Literature OverviewLifelong Guidance Counselling

The concept of lifelong guidance has become increasingly important within the education and guidance sector. Lifelong guidance refers to the provision of guidance throughout the lifespan to help citizens manage transition between education, training and work.

The OECD views career guidance as a service that assists people at any stage and at any point throughout their lives to manage their careers. In an Irish context, the OECD argues that “guidance in schools lays the foundations for lifelong career development” (p.3). The ELGPN recognises that “career guidance contributes to the Europe 2020 headline targets on reducing early school-leaving, increasing participation in tertiary education, increasing the employment rate and combating social exclusion” (p.7). The ELGPN also views schools as an “invaluable opportunity to ensure that all citizens are equipped with career management skills” (p.25).

Reallocation of Post Primary Guidance Counselling

The DES disseminated Circular 0009/2012 in light of the Budget 2012 announcement to remove the ex-quota allocation. This stated that guidance remained a statutory requirement for schools under the Education Act, 1998 and that Principals must ensure practitioners have time for 1:1 personal counselling with students but offered no suggestions on how they should allocate hours for guidance counselling.

In an attempt to assist and provide direction to Principals, management bodies and practitioners on how to cope with delivery of a statutory guidance counselling service in light of the allocation removal, the ACCS et al provided a possible framework. This suggested the number of hours that could be allocated in schools for small group sessions and 1:1 counselling but also reiterated the DES directive that students receiving personal counselling over a protracted period be referred to external services.

The DES launched three new policies, Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion in Post Primary Schools, Action Plan on Bullying and Student Support Teams in Post-Primary Schools, which target the promotion of positive mental health and well-being among students. While these policies acknowledge the vital role that guidance counsellors play in promoting such initiatives, there is a lack of clarity surrounding the identifiable roles, functions and outcomes of such whole-school initiatives.

Professionalism and Well-being of Guidance Counsellors

The IGC Code of Ethics states that guidance counselling is a professional service concerning personal/social, educational and vocational development. According to Swisher and Page (2005) professionalism refers to internal beliefs about attitudes, values, obligations, attributes, interactions, and role behaviour. It can be considered the set of qualities an occupation or its members possess, claim or ought to possess (Goodson and Hargreaves, 1996).

Schermerhorn et al. report that the biggest cause of work related stress is employees feeling that “they won’t be able to meet their goals or carry out the tasks that are required of them”. The 2012 re-allocation of guidance counselling provision has increased daily work pressures, and has perpetuated the view that guidance needs to prove its worth. In Delaney (2013), low energy emotional and mental exhaustion were a key concern of the practitioners interviewed.

Researchers: Gemma Delaney and Brian Connor (MA Guidance Counselling)

SUPERVISOR: Dr. Lucy Hearne

Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick

Introduction These two individual research studies examined the impact of

the Budget 2012 removal of the ex-quota allocation for guidance counselling in the Irish post-primary sector from the perspective of practitioners working in the field.

Quantitative studies on the affects of the removal of the allocation have been carried out, indicating average reductions between 21.4% and 23.7% in post-primary guidance services, increases in the numbers of unqualified staff performing guidance duties, as well as less time being dedicated to guidance at Junior Cycle. In this study the researchers carried out qualitative research on the issue.

Aims and ObjectivesAIM:

The overarching aim of these research studies was to examine the impact of the Budget 2012 removal of the ex-quota allocation for post-primary guidance counselling by the DES. Within this overarching aim, the researchers focussed on the areas of professionalism, the role of guidance counsellors, increased levels of work intensity and stress, as well as the wellbeing of practitioners in current practice.

OBJECTIVES:

• To review the relevant literature on policy, practice and research related to the provision of guidance counselling, professionalism and practitioner wellbeing in Ireland and abroad.

• To collect the narratives of 13 qualified guidance counsellors through semi-structured interviews with practitioners and establish how the allocation removal has impacted upon their professional role and wellbeing.

• To observe how the localised management of post-primary guidance counselling services since the Budget 2012 allocation removal has developed in schools.

• To report on the research findings and make recommendations for future policy, practice and research relating to guidance counselling in the post-primary sector.

Policy Context Irish policies on guidance counselling have been influenced

by the practice of both the American and UK systems as well as the requirements of Section 9(c) of the Education Act, 1998. This states that the provision of guidance counselling in post-primary schools is a statutory requirement and that schools must “ensure that students have access to appropriate guidance to assist them in their educational and career choices”.

While no set curriculum exists for the provision of guidance counselling, the DES articulates three separate, but interlinked areas of personal and social development, educational guidance and career guidance which are essential components of guidance programmes in post-primary schools. The importance of the counselling aspect of the overall guidance service in Ireland was highlighted by the DES, NCGE and IGC, while policy on guidance counselling as a whole has developed markedly since 2004.

Even though the DES Circular 12/05 provided for an increase in the ex-quota hours allocated to schools, the DES (2012) Circular 0009/2012 in light of the Budget 2012 announcement reversed this decision. This stated that guidance remained a statutory requirement for schools under the Education Act, 1998 and that Principals must ensure practitioners have time for 1:1 personal counselling with students but offered no suggestions on how they should allocate hours for guidance counselling. The DES emphasises that previous literature and circulars relating to guidance were disseminated in times when ex-quota allocations existed and should be read in this light but that guidance counsellors must be qualified post-primary teachers who hold a recognised postgraduate qualification in guidance.

Inquiries into the Implications of the 2012 Removal of the Ex-quota Allocation for Guidance Counselling for Post-Primary Guidance

Counsellors in the East of Ireland

Methodology & MethodAs stated, quantitative surveys on the topic of the Budget 2012

removal provided statistical data on the changing nature of post-primary guidance counselling. However, they did not examine practitioners' in-depth the opinions and experiences of the allocation removal which these two studies captured.

