Science Educators and Grief Counseling:
Management of Bereavement in the School Environment
In this paper we explore the relationship between the Sciences of Education, according to Gaston Mialaret and Counseling as defined by MacLeod.
Specifically, using a case study as our example, we examine the ways in which mourning and grief are managed in the school environment and the role of the teacher – counselor. We look into the counseling skills and techniques he has to acquire not only through his “traditional” pedagogical training but also through the necessity to cover the needs of his/students, namely through his/her training in counseling. The teacher “becomes” a grief counsellor in order to help his/her students deal with loss, either in the school environment or in the family. We will define the terms grief, mourning, loss, death and refer to the different theoretic approaches regarding death (philosophical, religious, social), which determine and/or reflect the teacher’s education. Knowledge of the stages of grief and mourning (denial, anger, negotiation, depression and acceptance) and of the feelings that surface during the process of mourning facilitates the teacher in his/her work. More over we will refer to those cases where the intervention of the specialist is required. We will explore teachers’ perception of death and emphasize the diversity of the management techniques. This in turn will enhance our hypothesis for the need of additional education of the teachers in matters of counseling. The Sciences of Education include Counseling and the teacher is by the very nature of his profession, a counselor.
Keywords: Death, Stages of Grief/Mourning, Teacher, Sciences of Education, Counseling;
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New Perspectives in Science Education
