Date
12-5-2022
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Linda Gable
Keywords
school counselor, transition, transformed school counselor, technology integration, comprehensive school counseling program
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Smith, Crystal Michelle, "Understanding the School Counselor's Experience as They Transition to Meet the Demands of Their Job: A Phenomenological Study" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3989.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3989
Abstract
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of school counselors as they transition to integrate technology to meet the demands of their job as transformed school counselors. Eleven participants were selected using a purposeful and criterion-based sample of school counselors from a school counselor’s Facebook group. The participants selected were employed in a public middle school, junior high school, or high school system found within the United States. The central question for this study was: how do school counselors describe their experiences of integrating technology so they may meet the demands of their job? The Schlossberg's Transition Theory that guided this study describes the process one may experience when transitioning from a known to an unknown situation. Data were collected from eleven participants using the following data collection techniques: individual interviews, a letter-writing activity, and focus groups. The data analysis conformed to the phenomenological reduction model as described by Moustakas. The findings of the study revealed that school counselors are able to cope with their transition to become transformed school counselors by strategizing to find the necessary supports through networking to learn the technologies needed to implement their comprehensive school counseling programs.
