Orientadores escolares: importancia de la dimensión personal y participativa en las competencias actitudinales

ABSTRACTIntroduction: The current model of indirect intervention about educational guidance, based on collaborative consultation and theoretically grounded in the principles of prevention, intervention and social development, is an unquestionable quality factor in education systems. Method: The aim of this study is to understand the degree of importance that attitudinal competences hold for an effective performance by school counselors in Education Schools of Galicia. In order to measure attitudinal competences it was used the questionnaire Analysis of professional competences of school counselors. Results: The results of the investigation confirm that counselors consider attitudinal competences very important (69.1%), those with the highest rating (percentages over 75%) are those referring to “knowing how to act” (participative dimension) in contrast to a worse assessment (percentages under 55%) of those referring to “knowing how to be” (personal dimension). Principal components analysis followed by varimax rotation indicated two factors jointly accounting for 61.2% of total variance, one associated with actions involving modification of syllabuses, and the other with actions not requiring such changes. Cronbach's alphas were .94 and.80 for the two factors. Finally, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) holds that hypothesized model appears to be an acceptable fit of data. Conclusions: This study, beyond lending productionof knowledge to the field of educational and vocational guidance, is a headway to favor the acquisition of attitudinal competences in counseling training, contributing to the strengthening of counseling services in terms of quality and excellence. RESUMENIntroducción: El modelo actual de intervención indirecta de la orientación educativa, basado en la consulta colaborativa y fundamentado teóricamente en los principios de prevención, desarrollo e intervención social, constituye un factor de calidad indiscutible en los sistemas educativos. Método: El objetivo de este estudio conocer el grado de importancia de las competencias actitudinales en el desempeño eficaz de las funciones de los orientadores escolares en los centros educativos de Galicia. Para medir las competencias actitudinales se aplicó el cuestionario Análisis de las competencias profesionales de los orientadores escolares. Resultados: Los resultados de la investigación confirman que los orientadores consideran muy importantes las competencias actitudinales (69.1%), siendo mejor valoradas (porcentajes superiores al 75%) las que hacen referencia al “saber estar” (dimensión participativa) frente a una peor valoración (porcentajes por debajo del 55%) de las referidas al “saber ser” (dimensión personal). El análisis factorial a través de los componentes principales con rotación varimax configura dos factores que explican el 61.2% de la varianza de los datos, asociado uno con acciones que implican modificación de programas, y otro con acciones que no requieren tales cambios. Las alphas de Cronbach son de .94 y .80 para los dos factores. Finalmente, el análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC) sostiene que el modelo hipotetizado tiene un aceptable ajuste a los datos. Conclusiones: El presente estudio, más allá de contribuir con la producción de conocimientos en el área de la orientación educativa y profesional, es un avance para favorecer la adquisición de competencias actitudinales en la formación orientadora, contribuyendo al fortalecimiento de los servicios de orientación en términos de calidad y excelencia.ABSTRACTIntroduction: The current model of indirect intervention about educational guidance, based on collaborative consultation and theoretically grounded in the principles of prevention, intervention and social development, is an unquestionable quality factor in education systems. Method: The aim of this study is to understand the degree of importance that attitudinal competences hold for an effective performance by school counselors in Education Schools of Galicia. In order to measure attitudinal competences it was used the questionnaire Analysis of professional competences of school counselors. Results: The results of the investigation confirm that counselors consider attitudinal competences very important (69.1%), those with the highest rating (percentages over 75%) are those referring to “knowing how to act” (participative dimension) in contrast to a worse assessment (percentages under 55%) of those referring to “knowing how to be” (personal dimension). Principal components analysis followed by varimax rotation indicated two factors jointly accounting for 61.2% of total variance, one associated with actions involving modification of syllabuses, and the other with actions not requiring such changes. Cronbach's alphas were .94 and.80 for the two factors. Finally, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) holds that hypothesized model appears to be an acceptable fit of data. Conclusions: This study, beyond lending productionof knowledge to the field of educational and vocational guidance, is a headway to favor the acquisition of attitudinal competences in counseling training, contributing to the strengthening of counseling services in terms of quality and excellence.