Help provided by school counsellor to teachers and students in behaviour management at secondary school

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of teachers, school counsellors, and students on counsellor help for dealing with misbehaviour at school. Qualitative data were collected from counsellors, teachers and students using interviews to address the research questions. Five counsellors, 20 teachers and 35 students in five high schools with a low socioeconomic level in Adana, Turkey, participated in the study. Data were analysed by using a content analysis technique. Results show that a majority of teachers asked for help from school counsellors to deal with misbehavior. Counsellors admitted that they helped teachers by meeting with students, teacher, and parents, giving information, providing resource materials, and giving advice. In addition, conducting classroom guidance activities, doing collaborative work with classroom guidance teachers, acting as a mediator in resolving student conflicts, and conducting group guidance activities were among strategies counsellors used to help students. According to the results none of the counsellors advise any discipline approach and do group consultation with teachers while they only do individual sessions with few teachers. Recommendations for school counsellors to be effective in behaviour management are made based on the findings of study.