School counsellors are the forerunners responsible for delivering counselling services in schools that help ensure students’ mental wellbeing and a better school climate (Carlson & Kees, Reference Carlson and Kees2012). However, school counsellors work in a more extensive system consisting of several stakeholders, such as students, teachers, parents and administration. One of the biggest challenges school counsellors face while operating in a school system is managing the different stakeholders’ expectations, which can often have an impact on their effective practice. The current study aims to explore collaboration between school counsellors, teachers and administration from the lens of novice school counsellors. The following sections discuss teachers’ and administrations’ views of counsellors, the need for collaboration, and the scope of the present study.
Teachers’ and Administrators’ Perceptions of the Counsellor’s Role
Research has found that teachers’ and administrators’ perceptions of the counsellor’s role have an impact on the success of counselling services (Jackson et al., Reference Jackson, Snow, Boes, Phillips, Stanard, Painter and Wulff2002; Kok & Low, Reference Kok and Low2017). For instance, school counsellors can gain wider access to students when teachers hold a positive view of the counsellor’s role and are willing to collaborate with them. Similarly, the administrators’ view of the counsellor’s role and responsibilities largely determine the nature of their involvement in schools (Clemens et al., Reference Clemens, Milsom and Cashwell2009; Thomas & Dey, Reference Thomas and Dey2020). Some studies have shown that although school administrations believe that counsellors are contributing positively to the school environment (Zalaquett & Chatters, Reference Zalaquett and Chatters2012), many remain unsure of how to utilise their role effectively to better support needs of students (Mason & Perera-Diltz, Reference Mason and Perera-Diltz2010).
Need for Collaboration
The professional standards and competencies laid out for school counsellors by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2019) highlights the need to ‘collaborate with families, teachers, administrators, other school staff and education stakeholders for student achievement and success’ (p. 3) as one of the required competencies for successful implementation of a comprehensive school counselling program. Although school counsellors are at the forefront of advocating for students’ needs and a better school climate, the vision cannot be achieved without the combined efforts of teachers and administrations (Davis, Reference Davis2013). Research has demonstrated that school counsellors’ collaboration with teachers and the school administration leads to better outcomes in supporting students than counsellors working independently (Sink, Reference Sink2008).
Defining Collaboration
Interprofessional collaboration involves members from different but related professions to integrate their skills and work collaboratively to achieve a shared goal (Mu & Royeen, Reference Mu and Royeen2004). An example would be school counsellors collaborating with teachers to influence the microsystem of the classroom by designing interventions to address the academic and social needs of the students identified by the teachers (Oehrtman, Reference Oehrtman2018). The present study, recognises the definition of collaboration provided by Friend and Cook (Reference Friend and Cook2013), who defined it as the ‘interaction between at least two coequal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision-making toward a common goal’ (p. 6). In the context of school counselling, collaboration helps provide support for student development and success that cannot be achieved by school counsellors working alone (ASCA, 2012). The ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2003) highlights collaboration as one of the four themes of its model, which is critical for maximising the impact of school counselling services.
School Counselling in India
In India, school counselling is still in an emerging phase, and there are no comprehensive frameworks or guidelines for counsellors (Jain & Sandhu, Reference Jain, Sandhu, Hohenshil, Amundson and Niles2015; Venkatesan & Shyam, Reference Venkatesan and Shyam2015). Studies conducted in India have highlighted several challenges that school counsellors face. There exists immense role confusion and misconceptions among stakeholders regarding a school counsellor’s role (Kakar & Oberoi, Reference Kakar and Oberoi2016; Thomas & Dey, Reference Thomas and Dey2020). The role confusion is evident as many administrators expect counsellors to be involved in noncounselling administrative tasks, such as liaison between the administration and teachers, handling parents’ concerns, invigilation duties, maintaining student records, acting as substitutes, and assisting in other routine tasks (Kodad & Kazi, Reference Kodad and Kazi2014; Venkatesan & Shyam, Reference Venkatesan and Shyam2015). Additionally, the widespread stigma surrounding mental health services acts as a barrier that school counsellors must overcome (Akos et al., Reference Akos, Jain and Gurjar2014). Other challenges school counsellors face include a lack of specialised training, supervision, resources and guiding policies (Dey & Kumar, Reference Dey and Kumar2020).
