The Perception of the School Counsellor's Professional Status and Reputation

Promjene koje zahvaćaju današnje društvo u značajnoj se mjeri reflektiraju na školu kao instituciju za razvoj pojedinaca i ostvarivanje procesa učenja. Zbog toga je imperativ suvremene škole prilagođavanje zahtjevima društva i kontinuirano unapređivanje odgojnoobrazovnog rada. Stručni suradnici pedagozi svojim radom nastoje pridonijeti kvaliteti odgojno-obrazovne djelatnosti, prateći odgojno-obrazovni rad od njegovog planiranja do vrednovanja. Profesija pedagoga izrazito je značajna u kontekstu odgoja i obrazovanja, stoga je poželjno da je rad pedagoga prepoznatljiv u školskom okruženju, ali i šire. Zbog postojanja nedefiniranih uvjerenja društva o profesionalnom djelovanju i ugledu pedagoga, temeljni aspekt ovog rada usmjeren je na teorijski prikaz odrednica profesije pedagoga, razvojnog puta profiliranja profesije pedagoga i njegove uloge unutar razvojno-pedagoške djelatnosti te empirijsko istraživanje koje je imalo za cilj ispitati i utvrditi percepcije srednjoškolaca o profesionalnom statusu i ugledu pedagoga. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da učenici prepoznaju odrednice profesije pedagoga, diferenciraju je u odnosu na druge profesije te iskazuju njezinu potrebitost unutar društvenih okvira i u školskom kontekstu. Ovim radom nastoji se dati uvid u percepcije o profesionalnom statusu pedagoga, definirati njihov stručni ugled i potaknuti na promišljanje o dobrobitima djelatnosti pedagoga te načinima promoviranja struke koja to u potpunosti zaslužuje.The changes affecting modern society to a large extent reflect the school as an institution for the development of individuals and the achievement of the learning process. Therefore, the modern school’s imperative is assimilating to modern society and the continuous improvement of educational work. School associates - educators are trying to improve the quality of educational activities through their work, following the educational work from planning to evaluation. The educators’ profession is extremely important in the context of education, therefore, it is desirable that their work is recognized in the school setting, as well as beyond. Due to the existence of unspecified assurances society has about educators’ professional activities, a fundamental aspect of this work is focused on theoretical overview of educators’ profession and its entries of the developmental path in profiling educators’ profession and its role in the development of pedagogical activities as well as the empirical research which aimed to examine and determine the perception of high school students about educators’ professional status and reputation. The research results show that students recognize the determinants of educators’ profession, they differentiate it from other professions, and express its necessity within the social framework and in the school context. This paper seeks to provide insight into the perception of the educators’ professional status, the definition of their professional reputation and also aims to encourage contemplation of the benefits educators’ profession has as well as to give insight into the ways of promoting this profession which it fully deserves