I have always enjoyed working with young people. However, I noticed that the work of school counselors at schools differes greatly. Therefore, I began to wonder which of these methods they use are more appropriate for students and what the students need from the school counseling service in general. Precisely because their methods and their attitudes towards students were so different, I decided to research what students want, what exactly is most important to them, and what their needs and expectations are for the school counseling service. I think that the voice of students is not listened to enough, that we often overlook them in decisions precisely because they are still children. We should not do that because, in the end, it is all about them and their schooling experience. In reviewing the issue, I first delve into the school counseling service, what it is, how it works, what its tasks and principles are, and what the legislation is. I then review the individual profiles that may be employed in the school counseling service, as well as their strengths and potential weaknesses. I focus on the work of the school counseling service with individual participants in the educational process. Furthermore, I delve into the work of the school counseling service in the final grades because ninth-graders participated in my research. I describe the period of adolescence and everything it brings with, the transition from elementary to secondary school, and vocational orientation in schools.
The research is combined, i.e. qualitative and quantitative. I ask myself the following questions: (R1) What are the needs and expectations of ninth-graders from the school counseling service at the three major elementary schools in Carinthia? (R2) What needs and expectations of ninth-graders have already been addressed by the school counseling service at three major elementary schools in Carinthia? (R3) What needs and expectations of ninth-graders has the school counseling service not yet addressed in the three major elementary schools in Carinthia? (R4) What would ninth-graders at the three major elementary schools in Carinthia change or add to the work of the school counseling service? The population in the research are all students who attended the 9th grades at the Franjo Golob Prevalje Elementary School, the Koroški Jeklarji Ravne na Koroškem Elementary School, and the Prežihov Voranc Ravne na Koroškem Elementary School at the time of the research. The online questionnaire was completed by 66 ninth-graders who had parental consent. The population in my research is also all counselors employed at the Franjo Golob Prevalje Elementary School, the Koroški Jeklarji Ravne na Koroškem Elementary School, and the Prežihov Voranc Ravne na Koroškem Elementary School at the time the research was performed. The sample of the three school counselors I interviewed is non-random and casual. I ascertained that ninth-graders want a more personal relationship with a school counselor. They should get to know her better and those who would like that should have the opportunity of having more contact with her. I also ascertained that the counselors at the three major elementary schools in Carinthia are overburdened and often run out of time for sufficient contact with students. Other findings include the following. There are topics for workshops and lectures that some ninth-graders are more interested in than others and they would like to hear more about them. Ninth-graders prefer individual conversations with a counselor and their needs vary slightly according to their gender, success in school, and status. The most important ascertainment was that the majority of ninth-graders believe that, currently, school counseling service at the three major elementary schools in Carinthia offers them everything they need. This may be true. However, their opinion may be the result of their ignorance of the tasks of the school counseling service.
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