Focus of the Present Study
Research related to school counselling in India has been growing. However, not much has been studied about the experiences of school counsellors collaborating with teachers and administrators. Given the well-reported importance of collaboration for the success of mental health programs in a school, it is vital to capture Indian school counsellors’ experiences. The present study focuses on how novice school counsellors in India collaborate. After transitioning from being a trainee to a professional, novice school counsellors have to deal with a host of challenges in their new job roles (Curry & Bickmore, Reference Curry and Bickmore2012). In India, since a school counsellor’s role is not well integrated into the school system, they have to work harder to establish their place. Exploring factors that play a role in novice school counsellors’ experiences as collaborators will help support and prepare future school counsellors. The study will provide insight into the experiences of collaboration in school counselling in India, which is currently underexplored. The findings will help throw light on how to shape counsellor education, training and supervision to ensure counsellors become competent collaborators.
Method
Participants
The participants consisted of 11 novice school counsellors working across five cities in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Orissa, and Bengaluru). The participants who were selected met the following inclusion criteria: (a) currently working as a full-time school counsellor, (b) completed a master’s degree in psychology, (c) have work experience of a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years. The study excluded school counsellors working as consultants, special educators, teachers or administrators. The researcher contacted a total of 15 school counsellors, and 11 consented to participate. The age of the participants ranged from 23 to 50 years. The school counsellors worked with different school levels, including preschool, primary school, secondary school and high school.
The researcher used purposive sampling for recruiting the participants. The method was considered suitable as the researcher specifically required novice school counsellors. The researcher used personal contacts and social media to identify initial participants. The referrals provided by these participants were then used to recruit subsequent participants.
Tool
The tool used was a semistructured, open-ended interview schedule developed by the researcher to address the research objective. It consisted of 13 questions aimed at exploring novice school counsellors’ perceptions and experiences while collaborating with teachers and administrators.
Development of the Tool
The researcher designed the interview schedule using McCracken’s (Reference McCracken1988) four-stage model. Initially, the researcher reviewed previous literature related to collaboration in school counselling that generated broad areas of enquiry. Due to the paucity of Indian literature around collaboration, the majority of the studies reviewed were from Western literature. The researcher designed the interview questions considering the cultural context of Indian school counselling. Since school counselling is in an emerging phase in India, questions in the schedule were designed to be exploratory in nature. The interview schedule was divided into four different sections: (a) job role and work environment, (b) experience with teachers, (c) experience with administrators, and (d) experience of collaboration. Sample questions from the interview scheduled included: ‘How is your relationship with the teachers and how does that influence your counselling practice?’, ‘How does your relationship with administrators influence your counselling practice?’, ‘What does the term collaboration mean to you?’, ‘Can you share some of the challenges, if any, that you have faced while collaborating?’, ‘How did your training (academic and field) program prepare you for collaboration?’.
Two experts with more than five years’ experience in counselling and research reviewed and approved the interview schedule. The extensive experience and knowledge of the experts helped inform the tool to capture the on-ground realities. The feedback the experts provided helped in reducing redundancy in the questions and making them more open-ended. The researcher conducted a pilot interview with a novice counsellor that helped understand how well the tool captured the participant’s experiences. Based on the pilot interview, the researcher included probes in the schedule that could be used to elicit more detailed experiences.
Data Collection and Procedure
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the study after carefully reviewing the ethical components. The researcher initiated the process of data collection after approval. The interviews were conducted online via Zoom, a video calling software. The participants were contacted and provided with an overview of the research topic and interview procedure. Upon receiving their agreement to participate, interviews were scheduled conveniently for both researcher and interviewee. Since the interviews were online, both the researcher and participant chose a comfortable and quiet space at their respective ends to ensure smooth conduct of the interview. The researcher spent the first few minutes of the interview on rapport building and allowing the participant to clarify any doubts. The researcher then obtained verbal consent from the participant to audio-record the interview. The participants were also sent a detailed informed consent form via email, which they signed and sent back to the researcher. The interviews ranged from 30 minutes to 1 hour. After the interview, the participants were debriefed and thanked for their time and cooperation. The researcher also shared resources related to the research topic that could help the participants in their practice. The researcher stored the audio-recording of the interviews in a password-protected file on their device. Confidentiality was ensured by assigning pseudonyms and excluding identifying details from the transcripts. The data stored would be deleted after three years of completion of the study.
Data Analysis
The study followed a social constructivist paradigm that aims to understand the world through individuals’ subjective experience and perceptions, and that holds that reality is socially constructed (Hays & Singh, Reference Hays and Singh2011). The researcher used Braun and Clarke’s (Reference Braun and Clarke2006) six-step approach of thematic analysis as the mode of analysis. The framework of thematic analysis aligned with the study’s social constructivist research design as the researcher let the themes emerge, based on the experiences shared by the participants.
