The Relationship between Teachers' Self-concept and Their Tendency to Refer Students for Psychological Help

Abstract

The present research attempted to investigate the relationship between teachers' self-concept and the number of referrals for help initiated by them. Sixty teachers were divided into three groups, according to the number of student referrals for psychological help they had made during the previous school year. They were administered the Fitts' Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and a Student Problem Questionnaire relating to their declared tendency to refer problematic children. The relationship between the number of actual referrals and self-concept measures was examined by way of discriminant function analysis. Differences in the patterns of self-concept of the three referral groups were found in two functions: (1) activity pattern and decisiveness; (2) feelings towards the self. The relationship between the theoretically estimated rate of referrals and self-concept measures was also examined by discriminant function analysis. The results revealed a difference in pattern of self-concept in the function of feeling of inner wholeness.