In this multi-continent, cross-cultural study, we investigated the role of humility in counselling relationships between school counsellors and students across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Europe. A culturally diverse research group interviewed 45 school counsellors and analysed the data thematically. The findings suggest that humility is a relational and context-dependent trait, highlighting how cultural understandings and enactments of humility shape counsellor-student relationships. The study has implications for developing culturally relevant counselling practices in schools, where cultural characteristics, organisational factors, and counsellors’ professional practices interact.

We used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to explore the role of school climate and basic psychological needs in teacher wellbeing. In Study 1, 199 teachers were surveyed. In Study 2, which aimed to elaborate the findings of Study 1, 15 teachers were interviewed. School climate was indirectly associated with teacher wellbeing via psychological need satisfaction. Relationships with students, competency as teachers and mentors, and classroom autonomy, were the most important factors in supporting teacher wellbeing. Results of this study extend theorizing on the key roles played by the school climate and basic needs satisfaction in supporting teachers' wellbeing.

Background A strong professional identity is associated with more effective school counselling but remains relatively underdeveloped in many parts of the world.Aims We conducted a scoping review of school counsellor professional identity to assess the nature and extent of international literature and to identify research gaps.Materials and Methods Following a literature search and application of inclusion criteria, 74 items, including peer-reviewed articles and unpublished dissertations, were included.Results The review identified several key themes in the literature: (1) ambiguity in counsellor identity, (2) the diverse roles of school counsellors, (3) individual and collective professional identity, (4) the influence of context on identity, (5) the role of training in shaping identity, (6) the impact of continuing professional development on identity and (7) the importance of advocacy and leadership in developing professional identity.Discussion Research on school counsellor professional identity is relatively well-developed in the United States but sparse and fragmented elsewhere. As school counselling provision expands globally, there is a need for more cross-cultural and methodologically diverse research. The literature shows a shift from a deficit-focused perspective to a strengths-based approach. Implications for counsellors, stakeholders, and future research are discussed.Conclusion This scoping review highlights the need to strengthen school counsellor professional identity through training, advocacy, and cross-cultural research.

BackgroundSchool counselling in the Asia Pacific region has experienced enormous development in the last few decades but faces many serious challenges as counsellors seek to respond to the needs of young people in a complex and fast-changing environment.AimsThis article aimed to explore the challenges school counsellors face in finding a clear identity and sense of purpose.DiscussionWe outline the antecedents and consequences of a weak counsellor identity. We suggest that the future development of school counselling in the region rests on responding to the challenge of school counsellors finding a clear and robust identity by (1) adopting an ecological perspective and (2) developing culture-specific, indigenous ways of counselling.ConclusionGiven that the development of school counselling in this region has a long way to go, we briefly sketch some research priorities for the years ahead, which may contribute to the realisation and articulation of a stronger professional identity for school counsellors.

School-based mentoring programmes in which teachers act as mentors have the potential to offer a non-stigmatizing and developmentally appropriate source of support for secondary school students. However, the experience of teacher-mentors is under-researched, particularly in Hong Kong. Fifteen mentors participating in a school-based mentoring programme in one Hong Kong secondary school serving a Chinese population were interviewed and the data were analysed thematically. Findings indicated that teacher-mentors provided social and emotional support to their mentees, and that they were motivated to do so by a desire for greater relatedness to the students with whom they worked. The relationship formed between mentors and mentees was more spontaneous, less hierarchical, more wide-ranging, and more personal in nature than that between teachers and students, and constituted a source of satisfaction for mentors. The study has several implications for schools which may be considering implementing a mentoring programme.