The first step of the analysis involved the researcher becoming familiar with the data. To achieve this, the researcher first transcribed the interviews into Microsoft Word files and then engaged in multiple readings. After gaining an initial understanding of the data, the researcher generated codes to organise the data further. The researcher used colour coding to create initial themes and patterns within each interview. After generating themes for each interview, the researcher examined the common themes occurring across interviews. The researcher clustered the common themes to arrive at the global and organising themes.
The researcher maintained a reflective journal throughout the process to reduce the possibility of researcher bias. The researcher also did a member check with one participant who consented to review the final themes. Reporting a thick description of the study’s methods and results has been ensured to enhance the trustworthiness. These measures were incorporated to increase the reliability and validity of the study.
Results
Thematic Analysis
The analysis of the data led to the emergence of the following themes and subthemes. Table 1 provides an overview of the six global themes and the organising themes within these global themes.
Global and organising themes
Theme 1: Novice School Counsellors’ Perceptions About Collaboration
The participants in the study shared the perception that collaboration is a necessary process in school counselling. Participant 4 (personal communication, August 29, 2020) stated that ‘collaboration is the most important part in my job. Any work that I have to do, I genuinely cannot do it individually’. All participants believed that collaborating with teachers and administration is essential for providing well-rounded support to the students. They shared the perception that outcomes of their work with the students are enhanced when they can work collaboratively with teachers and administrators. The following extracts from interviews highlight the importance of collaboration as expressed by the participants.
Collaboration is a very important aspect of counselling because you cannot expect to be effective without the support of your management, the administration, the teachers and parents because unless we are working hand in hand with all of them, you can’t expect to do the best what you can for the student because the student is not only exposed to you, but the student has multiple people in their lives. (Participant 1, personal communication, June 18, 2020)
There’s nothing possible without collaboration. Everything is collaboration. Working for the students in any way requires you to work with all the adults that handle them. If there is no collaboration and the way each adult, even within the school setting will come across to the child can be very confusing. So, it’s important for the child to view all adults in the school on the same page, while understanding the kind of work they do with them will be different. (Participant 9, personal communication, September 21, 2020)
Theme 2: Collaboration With Teachers
The participants collaborated with the teachers mainly in situations where the teachers provided referrals of students. In these situations, counsellors would seek more information about the child, their classroom behaviour and the teacher’s observations. Additionally, they also discussed classroom strategies with the teachers that could help the child. Participant 5 (personal communication, August 31, 2020) shared how collaboration typically takes place:
Initially it’s getting the case history or getting general information about the child. But even after a couple of sessions, we update them about what we think might be the concern and the kind of work we’re doing with the child. We also discuss what maybe they can do in class to support the child or what they can do outside.
Subtheme: Teachers’ perceptions
The study’s findings reveal that the perceptions teachers hold of a counsellor’s role impact the extent to which they are willing to collaborate. Many teachers had little awareness of what the role of a counsellor is. Participant 7 (personal communication, September 17, 2020) said: ‘Awareness is quite low, and they don’t have the right understanding of what a counsellor does and where the roles go into, how they should collaborate.’
Some teachers viewed the counsellor’s role as unnecessary and did not understand the need for it. Participant 1 (personal communication, June 18, 2020) shared that teachers thought counsellors just ‘sit idle in their room and do nothing’. Additionally, many teachers discounted the need for mental health services and felt that students use it as an excuse to skip classes. Participant 11 (personal communication, October 15, 2020) shared:
They always felt if students are coming to me, they’re not doing schoolwork, they are just talking to me, and they’re just not involved in studies and probably just wanting to bunk their classes. And that is why I also faced a lot of problem in calling students during their classes.
The extracts below highlight how the teachers’ perceptions had made them act defensively to the counsellor’s suggestions and served as a barrier in collaboration.
A lot of times teachers, they’re very defensive. Regarding, okay that is my child, and this is my class and you shouldn’t interfere here. So, if I’m suggesting certain things, like maybe you can do this or maybe make this child sit with somebody else or assign a different buddy or put this restriction or let the child do that … they’re not very receptive to it or they’ll say okay but they won’t follow up. (Participant 5, personal communication, August 31, 2020)
If the teacher understands what counselling [is], she will send students to me, she will ask me the progress and if there’s anything that needs to be done. Whereas a teacher who doesn’t understand counselling or who’s very protective about her class, that will hinder [collaboration] because if I am asking her to do certain things in class, that won’t happen.
