Exploring Filipino School Counselors’Beliefs about LearningAllan B. I. Bernardo[Abstract] School reform efforts that focus on student learning require school counselors to take on important new roles as advocates of student learning and achievement.But how do school counselors understand the process of learning? In this study, we explore the learning beliefs of 115 Filipino school counselors who indicated their degree of agreementwith 42 statements about the process of learning and the factors thatinfluence this process.A principal components analysis of the responses to the 42 statements suggested three factors:(F1)social-cognitive constructivist beliefs, (F2) teacher-curriculum-centered behaviorist beliefs,and (F3) individual difference factors.The preliminary results are briefly discussed in terms of issues related to how Filipino school counselors’ conceptions of learning may guide their strategies for promoting student learning and achievement.[Key words]beliefs about learning, conceptions of learning, school counselors, student learning, PhilippinesSchool reform efforts in different parts of the world have focusedon students’learning. In particular,most school improvement programsnow aim to ensure that students acquire the high-level knowledge and skills that help them to thrive in today’s highly competitive globaleconomy (e.g., Lee & Williams, 2006). I n this regard, school reform programs draw from various contemporary theories and research on learning (e.g.,Bransford,Brown, & Cocking, 1999; Lambert & McCombs, 1998).The basic idea is that all school improvement efforts should be directed at ensuring students achieve high levels of learning or attainment of well-defined curricular objectives and standards.For example, textbooks (Chien & Young, 2007), computers and educational technology (Gravoso, 2002; Haertnel & Means, 2003;Technology in Schools Task Force, 2003), and educational assessment systems (Black & Wiliam2004; Cheung & Ng, 2007; Clark, 2001; Stiggins, 2005) are being reconsidered as regards how they can effectively provide scaffolds and resources for advancing student learning. Likewise,the allocation and management of a school’s financial resources are assessed in terms ofwhether these are effectively mobilized and utilized towards improving student learning (Bolam, 2006; Chung & Hung, 2006; Retna, 2007).In this regard, some advocates have also called for an examination of the role of school counselors in these reform efforts (Herr, 2002). Inthe United States, House and Hayes (2002) challenged school counselors to take proactive leadership roles in advocating for the success of allstudents in schools. In this line, the American School Counselor Association (1997) has advocated that “the purpose of a counseling program in a school setting is to promote and enhance the learning process.”In response to this thrust, many have documented and advocated best practices that would allow school counselors to fulfill their new roles in enhancing student learning (e.g., Rowell & Hong, 2002; Sink, 2005).The improvement of student learning has also been an important theme in school reform efforts in the Philippines (Bernardo & Garcia, 2006; Bernardo & Mendoza, 2009).However, the push for rethinking the roles of school counselors in improving student learning has not been as pronounced. School counselors, who are often called guidance counselors in the Philippines, and their functions and competencies as collaborators in the promotion of student learning in achievement have not been highlighted in discussions on the functions of Philippine school counselors (Abrenica, 2001; Salazar-Cleme.a, 2000).These functions and competencies are also not mentioned in discussions on the perceived competencies of Philippine school counselors (Almeda-Estanislao, 2007; Guarino, 2007; Pabiton, 2003), or in the counselor education programs (Wong-Fernandez, 2000, 2001). In fact, there is hardly any published research that looks into the role of school counselors in improving student learning and achievement (Pabiton, 2001, is a rare example).The present study aims to initiate inquiry into the possible roles of Philippine school counselors in promoting student learning, by looking into school counselors’ conceptions or beliefs regarding the learning process. Conceptions and beliefs about learning has been an important focus of research among various education stakeholders. For example, research has focused on students’ conceptions of learning (Purdie & Hattie, 2002) as these conceptions are related to the stu dents’ learning behaviors and strategies (Entwistle & Peterson, 2004; Pillay, Purdie, Boulton-Lewis, 2000).Similarly, research has also focused on conceptions and beliefs about learning of teachers (Boulton-Lewis, Smith, McCrindle, Burnett, & Campbell, 2001; Kane, Sandretto, & Heath, 2002; Samuelowicz & Bain, 2001) and pre-service teachers (Bernardo, 2008; Cliff, 1998) as these cognitions are said to guide teachers practices in the classroom (Calderhead, 1996) and may even be related to student achievement (Gao & Watkins, 2004). This study aims to extend this line of inquiry by exploring the beliefs about learning of school counselors in the Philippines.School counselors are not the direct participants in the learning processes in schools, unlike students and teachers. Nevertheless, how school counselors conceive of their roles in promoting student learning is likely to be shaped by their own conceptions regarding the learning process. If school counselors are to be effective agents in facilitatingstudents learning, they should have a deep and principled understanding of the processes of learning, and the factors that may promote or hinder these processes.In this study, we inquired into the beliefs about learning of practicing school counselors in six different regions of the Philippine by asking them to assess different statements regarding the learning process and indicate their agreement with such