Date of Conferral

5-6-2025

Date of Award

May 2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Melissa Earls

Abstract

Elementary school counselors are essential to shaping the foundation of academic, social, and emotional development of children which was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. ESCs were required to maintain the same level of engagement despite the pressing circumstances. No one has explored the lived experiences of ESCs as they faced extreme barriers and without this study, stakeholders would be ill-equipped to address their needs. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore ESCs perceived barriers to comprehensive service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Husserl’s descriptive phenomenological research approaches were used, including only ESCs who worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 12 sixty-minute, semi-structured interviews were completed, hand coded through thematic analysis, applying scientific phenomenological reduction to identify meaning units, confidentially recorded, and transcribed on a personal computer, via Zoom. This research answered the question of what are the perceived barriers to service delivery throughout the COVID-19 pandemic according to ESCs. Findings suggested negative impacts of the pandemic on society, descriptions of the emergence of “COVID-19 babies”/students, parental stressors, ESCs uncertainty and challenges of work/life balance, and school and community resource crisis. Recommendations included advocacy efforts for ESCs roles, the improvement of virtual educational platforms, and more training in graduate programs. The study promotes positive social change across the world by equipping ESCs with data to support the elimination of inappropriate duties/roles to adequately serve school communities throughout a pandemic or any disruption within a traditional educational setting.

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