Additionally, participants reported that some teachers were resistant to collaboration because they felt threatened by the student’s and counsellor’s relationship. Participant 9 (personal communication, September 21, 2020) shared: ‘It took me a lot of time to establish rapport with them and make them understand that I’m here to support the students, but also not against the teachers. So, I’m there to also help them and be a bridge.’
Contrary to the perceptions mentioned above, some teachers understood the need for counselling and were cooperative with the counsellors. Participants described having fruitful collaboration with these teachers.
And with the teachers, one thing also is that at times, certain teachers, they really want to understand what the child is going through, and they want to be supportive towards the child. So, how as a teacher, they can be supportive. Some of them really want to understand those things. So, working with them collaboratively on that. (Participant 6, personal communication, September 14, 2020)
Subtheme: Relationship with teachers
Being a novice school counsellor, some participants reported that building relationships and collaborating with the teachers was challenging initially. This process was tougher with teachers who were not very receptive to the idea of counselling. Participant 11 (personal communication, October 15, 2020) described how age and lack of experience played a role in relationship building with the teachers:
A lot of teachers were way older than me and I did not feel a connect with them instantly. They used to ask me what my age was, what my experience was. I knew for a fact that I couldn’t connect with a lot of my colleagues and they had a lot of different perceptions about the role of a counsellor.
The participants felt that the quality of relationship with teachers directly impacted the quality of collaboration. The teachers with whom the participants shared a comfortable relationship were more forthcoming and eager to collaborate. Whereas it was difficult to reach out to teachers with whom the relationship was not as cordial.
Having a good rapport with teachers makes a big difference. Because if you have a good rapport, she’s more likely to be forthcoming in discussions or talk more about children and bring up concerns because she feels safe enough to do so. (Participant 9, personal communication, September 21, 2020)
There are certain teachers who sent their children or approached me and it was a good helping relationship between us. So, anything that’s happening she’ll just call me and say I know you can handle this, please take care of it. So, in those situations, things have been taken care of much earlier and at a much crucial stage rather than completely blowing up. (Participant 1, personal communication, June 18, 2020)
Theme 3: Collaboration With Administrators
Participants reported that collaboration with administrators was mainly for planning events, workshops and acquiring permissions. They also worked collaboratively on cases that needed immediate attention. The majority of participants described having a supportive and positive relationship with the administrators. The administrators understood the need and role of a counsellor and allowed them the freedom to lead the school’s mental health services. Participant 9 (personal communication, September 21, 2020) described how it is vital to have the administrator’s support to proceed with anything. She also highlighted that the administrator’s acknowledgement of the importance of mental health helped increase the involvement of the counsellors in school affairs:
Being on the same page as the upper management and them really understanding what counsellors do in the school is vital, because if they don’t then there’s nothing you can do. You can’t do anything without their approval. Because the management of my school recognises the need for mental health support greatly, that’s why we end up being involved in so many things. We’re able to do a lot more than I think any other school is doing because it’s very difficult to get people who really understand the work.
Participant 1 (personal communication, June 18, 2020) reported feeling safe and confident to perform her duties because the administrators were present to provide reassurance and support in challenging cases:
With certain students I needed help and only he as the principal could help me with those certain things which were beyond the purview of a counsellor. So, he actually helped me in those cases and he was very supportive and told me that you are going the right way and the child is our priority no one else you need to be worry about. If at all any parent comes and threatens you, don’t worry I’ll be there behind you. So that was something that was very encouraging and it felt like I can safely go ahead with whatever I want to do and not worry.
A few participants reported that administrators did not have clarity about the role of a counsellor. Participant 3 (personal communication, August 27, 2020) expressed how she felt that the administrators were just fulfilling the mandate of having a counsellor in the school:
I think sometimes they don’t know what to do with us. My understanding is that having a counsellor is something that has been thrown upon them by CBSE, so they’re primarily confused about what do we do with them.
Some participants noted that while collaborating with administrators in many situations, they had to comply regardless of whether they agreed. Since administrators are the ultimate decision-makers, counsellors felt that they did not have much room for negotiation.
And it affects my counselling practice in the sense that when it is coming directly from authority, then there are certain things that I can’t get rid of, like certain things I have to do no matter how much I hate it. Or something that I might not agree with but I have to somehow comply. I put up fights and everything we, do that but it does not always turn out well. (Participant 4, personal communication, August 29, 2020)
As novice school counsellors, the participants found that the administrators’ support and backing helped them settle in and build relations with others, especially the teachers. Participant 7 (personal communication, September 17, 2020) described how teachers were less resistant and more cooperative when they knew the importance the administrators placed on counselling.
