學校輔導教師專業倡議經驗之探究

The Research of Secondary School Guidance Teachers’Professional Advocacy Experiences

近年臺灣陸續通過各項學校輔導相關法令，輔導教師專業角色與功能備受重視，尤在領導輔導專業，建立專業主體性上備受關切。本研究旨在了解輔導教師對專業倡議之看法，以及從事專業倡議之挑戰與因應策略，邀請9位中等學校專任輔導教師接受深度訪談，以主題分析法進行探究，研究結果發現專業倡議三項內涵：首先為展現輔導專業，透過行銷、提升能見度與創造價值為之；其次提倡專業自主權，如喚起意識覺醒，並鞏固專業論述權；三為發展專業認同，強調承諾與實踐專業。倡議的三大挑戰：一為專業角色的挑戰，如角色定位不清、工作負荷過重、勢孤力弱，以及兼顧專業與維持系統合作之兩難；次之為體制環境的挑戰，包含政策與法令的影響、輔導效能的污名化、助人專業合作間的相互扞格，與上級主管對輔導專業的態度；在當前教育制度文化的挑戰，則突顯順從權威取向、重視關係和諧對投入倡議的影響。專業倡議的因應策略：在人際關係取向策略，包含爭取校內支持、互惠合作、人情互動，以及維持專業權責界線；在市場行銷取向的策略，強調積極落實輔導工作與呈現輔導績效；在法律政策取向的策略，藉法定錨輔導專業，以及投入公共組織與專業培育。最後本研究提出對實務與未來研究之建議。

