School Counseling: A Comparative Study in 12 Countries

Abstract

This paper presents results of a comparative international study on some aspects of school counseling in the following 12 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, UK, and USA. The authors explain the multi-functional character of school counseling, give an idea of establishing a research field that could be called ‘comparative school counseling studies’, show the original terms in individual countries, and compare six aspects of school counseling: 1) legislative framework; 2) position requirements; 3) role of school counselors; 4) functions of school counselors; 5) interaction; and 6) ratio. The paper concludes with a long list of qualities school counselors are expected to possess. This is a document study chiefly based on examining, systematizing and comparing national documents (laws, reports, instructions, advices, position requirements, ministerial orders, recommendations, strategies, and statistics) on school counseling.

Full text

Educational Reforms Worldwide
BCES Conference Books, 2020, Volume 18. Sofia: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society
ISSN 1314-4693 (print), ISSN 2534-8426 (online), ISBN 978-619-7326-09-3 (print), ISBN 978-619-7326-10-9 (online)
© 2020 Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES)
34
Nikolay Popov & Vera Spasenović
School Counseling: A Comparative Study in 12 Countries
Abstract
This paper presents results of a comparative international study on some aspects of school
counseling in the following 12 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Malta,
North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, UK, and USA. The authors explain the multi-
functional character of school counseling, give an idea of establishing a research field that
could be called ‘comparative school counseling studies’, show the original terms in individual
countries, and compare six aspects of school counseling: 1) legislative framework; 2) position
requirements; 3) role of school counselors; 4) functions of school counselors; 5) interaction;
and 6) ratio. The paper concludes with a long list of qualities school counselors are expected
to possess. This is a document study chiefly based on examining, systematizing and
comparing national documents (laws, reports, instructions, advices, position requirements,
ministerial orders, recommendations, strategies, and statistics) on school counseling.
Keywords: school counseling, comparative school counseling study, school counselors’
position requirements, role and functions of school counselors
Introduction
Advisor, advocate, agent, believer, collaborator, conductor, consultant,
coordinator, diplomat, educator, enthusiast, expert, explorer, guide, initiator, leader,
listener, mediator, mentor, navigator, negotiator, observer, pedagogue, professional,
psychologist, researcher, specialist, supporter, teacher – these are just a part of most
frequently used words in national documents, job requirements, school forums, and
professional platforms about what a school counselor is expected to be. It could be
said that school counseling is the most multifunctional position in the school system,
with too many variable tasks, with a huge number of functions and a large circle of
contacts. There is no other position in the school system that is given so many roles.
A school counselor is expected to care about the mental, emotional, social and
academic development of students; to prevent them from various risks; to discover,
diagnose and understand the essence of problems students face. At the same time, a
school counselor should be loyal to the school authority, to be collegial to school
teachers, to intermediate between students, parents and teachers in case of conflicts,
to propose problem solving decisions, to define strategies for improving the school
organization and climate, to organize individual and group consultations for all
participants in school life, and to look for support from social and psycho-medical
institutions, and to even contact police and court offices when necessary.
This paper is a revised, shortened and updated version of a coauthored study by
N. Popov and V. Spasenović that was performed and published in 2018 in two
languages – Bulgarian and Serbian (Popov & Spasenović, 2018a, 2018b). These
editions serve as teaching manuals to students in Bachelor and Master’s programs
and in-service teacher training programs.