The headmistress in the school is one who helps me with my counselling … like if teachers have an issue with the counsellor, she is someone who will be my bridge. She sort of explained to them and get them to understand that my role is not against them, but a support to them. So, collaborating with her has helped me build upon this drift and work on my relationship with other teachers.
Being in their first job, participants also shared how having a supportive and driven administrator was a major motivating factor for taking up more school initiatives.
I need his support to take action to implement some new things in the school. I would say because he has always helped me to take up challenges. Like I said that when I joined the school, I had just passed out so I didn’t have any experience at all and he always helped me to push through my comfort zone and always encouraged me to take in sessions with students, teachers or parents. So, in that way he is definitely supportive. (Participant 3, personal communication, August 27, 2020)
Theme 4: Challenges Faced During Collaboration
The participants experienced a host of challenges in the process of collaboration. The frequently encountered ones are presented in the following subthemes.
Subtheme: Stigma and lack of awareness
The participants reported that the stigma around counselling and mental health impeded the process of collaboration. Participant 10 (personal communication, October 15, 2020) explained how lack of awareness among teachers was ‘a very difficult bridge to cross’. She further explained how it slows down collaboration as she had to spend extra time first to address the misconceptions:
… because for me to collaborate, let’s say a student has learning difficulty. So, in order to explain to the teachers, it’s a difficult task because they believe that you know ‘this child is pretending’, ‘he is just acting’. Then they’ll bring questions like ‘why does he or she have a problem only in this because when they have to do some mischief that time their brain works’. So, they do not agree very easily and it’s a very difficult task to make them understand.
Participant 1 (personal communication, June 18, 2020) also noted that ‘teachers are not cooperative because of mindset. Unless they change the mindset towards counselling services and importance of mental health, it is difficult to work.’
The stigma often impedes students from seeking support because of fear. Counsellors noted the importance of having the teachers’ help to tackle this stigma. Participant 6 (personal communication, September 14, 2020) expressed:
When you see that teachers are not supportive and you know that already there is a lot of stigma, so bringing in even one student for counselling that student comes in the, you know, eyes of so many people. Even if you try to avoid, it happens because people will see that this student is entering counselling room … to support that child to continue coming in, that’s a challenge and it’s not for one person to face. The teachers need to be supportive so that when the child goes back to the class, the teacher will accept that the child went for counselling. If the teacher finds other students making fun, the teacher will support that child and bring in value; they will encourage other children to go and have a talk, take out stigma. So, for all those things we need the help of teachers.
Subtheme: Managing different expectations
The participants reported that the teachers and administrators expected immediate progress with students who were receiving counselling. On the other hand, the counsellors needed sufficient time and space to support the child effectively. This mismatch in expectations not only made collaboration difficult but also created pressure for the participants.
It’s a tough fight that we have because a lot times what we need with children is time. I get the stance of administrators also but it’s a very tight spot that how you give them some kind of results and at the same time you help the child take it at their pace and your own pace. A lot of times I have been working on some children and I know it has been showing in tiny little spaces, but that’s not enough for the class or for the teachers or for the administrators … so the results are not very quantifiable of our work. So that becomes a problem in terms of ‘What work are you doing?’… that kind of hinders the collaboration process. (Participant 7, personal communication, September 17, 2020)
Participants further described the challenge of facilitating the different expectations when they got caught in situations involving multiple stakeholders. In the following excerpts, participants highlight trying to balance different perspectives of the stakeholders while collaborating with them.
Teachers don’t like the way the children behave; the children don’t like the way teachers treat them and correct them. So, at times that blame game aspect is there. So, the challenge is to remain absolutely objective and neutral. Then helping the children, the parents, the teachers, you know, reach a sort of a middle ground is also a challenge. At times you have your own perspective, how can you reach a middle point? Because what happens is at times is that all the parties feel that what they are saying and what their perspective is right and that is the only way. So, bringing them to a middle ground is difficult. (Participant 6, personal communication, September 14, 2020)
It is a lot of effort in terms of because the kind of people you’re collaborating with are so diverse in terms of their roles, their ages. It can be a child, it could be a teacher the authorities, sometime it is parent, sometimes grandparents. So, all of them are coming from a different place in their own life. And I’m somehow taking that into consideration and putting that at play and just facilitating, that is quite a tough job. (Participant 4, personal communication, August 29, 2020)
Subtheme: Age
Most participants in this study expressed that being on their first job and owing to their young age, they faced scepticism. Such resistance made it difficult for the counsellors to form relationships and hindered the collaboration process, as their competence was often questioned. These perceptions made it difficult for counsellors to connect with the teachers and also resulted in reluctance from teachers in implementing strategies suggested by the counsellor.
