Abstract
The primary purpose of this inquiry was to explore and describe the shared experiences of student registered counsellors during their work integrated learning, and to make recommendations to support registered counsellors. A qualitative research methodology was used to analyse secondary data derived from incident reports written by students at three different times during their work integrated learning. Secondary data used contained no identifying information such as names, ages or gender. This ensured confidentiality. Categories were identified through thematic analysis, this resulted in three themes namely: (1) the novice counsellor, (2) learning through experience and (3) the developing counsellor. It is evident from this study that student registered counsellors share similar experiences during their work integrated learning. It is recommended that the shared experiences identified in this study be used as a means of preparing future students. By documenting the training experiences of school counsellors, this research gave insight into the personal and professional development of student counsellors during their training.
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)