ETHICAL CHALLENGES IN TEACHER – LED COUNSELLING AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL

Abstract

Teachers' roles at the elementary level have broadened tremendously from giving academics to also catering the emotional, behavioral and psychological needs of the students. Teachers are being expected to undertake counselling-related responsibilities at an increasing number of schools, mainly in developing countries, where professional counselling services are non-existent. But, the relative reporting of teachers into counselling practice, by a lack of formal counselling training and professional supervision, has brought about a host of ethical issues and in this paper we study about them. This research examined key ethical issues within teachers' counselling practices including confidentiality, boundaries and power, emotional and personal involvement, issues of communication, personal bias, and decision making. In addition, it examined the nature of interactions between the teachers and their clients and the support available for teachers delivering counselling in school contexts. The research was mostly a qualitative one and used secondary data from a range of journal articles, codes of ethics in counselling, education reports, books and scholarly journals on counselling and school psychology. It was analyzed by thematic analysis to highlight common themes and ethical considerations. The results of this study indicated that teachers generally face many ethical issues on their balancing academic expectations and parental roles which include maintaining confidentiality and the safety of students. It was observed that preschoolers are emotionally fragile and are not aware of the ramifications of revealing certain information. This study concluded that insecure counselling knowledge, emotional strain, inadequate training and policies make an unethical act or poor decision likely. The study concludes that the presence of teacher-led counselling as an integral part of elementary education is inevitable; the practice of counselling should be safe ethical supportive, and professional     The study argues the importance of ethical understanding, professional training, and institutional backing for the development of effective and professional counselling practices.