Counselor's Educators Teaching Practices: A Perspective from the Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Teachers play a vital role in the development of the students. The way they teach or deliver the subject matter greatly affects the learning outcomes of their students. This study aimed to determine the perspectives of the students about the teaching practices of counselor educators.

METHODS

The design of this study was explanatory sequential in which the researchers combine fundamentals of qualitative and quantitative research approaches for the purposes of richer data and a deeper understanding of the results This was based on the framework rationale and purpose model in which four rationales for designing mixed research studies were identified: participant enrichment, instrument fidelity, treatment integrity, and significance enhancement.

RESULTS

Educators use discussion, group work and employ technology in teaching. The professors deliver lessons well and give information relevant to the topic based on their experiences. They deliver a lesson using different teaching strategies like sharing insight about scenarios and simulation. They conscientiously attend to the needs of the students academically. There are some situational activities in discussing the lesson and reporting for the students to better explore the assigned topics.

To sum up, what the observer had seen, the counselor educators practiced a student-centered approach in delivering the lesson where they allow the students to construct their own meaning and learning experiences by facilitating the transfer of learning through linking the concepts in real-life practices and experiences. They used simulation and role-playing as a tool in showing the students acquired knowledge, skills, and values need in the counseling process. They encourage their students to become more creative and think critically on the given scenario. Technology and ethics integration was seen in the lesson.

DISCUSSIONS

This study did not measure how effective was the teaching practices of counselor educators because the intention was just to report the actual teaching practices. It is recommended that the future researcher may do a study on the effectiveness of the teaching practices of counselor educators rather than exploration. Identification of best teaching practices may add to the body of knowledge in delivering the graduate programs effectively. In addition, students' perceptions were only used by this study; it did not include records or documents supporting the teaching practices. Only class observations were utilized to verify the findings.