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The study examines school counseling in the following 12 countries: Austria,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia,
Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Comparative school counseling studies
The mission of the above cited books and the purpose of this paper is to put the
beginning of a process of establishing a comparative research field that could be
called ‘comparative school counseling studies’.
Firstly, such a research field could contribute to a better understanding of
common features, similarities and differences in school counseling worldwide.
Secondly, it could support transferring best school counseling practices and
innovations between countries. Thirdly, it could help improving school counseling
training programs at colleges and universities, especially in countries where such
programs are not well developed.
Every comparative international study of school counseling usually faces many
difficulties, including:
 the position of school counselor, although being similar across the world,
often has different role, functions and tasks;
 in the school systems, in parallel with school counselors, there are many
other school or out-of-school based specialists (such as school psychologist
or psychotherapist, guidance teacher, speech therapist, social worker, career
adviser, professional orientation consultant, etc.) whose functions are often
mixed with those of school counselors; and
 in most cases, finding all actual national documentation that regulates school
counseling is a very difficult process.
The term
The term ‘school counselor’ has different names in the national school systems:
student or education counselor (Austria), pedagogical counselor (Bulgaria),
pedagogical-psychological counselor (Denmark), pedagogue-psychologist (Russia),
expert associate (Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia), school counselor (Malta,
Slovenia, UK, USA), and guidance counselor (Ireland). In this paper, the term
‘school counselor / school counseling’ is used as a common term for all countries.
The original terms in the 12 countries are listed below.
Note: for Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Russia the Cyrillic letters are replaced
with their Latin equivalents.
Austria
Schüler- und Bildungsberater
Bulgaria
Pedagogicheski savetnik
Croatia
Stručni suradnik
Denmark
Psykologer / Konsulenter / Uddannelsesvejleder
Ireland
Guidance counsellor
Malta
School counsellor

School Counseling: A Comparative Study in 12 Countries
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North Macedonia
Struchen sorabotnik
Russia
Pedagog-psiholog
Serbia
Stručni saradnik
Slovenia
Svetovalni delavec
UK
School counsellor
USA
School counselor
Comparisons of school counseling aspects
The following six aspects of school counseling are compared: 1) legislative
framework; 2) position requirements; 3) role of school counselors; 4) functions of
school counselors; 5) interaction; and 6) ratio.
Legislative framework
In Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia the governance of
the school systems is generally centralized. Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, and
Slovenia apply stronger centralization, which means that job requirements,
professional activities and duties of school counselors are defined at the national
(ministerial) level. The centralization in Bulgaria is soft, which means that school
counseling details are decided on both national and school level.
In Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Russia, UK, and USA the governance of
the school systems is decentralized. These countries can be divided into 3 groups:
 Countries with decentralized school system governance and centralized
regulation of school counseling. Such countries are Austria, Malta, and
Russia. School counseling is regulated by the ministries of education of these
countries.
 Countries with decentralized school system governance and decentralized
regulation of school counseling. Such countries are Denmark, Ireland, and
the United Kingdom. The ministries/departments of education of these
countries regularly publish documents on school counseling that are
frameworks and give general recommendations, while the concrete regulation
is performed by municipalities and local authorities. In the United Kingdom,
the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy offers training and
accreditation of school counselors. In Ireland, these functions are performed
by the National Centre for Guidance in Education.
 A country with decentralized school system governance and national non-
governmental regulation of school counseling. Such a country is the United
States, where the American School Counselor Association has created its
ASCA National Model that should be followed by all American school
counselors (ASCA, n. d.).
Position requirements
Regarding the academic degree applicants for school counselors must have, the
countries can be grouped as follows:

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 Countries where applicants may have both Bachelor and Master’s degree.
These countries are Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, North Macedonia, the
United Kingdom, and Russia. The United States can also be included in this
group because 45 states require a Master’s degree, while in 5 states a
Bachelor degree is enough (ASCA, n. d.).
 Countries where applicants should have a Master’s degree. Such countries
are Croatia, Ireland, Malta, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Regarding any specialization (additional qualification) applicants must have, the
countries can be grouped as follows:
 Countries where applicants for school counselors must have any additional
qualification for school counselors in addition to their academic degrees. It
happens in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, the United Kingdom, and the
United States. Various models of obtaining additional qualification can be
seen – specializations in Bachelor and Master’s programs, in-service training
programs, etc.
 Countries where no additional qualification for school counselors is required.
It happens in Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, and
Slovenia.
Regarding licensing (also met as certification or accreditation) of school
counselors, the countries can again be divided into 2 groups:
 Countries with no licensing – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, North
Macedonia, Malta, Russia, Serbia, and Slovenia.
 Countries with licensing required – Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the
United States.
Regarding the required type of higher education (specialty) applicants for school
counselors must have, the countries can be divided into 3 groups:
 Countries where a degree in Education (or Pedagogy) is required. It is
observed in Austria, Ireland, and Malta. The United States can also be
included in this group due to the fact that the school counseling programs are
often organized at faculties/colleges of education.
 Countries where a degree in Psychology (as a main or additional specialty) is
required. Such countries are Russia and the United Kingdom.
 Countries where applicants may have a degree in Education (Pedagogy) or
Psychology. It can be seen in Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, North Macedonia,
Serbia, and Slovenia.
Role of school counselors
Examining this aspect, it can definitely be said that the role of school counselors
has many common characteristics in all countries. The role usually includes:
 supporting students in their psychological, academic and social development;
 consulting students, parents, and teachers;
 resolving conflicts between teachers and students;
 helping students to identify their abilities, capacities and interests;
 preventing dropout;
 supporting the school organization and the teaching/learning process;
 advising students about their career orientation and decisions;