Objective: This study investigated how school counsellors in international schools in Hong Kong supported the wellbeing of students and families during the period of school closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of parents. Method: Sixteen parents with children in eleven different international schools in Hong Kong were interviewed and the data were analysed thematically. Results: Strong pre-existing relationships, role clarity, and open communication between counsellors and parents were associated with the effective adaptation of counselling services to the changing needs of parents during the school closure period, but these characteristics were often weak or absent. Conclusions: Parents' perceptions of counselling during the school closure period provide important feedback that schools can use to build more integrated and responsive support services. Counsellors can support students' wellbeing more effectively during crises by communicating their roles clearly, building strong relationships with parents, and helping students to maintain a diverse experience in their schooling.

Gratitude has recently received increasing scholarly attention as a moral value and virtue important for individual and social functioning and therefore worth cultivating in schools. However, previous research has often been based on experiences in western societies, while moral values and moral cultivation are understood in different ways across cultural contexts. This exploratory qualitative study examines teachers' conceptions of gratitude and their experiences of cultivating gratitude in schools in mainland China. Based on semi-structured interviews, the findings highlight Chinese teachers' culturally distinctive conceptions of gratitude and its cultivation, namely its role in developing relationships and maintaining social harmony, and the importance of acts of reciprocity. This empirical study develops a more substantive cross-cultural understanding of the nature of gratitude and practices of moral cultivation in schools.

School counselling has the potential to deliver significant support for the wellbeing of children. However, much of the research on school counsellors has been conducted in developed Western countries, with very limited research into factors influencing the effectiveness of counsellors in lower middle-income countries or in Asia. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of Filipino counsellors about their roles, and factors that supported or impeded their effectiveness. Seventeen school counsellors in the Philippines were interviewed, and the data were analysed thematically. Our findings suggest that Filipino school counsellors often carry out dual roles, experience a lack of role clarity, and are systemically disempowered in their schools. Relationships with school principals have a significant influence on counsellors' roles and positioning in schools, and therefore on their effectiveness. The ability of principals to foster a school ethos supportive of counselling is essential in enabling counsellors to leverage the multifunctional nature of their work, become embedded and centrally positioned in the school community, and enhance their effectiveness. Doing so can enable counselling to be more culturally accessible to young people.

Instructional quality is associated with better academic outcomes for students. This study aimed to investigate how teachers' job satisfaction was associated with clarity of instruction and cognitive activation as measures of instructional quality. In addition, we investigated whether this association between teachers' job satisfaction and instructional quality was mediated by teacher-student relationships. Drawing on the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), we compared participants from both Eastern (N = 27,106; Japan, Taipei, Korea, Shanghai) and Western sociocultural contexts (N = 20,209; Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom). Multilevel structural equation modelling results indicated that teachers' job satisfaction was positively associated with instructional quality across Eastern and Western settings. The relationship between teachers' job satisfaction and instructional quality was partially mediated by better student-teacher relationships. There were some differences between the cultural settings in how job satisfaction correlated with clarity of instruction and cognitive activation. We suggest that these differences may be accounted for by cultural characteristics leading to different approaches to teaching. Our results suggest that teachers' job satisfaction and the quality of classroom-level relationships may be important indicators of positive instructional outcomes. While schools focus on student outcomes, they should also address teachers' job satisfaction and prioritise the importance of relationships between teachers and students in classrooms.

Humility as a concept has recently received increasing scholarly attention in international scholarship. It has also been regarded as important for education traditionally in Chinese culture. However, no empirical research so far has examined Chinese people’s conceptualisations of humility in education and its cultivation in schools. Based on semi-structured interviews, this exploratory study examined urban teachers’ conceptions of humility and their experiences of cultivating humility in mainland Chinese schools. Our findings highlight the multiplicity and complexity of conceptualisations of humility and the challenges faced by the teachers in cultivating humility. The study also raises questions about the politics of practicing humility and the complex entanglements between moral values and social norms and relations, inviting more research to examine the complex implications of moral virtues that are promoted in schools and wider societies around the world. Despite their recognition of the potentially negative consequences of humility such as avoidance from competition and entailing emotional constraints, the teachers regarded humility as a predominantly positive moral concept important for learning, teaching, and teacher–student relationship. Meanwhile, they associated it with disciplinary dispositions such as being quiet, subtle, cautious, or dutiful. The teachers’ attempts to cultivate it among their students were highly contingent, however, due to various challenges, including a lack of teacher training and limited textbook contents on humility, the exam-orientedness of the Chinese education system, and the perceived individualistic dispositions of Chinese students.

