The level of Turkish primary school counselors' performance

SUMMARYThis research aims to find out how successfully a school counselor performs his/hercounseling duties outlined by the regulations according to other school personnel and his/herown ideas. The study tested to see if significant differences occur in perceptions ofcounselors? level of performance according to school principal, vice principal, classroomteachers, subject-teacher?s and school counselors. Furthermore, secondary research problemswere tested by such independent variables as gender, job description, work experience,attendance to a counseling training program, the duration of working with a counselor in theschool, and the counselor?s bachelors degree.Followings are the secondary research problems tested:Is there a significant difference in the perceptions of school principals, teachers andcounselors on how succesfully school counselors perform their tasks acoording to the jobdescription variable?Is there a significant difference in the perceptions of school principals, teachers andcounselors on how succesfully school counselors perform their tasks acoording to the sexvariable?Is there a significant difference in the perceptions of school principals, teachers andcounselors on how succesfully school counselors perform their tasks acoording to the workexperience variable?Is there a significant difference in the perceptions of school principals, teachers andcounselors on how succesfully school counselors perform their tasks acoording to thecounselor?s bachelors degree.variable?Is there a significant difference in the perceptions of school principals, teachers andcounselors on how succesfully school counselors perform their tasks acoording to the durationof working with a counselor in the school variable?Is there a significant difference in the perceptions of school principals, teachers andcounselors on how succesfully school counselors perform their tasks acoording to attendanceto a counseling training program variable?The results of this study is believed to be useful in considering the value of studentpersonal services in Turkish Primary Schools. It was intended to figure out which scopes ofstudent personal services are more salient, which ones are stronger and which ones are weakerto therefore propose an improvement program for the insufficient counseling areas.This study was designed as a survey model. All official primary schools withinAntalya province is chosen to be universe of the study. The study sample consists of schoolprincipals, vice principals, classroom and subject teachers, and school counselors from fifteenprimary schools located in seven different aducational zones of Antalya Directorate ofEducation within Antalya Metropolitan Municipalty borders. In the construction of thesample, cluster sampling method is used as advised for such studies. By this way, differentsocio-culturel and socio-economic conditions of the educational zones were taken intoaccount and the sample is ensured to show have a heterogeneous structure.?Primary School Guidance And Counseling Services Scale? designed for this study,was aplied to 15 school principals, 32 vice principals, 395 teachers, and 43 school counselorsThe instrument for this study, ?Primary School Guidance And Counseling ServicesScale? was developed by the researcher via advice from educational experts. Items in thescale was constructed by referring to the regulations about guidance and counseling services,literature on guidance and counseling and related studies. Validity and reliability of the scalewas tested and the level of scaling the desired was found to be sufficient.?Primary School Guidance And Counseling Services Scale? consists of a personalinquiry form for demographic information of participants and 40 items expressing primaryschools? guidance and counseling activities. The participants were expected to choose ananswer from ?Always, Generally, Sometimes, Rarely and Never? choices.In the statistical analysis, percentage, aritmatic average, t-test, ANOVA were used.Statistical significance level is adopted as .50.The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between participants? effect,upon the level of evaluating the school counselors? responsibility for execution of guidanceand counseling services, in some variables as gender, work experience, duty, attandenceschool personels? participation to guidence and counseling course, duration of working with acounselor in the school and the counselors bachelorate degree was found significantlymeaningfull. It is also found out that when this difference is avaluated according to the sub-dimensions of guidance and counseling services, it is significant, too.According to the acuired results, opinions of school head master, assistant schooldirector, branch and school counselor indicated that primary school counselors generalyperform guidance and counseling activities in a good level.Examining the arithmatic averages of subjects in ?Occupational Counsulting?dimension of ?Primary School Guidance And Counseling Services Scale?, it is seen that themost evaluated task area is ? Coordinates with classroom teachers in executing guidanceservices? (X=4,03) and the least evaluated task is ?Provides conferences in schoolcoordinating with a university or similar institution? (X=3,39).On the other hand, it is seen that the school counselors generaly (X=4,04) performtheir duties in ?The Individual Cognising? sub-scale in good level. Examining the arithmeticaverages, it is seen that ?Develops and applies any kind of inquiry, form and test aboutstudent cognition techniques? subject is his/her least (X=2,29) and ?Gains informationsabaout the socio-economic structure of the social environment the students come from?subject is his/her most (X=4,0) performed task.It is seen that subjects in ?Psychological Consulting? sub-scale is generally (X=3,75)performed in a good level. Examining the arithmetic averages, it is seen that ?Advisers dopersonal consulting for students having a miche tendency? subject is the least (X=2,99) and ?counselors help students to make appropriate decisions and to plan their future? subject is themost (X=4,0) performed task. In each of Occupational Counsulting, PsychologicalCounsulting and The individual Cognisign sub-scales, considerable differences according totask and gender variables are observed.Regarding opinions about primary school counselors? rate of performing their tasks,there is no significant difference in work experience, counselors? bachelors degree, and theduration of working with a counselor in the school variables. The counselors? rate ofperforming their tasks show a significant difference in terms of the participation of schoolpersonels to guidence and counseling course in some task areas and sub-scales.