Challenges of School Counselors in Garmian Region of Iraqi Kurdistan: Educators’ Perspectives

Abstract

Background: School counselling is an important collaborative process every day at school, which benefits students, teachers, administrators and parents. School counsellors have a great role in supporting the education system and the students in primary schools. Objectives: the objectives of this study were to identify the common challenges that are faced by school counsellors in primary schools through Educators’ perspectives in the Garmian region of Iraqi Kurdistan.  Furthermore, this study is suggesting solutions to better deal with the challenges identified. Method: A qualitative, descriptive, focus group study design was used and the participants include primary school teachers, school counsellors, and fourth-year psychology students. Open-ended questions were asked to the participants and the answers were categorized by themes. A qualitative content analysis was used for presenting the findings of the current study. Findings: the most common challenges of school counsellors mentioned by educators were Neglecting counsellors’ roles, no or limited counsellors in primary schools, and so many problems in schools to deal with. Based on the findings, some suggestions also were proposed by educators. Recommendations: Future studies are recommended for counsellors in secondary schools both private and public as well.