A strong counsellor professional identity is associated with the provision of more effective school counselling programmes. However, many school counsellors in East and Southeast Asia carry out wide-ranging and poorly defined roles, occupy marginalised positions in schools, and have limited access to communities of practice and professional development. To provide more effective support for children's wellbeing, a greater focus on the professional identity of school counsellors in the region is needed. A significant task for professional school counselling organisations is the promotion of counselling in schools as an important and distinct professional role.

School counsellors in Hong Kong constitute an underutilised resource in supporting the wellbeing of young people. We investigated how counsellors working in local and international schools perceived their roles and professional status. Counsellors were both surveyed and interviewed. Findings indicate that local school counsellors have a low professional status and an unclear identity compared to their international counterparts. As a group, they are marginalised and disempowered within their own school settings, reducing their effectiveness, and limiting the benefits they can provide to students. Policy innovation at school level is needed to better utilise school counsellors. Professional organisations have an important role to play in educating the community about school counselling and advocating for policy change at school and government levels.

A strong professional identity is associated with the provision of more effective counselling services. In Hong Kong, however, the role of school counsellors is poorly defined, not well differentiated from those of other educational and mental health professions, and not supported by licensing and minimum qualification requirements. Consequently, school counsellors perform marginalised roles in schools which do not draw effectively on their competencies. Professional bodies that support the development of school counselling do exist but are not well established. If counsellors are to be effective, they need to establish an identity that recognises their unique contribution and locates them clearly in relation to other professions in a culturally appropriate way. They should also occupy positions in schools, which are characterised by collaboration with stakeholders and the ability to influence policy. Professional bodies are well placed to advocate for these changes in the context of the local sociocultural environment and should take a lead in advocating for a more robust professional identity.

School-based counselling is an effective intervention for psychological distress in adolescents, but little is known about the processes leading to a therapeutic change in a Chinese sociocultural context. Twenty-five Chinese senior secondary school students and eight school counsellors in Hong Kong were interviewed, and the data were analysed thematically within a critical realist paradigm. Three change processes were developed: new ways of thinking, developing better relationships and experiencing positive emotions. The study's findings were broadly consistent with previous research into school-based counselling in Western contexts but not consistent with previous studies carried out with adult Chinese clients. Counselling in schools has the potential to deliver significant benefits to adolescents in Hong Kong.

The growing incidence of mental health problems in adolescents is a significant global concern. School-based counselling, where a student meets with an individual, trained counsellor a number of times in a school setting, is a common component of holistic mental health programmes to support the well-being of students. In Hong Kong, however, professional counselling is in general not well-developed, and school-based counselling has been severely under-researched. Drawing on data from interviews with 8 counsellors and 25 student clients in local secondary schools, the present study aims to investigate the perspectives of counsellors and clients on the practice of school-based counselling in Hong Kong. Following a thematic approach, the study compares the key themes identified in the reflections of counsellors and clients on their experience of counselling. Similarities and differences in the discursive construction and realisation of themes are examined in detail. Representative examples are discussed in context to illustrate the views from both the service providers and users of school-based counselling. Findings from this study will inform and enhance understanding of how school-based counselling can help to promote the mental well-being of students in the local educational setting and in the broader Asian context.

This study assessed the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial on a humanistic counselling intervention and obtained indications of its effectiveness. Thirty-three participants were assigned to either a treatment or a control group. Outcome measures were the Young Person’s Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (YP-CORE) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Reductions in psychological distress were found in the treatment group compared to the control group on the YP-CORE, the SDQ total difficulty score, and the SDQ emotional symptoms subscale. At three-month follow-up, the intervention effects were sustained in the YP-CORE and SDQ hyperactivity subscale. The study suggests that a fully powered trial is feasible, and that the intervention is effective in reducing psychological distress in Chinese adolescents.

Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with ethnically Chinese adolescents enrolled into a school-based mentoring programme at a private secondary school in Hong Kong. Interview data were analysed thematically and two themes developed: ‘experiencing mentoring’ and ‘experiencing the mentor’. The mentees, although initially sceptical about mentoring, were surprised by its helpfulness. Through the development of an informal and collaborative relationship in which students experienced their mentor as a trustworthy, mature and objective adult, students found an important source of emotional support and practical help which benefited their academic work. Students’ experience was influenced by their mentors’ role in the school, length of service and gender match. School-based mentoring programmes in a Hong Kong context have the potential to offer emotional and academic support to students. Cultural factors may have an impact on the experience of mentoring which schools should take into account when setting up such programmes.

Aims: Little is known about the processes taking place in school-based counselling, particularly in Hong Kong, where the sociocultural environment may influence these processes. This study investigated students' engagement with counselling from the perspective of students and school counsellors in Hong Kong. Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 25 ethnically Chinese students and eight counsellors over three schools in Hong Kong. Data were analysed thematically within a critical realist paradigm. Results: Four themes were developed which captured students' experiences of school-based counselling: "Counselling embedded into the life of the school"; "Fears about counselling"; "Building a counselling relationship"; and "An ongoing but limited source of support." A top-level theme called "Relationship in context" encompassed the four themes. Conclusions and implications: Counsellors' embeddedness into the school's organisational structure enabled them to act as an ongoing source of support, which students valued but which could also foster dependency. Counsellors taking on additional roles in the school led to confusion on the part of both students and counsellors and limited the effectiveness of counselling. Seeing counsellors as authority figures, being unwilling to disclose personal information outside the family and stigma around mental health issues were cultural perspectives which heightened students' fears related to attending counselling. Trust was an essential precursor of developing a counselling relationship in which the counsellor was perceived as warm, non-judgemental, caring and empathic. A sensitivity to the sociocultural context and the embeddedness of counsellors in the school organisation are essential to the effective implementation of school-based counselling.

This paper summarizes a Shattuck Hammond Partners study, released in late 2000, that found marked erosion in California hospitals' financial health. The study examined the revenue and expense dynamics that contributed to this erosion and explored future challenges, some of which are unique to California's regulatory environment, in the context of the hospital industry's current financial performance. The study concluded that California hospitals face a potential crisis--defined as the potential nonviability of a large portion of its hospital infrastructure--and explored the policy questions and implications of this situation.

A discharge-flow apparatus equipped with resonance-fluorescence detection for OH radicals has been used to measure rate coefficients for the two reactionsOH + CH3ONO2 --> products (1)OH + C2H5ONO2 --> products (2)over the pressure range 1-20 Torr at T = 298 K and ca. 1-3 Torr over the temperature range 300-400 K. The rate constants, k(1) and k(2), were found to be invariant with pressure, but were found to increase with increasing temperature. In light of these findings, we conclude that at low pressure the reaction mechanism is consistent with an abstraction process. The rate constants derived are k(1) = (4.1 +/- 0.8) x 10(-13) exp(-604 +/- 121/T) cm(3) molecule(-1)s(-1) and k(2) = (3.30 +/- 0.56) x 10(-12) exp(-699 +/- 140/T) cm(3) molecule(-1)s(-1). The existence of pressure-dependent (association) channels for reactions (1) and (2) is briefly discussed. Model calculations are presented that imply that photolysis, and not reaction with the OH radical, is the dominant loss process in the atmosphere for CH3ONO2 and C2H5ONO2. Lifetimes of CH3ONO2 and C2H5ONO2 are derived for the lower atmosphere; they vary from a few years to several days depending upon season and location. Possible sources of these alkyl nitrates in the atmosphere are discussed.