I feel that it became very difficult because of my age, I faced a lot of problems because I was not of the same age group, and a lot of teachers, their own kids were my age. So of course, they could not connect with me. (Participant 11, personal communication, October 15, 2020)
Anyone who’s new into the school and younger in age, there’s always that notion that, you know, ‘Oh she’s young what does she know’, ‘Oh she is not married what does she know about children’. So, all of that … like although they know that we’ve studied and we’ve come, but still there’s a notion that you haven’t faced it so what are you talking? (Participant 3, personal communication, August 27, 2020)
Theme 5: Strategies That Helped in Collaboration
The participants shared strategies that helped them tackle the challenges they faced while collaboration and enhance their experience.
Subtheme: Psychoeducation
Almost all participants mentioned that given the misconceptions about the counsellor’s role and stigma surrounding mental health, they felt the need to psychoeducate and spread awareness. Conducting awareness workshops for teachers and administrators helped bridge the gap and connect with them better. Participant 3 (personal communication, August 27, 2020) stated: ‘Initially there were hardly any students being referred by teachers, but now they themselves come and give the names of students.’ Other participants agreed that these workshops helped change teachers’ perspectives to a large extent and resulted in them becoming more receptive and willing to collaborate.
Psycho educate them about the role of a counsellor because what happens is at times, people have a sort of notion about counselling that is not absolutely correct. So, helping the teachers understand, helping the management understand what all the role of the counsellor includes. Helping them understand the boundaries, helping them understand the ethical considerations that we need to follow. (Participant 6, personal communication, September 14, 2020)
After the workshop we found people were way more receptive and they understood what we do a little better, they were not you know dismissive as such and they also felt that there’s a lot here that can be done and we are having so much access to professional mental health but we are actually ignoring that…. definitely it was an eye opener and the attitude since then has changed quite a bit. (Participant 1, personal communication, June 18, 2020)
Subtheme: Interpersonal skills
Most participants highlighted communication and assertiveness as interpersonal skills that they believed were important while collaborating. Counsellors found it challenging to express themselves when they had a different perspective or disagreed with other stakeholders’ approach. In the excerpts below, the participants describe how these skills helped them to express their opinions and make their stance clear.
Being affirmative and assertive, because if you are not assertive and you’re not strong, especially for someone like us who are just new into the school and younger in age. So, I would say in whatever we did, being assertive, and I would also use the word affirmative because we need to affirm or, you know, be positive about whatever we talk … other than that being diplomatic and being very mindful about the things you talk. (Participant 2, personal communication, August 15, 2020)
Communication is very important. You have to be very clear and not only clear,; you need to have logic when you speak to a person in order to convince them of an idea you have and why you want to do it … You need to have convincing powers also and for that you need to be confident in what you’re saying and how you’re putting it across makes all the difference. (Participant 1, personal communication, June 18, 2020)
As a part of communication skills, participants also highlighted how important it was to listen to teachers and make them feel heard. Participant 4 (personal communication, August 29, 2020) said, ‘before communicating, listening and being open to listen and not just listen because it’s a trained skill but being open to their ideas as well’. Other participants reported that listening to teachers, validating their struggles and empathising with them helped enhance their relationship into a more collaborative one.
Being young counsellors on their first jobs, most participants also highlighted the importance of being more visible and proving themselves through their work. Increasing their visibility and availability helped in changing teachers’ perception of the work done by them.
Also, in the initial few months I see that as a counsellor you will have to be a little proactive in whatever you’re doing because you’ll have to establish your ground. You need to show people you’re doing some work otherwise the role of a counsellor is not well acknowledged or documented anywhere. (Participant 11, personal communication, October 15, 2020)
We also started taking a lot more initiative. We stepped into other events, started supporting kids there. Sometimes a child doesn’t feel comfortable coming out or there are other things and we work on that in the classroom itself. I think that visibility has changed a lot of things … It made a huge difference for teachers as well, because they see you doing something other than just taking that one session … that helped teachers see us differently and gave us space to interact with them as well. (Participant 5, personal communication, August 31, 2020)
Theme 6: Impact of Training
Most participants in this study felt that the internships during their master’s degree training helped prepare them to work as professionals. Field exposure, especially in schools, helped them understand the collaborative nature of the job. However, despite this exposure, participants reported that they had still had to learn and adapt a lot on the job to be able to fit into the school system.
