<p>The purpose of this study was to describe school counsellor development, paying particular attention to (a) what experiences school counsellors identify as significant markers in the development of their professional beliefs and practices, and (b) how such events come to attain their significance. Narrative methodology was utilized, with the intent of eliciting storied material and presenting the findings in storied format. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four participants: two school counsellors and two school social workers. A narrative was composed for each participant based on the researchers analysis of the interview transcripts. The researcher discussed the individual participants contributions to the research questions as well as some emergent across-cases themes.<p> Participants identified a wide range of experiences that had impacted upon their personal and professional development. There were several factors contributing to an experiences significance: (a) emotional intensity, (b) readiness to learn, (c) goodness of fit, (d) positive reinforcement, and (e) cognitive accommodation. Across-cases themes with reference to critical experiences included the influence of childhood, the challenging or painful nature of incidents, and the simultaneous strength and vulnerability of empathy. Issues in the practice of school counselling included a necessarily remedial focus, insufficient supervision, and interventions beyond counselling. Self-care practices and metaphors of counselling also frequently appeared in the narratives.<p>The narrative design of this study allowed for detailed descriptions of experiences that underlie general developmental trends identified in the counsellor development literature. The data suggested that school counsellors develop in much the same way as the wider counsellor population. However, they face impediments to optimal professional development in the form of excessive caseloads, inadequate supervision, and role confusion. Implications for future research and the practice of school counselling are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:SSU.etd-05042005-141934 |
| Date | 09 May 2005 |
| Creators | Woodcock, Chelaine Lynne |
| Contributors | Schwean, Vicki L., Noonan, Brian, Nicol, Jennifer A. J., Flynn, Mark, Wright, Karen |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-05042005-141934/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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