School Counseling - Singapore School Counseling in Singapore

In the article entitled, "Training school counselors in Singapore: first impressions of a multicultural challenge," authors Rivera et. al. explored the history and current situation of school counseling in Singapore. In the article, the authors expressed the need to evaluate the kind and quality of training on school counseling in the country, which requires a culture-specific approach rather than implementing curricula and theoretical frameworks developed in the context and experience of 'western countries' such as the United States and European countries.

In determining this need and evaluating the current scenario in the Singaporean setting, Rivera et al. conducted an in-depth qualitative article review of two (significant) studies conducted on school counseling, specifically in the Asia/Singaporean contexts. These studies were identified as follows: (1) E. Tan's (2002) exploration of school guidance counseling in Singapore, focusing on...

terms"; and (2) Chong's in-depth analysis of Singaporean students' understanding and capabilities in terms of being a personal agents and self-regulating individuals in charge of and deciding for their lives' choices (pp. 220-1).
The qualitative article reviews from the studies of the above-mentioned authors set the foundation of Rivera et al.'s study. It is through these studies that the authors developed the thesis of their study, which reflects the need to develop a multicultural approach in school counseling in Singapore. As mentioned in their article review and gleaned from Rivera et al.'s study as well, the Asian context of counseling is laden with values and belief systems that are inherently practiced within each individual (p. 220). Because these values and beliefs are deeply ingrained and part of the Asian individual's personality development, frameworks and…