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Sabri Dogan_Dissertation.pdf (982.97 KB)

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School Counselors' Work with Immigrants: A Phenomenological Study of Competence, Social Justice, and Family Language Policy

Dogan, Sabri
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468418221

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services.
The biggest educational attainment gap between any two groups is seen between English Language Learners (ELL) and non-ELL students. Of ELL students, the largest majority by far are immigrant students. Because school counselors are in a unique position that enables them to provide essential services to promote immigrant students’ well-being, development, and success, it is important to explore school counselors’ experiences and perceptions of their work. The purpose of this Phenomenological qualitative research study was to explore: (a) school counselors’ perceptions of their competencies and what resources they utilize to develop their competencies in working with immigrant students and families, (b) school counselors’ beliefs and attitudes toward being a social justice advocate and how these beliefs and attitudes affect their support and services to immigrants, and (c) school counselors’ perceptions of their impact on linguistically diverse families’ language policies (FLP) and their perceptions of how FLP influences student outcomes. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews from 13 school counselors who work at schools that have five percent or greater of immigrant students in the state of Ohio, in the United States of America. Seven major themes emerged from the data: (1) They feel competent in addressing immigrants’ needs and challenges; however, their personal identities and experience impact their self-perceived competence level, (2) they believe that their training did not include counseling immigrants and was not sufficient for working effectively with immigrants, (3) they learn best about how to provide counseling services by willingly and intentionally leaving their comfort zones in order to seek out diverse experiences, (4) they need more professional development, language assistance, and collaboration with key stakeholders to improve their work, (5) The more they learn about immigrant students and families, they develop greater awareness of the individual differences in immigrant populations, as well as begin to develop greater humility about both the knowledge they have gained and how much they still have to learn, (6) social justice is at the heart of their work, and (7) They believe immigrant families should speak their native language with their children, and there was a range of opinions of whether or not FLP impacts student outcomes. In addition to the themes, four paradigms were identified based on the participants’ perceptions and experiences in working with immigrant students and families: (1) Superficial Awareness, (2) Growing Awareness, (3) Flexibility (in cognition, affect, behavior), and (4) Culturally Competent School Counselor. Each paradigm is explained based on six domains: awareness/dimensionality, competence, affiliation with social justice advocacy, notion of FLP, involvement with translation, and what they think they need to improve. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for school counselors, counselor educators, educators, and researchers. Recommendations on how to better prepare school counselors in providing effective and efficient services and support to immigrant students and families are presented.
Colette Dollarhide (Committee Chair)
James Moore (Committee Member)
Sarah Gallo (Committee Member)
238 p.
Counseling Education
school counselor, social justice, immigrant, family language policy, competency, phenomenology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dogan, S. (2017). School Counselors' Work with Immigrants: A Phenomenological Study of Competence, Social Justice, and Family Language Policy [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468418221

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dogan, Sabri. School Counselors' Work with Immigrants: A Phenomenological Study of Competence, Social Justice, and Family Language Policy. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468418221.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dogan, Sabri. "School Counselors' Work with Immigrants: A Phenomenological Study of Competence, Social Justice, and Family Language Policy." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468418221

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1468418221
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.