Professional advocacy primarily focuses on the professional work of school counselors (Hof et al., 2009), including assessing school needs, developing program goals and strategies, and helping teachers, administrators, parents, and committee members understand the school counseling program. Therefore, school counselors act as leaders in promoting their profession and as advocates for the school counseling and counseling services they provide (Gibson et al., 2012).
In recent years, several major incidents involving students in Taiwanese schools have heightened public and governmental awareness of the crucial role guidance teachers (corresponding to school counselors in the United States) play in promoting students’well-being within educational settings. However, guidance teachers often face challenges such as the arbitrary reassignment of their professional duties by school administrators to meet inappropriate institutional needs and expectations (Sung & Lin, 2016). Due to their relatively low visibility, the role of guidance teachers is frequently misunderstood and their effectiveness is difficult to evaluate. These ongoing challenges regarding role ambiguity and systemic barriers underscore the need for advocacy and system collaboration to advance school guidance practices (Lee & Hong, 2021). Accordingly, this study focuses on how guidance teachers engage in professional advocacy to overcome these challenges and enhance the implementation of school counseling in Taiwan.
The context of school counseling practice and counselor education in Taiwan differs significantly from that of Western countries; thus, the applicability of Western perspectives on advocacy should be carefully examined. Furthermore, the ways in which ecological systems theory can be effectively applied in the Taiwanese school counseling context remain to be clarified. Therefore, it is essential to develop indigenous, practice-based knowledge grounded in guidance teachers’understanding of professional advocacy and their localized experiences of engaging in advocacy.
The present study aimed to explore school counselors’perceptions of professional advocacy, as well as the challenges they encountered and the strategies they employed in engaging in such advocacy. A purposive sampling method was adopted to recruit secondary school guidance teachers. The selection criteria were as follows: (1) currently employed as a full-time, officially school guidance teacher (excluding substitute teachers) at the senior high school level or below; (2) a minimum of three years of school guidance experience; (3) prior experience in engaging in professional advocacy; and (4) willingness to participate in this study. A total of nine school counselors participated in in-depth interviews, including six females and three males, with an average age of 38 years and an average of 11 years of professional experience.
The interview data were analyzed by using thematic analysis, and the findings revealed three core dimensions of professional advocacy. The first dimension, demonstrating school guidance competence, involved promoting, increasing visibility, and creating value for the profession. The second dimension, advocating for professional autonomy, included raising consciousness of professional rights, and consolidating discourse of power. The third dimension, developing professional identity, emphasizes school guidance in Taiwan as a discipline integrating both counseling and education, highlighting the importance of developmental guidance work and the commitment to professional practice.
Three major categories of challenges to professional advocacy were identified. The first pertains to challenges related to professional roles, including unclear role definition, excessive workload, a sense of isolation and limited power, and the difficulty of balancing professionalism with maintaining collaborative relationships within the school system. The second involves institutional and environmental challenges, such as the influence of policies and regulations, the stigmatization of counseling effectiveness, tensions among helping professionals, and the attitudes of administrators toward the profession. The third category reflects cultural challenges within the educational system, particularly the tendency toward obedience to authority and the emphasis on relational harmony, which can constrain guidance teachers’willingness or ability to engage in advocacy.
With respect to strategies of professional advocacy, three orientations emerged. The relational-oriented strategies included gaining support within the school, fostering reciprocal collaboration, maintaining positive interpersonal interactions, and upholding professional boundaries and responsibilities. The marketing-oriented strategies focused on actively implementing school guidance programs and showing guidance and counseling outcomes and efficacy. The legal and policy-oriented strategies involved grounding professional legitimacy in statutory regulations and engaging with professional associations or public organizations.
Based on these findings, both Taiwan and the United States emphasized the importance of developing professional identity. However, in Taiwan, professional identity encompassed both counseling and educational dimensions, whereas in the United States it is predominantly counseling-oriented. In terms of demonstrating professional competence, both Taiwanese and U.S. professionals strived to enhance the positive image, visibility, and value of the profession. However, the system-level focus of advocacy differs: Taiwanese guidance teachers tended to emphasize micro-level, school-based advocacy practices, with comparatively less engagement in legislative or policy-level actions.
Regarding the challenges of professional advocacy, both Taiwan and the United States shared a common concern in promoting the professional role and reducing non-guidance-related duties. However, the challenges of professional advocacy in Taiwan were more closely tied to the structure of its training system. Because guidance teacher education in Taiwan primarily emphasized curriculum instruction, it often did not align with the competencies required for practical guidance work. Consequently, the development of professional roles tended to be more difficult and prone to obstacles. Finally, in contrast to the individualistic values emphasized in the United States, the Confucian cultural emphasis on relational harmony and respect for authority in Chinese societies placed additional psychological and social burdens on guidance teachers engaging in advocacy efforts.
In terms of advocacy strategies, under the influence of the relationship-oriented culture, interpersonal relationship-oriented advocacy strategies are more varied, nuanced, and contextually embedded than marketing or legal and policy-oriented strategies. As Chang (2013) noted, renqing (human sentiment) functions as an essential social resource in Chinese culture—emotional connections helped bridge social distance. Having more relationships enriched one’s resources and increased the likelihood of successful outcomes. Within a collectivist cultural context, advocacy actions often involved employing multiple relational strategies to facilitate smoother implementation and negotiation.
According to the research findings, from the perspective of applying the ecological systems framework to professional advocacy, guidance teachers can first become aware of their own beliefs about professional advocacy. They could then reflect on the professional advocacy challenges they face within their specific environments and identify which ecological system levels these challenges originate from, as well as how such challenges influence them personally and professionally. Following this reflection, they may consider possible strategies to cope with and overcome these challenges. For instance, when facing institutional or systemic barriers—such as insufficient support of principals or administrators—guidance teachers should select appropriate advocacy strategies to address and overcome these obstacles effectively.
Overall, the findings of this study suggest several implications. For guidance teacher programs at the university level, it is recommended that preservice guidance teachers are supported in developing a strong professional identity. This include helping them understand the nature of school guidance work and the meaning of the professional role, integrating professional advocacy as a core component of that identity, and learning diverse advocacy strategies to effectively fulfill their roles as advocates.
For supervisors of guidance teachers, it was important to attend to the challenges guidance teachers face in professional advocacy and to assist them in engaging in advocacy actions. For practicing guidance teachers, self-reflection on the personal meaning of professional advocacy is essential, as is identifying the advocacy-related challenges within their specific school and ecological contexts. By adopting professional advocacy strategies grounded in an ecological systems perspective, guidance teachers can strengthen professionalism and enhance its systemic impact.