Cooperation between head teachers and professional school counsellors in Slovenian schools

Abstract

The characteristics of cooperation between head teachers and school counsellors are presented theoretically and empirically. Distributed leadership means that head teachers do not lead schools through school-based educators but rather together with them, with school counsellors playing an important role. Numerous research studies demonstrate that a strong head teacher–school counsellor relationship is a crucial component of meeting the vision, goals and well-being of the school. The findings of our research study, conducted among head teachers and school counsellors, show positive attitudes of both groups towards mutual cooperation. Both considered the cooperation to be good or very good, the head teachers rated it even better. It is interesting to observe that the head teachers found more support in school counsellors than vice versa. Also, more of the head teachers said they saw school counsellors as partners than did the school counsellors. It thus remains to be seen how school counsellors’ perception of the school leadership’s support in their work could be strengthened and how head teachers could be encouraged to support the work of the school counselling service even more, so that this relationship becomes reciprocal and that each party’s ability to perform their work will be enhanced by the strong relationship.

How to Run an Empty School: The Experience of Slovenian School Heads During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…On the one hand, it needs its support to function (public transport, libraries, professional organizations, etc. ); on the other hand, it strengthens the community, being the center of social, cultural and sporting life (Gregorčič Mrvar et al, 2016). The national response to the pandemic crisis clearly exposed the hardships to which people are subject when all of this is unavailable and confirmed how important it is to work together for high-quality education and a good quality of life.…”

“…Recently, authors (Harris, 2020; Harris & Jones, 2020; Leithwood et al, 2020) stress that in emergency situations the importance of distributed leadership, cooperation, collaboration among all employees, and the maintenance of a positive school climate are particularly vital. School heads should always act as a proactive systemic thinker who create a sense of common goals, encourage teachers’ initiative, support the processes of facing new challenges, identify mistakes and enable solutions to be found together, create a sense of shared responsibility, deal with resistance and employees’ feelings of incompetence or difficulties arising from personality differences (Gregorčič Mrvar et al, 2019; Rupnik Vec et al, 2019). During emergency situations such as the pandemic, these roles become even more crucial (Netolicky, 2020), which is why the focus on school heads in the creation of the appropriate response to the pandemic is not to be neglected.…”

A Case Study from the Perspective of Rural Areas in Bangladesh Concerning “Additional Financial Aid” and “Support for Students”

“…The statement, as mentioned above. Underscores the necessity of establishing transparent channels of communication and collective responsibility among the diverse stakeholders engaged in the educational process, to attain a seamless integration (Gregorčič Mrvar et al, 2020). The subsequent section of this manuscript scrutinized the aims and methodologies of forthcoming assistance.…”

“…It may suggest the imposter syndrome experienced by those who try to instill an inclusive value orientation in a particular group because the bulk of their reasons for passivity on inclusion had nothing to do with their professional talents. Furthermore, it highlights the need for open lines of communication and shared accountability among the many parties involved in the educational process to achieve successful integration (Gregorčič Mrvar et al, 2020). The second part of this paper analyzed the objectives and methods of future aid.…”

“…With a more comprehensive understanding and inclusion, responsibility for inclusion is transferred to all partners of the educational process (Gregorčič Mrvar et al, 2020), so it is knowledge of diverse representations of what individual practitioners mean to particular inclusion, as well as the development of more inclusive strategies for working with students. Thus, we were interested in the potential overlap between the project model and the systemic initiatives applied in schools (mainly through additional professional assistance and a five-step learning support model for learners with learning difficulties).…”