A Narrative Inquiry into Professional School Counselors’ Experiences of Counseling Student-Athletes

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

This study aimed to explore professional school counselors’ experiences of counseling student-athletes and the meanings they ascribed to these experiences. To achieve this purpose, data were collected from four professional school counselors working in school Wee Classes who had experience counseling student-athletes. The study was guided by Clandinin and Connelly (2000) three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework of temporality, sociality, and place and followed the five phases of narrative inquiry: entering the field, moving from the field to field texts, composing field texts, moving from field texts to research texts, and composing research texts. The findings revealed four themes: (1) suspending prejudice toward student-athletes and understanding their unique characteristics and circumstances; (2) attempting tailored counseling interventions responsive to their characteristics and situations; (3) recognizing the strong influence of athletic coaches and physical education teachers on counseling; and (4) establishing the distinctive role of professional school counselors for student-athletes. Based on these findings, personal, practical, and social justifications were presented. By examining the experiences and meanings of professional school counselors working with clients who navigated the dual roles of student and athlete, this study provides directions for counseling interventions for student-athletes and contributes to the exploration of effective approaches to counseling student-athletes within the counseling field.