Jordanian School Counselors’ Leadership Behaviors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the degree to which Jordanian school counselors were seen by teachers and principals to possess and display leadership behaviors related to Bolman and Deal's (1997) transformational 'four framework approach' to leadership. This was based on the view that such leadership would relate to counselors' effectiveness in their roles. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of teachers and principals designed to assess counselor leadership on four key dimensions (i) structural leadership, (ii) human resources leadership, (iii) political leadership, and (iv) symbolic leadership. The results of the study suggest high levels of transformational leadership among Jordanian school counselors as perceived by both teachers and principals. Principals assessed the levels more highly than teachers, with a significant difference evident. The results also showed a significant difference based on geographic area of the participants, even though those from all areas rated counselor leadership quite highly.

Little Steps at Improving Preschool Teachers Practices through Counseling Skills in Qatar

“…We make these observations on the basis of our own experiences as classroom educators and through our research in Qatar schools. In some Eastern cultures, such as Jordan (Ammari 2004;Alsmadi & Mahasneh, 2011) and Hong Kong (Lam & Hui, 2010), teachers and counselors have little understanding of their roles as counselors, and there is little support for those roles in the schools. The primary author acquired extensive experience as a school counselor before the completion of her PhD.…”