Umeå University's logo

This study examines how Swedish school counsellors’ roles are constructed in national school health guidelines from 2000 to 2023, using Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” approach. Despite a clear legal framework, research shows that school counsellors’ tasks often involve “on-call duty” interventions rather than the preventive work intended by policy. Our analysis reveals that school counsellors are marginalised in policy, with their professional duties and jurisdiction remaining vague. Although included in the multi-professional student health service, they are given little formal guidance. The guidelines highlight decentralisation, increasing student mental ill-health, and a lack of psychosocial competence, yet offer few concrete solutions. The invisibility of school counsellors’ roles suggests a shift towards greater autonomy, positioning them as generic resources rather than specialists in social work. This marginalisation can lead to varied, unregulated practices and reduced professional legitimacy. Simultaneously, school counsellors contribute to social governance by reinforcing individual responsibility for health and well-being, indicating a form of control where autonomy shapes future citizens.

Införandet av en samlad elevhälsa har medfört att psykosocialt arbete inom skolan givits en tydligare position i skolornas elevhälsoarbete. Trots detta vittnar tidigare studier om att skolkuratorer uppfattar sitt professionella uppdrag och sina arbetsuppgifter som otydliga. Tidigare forskning har fokuserat på skolkuratorers egen beskrivning av sitt professionella uppdrag och arbetsuppgifter. Syftet med denna artikel är att studera skolhuvudmäns beskrivning av skolkuratorers uppdrag, arbetsuppgifter, organisation samt kvalifikationer och färdigheter. Studiens empiriska material utgörs av samtliga platsannonser som publicerades hos Arbetsförmedlingen under 2017 där skolhuvudmän sökte efter skolkuratorer. I studien användes kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en tematisk ansats. Resultatet visar att skolhuvudmännen i platsannonserna beskriver en tydlig skolkurativ jurisdiktion men att denna är under- eller sidoordnad den pedagogiska verksamhetens mål, organisation och styrning.

The introduction of a multidisciplinary student health unit has meant that psychosocial work within schools has been given a clearer position in addressing student health in Swedish schools. Despite this, previous studies show that school social workers perceive their professional job responsibilities and tasks as unclear. Previous research has focused on school social workers’ own descriptions of their professional job responsibility and tasks. The purpose of this article is to study school superintendents’ and school boards’ descriptions of school social workers’ assignments, tasks, organization and competencies and skills. The empirical material of this study consists of all job advertisements published by the Swedish Public Employment Service in 2017, where school districts had job openings for school social workers. The study used qualitative content analysis with a thematic approach. The results show that the school districts describe a clear school social jurisdiction in the job advertisements, but that this is subordinate to the goals, organization and governance of the educational activities.

This article presents findings from a survey conducted on all school counsellors in Sweden. The focus of the article is on Swedish school counsellors’ demographics, professional practice, educational background, working life history and professional autonomy. The survey was web-based and contained 91 questions of both quantitative and qualitative nature. The results show that Swedish school counsellors are predominantly experienced female social workers with academic education in social work and several years’ experience of social work in areas other than school. Employment as a school counsellor is not an entry-level job. The professional practice of Swedish school counsellors predominately focus on remedial work with individual students. Their professional practice focus to a lesser extent on preventive and health promoting work despite the prominent position that preventive and health promoting work are given in the Swedish school act and in the national guidelines. The professional focus of Swedish school counsellors raises questions whether the emphasis on individual remedial work is to be interpreted as a lack of organizational awareness and resources, or if it is an expression of a professional ‘heritage’ from school counsellors prior experience of professional social work within other welfare areas were remedial work are custom. We argue that the focus on remedial work makes it valid to describe the character of Swedish school counsellors’ professional practice as a reflection of Swedish social services in general.

According to the Swedish Education Act, schools in Sweden must provide comprehensive student health services to foster an inclusive and conducive learning environment, promoting students’ well-being and knowledge development. As part of a multi-professional team, school counsellors are essential in achieving these goals. However, national guidance lacks details on the role of school counsellors in health promotion, prevention and remedial efforts. This study addresses this knowledge gap by examining aspects of school counsellors’ professional work using theories of professions. Open-ended answers in a survey distributed to school counsellors in Sweden were analysed through content analysis. Findings show that remedial work primarily focuses on individual students’ social issues through conversation-based interventions. Preventive work targets groups and the broader school environment, often involving tasks like policy development. Health promotion work stands out with its educational component, where school counsellors are involved in Life Competence Education, often in collaboration with other school professionals.