I feel that I have taken tools with me that will help me both as a counselor and as a mentor": Pre-service School-counselors' Perceptions of the Significance of Mentoring Course in Their Professional Development

Author : Dr. Ina Ben Uri, Dr. Orly Orion Liver

Abstract :The European-union ProMentors project (2020-2023) was a unique opportunity to integrate mentoring courses into master's degree programs. Two of these courses took place as part of the master's degree in school-counseling at Beit Berl Academic College. School-counselors in Israel, mentor and guide beginning teachers as part of their daily work; but until now, the mentoring course has not been an integral part of their training process. Following the integration of the ProMentors mentoring course into the school-counseling program, a qualitative study was conducted, aimed to understand the attitudes of 41 students regarding the mentoring course and its relevance to the practice of counseling. A content-analysis of written reflective reports and feedback revealed a new understanding of the connections between the world of counseling and the perception of mentoring among the course participants, especially regarding the constructivist and ecological theoretical approaches in both worlds.

Keywords :School counseling, Mentoring, Ecological theory, constructivist theory.

Conference Name :International Conference on Psychology, Language and Teaching (ICPLT-25)

Conference Place Vienna, Austria

Conference Date 19th Feb 2025