Investigation of the services provided by guidance and research centers: Case of İzmi̇r province

The purpose of this research is to investigate the services provided by the guidance and counseling departments (GCD) of guidance and research centers (GRC) in İzmir according to the opinions of counselors working in GRCs and also in schools. The participants of this study included 16 counselors who worked in 11 GRCs and also 210 counselors who worked in schools in İzmir. In this study, a sequential exploratory design was used. The qualitative data were collected by individual interview form and focus group interview form developed by the researcher and the quantative data were collected by questionnaire developed by the researcher. The qualitative data were analyzed by using content analysis and the quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. The quantitative and qualitative findings of the research were presented together. The qualitative and quantitative findings indicated three main categories including "services", "factors that influence services" and "recommendations". Regarding services category, the most frequent and the most effective services provided by GRC were "framework for school counseling programs and year-end report" and " "trauma and crisis intervention". However, "group counseling", "group guidance", the development and preparation of psychological measurement instruments", and "research and publication" were the services almost never provided and thereby found ineffective. Regarding factors that influence services category, "the number of counselors in schools", "professional and personal traits of counselors working in GRC", "personal traits of school counselors", and also "factors related with GRC and school administrators" were the factors that influence services positively. However, " GRC budget", "GRC physical structure", "the number of counselors working in GRC", "organization and processes of GRC", and also "factors related with senior educational administrators" were the factors that influence services negatively. Regarding recomentations category, recommentations were provided related with both "services" and also "factors that influence services". Moreover, it was proposed that recommendations can only be accomplished through arranging new regulations for GRCs. Key Words: Guidance and Research Centers (GRC), Guidance and Counseling Services Division (GCD) , Services Effectiveness