statements. Their responses were analyzed using principal components analysis in order to reveal the structure of their beliefs about learning, and possible options for school counselors in relation to the various dimensions of the learning beliefs are discussed.MethodParticipantsOne-hundred sixteen school counselors from six different regions of the country participated in the study by answering a questionnaire on conceptions of learning. Ten of the participants were male, 103 female, and three did not indicate their gender. Most of the participants are relatively young; 43.1% of the participants were in their 20s, and 30.2% were in their 30’s.Most of the participants are also relatively new in their present positions as counselors; 50.9% of the participants have been in their present positions for five years for less and 26.7% have been in their positions for 6 to 15 years. About half or 54.9% of the participants have only a bachelor’s degree, and the rest have master’s degrees.InstrumentA questionnaire was designed to include 42 statements regarding the learning process and factors that affect this process. The statements were derived from different contemporary theories and principles regarding learning. The items were arranged in one random sequence in the questionnaire. The participants were asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement in the questionnaire, using a scale from 0 (very strongly disagree) to 7 (very strongly agree).The questionnaire also included questions referring to the school counselors’ educational and professional background and some other demographic information.ResultsTo explore the structure of the school counselors’ beliefs about learning, their responses were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis. First, the internal consistency of the entire 42-item scale was computed and the item-total correlations were computed. The item-total correlations ranged from .27 to .66, Cronbach’s α= .94.The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .815 indicating that the data are factorable. The raw data on the 42 items were then analyzed using principal components analysis, and the scree plot suggested threefactors. The component matrix was rotated using the promax rotation (orthogonal factors are rotated to oblique positions). The pattern matrix with three factors accounted for 42.30% of the variance. The factor loadings were determined by considering items with loading of at least .40 in one factor and not more than .35 in either of the other factors.An examination of the items in Factor 1 (Eigenvalue = 12.62; % of variance = 30.06) indicates that most of the items refer to conceptions of learning that are consistent with cognitive constructivist views of learning. These items emphasize the importance of attaining higher level cognitive knowledge and skills, and the importance of active processes that relate old and new knowledge in the process of constructing more complex knowledge representations. Some sample items include: “Learning complex material involves being able to effectively plan how to understand a complex skill or concept” and “Learning complex materi al involves changing or reorganizing how one represents information in the mind.”On the other hand, the items in Factor 2 (Eigenvalue = 3.26; % of variance = 7.77) refer to conceptions of learning consistent with behaviorist conceptions of learning, that also suggest that learning processes are constrained by innate capabilities but are shaped by more traditional instructional processes. The items in this factor also suggest a passive role of the learner, and the importance of external instructional processes in advancing learning.Some sample items include: “Learning complex material involves the consistent practice and reinforcement of complex skills so that this is executed fast and without error” and “Learning complex material involves the imitation of desired behaviors from models in the environment.”Finally, the items in Factor 3 (Eigenvalue = 1.88; % of variance = 4.48) refer to factors that influence individual differences in learning, such as developmental, motivational, social, and individual cognitive styles. Most of the items in this factor refer to one or more personal or social factors that may influence the outcomes of the learning process. Example items include:“The learning process is influenced by whether the task and concepts to be learne d are relevant to the learner’s personal interest” and “The learning process is influenced by the learner’s expectations for success and failure in learning.”The different items that loaded into the three factors were combined form three scales that represented each of the three factors. The social-cognitive constructivist beliefs scale consisted of 17 items (M=5.72, SD = .72, Cronbach’s α = .92). The behaviorist beliefs scale consisted of 9 items (M = 5.14, SD = .98, Cronbach’s α= .83). Finally, individual difference beliefs scale consisted of another 9 items (M = 5.64, SD = .78, Cronbach’s α= .82). The participants’ responses to the items in the three factors were highly related. Social-cognitive constructivists beliefs were correlated with behaviorist beliefs (r = .48,p < .0001), and with individual difference beliefs (r = .67, p < .0001). Behaviorist beliefs were also correlated with individual difference beliefs (r = .50,p< .0001).The descriptive statistics for the three factors suggest that there is no clear preference for one set of beliefs or another, nor is there a clear distinction made among the beliefs. Other descriptive statistical analysis revealed that the responses for the three factors were not associated with any of the educational, professional, or demographic variables such as sex, age, years in the profession, educational concentration/major, or educational attainment.DiscussionThis exploratory study reveals that Filipino school counselors’ beliefs about learning are organized in terms of fairly coherent systems