Building bridges : expectations and experiences of primary school teachers about school-based counselling

Abstract

This study explored the experiences and expectations of primary school teachers regarding school-based counselling. Since the research explored direct experiences of counselling, a qualitative approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), was deemed most appropriate for this study. The research also addressed participants’ impressions about the provision of counselling to young students and teachers’ relationships with and experiences of counsellors in schools and what they expect out of such a service. Semi-structured audio-recorded individual interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of seven participants. The findings suggest that these participants acknowledged that counselling services were relevant to the students’ lives. The need to have a clear definition of the counsellors’ role was also highlighted, as this would increase the knowledge about the aim of counselling in schools. Furthermore, participants stressed the need for counsellors to be continuously present in schools in order to work collaboratively with all stakeholders, including teachers, administrators and parents more effectively. These data also show the need for counsellors in children’s lives and the need for teacher’s professional training by counsellors. Participants noted the need for a structured model in schools as this could help teachers and other professionals in planning and subsequently delivering a professional service. Recommendations as elicited from the data include further research with counsellors working in schools, the implementation of in-house counsellors in all schools and the presentation of a model – The Loop Model - which can be used in school.