The paradigm underpinning these research studies was that of interpretivism. The aim of the investigations was to examine the impact of the 2012 allocation removal from the perspective of guidance counsellors working in the field, in a qualitative manner.

Their interpretivist nature elucidated the individual stories of practitioners and the multiple realities of guidance counsellors work since 2012. Thick descriptions were developed through interaction, discussion and observation, thereby providing rich insights and detailed accounts of their experiences of the allocation removal in the post-primary sector.

The method of data collection was 13 semi-structured interviews with a sample of qualified guidance counsellors who were working in post-primary schools in the East of Ireland during Spring 2014. Participants had a minimum of five year’s experience and worked in a variety of schools in the post-primary sector, including voluntary, vocational, community/comprehensive and fee-paying schools.

Purposive sampling was used for this investigation, which involved recruiting participants on the basis of their potentially significant experience, information and insights on the research problem being examined. Guidance counsellors were selected through consultation with IGC branches.

Data was analysed using the constant comparative method. This involved repeatedly reviewing and comparing all of the collected data. From this, themes and issues emerged, which were mapped out, compared and linked together.

Key Findings for ConsiderationThe findings that emerged in the analysis of the practitioner

narratives relate to a number of key issues:

Personal and Social Guidance

Schools have seen an erosion of personal and social guidance counselling since 2012, with priority being given to classroom based educational and vocational activities.

Lack of Uniformity across the Sector

Practitioners believe that the interpretation of ‘appropriate’ differs from school to school as students’ needs, environments and contexts are diverse in each case.

Whole-School Approach to Guidance

While the DES promotes the delivery of guidance through a whole-school approach, there appears to be a significant disparity between policies on the WSA and the nature of its delivery currently in the sector.

Dual Roles

The findings concur with recent investigations on the increase in practitioners’ teaching curricular subjects as well as the growing disparity between time being dedicated to guidance counselling with Junior and Senior Cycle students.

Stakeholders’ Views of the Profession

Practitioners question the value placed on guidance by some stakeholders (e.g. parents, teachers and management) and feel the service does not get the recognition it deserves.

Well-being

Practitioners appear to be overworked, stressed and exhausted as they try to perform their role effectively. They feel huge pressure and responsibility for their students and felt dissatisfaction in not being able to do their job satisfactorily.

Resilience

Guidance counsellors are engaging in an number of self-care strategies to support themselves professionally, for example, meditation, mindfulness and supervision.

ReferencesACCS, IVEA, JMB and NAPD (2012), Framework for Considering Provision of Guidance in Post-Primary Schools, Dublin: IGC, available: www.ncge.ie

Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (2013), Survey of Schools; Impact of Cutbacks on Second Level Schools, Dublin: ASTI, available: www.asti.ie

Delaney, G. (2013) Budget 2012 and its implications for Guidance Counselling in DEIS post-primary schools in Ireland , unpublished thesis (Grad. Diploma), University College Limerick.

Department of Education and Science (2005), Guidelines for Second Level Schools on the Implications of Section 9 (c) of the Education Act 1998, relating to students’ access to appropriate guidance. Inspectorate Report

Department of Education & Skills (2012), Circular 0009/2012 Staffing Arrangements in Post-Primary Schools for the 2012/2013 School Year, available: http://www.education.ie

Department of Education & Skills (2013a), Wellbeing in Post Primary Schools; Guidelines for mental health promotion and suicide prevention, available: www.education.ie.

Department of Education & Skills (2013b), Action Plan on Bullying, available: www.education.ie.

Department of Education and Skills (2014), Student Support Teams in Post-Primary Schools; A Guide to Establishing a Team or Reviewing an Existing Team, available: www.education.ie

Douglas, F. (2011) ‘Between a rock and a hard place: career guidance practitioner resistance and the construction of professional identity’ International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance, 11:163-173.

European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (2012) Lifelong Guidance Policy Development: A European Resource Kit, available: www.elgpn.eu

Goodson, I and Hargreaves, A. (1996) Teachers Professional Lives, London: Falmer Press.

References (Contd.)Lucy Hearne & James Galvin (2014): The role of the regular teacher in a whole school approach to guidance counselling in Ireland, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2014.952622

Hogan, J., Dolan, P. and Donnelly, P. (2009), Approaches to Qualitative Research: Theory and Its Practical Application, a Guide for Dissertation Students; Cork: Oak Tree Press

Institute of Guidance Counsellors (2007), The Role of the Guidance Counsellor, available: www.igc.ie.

Institute of Guidance Counsellors (2012), Code of Ethics, available: www.igc.ie.

Institute of Guidance Counsellors (2013), National Audit of Guidance & Counselling Practice in Second Level Schools in Ireland 2011 – 2013, Executive Summary, available: www.igc.ie

Institute of Guidance Counsellors (2014), National Audit of Guidance Counselling Practice in Second Level Schools & Colleges of Further Education in Ireland 2011 – 2014, Report of Findings, Phase 3, available: www.igc.ie

OECD (2002), OECD Review of Career Guidance Policies, available: www.ncge.ie/uploads/OECD.doc.pdf.

OECD (2004), Career Guidance and Public Policy: Bridging the Gap, available: www.oecd.org.

Schermerhorn, J.R., Osborn, R.N., Uhl-Bien, M. and Hunt, J.G. (2012) Organisational Behaviour 12th ed., Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Sultana R.G. (2008) From policy to practice: A systematic change to lifelong guidance in Europe, available: www.cedefop.Europa.eu.

Swisher, L. L. and Page, C. G. (2005), Professionalism in Physical Therapy, St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders

Thomas, G. (2009), How to do your Research Project, 3rd ed., London: Sage Publications