How Do Junior High School Teachers Utilize School Counselors' Advice? A Qualitative Analysis Using a Grounded Theory Approach

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine, from the point of view of junior high school teachers, how the teachers utilized school counselors' advice when the teachers collaborated with school counselors (SCs). Semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 junior high school teachers were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The teachers were found to have (a) freed themselves from emotional pressure by asking school counselors to play a role that was difficult for the teachers to play, (b) understood more about their students and the students' guardians when given information about them by the school counselors, (c) determined their actions with reference to guidance from the school counselors, and (d) refreshed their mental condition after receiving empathic comments from the school counselors. Through one or more of these processes, the teachers were considered to have provided guidance to their students and the students' guardians more calmly than before having collaborated with the school counselors. Moreover, these processes sometimes seemed to have resulted in the teachers having changed their approach for dealing with problems.