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 collaborating with school staff (principals, teachers, other specialists); and
 maintaining school counseling documentation.
Functions of school counselors
The comparative review of a large body of documents (ASCA, n. d.; BACP, n.
d.; Bundesministerium für Bildung…, 2017; Danish Agency…, 2014; Jurić et al,
2001; Ministarstvo prosvete i nauke, 2012; Ministry of Education, 2003; Ministry
for Education and Employment, n. d.; Ministry of Education and Science, 2019;
Ministry of Education and Science, 2016; Mrvar Gregorčič & Mažgon, 2016;
National Centre for Guidance..., n. d.) shows that the following functions can be
outlined as common for all or most countries:
 identification function – diagnosing psychological, learning and social
difficulties students have, and identifying gifted students and students with
special needs;
 information function – giving information to all school actors according to
their needs;
 support function – supporting personal development of students;
 consultation function – organizing individual and group consultations with
students, parents, teachers and other school members;
 orientation function – helping students to get a better orientation about next
level of education, vocational qualification or work market;
 prevention function – preventing students from possible risks and dropout;
 correction function – working with students who need additional help in
coordination with other teachers and specialists;
 mediation function – solving problems between students, teachers, parents
and principals;
 assessment function – monitoring the school process and assessing the
quality of school work;
 development function – creating tools for optimizing the school work; and
 research function – getting knowledge of changes, best practices and
innovations for improving the school work.
It should be clarified that this list of functions is rather relative. In some
countries, these functions are subordinated – some are main, while others are sub-
functions or activities/tasks. It was our intention here to outline the big scope of
functions of school counseling.
Interaction
It is clear that school counselors need to interact with a large circle of persons
and organizations, such as: students, parents, teachers, principals, other school based
or out-of-school based specialists (social workers, psychologists, speech therapists,
doctors, etc.), municipal and state institutions, non-governmental youth and children
organizations, centers for professional information, police and court authorities. In
Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States school counselors are expected
to contact universities and colleges, representatives of local business, and members
of the local church. A specific feature in the United Kingdom is the cooperation
between school counselors and the school pastoral system (BACP, n. d.).

