Evaluation of Guidance Teachers' Guidance Competence and Professional Development Processes

This study aims to evaluate guidance teachers' guidance competence levels and attitudes towards professional development processes. The changing structure of education systems requires students' increasing psychosocial needs and multidimensional crisis environments, the professional roles and competencies of guidance teachers. Guidance adequacy not only includes the theoretical knowledge, but also multifaceted professional equipment such as effective communication skills, commitment to ethical principles and openness to development. In this context, in the study, the competences that guidance teachers should have are defined within the theoretical framework; The applications in Türkiye and the guidance systems in countries such as Finland, USA, Canada and New Zealand have been examined. The findings from the literature screening and the current research on the field show that guidance teachers are mostly engaged in administrative duties in Turkey, that they have difficulty in implementing their competences and that they cannot systematically participate in their professional development processes. In international practices, the roles of guidance teachers are defined more clearly, their professional development is supported by legal obligations and guidance services are carried out more systematically. At the end of the study, it is recommended that the task definitions of guidance teachers in Türkiye should be clarified, the creation of a competence system based on ethical and professional standards and that institutional structures that support continuous professional development should be strengthened.