Examination of School Counselors’ Activities: From the Perspectives of Counselor Efficacy and Collaboration with School Staff

Abstract

This study investigates the activities of school counselors, their perceptions of collaboration with school staff, and their feelings of efficacy when working as school counselors. Qualitative data were collected by interviewing nine school counselors who worked at various schools in Adana, Turkey. Results indicated that classroom and group guidance activities were performed regularly at the schools, especially for personal–social needs and student development. Among the responsive services, individual counseling was the activity in which the most time was spent, followed in order by consultation, crisis counseling, and referrals to outside agencies. In addition, personal–social issues and problems were most common in individual interviews and counseling, followed by educational and career issues. All the school counselors in the study expressed that they perceived themselves as efficacious and attributed this perception to various counselor-related factors. Furthermore, school personnel and students’ positive perceptions of counseling also played a role in their high self-efficacy, which resulted in better cooperation and collaboration between the counselors and school staff. Finally, the results were discussed in light of related literature, and recommendations were made for future directions.