A Study on Perceptions of the Actual Status and the Revitalization of Counseling Students with Disabilities and Their Parents of Teachers in Schools for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Written by: Im Sun-hee
Department of Special Education
G...
A Study on Perceptions of the Actual Status and the Revitalization of Counseling Students with Disabilities and Their Parents of Teachers in Schools for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Written by: Im Sun-hee
Department of Special Education
Graduate School of Woosuk University
Directed by: Prof. Chung Jin-ja, Ph.D.
<ABSTRACT>
The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions on the actual status and the revitalization of counseling students with intellectual disabilities and their parents in special schools for students with intellectual disabilities.
The subjects of this study were 216 teachers who were selected by convenient cluster sampling and worked in 15 schools for students with intellectual disabilities located in Daejeon Metropolitan City, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Jeollabuk-do. Such questionnaire was composed of 16 items about the actual state of school counseling activities in special school teachers, 5 items about activation measures for school counseling.
The conclusions according to the results of this study are as follows.
First, in teachers’ perceptions on the actual status of counseling students with intellectual disabilities and their parents in special schools, counseling students with intellectual disabilities and their parents in schools for students with intellectual disabilities was conducted in classrooms within 10-30 minutes once or twice per week as professional counseling teachers were not placed in many schools. In addition, student and parent counseling was performed when children’s problem behaviors occurred and when their parents’ special requests were made. Lots of counseling methods included face-to-face counseling and telephone counseling. In counseling contents, problem behaviors, academic works and careers, and friends and the opposite sex were more in order. Moreover, in counseling materials, student behavior observation journals, student counseling journals, IEP, and diagnosis assessment records were more in order. A lot of teachers perceived that there were some counseling effects.
Second, in strategies for activating counseling students with disabilities and their parents in schools for students with intellectual disabilities, what should be improved in activities counseling students with disabilities and their parents in schools for students with intellectual disabilities was that there was no sufficient time to be able to combine student guidance and school works with counseling. It was perceived that all teachers should finish teacher training for effective school counseling activities. Further, the most important purpose of student and parent counseling was to provide and share information on students’ learning and behavior. It was necessary to place professional counseling teachers in schools for students with intellectual disabilities. It was appropriate to conduct counseling once or twice per week. It was necessary to establish exclusive counseling offices. It was necessary to provide financial and administrative supports for teacher training and counseling activities so as to promote effective counseling in schools for students with intellectual disabilities. It was perceived that there should be parents’ understanding of children’s disabilities.
The above research results contributed to important data for revealing that it was more necessary to perform counseling activities in schools for students with intellectual disabilities, and presented several strategies for activating counseling activities in schools for students with intellectual disabilities to imply desirable development directions toward counseling activities.
This study has the following limitations.
First, because the subjects of this study were special schools for students with intellectual disabilities located in Daejeon Metropolitan City, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Jeollabuk-do, it is limited to generalize these results to the results of counseling with students and parents in schools for students with intellectual disabilities all over the country.
Second, because this study applied the method of research survey through questionnaire method as its measurement tool, it is limited to understand more in-depth perceptions in survey subjects.
This study tries to present the following suggestions.
First, it was necessary in future research to develop counseling support program models for enhancing the effect of special school counseling.
Second, the subjects of this study were limited to teachers working in special schools for students with intellectual disabilities. If further studies compare special teachers’ perceptions on counseling students with disabilities and their parents by disability domains and by school processes, counseling models by life cycles can be presented.
Third, although this study conducted quantitative research methods using questionnaires over the subjects of special teachers, it is necessary to approach qualitative research methods in order to understand special teachers’ perceptions on counseling in depth.
Fourth, since counseling is performed through bilateral relations between counselors and clients, it is necessary to study parents’ perceptions on school counseling over the subjects of parents.