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Ratio
The number of students at school per one school counselor ratio averagely
varies between 250 and 500 students. The best standard (i.e. the lowest ratio) is
announced in Croatia – schools with about 180 students must have 2 school
counselors, schools with 180 to 500 students must have 3 school counselors, and
schools with more than 500 students must have 4 school counselors. In the United
States, the average standard is 250 students per one school counselor. In Malta, the
standard is 300 students. In Ireland, schools having up to 500 students must appoint
at least one school counselor, while schools with more than 500 students must have
one school counselor per every 250 students. In Bulgaria, Russia and the other
countries the usual standard is 500 students. However, in Bulgaria, the Ministry of
Education and Science plans to decrease this number up to 400.
Conclusion
The paper shortly and comparatively presented some aspects of school
counseling in 12 countries (11 European countries and the United States). It is
clearly declared in national documents (laws, strategies, reports, regulations,
instructions, advices, ministerial orders, recommendations, etc.) of all countries that
school counseling is a very important position at schools that will play a more and
more significant role in the development of education. According to the United
States Department of Labor (2018) the number of school counselors in USA will
increase with 13% until 2026, which is the highest increase among all professions.
It could be summarized that in the countries included in this study the school
counselor is considered the specialist who shall: 1) support the psychological,
academic and social development of students; 2) try to resolve conflicts between all
actors in school life; 3) help students to face personal problems; 4) consult students,
parents, teachers and principals; and 5) act as a coordinator of various school
activities. It was mentioned in the Introduction of this paper that school counseling
is the most multifunctional position in the school system. The huge diversity of
functions listed above shows an abnormal spectrum of problems school counselors
should try to solve.
There are also certain differences in school counselors’ work. While in some
countries the focus is on supporting students in their personal development and
learning (Denmark, Ireland, UK), in others the equal attention is paid to the
successful realization of teaching and school work and the improvement of the
overall functioning of the school as an institution (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia). In
addition, the dominant functions or duties of school counselors vary across the
countries – in some cases it is mental health care (United Kingdom), elsewhere
academic and career guidance and counseling (Austria, Ireland), prevention
(Russia), etc.
It is evident in position requirements, ministerial instructions, school forums,
and associations’ advices used in the 12 countries that national education policy
makers, principals, students, parents, and inspectors expect from school counselors
to be: active, balancing, careful, communicative, competent, complex, confident,
creative, curious, defending, discreet, educative, experienced, exact, flexible, honest,
inspiring, interesting, kind, learning, loyal, moral, motivating, multifunctional,

School Counseling: A Comparative Study in 12 Countries
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objective, open, original, patient, positive, reliable, searching, seeing, sensitive,
smiling, social, supportive, sympathetic, tolerant, understanding, useful, variable.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Prof. Dr. James Ogunleye (UK), Dr. Gillian Hilton (UK), Prof.
Dr. Klara Skubic Ermenc (Slovenia), Prof. Dr. Gordana Stankovska (North
Macedonia), Prof. Dr. Karen L. Biraimah (USA), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Susan M. Yelich
Biniecki (USA), Prof. Dr. Kenneth F. Hughey (USA), Prof. Dr. Peter L. Schneller
(USA), Dr. Victor Martinelli (Malta), Assist. Prof. Dr. Gordana Djigić (Serbia),
Prof. Dr. Tatyana Korsakova (Russia), Maria Popova (Bulgaria/Germany), Dr.
Siniša Kušić (Croatia), and Melika Illim (Denmark) for providing information and
sources on school counseling in their countries.
References
American School Counselor Association (ASCA) (n. d.): https://www.schoolcounselor.org/
(Accessed 28 January 2020).
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) (n. d.): https://www.bacp.co.uk/
(Accessed 30 January 2020).
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung (2017): Grundsatzerlass für
Schüler- und Bildungsberatung. Rundschreiben Nr. 22/2017 des Bundesministeriums für
Bildung. https://bildung.bmbwf.gv.at/ministerium/rs/ 2017_22.pdf?68k0bf (Accessed 15
September 2018).
Danish Agency for Higher Education (2014): Guidance in Education – the educational
guidance system in Denmark. Copenhagen: Euroguidance Denmark.
Jurić, V., Mušanović, M., Staničić, S. & Vrgoč, H. (2001): Koncepcija razvojne pedagoške
djelatnosti stručnih suradnika ‒ prijedlog. Zagreb: Ministarstvo prosvjete i športa.
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Nikolay Popov & Vera Spasenovic
BCES Conference Books, 2020, Volume 18 | Part 1: Comparative and International Education & History of Education
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Popov, N. & Spasenović, V. (2018a): The school counselor: a comparative review in 12
countries. Sofia: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society. [In Bulgarian]
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zemalja. Sofija: Bugarsko društvo za komparativnu pedagogiju.
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career-counselors.htm (Accessed 15 September 2018).
Prof. Dr.habil. Nikolay Popov, Sofia University, Bulgaria
Prof. Dr. Vera Spasenović, University of Belgrade, Serbia