Scottish secondary school teachers’ attitudes towards, and conceptualisations of, counselling

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of two independent questionnaire studies that examined Scottish secondary schools teachers' attitudes towards, and conceptualisation of, school counselling. Seventy-one teachers in a first study, and 33 teachers in a second study, responded to a range of qualitative and quantitative response-format questions that were designed to elicit their feelings and attitudes towards school counselling, and their notions of what counselling was. Results from the two studies confirm previous findings in this area, suggesting that teachers are generally positive in their attitudes towards counselling; valuing, in particular, the independence and expertise of the counsellor. A small minority of teachers, however, were found to hold strongly negative views towards counselling. Teachers also expressed concerns that students might abuse the counselling service, and that the service might not fully integrate with existing guidance arrangements provided by teachers in schools. The study also found that a high proportion of teachers conceptualised counselling in terms of advicegiving.

Do teaching staff in primary schools perceive any impacts of school-based counselling on school engagement?

“…The results of the current study indicate that positive changes occur in pupils' social, emotional, and cognitive engagement following SBC, and these impacts are noticeable to teaching staff. This concurs with the findings from previous research, conducted predominantly in secondary schools, in which both client self-reports (Cooper, 2006;Cooper, 2009;Kernaghan & Stewart, 2016;Rupani et al, 2012) and those of teaching staff (Cooper, 2009;Hamilton-Roberts, 2012;Hill et al, 2011;Loynd et al, 2005;McKenzie et al, 2011;Pybis et al, 2015) have indicated either a positive impact or a perceived positive impact of counselling on educational outcomes. It also supports the research by Lee et al (2009), which found evidence of a perceived impact of counselling on social and emotional factors.…”

“…Indeed, SBC is most beneficial when the principles and values of counselling permeate the whole school (Fox & Butler, 2009). Hence, teachers are instrumental not only in ensuring that counselling is successfully embedded into school culture (Loynd et al, 2005), but also in helping to deliver the service effectively and efficientlyfrom making appropriate and timely referrals, attending link meetings, liaising with counsellors, and allowing pupils to attend counselling, to welcoming them back into lessons sensitively, ensuring they do not subsequently fall behind due to missed work, and respecting their confidentiality. Even on a very practical level, SBC relies on school staff to ensure, for example, that the counselling room is accessible, private, secure, safe, and welcoming (Department for Education, 2015).…”

“…Even on a very practical level, SBC relies on school staff to ensure, for example, that the counselling room is accessible, private, secure, safe, and welcoming (Department for Education, 2015). Since teachers are the largest body of professionals on whom the success of SBC provision is contingent (Loynd et al, 2005), explorative research to understand their perceptions is necessary and is likely to aid the success and survival of provision (Fox & Butler, 2009). This is also important because although stakeholder perceptions have generally been found to be good, their support is not a given; in Cooper's (2009) review, 2-3% of teachers thought that rather than helping, counselling made the situation worse for some pupils.…”

“…This is also important because although stakeholder perceptions have generally been found to be good, their support is not a given; in Cooper's (2009) review, 2-3% of teachers thought that rather than helping, counselling made the situation worse for some pupils. Furthermore, Loynd et al (2005) reported that some teachers had "strongly negative attitudes" of SBC, and saw it as an "indulgent" or "pointless" activity (p. 203).…”

Considering the Challenges of Counselling Practice in Schools

“…Teachers' acceptance of counsellors in schools was also highlighted by them. Cooper et al (2005) found that a majority of the teachers in Scotland they studied held positive attitudes towards school counselling, while a small minority did not. It was also found in their study that some teachers viewed counselling as advice-giving.…”