It did help me in at least gathering a basic idea about collaboration and how things work when you work together. However, once you enter the field and once you start working on your own, you learn a lot of things. It’s a completely different ballgame. (Participant 6, personal communication, September 14, 2020)
Training wise it was there in theory and a little bit of practice was definitely there. But when you actually get to work it’s a completely different challenge because that’s when you are completely thrown into the situation so it’s definitely difficult in the beginning and then you figure out your own process and your own method how you want to do the collaboration. (Participant 4, personal communication, August 29, 2020)
A few participants reported feeling completely underprepared to work with multiple stakeholders and had to develop the skill of collaboration.
I was in, completely thrown into the deep end when I started working here because I didn’t know how to do anything. Internship was exposure for me, but I didn’t get a chance to do too much work at my internships. I did a lot of observation and understanding but not too much work. (Participant 9, personal communication, September 21, 2020)
Discussion
The present study aimed to explore the novice school counsellors’ experiences collaborating with teachers and administrators. In the current research, the teacher and administrators’ perceptions of a school counsellor’s role and their awareness of student mental health needs largely determined the level of collaboration.
In their study, Clark and Amatea (Reference Clark and Amatea2004) reported the critical role teachers could play in collaboration. Since teachers interact with students most closely and frequently, they can be the first to observe concerns affecting them. Based on teacher observations, counsellors can work with students directly and support teachers with classroom interventions. However, for such a collaboration to occur, teacher awareness of mental health needs and receptiveness to collaborate with counsellors must be present. The counsellors in the present study felt that teachers were sometimes roadblocks more than they were collaborators. Studies have shown that teachers’ perceptions of a counsellor’s role influence the overall success of the counselling services (Jackson et al., Reference Jackson, Snow, Boes, Phillips, Stanard, Painter and Wulff2002; Low, Reference Low2015). A recent study by Atli (Reference Atli2020) highlights how novice school counsellors have to fight the misconceptions and some prejudices that teachers hold about their role. Despite the ASCA clearly defining school counsellors’ roles and responsibilities in Western countries, there is still a mismatch in perceptions. As school counselling is still at a nascent stage in India, the lack of understanding of the role is amplified (Thomas & Dey, Reference Thomas and Dey2020; Venkatesan & Shyam, Reference Venkatesan and Shyam2015). Research has reported the importance of educating teachers about counsellors’ role and how they can work collaboratively to meet student needs (Cholewa et al., Reference Cholewa, Goodman-Scott, Thomas and Cook2016; Clark & Amatea, Reference Clark and Amatea2004). Psychoeducation is particularly needed in Indian schools. School counsellors need to create awareness and advocate actively for their role (Akos et al., Reference Akos, Jain and Gurjar2014; Jacob & Kumar, Reference Jacob, Kumar, Singh, Yeh, Blanchard and Anunciação2021).
The participants shared that as novices they found it difficult to build relationships with teachers because of their perceptions. The literature highlights that the relationship between counsellors and teachers serves as a foundation on which processes of consultation and collaboration are built (Brown et al., Reference Brown, Pryzwansky and Schulte2011; Dinkmeyer et al., Reference Dinkmeyer, Jon and Michel2016). Teachers are more willing to collaborate when they have a strong relationship with the counsellors (Cholewa et al., Reference Cholewa, Goodman-Scott, Thomas and Cook2016). When counsellors share a positive relationship with teachers, they can access more students through teacher referrals and suggest classroom strategies that the teachers can implement to support the students. Past studies mention how being more visible and available helps novice school counsellors form relationships and establish their place in the school (Atli, Reference Atli2020; Cholewa et al., Reference Cholewa, Goodman-Scott, Thomas and Cook2016; Clark & Amatea, Reference Clark and Amatea2004).
