PERCEPTIONS OF THE EDUCATIONAL COUNSELORS ROLE IN KUWAITI SECONDARY-SCHOOLS

The counselling literature has frequently reported problems of conflic t and ambiguity within the counsellor's role, and its possible dysfunc tional effects. Early studies in Kuwaiti secondary schools have sugges ted that conflicting perceptions of the educational counsellor's role may exist, which need to be addressed if the guidance programme is to be improved. This study examined differences in perceptions of the rol e of educational counsellors held by students, teachers and counsellor s themselves. Questionnaires were completed by a sample of 300 student s, 300 teachers and 30 educational counsellors located across Kuwait's five educational zones. Their ratings of the importance of 20 counsel lor activities revealed differences in perceptions between the three g roups of respondents, indicating that role conflict and ambiguity may indeed be a problem. Possible reasons for this, with specific referenc e to the Kuwaiti context, are discussed.