Page 1 of 15

73

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 3

Publication Date: March 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/assrj.83.9812. Fogel-Simhony, M. (2021). Therapists’ Perception of their Relationship with Educational Staff in Secondary Inclusive Schools. Advances

in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(3) 73-87.

Therapists’ Perception of their Relationship with Educational Staff

in Secondary Inclusive Schools

Meytal Fogel-Simhony

Doctoral School of Psychology, Department of Psychology

and Education, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Romania

MA Expressive and Creative Therapy

ABSTRACT

Due to the disparities inherent in the role perception of expressive and

creative therapists in the Israeli educational system, and the difficulty

of fulfilling the role in an optimal manner for all parties involved, this

study aims to examine the role perception of the therapist in secondary

schools with inclusive education, examining the therapist’s work vis-a- vis the school’s educational staff and its management team.The sample

included 11 therapists who have worked in a secondary school for over

two years. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews.

Findings of the study indicated a number of significant parameters in

the therapist's work vis-à-vis the staff. Moreover, it is evident that the

therapist's own role perception is related to the role perception as

perceived by the educational and management team. The discussion

examines the significance of the disparity between the therapist's role

perception and the expectations and perceptions of the staff within the

educational system.

Keywords: Expressive and Creative Therapy, Therapist, inclusive secondary

school, the role of the therapist, role perception, educational staff,

management team of educational systems.

INTRODUCTION

This study examines how the therapist perceives the nature of her work within the school setting

and focuses on the therapist's interaction with the school's management and educational staff

with whom he works collaboratively. The study examined the relationship with the following

roles: school headmaster, counsellors and homeroom teachers, who are the first-circle with whom

the therapist collaborates.

The therapist’s perception of the nature of her work in the school system is comprised of the way

in which she carries out her role in addressing the needs of the pupil-client. Part of the therapist’s

job involves working collaboratively with the other educators who accompany the pupil-client,

such as the pupil’s parents and the school's educational staff. In such a situation the therapist is

required to collaborate with two other populations who become clients of sorts, although not

treated in the classic therapeutic sense.

Page 3 of 15

Fogel-Simhony, M. (2021). Therapists’ Perception of their Relationship with Educational Staff in Secondary Inclusive Schools. Advances in Social Sciences

Research Journal, 8(3) 73-87.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.83.9812 75

One of the major obstacles the therapist faces in her work in the educational setting is the

interaction with multiple role partners. Ostensibly, the therapist has a single key client, the client- pupil. In practice, however, when working in a school setting, part of the therapist’s role involves

working with several other populations. According to the therapist, there are two other key

populations who actually constitute additional clients besides the client-pupils, these include

parents and the school staff. (Ishai-Karin, 2004; Ayalon, 2021;).

As part of the therapy provided within a school setting, a child’s parent is also expected to be

involved in the process, although they are sometimes passive by only receiving updates and

information. According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Education, a therapist is required to

meet with parents 2-3 times throughout the year, however in practice this is not easily

implemented. Although recent studies suggest that therapists attribute great importance to the

relationship with parents and even regard them as additional clients, there are objective and

emotional difficulties which compound challenges in conducting parent meetings. Parents do not

always cooperate and the school system does not always support the relationship between the

therapist and the pupil-client’s parents (Beliti, 2021; Abramovski, 2020a).

The therapist works simultaneously with several members of the educational staff within the

school setting, whom he regards as colleagues who share a common goal of advancing the pupil.

Each role is relevant and each has a different influence. These include a school headmaster, a

school counsellor, homeroom teachers, a special education coordinator and a school psychologist.

It may be assumed that working with the school staff is a complex task due to the disparity

between the nature of the therapist's work and that of the educational staff, a disparity deriving

from the differences in disciplines between therapy and education as well as from vocational

training (Regev et al, 2016; Ofer-Yarom, 2007).

The foundations for interpersonal relationships, communication patterns, and human

relationships as adults, are developed during early infancy and are manifested in the way the

infant internalizes relationships in the home in which it was raised. The family is the first group

with whom the child develops an attachment pattern, interpersonal relationships and becoming

part of a group, while the child also behaves according to her own attachment pattern (secure,

anxious-avoidant or dismissive-avoidant attachment). The child learns and experiences several

relationships within the family, such as imitating behaviour and sometimes also rebelling against

authority. Later on, in life, all the child’s relationships will be based on the attachment patterns as

internalized via object relations within the family unit (Banmen, 2008; Bowlby, 1988; Winnicott,

1971, 1965). Studies show that a person's relationship and family dynamics, as learned during

childhood, will accompany her throughout her lifetime and serve her as an adult in interpersonal

relationships in general, in marital relationships, in groups and also in professional relationships

formed in the workplace (Kern & Peluso, 1999; Levinson 1994).

An organization in fact consists of a group of people with different personalities who work

together towards a single goal, while the organization’s goal definition influences the structure

and character of the organization. The nature of the employees' relationships and the

interpersonal interactions between them are what culminate to create the nature of the

organizational climate in general, and also influences the manner in which the various employees

within the organization fulfil their roles as individuals (Thomas, 1976; Sluss et al, 2011).