Abstract:

The role of pedagogue has changed and evolved since their introduction to Croatian schools. Today it is primarily emphasized innovation and leadership role to improve the educational process, but should not be neglected nor their influence on the formation of the personality of students. In addition to educational, the school also has an educational function, which involves helping students develop their personality, a positive image of themselves and their surroundings. The counselling work of pedagogue in schools has over time become an extremely important area of his activity. The pedagogue plays an important role in counselling all subjects of the educational process - starting from the needs of students, parents and school staff. Pedagogue whose professional work includes counselling work face many challenges and one of them is mastering the knowledge and skills needed to successfully lead the counselling process. In order to achieve this, continuous improvement is required. In his counselling work at the school, the pedagogue does not act alone. He is part of the school counselling service which should be an integrative part of the school. In addition to the pedagogue, the service is also comprised of a psychologist and speech therapist or rehabilitator. Counselling staff must be constantly up-to-date with school changes and in their work start with the needs of individual subjects of the school. This requires cooperation with school management, especially with teachers, as student development is highly dependent on classroom work and relationships with teachers. It follows that the work of a counselling service should help teachers to learn how to establish a relationship with students, which leads to better learning outcomes. Such a counselling service which is integrated into the work of the school and which takes into account the students’ and teachers' life needs and school characteristics cannot be replaced by any external institution.

The main aim of this paper will be to represent counselling as a complex process conducted by many experts. The ethical aspects of the counselling work will be considered as well as the characteristics that the counsellor should have in order to be able to establish a good relationship with the client who is the center of attention in the counselling process. The function of the school counselling service and the role of the school pedagogue as a counsellor will also be outlined. The specifics of pedagogical counselling will be discussed, as well as the importance of parent-teacher cooperation with the pedagogue as well as the importance of lifelong education as a key step in the professional growth of pedagogues.

Keywords:

Counselling, pedagogue, school, school counsellor, students.