Personal and Group Professional Identity in the 21st Century Case Study: The School Counseling Profession

Abstract

The current study focuses on the concept of professional identity in the school counseling profession, its definition and measurement. According to the definition in this study, the concept of “professional identity” is divided in two: personal professional identity, which is the practitioner’s sense of belonging to and solidarity with the profession, and group professional identity, which includes the features attributed to the profession, both by those who belong to it and by those who do not practice it, and makes it possible to discern between professions.
 
 The school counseling profession, occupied mainly by women, is contending with a lack of clarity regarding its role definition, role boundaries, and demands. Therefore, despite the change in the status of the profession in recent years, various issues impede the group professional identity of school counseling and the personal profession identity of its practitioners. This study is the first to examine the professional identity of school counselors on two levels: personal and group, among school counselors in Israel.
 
 The study included 174 school counselors who completed two professional identity scales constructed for the purpose of the study. Each scale underwent factor analysis, and a significant association was found between the two scales and the factors they comprised. The research findings indicate that the personal professional identity of school counselors is affected by their group professional identity, and vice versa.
 
 The research findings indicate the need to distinguish in future studies between personal and group professional identity, both in the school counseling profession and in other professions, particularly in a world characterized by professional mobility where current professions will become irrelevant while others will be in demand and there may be a need to define the personal and group professional identity of workers.

“Today, I Say It’s Mine!”: Professional Identity Construction among Jewish and Arab School Counselors Coping with CSA Disclosure in Israel

“…New professionals tend to shift from external to internal evaluation; that is, from relying on experts to relying on their own history and training [23,24]. Through their experiences, reflections, and interactions [25,26], counselors align their work with their beliefs and expectations about student support, guidance, and advocacy [27]. However, the study of school counselors' professional identity construction through their experiences with the CSA is limited, particularly in terms of their experiences in different sociocultural contexts.…”

“…Given this range, there is at present a lack of clarity regarding the role definition, boundaries, and demands of the counseling profession in Israel [27]. This is also partially attributable to the fact that to date, the profession has been characterized by constant change and development [38].…”

Formación de la identidad profesional frente a la crisis global socioambiental

“…Sin embargo, se puede entender como una construcción personal situada en un ISSN (Digital): 2223-7666 Liberabit, 2021, 27(2), e504 (julio -diciembre) contexto cultural y laboral de lo que significa ser profesional. Así, la IP posee las dimensiones individual y colectiva que interactúan para desarrollar saberes, valores, prácticas, costumbres y tradiciones propias de la profesión (Cardoso et al, 2014;Heled & Davidovitch, 2021).…”

"Hearing the pupils’ voices through my own struggles”: A qualitative study of return to work among school counselors who are breast cancer survivors

“…To apply for a license in educational counseling in Israel, candidates must possess a master's degree in educational counseling and a teaching certificate, as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Education's Counseling Division [23]. Furthermore, school counselors must adhere to the code of ethics established by the Educational Counseling Board [23]. School counselors are integral to the educational system, working full-time with students, educational staff, and parents.…”

“…The current study examined the perspectives of school counselors who survived breast cancer and returned to the workplace. The job of school counselor is multidimensional and includes working individually with students and parents as well as enlisting the help of the entire school staff and relies on psychosocial functioning to perform in this role [23]. Because of the demands of their job, school counselors are under a great deal of stress at work.…”