Client-centredness, sociological awareness and counsellor training

The nature of school counselling courses is examined in the light of the claim of counsellors to be client-centred, with particular reference to the sociological perspectives of the course and their treatment of social 'facts' and knowledge. It is suggested that they lack, in varying degrees, a comparative perspective, a total picture of society, and a notion of the social construction of reality. Consequently, counsellors show (a) an inability to move outside established frames of reference, (b) a concentration upon micro-problems concerning the child, his family and his neighbourhood in isolation from the wider societal context, and (c)an acceptance of 'commonsense' assumptions about education as absolute realities rather than as social constructs. Though intending to be change agents safeguarding the interests of pupils, counsellors are insufficiently helped to examine critically the institutional and societal framework of education, and will be likely therefore to continue to operate primarily as the servants rather than the critics of their employing institutions.