of principles and factors that are consistent with both traditional (behaviorist) and contemporary (constructivist) approaches to understanding learning. One could speculate that the beliefs are organized in ways that reflect formal instruction regarding theories of learning, however, research on the guidance and counseling or counselor education curriculum in the Philippines (Wong-Fernandez, 2000, 2001) indicates that such concepts are not given emphasis at all. Thus, it is u nlikely that the Filipino counselors’ beliefs about learning merely replicate the structure of formal courses on learning.In this regard, it would be interesting to inquire into how such beliefs actually emerge if it is not likely to be a product of the formal counselor education curriculum. Perhaps, the beliefs emerge from reflections about the Filipino school counselors’ personal learning experiences or personal readings and studies. That the personal experiences of Filipino school counselors may shape their conceptions of learning seems consistent with the features of the third factor in the structure of their beliefs. The items in Factor 3 indicate that ideas regarding individual difference, developmental and social factors that influence learning comprise and important dimension of the Filipino school counselors’ beliefs about learning. The factor indicates an important predisposition among Filipino school counselors to think about the learning process in relation to the various personal and contextual factors that define the specific experiences of each learner. This conceptualization of learning reveals a degree of sensitivity to the distinctiveness in the learning experiences of each student, and mindfulness about the various developmental,social, and even cultural factors that influence the learning of each individual student. Such a conceptualization most likely relates to the Filipino school counselors’ core function of psychological assessment, which highlights individual difference variables. Basic counseling techniques also require the school counselors to inquire into specific factors that determine the learningoutcomes and experiences of underachieving students, honor students, and other distinct cases that the school counselors are likely to encounter in their professional practice.Even as the results of the study are exploratory and preliminary, the results indicate useful categories or constructs to begin studying aspects of the Filipino counselors’ capacity to engage the function of prom oting and enhancing Filipino students’ learning. The preceding discussion highlights how learning beliefs associated with the third factor are likely to be associated with some fundamental competencies and functions of school counselors. Learning beliefs corresponding to the first two factors or dimensions may also be related to specific options for dealing with students’ learning needs.School counselors who hold strong social-cognitive constructivist learning beliefs are likely to conceptualize learning problems in terms of the use of active learning strategies, planning and other self-regulatory learning approaches, and possible personal and social factors that influence the students’ ability and motivation to implement these strategies. Moreover, social-cognitive constructivist learning beliefs might be associated with efforts to develop stronger agency and self-determination on the part of the student. On the other hand, school counselors who hold strong behaviorist learning beliefs are likely to conceptualize learning problems in terms of problems with appropriate internal and external reinforcements to effective learning behaviors, and are likely to focus on analyzing how teachers, parents, peers, and even the students themselves respond to various effective and ineffective learning behaviors of the student. Thus, behaviorist learning beliefs might be associated with interventions that will involve changing certain external contingencies in the students’ learning environment for the purpose of shaping and strengthening good learning behaviors and extinguishing bad ones.The relationship between school counselors’ learning beliefs and their professional approaches and practices remains speculative at this point, as the study did not attempt to gather data on these professional practices. Future research studies can focus on this important point, in the same way that some research on teachers’ and students’ beliefs about learning are associated with teacher practices (Calderhead, 1996;Gao & Watkins, 2004) and student learning behaviors (Entwistle & Peterson, 2004; Pillay, Purdie, Boulton-Lewis, 2000). One important contribution of the study is that it provides a useful instrument with high internal consistency values for doing so. The instrument may be used to study how school counselors’ different conceptualizations of learning may be related to their attributions for students’ academic performance (e.g., failure, underachievement, etc.), to the counseling and other intervention strategies they adopt for helping students improve on theirlearning achievement levels, and even to how they construct their professional functions vis-à-vis student learning.As school counselors in different parts of the world strive to define more active roles in promoting and enhancing student learning, it is important to consider the relevant cognitions that school counselors might have related to the process. In the case of Filipino school counselors, the study indicates dimensions of conceptualizations about the learning process that may provide the foundation for concretizing the school counselors’ professional functions related to enhancing learning. The results of this study represent a small but important step towards more effectively conceptualizing approaches for how Filipino school counselors may engage this function of enhancing learning among Filipinostudents.对菲律宾学校辅导员学习观的探索艾伦 B.I.贝尔纳多著[摘要]学生学习改革是学校改革的重中之重，辅导员在学生的学习和进步中起着推动作用。