state of counselling as provided by local education authorities (LEAs) to secondary schools in England and Wales. A questionnaire was sent to all 172 LEAs in England and Wales. The data suggest that the counselling provision is highly variable and somewhat fragmented in scope. The data also indicate that the perception of the role of school counselling services by educational professionals varies considerably, and that there were a number of issues concerning integrated versus decentralized forms of provision. The study has a number of implications for the main stakeholders, including schools, LEAs, pupils and parents, concerning future developments in this increasingly important policy area. These relate to minimum qualifications for counsellors, confidentiality, accessibility to pupils and funding.     

‘The ha’porth of tar to save the ship’: student counselling and vulnerable university students, 1965–1980

Student counselling is a generally accepted service offered by most institutes of higher education. This was not always the case. This paper uses the original reports and documents from the early years of the Counselling Service at the University of Auckland, New Zealand to explore what the educational problems were to which counselling was understood to be the solution, what exactly counselling was meant to achieve and then how the new service went about its mission of supporting vulnerable students. The historic legacy is that once a university accepted responsibility for students’ learning problems it was difficult to draw a line between emotional and academic support. Moreover, once established, counselling expanded from helping individual students who came looking for assistance and branched out into other therapeutic activities across the campus.     

Expanding the scope of adult education curriculum in Nigeria: a dire need for the integration of guidance and counselling services

This paper gives a brief historical overview of adult education in Nigeria and suggests that although educational guidance and counselling are only just beginning in Nigeria, there is a need to understand fully their implications and potentials in adult education in Nigeria.     

Raising achievement with adolescents in secondary education—the school counsellor's perspective

This qualitative study used data from semi‐structured interviews with eight school counsellors working with adolescents in secondary education and asked them how they perceived counselling interventions as helping to raise achievement. The present context in secondary education is perceived as results led. This adheres to government policy as manifested in the National Curriculum and the examination system. However at a grass roots level there is a growing acceptance of having counsellors working in schools to support the emotional and psychological needs of children and adolescents. The counsellors identified three areas in which they felt their clients' achievement was raised through a counselling intervention: developmentally, socially and less directly, academically. Further study is called for to explore what effect applying a complementary integration and understanding of counselling and educational philosophy might have on raising achievement with adolescents in secondary education.     

Applied psychology and the case for individual casework: some reflections on the role of the educational psychologist

The authors consider the changing role of educational psychology in the current era and emphasise the importance of casework‐based interventions not only for influencing systemic work but also for maintaining credibility within the educational marketplace. With in‐school counselling and intervention becoming more popular, the natural providers of this service should be educational psychologists but this may not be the case in many local authorities. The authors consider the possibility of the profession becoming obsolete if there is a continuation of the move away from individual interventions to a more consultative based approach.     

GUIDANCE: Development of a guidance programme for students with special educational needs in Kenya: a study on personal orientation

In this article, Franciscah Wamocho, lecturer and chairperson, Geoffrey Karugu, senior lecturer, both in the Department of Special Education, and Augustine Nwoye, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, all from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, argue that people with disabilities are likely to need the support of counselling services. The study reported here sought to collect baseline data that could be used in designing a comprehensive guidance programme for students with disabilities in secondary phase special schools and vocational rehabilitation training centres in Kenya. A personal orientation inventory was employed to measure values and behaviours among 229 students with visual impairments, hearing impairments and physical disabilities. The results reveal that the students with special educational needs may be non‐self‐actualising. The trend suggests that students with special needs may be living in the past or future with a lot of regrets and negative sentiments. Taking account of insights derived from Maslow's theory of self‐actualisation and other related literature, the findings of this study appear to reinforce the need for a guidance and counselling programme to be developed for students with special educational needs in Kenya. This study reveals the direction that such a programme could take if it is to be of benefit to a Kenyan clientele with special educational needs.     

Adult learners in three countries: Models for counselling services

One of the more pervasive and important innovations of adult education practice in the seventies can be seen in full blossom in the educational guidance and information centre, a service which specializes in counselling adults about learning opportunities. While most visible in the United States with some 300 centres, similar organizations now exist in many other countries; one European centre in fact predates the seventies and may have pioneered the concept. In 1978 and 1979, the author visited various communities in North America and Europe in search of models for counselling adults about new careers, education options and life goals. This paper describes four centres and discusses how they exemplify aspects of a variety of models for organizing counselling services.Paper presented at Ninth International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Thessaloniki, Greece, April 1980.     

Counselling in the Faculty of Education of Ahmadu Bello University: Progress report 1980

Summary Many teachers in our secondary schools, colleges and universities are aware of the developmental needs and concerns of the students. But they are unable to assist the students adequately in meeting their emotional, social, physical and educational needs because they are pre-occupied with teaching the academic school subjects for as many as five or six classes, each composed of thirty to fourty or more students. There is a great need for secondary schools colleges, and universities in Nigeria to run a genuinely comprehensive counselling service with qualified and responsible personnel. The needs, concerns of the students in particular, the changes in the institutions of learning, and the needs and concerns of our developing nation in general should be vitally considered when developing, extending and managing such a service. A functional school-, college- or university-wide counselling unit, with appropriate support from the administration, staff, students and the communities will help the individual student feel more competent to deal with his or her educational, vocational, social, personal and emotional concerns.Ahmadu Bello UniversityPaper presented at the Ninth International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling. Thessaloniki, Greece, April 1980.     

Career Guidance and Counselling for Youth: What Adolescents and Young Adults are Telling Us

The area of career guidance and counselling for youth is undergoing rapid change in light of evolving expectations of young people as members of society and rapidly changing educational and career opportunities. This article summarizes previous research describing the perspectives of adolescents and young adults, and concludes that there is a need to re-examine the assumptions underlying career advising, guidance, and counselling programs offered to young people; and also to re-develop these services to better reflect current economic, career, and social realities.