Guidance counselling as a whole school responsibility in the Irish post primary sector

ABSTRACT

This paper will deliberate upon the relevance of guidance counselling as a ‘whole school’ responsibility in the context of recent policy and practice changes in the Irish post primary sector since the Government of Ireland Budget 2012. Pertinent issues including the complexities of delivering a whole school approach to guidance counselling during a period of resource rationalisation will be addressed through the findings from recent case study research [Hearne, L., Geary, T., & Martin, N. (2016). A single case study of a whole school approach to guidance counselling in an Irish post-primary school; Case report. Retrieved from University of Limerick website: http://www.ul.ie/soedu/node/1481]. A single explanatory case study methodology investigated the complex phenomenon and interventions of whole school guidance counselling in a mixed gender school in the context of increasing demands for evidence-based data and methodological sophistication in lifelong guidance [European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network. (2015a). The evidence base on lifelong guidance; A guide to key findings for effective policy and practice, extended summary. Jyväskylä: Kariteam; Hearne, L. (2009). Towards an understanding of the measurement of individual progression in adult guidance (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford; Stake, R. E. (2004). Standards-based & responsive evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage].

KEYWORDS:

• Whole school
• guidance counselling
• post primary
• case study

Disclosure statement

No personal conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Lucy Hearne is Course Director of the MA in Guidance Counselling and Lifespan Development, in the Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick. She was a recipient of an Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) award in 2006 for her doctoral study on progression in adult guidance. Subsequent funding awards for her research include an IRCHSS research award in 2011, and an Irish Research Council (IRC) New Foundations award, IRC Starter Research Grant and a University of Limerick Faculty Seed Funding Grant 2014.

Tom Geary, Dip.Rel. Ed., MA (Ed Management), MA (Counselling), Diploma in Gestalt Psychotherapy, Advanced Dip. Ed. (Guidance Counselling) has worked in education for 36 years. He has recently retired from the Department of Education and Professional Studies in University of Limerick where he now holds an Emeritus status. He is involved in research and teaching in initial teacher training, guidance counselling and integrative psychotherapy programmes in the University.

Noelle Martin has a BA (Hons) in Applied Psychology, University College Cork and an MSc in Health Psychology, from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She is currently undertaking a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in the National University of Ireland, Galway.

ORCID

Lucy Hearne http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3057-019X

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a University of Limerick Faculty of Education & Health Sciences Seed Funding Grant.