This empirical doctoral research study, which commenced in October 2012, examined wellbeing and resilience of guidance counsellors in the Irish post-primary sector using an interpretivist approach.
The Irish model of post-primary school-based guidance counselling was established in 1972 (NGF 2007) and encompasses the three interlinked areas of personal /social, educational and vocational/career counselling in a holistic model. Within the Irish Education Act (1998, p.13) Section 9(c), ‘guidance’ has been articulated as an entitlement in post-primary schools. However, it is a challenging and complex role that has in recent years been limited under regressive fiscal educational policy and yet several Irish studies amongst key stakeholders including principals, guidance counsellors, and parents articulate the need for greater provision of guidance in post-primary education provision (DES 2006, Hayes and Morgan 2011).
The construct of resilience, which has its origins within the medical profession, has proved difficult to define (Windle 2011). Some of the key studies on resilience have emerged from diverse disciplines such as medicine (Windle 2011), sociology (Schoon 2006), and psychology (Rutter 2006). In an effort to clarify ‘resilience’, a systematic review of literature from a multi-disciplinary perspective proposes the following definition:
Resilience is the process of negotiating, managing and adapting to significant sources of stress or trauma. Assets and resources within the individual, their life and environment facilitate this capacity for adaptation and ‘bouncing back’ in the face of adversity. Across the life course, the experience of resilience will vary.
(Windle 2011, p.163)
According to Schoon (2006, p.17), an understanding of the “dynamic person-environment interactions reflecting adaptive responses to adversity” are key factors in resilience, which must not be interpreted as a personality trait. In other words, a social-ecological understanding defines resilience as an interactive quality of both individuals and their environments (Ungar 2011). The theoretical framework of this study borrows from Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model that human development is the result of interactions between environmental systems influencing the individual (i.e. “microsystem” (individual and immediate environment) “mesosystem” (process between systems), “exosystem” (events that influence the development of an individual, even though the individual is not directly involved with them) “macrosystem” (consistencies at the level of subculture or culture).
The primary research question is:
How do guidance counsellors in Irish post primary schools experience wellbeing and resilience in the context of the re-allocation of guidance counselling provision?
In addition, a number of secondary research questions have been identified:
- What are the key challenges being experienced by post-primary guidance counsellors in their work?
- What factors or conditions contribute towards the resilience of guidance counsellors employed within the Irish post-primary sector?
- How are post-primary guidance counsellors currently addressing their self-care, in terms of emotional regulation, stress, and burnout?
The overall aim of this research study is to examine the nature of resilience of guidance counsellors currently employed in the Irish post-primary sector.
Objectives:
1. To critically scrutinise current literature on the topic under investigation to provide a theoretical, political and practice context to the study.
2. To examine the nature of resilience amongst individual guidance counsellors through a qualitative approach in the form of semi structured interviews at two time points (2013 and 2015).
3. To identify the support systems and coping strategies employed by guidance counsellors to sustain them in their guidance work.
4. To make recommendations and inform current and future practice based on the findings of the study.
Method
An interpretive methodological framework is being used to explore the resilience of a sample of qualified guidance counsellors in post primary schools, who are also qualified teachers. Interpretive methods can make a substantial contribution to our understanding of the construct of resilience (Ungar 2003). This research is giving participants a discursive ‘voice’, and complements a growing body of international literature on the topic of teacher resilience (Mackenzie 2012, Price et al. 2012, Gu and Day 2013).
According to Schoon (2006), longitudinal analysis aids an understanding of the dynamic nature of the resilience construct. In this study, a series of one-to-one semi-structured interviews is being used to collect data at two time points, approximately two years apart. In Phase 1 (October to December 2013), a purposive sample of guidance counsellors (n=14) was recruited. The data analysis strategy involved thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) with the aid of the qualitative software package (NVivo). Phase 2 interviews are ongoing before analysis of the data commences. It is hoped that a longitudinal comparison of data at two time points will help to elucidate the complex nature of resilience and the coping strategies adopted by guidance counsellors over time which could help to develop practitioners’ long-term resilience in the profession. Some of the key issues in relation to being resilient in the face of a diminished and under supported guidance service include self-care, coping skills and use of supports such as supervision, Continuous Professional Development, institutional supports, school team support, peer support which are forming part of the investigation.
Expected Outcomes
The results of this study will advance a theoretical understanding of the construct of resilience for the profession of post-primary guidance counsellors within an ecological framework. Thematic analysis of the first phase of interviews has yielded unique insights into the personal and professional lives of guidance practitioners and has drawn attention to the impact of the re-allocation of guidance provision in 2012, in terms of the ongoing struggle to maintain a frontline service with fewer resources. The complexities associated with a demanding yet isolated and unpredictable role were consistent themes across the narratives, yet passion and belief in the importance of the role is evident, in spite of fears expressed for the future of the profession. The subjective nature of decision making permeated both macro and meso levels of governance, and there was also evidence of shortfalls in terms of a Whole School Approach to guidance and guidance planning. The recurring themes relate to a number of key issues specific to the professional identity and role of the guidance counsellor from a resilience perspective and include coping and self-care strategies adopted by practitioners. The results have implications for guidance counsellors, teachers, school management, students, and initial and in-service professional development programmes alike.
References
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development, Experiments by Nature and Design, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
DES (2006) Department of Education and Science, Review of Guidance in Second Level Schools. Dublin. Government Publications [online], available: http://www.ncge.ie/uploads/review_guidance_second_level_schools.pdf [accessed 16 Dec 2014].
Government of Ireland, Education Act 1998 (1998) No. 51/1998, Dublin: Stationery Office. [online], available: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/pdf/1998/en.act.1998.0051.pdf [accessed 20 Oct 2012].
Gu, Q. and Day, C. (2013) ‘Challenges to teacher resilience: conditions count’, British Educational Research Journal, 39 (1), 22–44.
Hayes, C. and Morgan, M. (2011) Research on the Practice of Counselling by Guidance Counsellors in Post-Primary Schools [online], available: http://www.ncge.ie/uploads/The_Practice_of_Counselling_by_Guidance_Counsellors_in_Post_Primary_Schools.pdf [accessed 10 Nov 2014].
Mackenzie, S. (2012) ‘I can’t imagine doing anything else’: why do teachers of children with SEN remain in the profession? Resilience, rewards and realism over time’, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 12(3), 151–161.
National Guidance Forum (2007) Guidance in Ireland Background Scoping Report [online], available: http://www.nationalguidanceforum.ie/documents/NGF_Scoping_Report%20Final.pdf [accessed 08 Nov 2014].
Price, A., Mansfield, C. and McConney, A. (2012) ‘Considering ‘teacher resilience’ from critical discourse and labour process theory perspectives’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(1), 81-95.
Rutter, M. (2006) ‘Implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 1–12.
Schoon, I. (2006) Risk and Resilience Adaptations in Changing Times, London: Cambridge University Press.
Ungar, M. (2003) ‘Qualitative contributions to resilience research’, Qualitative Social Work, 2(1), 85-102.
Ungar, M. (2011) ‘The social ecology of resilience: Addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct’, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81, 1–17.
Windle, G. (2011) ‘What is resilience? A review and concept analysis’, Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 21, 152-169.