Preservice school counselors? self-efficacy perceptions regarding guidance and counseling in special education

The main purpose of this study was to explore self-efficacy perceptions of preservice school counselors regarding guidance and counseling in special education. For this main purpose, two independent steps were carried out. The purpose of the first step was to investigate reliability and validity of the School Counselors? Self-efficacy Scale regarding Special Education (SCSSSE) while the purpose of the second step was to examine the relationship between school counselors? self-efficacy perceptions regarding guidance and counseling in special education and their gender and university classroom level.The participants of whole study included 1298 preservice school counselors (Mean of age:20.58, SD:1.6) from seven universities (Ankara, Gazi, Uludağ, Marmara, Selçuk, Karadeniz Teknik ve Çukurova) around Turkey. Out of 1298, 908 were female and 390 were male students. Among 1298, the first step included 420 preservice school counselors (Mean of age:29.66, SD:1.6) from seven universities (60x7=420). Out of 420, 224 students were female and 196 were male. The second step included 878 preservice school counselors (Mean of age:20.54, SD:1.6) from seven universities (60x7=420). Out of 878, 683 were female and 195 were male.To investigate reliability and validity of the School Counselors? Self-efficacy Scale regarding Special Education (SCSSSE), construct validity by factor analysis, item analysis, analyses of test-retest reliability and internal reliability were carried out. Results indicated that SCSSSE is a reliable and valid scale that can be used with preservice school counselors. Independent Sample T-Test was run to explore whether gender had an influence on self-efficacy perceptions. Results revealed that male preservice school counselors had higher self-efficacy perception scores than females. Results of One Way Analysis of Variance showed also that classroom level self-efficacy perceptions of preservice school counselors differ according to their classroom level. As the classroom level increases, self-efficacy perception scores of preservice school counselors increase as well.Key Words: Special Education, Self-Efficacy, Preservice School Counselors, Guidance and Counseling.