Studies have emphasised the crucial role that the administrators play in defining a school counsellor’s role and the provision of counselling services in the school (Clemens et al., Reference Clemens, Milsom and Cashwell2009). The administrators are essential not only for logistical support but to also set a precedent for how the counsellor is viewed and treated by others (Dollarhide et al., Reference Dollarhide, Smith and Lemberger2007). Especially for novice school counsellors, fostering collaboration with administrators helps reduce role confusion (Curry & Bickmore, Reference Curry and Bickmore2012; Dollarhide et al., Reference Dollarhide, Smith and Lemberger2007). Teachers tend to be more receptive and collaborative with school counsellors when the administrators support and place importance on mental health services (Atli, Reference Atli2020; Clark & Amatea, Reference Clark and Amatea2004). Studies conducted in India report that counsellors are employed only to fulfil the mandate in many schools, and the administrators are often not aware of how to utilise school counsellors’ services (Venkatesan & Shyam, Reference Venkatesan and Shyam2015). While some participants in the current study voiced the same challenge, many reported having supportive and enthusiastic administrators.
Previous studies have reported how school counsellors, especially in Asian societies, face challenges on their job due to the stigma around mental health (Kok & Low, Reference Kok and Low2017; Venkatesan & Shyam, Reference Venkatesan and Shyam2015). The presence of stigma in Indian schools is well reported (Deshwal & Gupta, Reference Deshwal and Gupta2017; Kodad & Kazi, Reference Kodad and Kazi2014). For school counsellors to be able to collaborate successfully, the stigma needs to be addressed. Additionally, managing teachers’ and administrators’ different expectations while collaborating is challenging for novice school counsellors (Atli, Reference Atli2020). Counsellors are trained to prioritise students’ emotional needs, while most teachers and administrators tend to consider academic improvements more important. In the present study, counsellors struggled to find a middle ground while working with teachers and administrators as they presented diverse perspectives and expectations.
Studies have found that effective communication between teachers, counsellors and administrators is one of the cornerstones of collaboration (Clark & Amatea, Reference Clark and Amatea2004). Counsellors in the current study highlighted the importance of communication skills, including assertiveness and active listening. As reported in earlier studies, listening helps to foster teamwork and make the teachers feel heard (Reiner et al., Reference Reiner, Colbert and Pérusse2009). Teachers feel appreciated when counsellors listen to them and validate their experiences (Cholewa et al., Reference Cholewa, Goodman-Scott, Thomas and Cook2016).
The participants in the study reported the impact their training had on their preparedness for working collaboratively. There are very few academic programs in India that provide training specifically for school counsellors (Venkatesan & Shyam, Reference Venkatesan and Shyam2015). No uniform curriculum is followed, which leads to variations in the quality of training (Akos et al., Reference Akos, Jain and Gurjar2014). The impact of such differences was evident in the present study. Some participants shared that their training and internships helped them get acquainted with the school environment and made them realise the need for collaboration. Others felt they had been ‘thrown in the deep end’ because they did not have adequate skills and experience that prepared them for collaboration. Previous studies report such incongruence that novice counsellors experience between their training and work requirements (Atli, Reference Atli2020).
Implications
Based on the findings, novice school counsellors should try to invest in building relationships with stakeholders to be able to work collaboratively. The study found that school counsellors need to advocate for their role and educate the other stakeholders about it. The study also found implications for school counsellor training and preparation, as many participants struggled with working with multiple stakeholders and establishing relationships. There is a need for training programs to incorporate adequate opportunities and field exposure to prepare novice counsellors for the job and empower them with skills for fostering collaborative relationships. There are also implications for teacher training and preparation. Given the lack of awareness and the stigma surrounding mental health, it would be helpful to include modules about this in teacher training programs. Teachers can be educated about the importance of counselling and working collaboratively with the counsellor to support students. For policy makers, an important implication is the focus on how a school counsellor’s role can be better integrated into schools since there are varied perceptions about the role. Efforts can be directed into developing collaborative models and practices to help counsellors and other stakeholders work together.
Limitations
Since the literature on school counsellors’ experiences in India is limited, this study is mainly exploratory and largely based on studies from Western countries. All the participants were female counsellors; hence, the study does not capture the experiences of male counsellors. The study only includes experiences of school counsellors collaborating with teachers and administrators. For better understanding, future research could consist of other stakeholders, such as parents.
Conclusion
School counsellors’ collaboration with teachers and administrations is an essential component of a comprehensive school mental program. In India, a school counsellor’s role is ambiguous, and there is a lack of a proper framework to integrate them into the school system. To form a collaborative relationship, new school counsellors have to work extra hard to overcome the challenges of the stakeholders’ existing perceptions and advocate for the importance of their role. Even though school counselling in India is slowly receiving more attention, there is a need for policies and reforms that provide a better structure for collaboration between stakeholders to address the students’ needs effectively.
Financial support
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflicts of interest
None.
