A comparison of the opinions of high school administrators, teachers, pupils and counsellors about the ideal and actual role of the high school counsellor

Bennett, Victor George (1973) A comparison of the opinions of high school administrators, teachers, pupils and counsellors about the ideal and actual role of the high school counsellor. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was twofold: first, to investigate and compare the actual and ideal opinions of teachers, students, counsellors and administrators about the role of the counsellor in the Newfoundland high schools; and second, to compare the opinions among these groups about the ideal and then the actual role of the counsellor. -- Five Newfoundland high schools were randomly selected from the total population. From each of these schools two classes of students, two teachers, and the administrators were selected. All full and part-time counsellors in Newfoundland high schools were included in the sample. -- The questionnaire was made up of two parts, the first eliciting opinions on the ideal role of the counsellor, and the second gaining impressions of the actual importance of these roles. The questionnaire presented fifty-two possible tasks in twenty broad areas in which counsellors could function. -- The ideal and actual opinions of each group were compared. The opinions of the four groups were compared with one another. Several differences were found between the ideal and actual opinions of each group, and between the opinions among the groups. -- With one exception, the students tended to view the ideal and actual roles similarly. The other three groups saw important differences. All four groups felt that counsellors were not as involved in field trips as they should have been. The three groups of professionals felt that the counsellor's role in follow-up, in-service training and class talks was ideally more important than they saw it to be in actuality. Counsellors felt that they should be more involved in guiding teachers and administrators in discipline problems. Several other differences were noted. -- Considerable support was evident for all the tasks included in the questionnaire suggesting that most conflicts about counsellor role would concern the setting of priorities for the counsellor's work rather than decisions about what functions are appropriate.

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