Understanding the keepers of hope : factors that sustain and hinder counsellors working in a school setting

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore Maltese school counsellors’ experience within the Directorate of Education and identify factors that sustain and hinder their job performance. Six counsellors were invited to reflect on their work experiences. The study employed thematic analysis with a phenomenological philosophical underpinning, thus maintaining the counsellors’ experience as the primary focus. The findings were reported in terms of factors which sustain and hinder the counsellor's job. Data was collected through one-to-one interviews, with each interview lasting between one and one and a half hours. The analysis yielded four core themes; namely, how counselling fits within the system; the impact of the organisational system on different levels of the service; the factors which hinder and sustain the counsellor’s everyday practice and factors pertaining to the person of the counsellor him/herself. The findings indicate that the school counsellors’ role in Malta is being reconceptualised to adapt to the college system. The main elements hindering seem to be arising from the organisational set up while the main factor which sustains a counsellor on his job is his/her sense of self.