Teachers’ care and role boundaries in student support: implications for guidance and counseling

Journal of Counseling, Education and Society November 04, 2026 Volume 7, Number 1 3 authors

Abstract

The need to support students persists even when a dedicated Guidance and Counseling teacher is unavailable. This study aimed to analyze how teachers negotiate role boundaries when providing student support without professional counselors at Sekolah Indonesia Cairo (SIC), and what this implies for Guidance and Counseling practice. A descriptive qualitative design was used, based on six interview transcripts from five teachers and one school principal who were purposively selected for their involvement in student support. Sample adequacy was judged through information power rather than saturation. The data were analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis and interpreted through the ethics of care. Trustworthiness relied on traceability between quotations, codes, and themes and on reflexivity; inter-coder reliability and member checking were not used. Five themes emerged: everyday closeness in recognizing students’ needs; helping as a professional responsibility and source of personal meaning; care intertwined with discipline and authority; varied emotional experiences and support outcomes; and shared responsibility amid limited professional support. The themes led to negotiated care, a descriptive-analytic concept (not a new theory) for educators adjusting their involvement according to students’ needs, role boundaries, and available support. In the informants’ accounts, negotiated care appeared more adequate when observations were clarified through dialogue, responsibilities were shared within clear limits, and competence limits led to consultation or referral with follow-up. It appeared less adequate when closeness replaced assessment, authority or monitoring replaced dialogue, or referrals were not followed up. The findings are tentative because they come from one school and only educators’ perspectives, so they say nothing about how students experience the support.

Authors

  1. Grace Sareh Kristy Hamazia

    Universitas Negeri Semarang

  2. Binti Isrofin

    Universitas Negeri Semarang

  3. Ridony Taufik

    Sekolah Indonesia Cairo

Keywords

Guidance and counselingNon-counselor teachersEthics of careRole boundariesDescriptive qualitative research

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