Developing a School Counsellor Supervision Framework for State Secondary Schools in Kano State

Professional supervision of school counsellors is essential for maintaining practice quality, preventing burnout, and supporting continued professional development, yet formal supervision structures are absent from most Nigerian state secondary school systems. This study developed a professional supervision framework for school counsellors in state secondary schools in Kano State, North West Nigeria. A framework development approach combining structured needs assessment, professional literature review, and stakeholder consultation was employed. A survey of 80 school counsellors in Kano Municipal, Nassarawa, and Ungogo LGAs showed that 91.3 percent had never received formal clinical supervision and 87.5 percent reported feeling professionally isolated. Key developmental needs identified included case conceptualisation support, ethical dilemma management, burnout prevention, and continuing professional education. Review of supervision models including Hawkins and Shohet's seven-eyed model and Bernard and Goodyear's supervision frameworks informed model selection. The developed framework specifies a group supervision model delivered monthly by senior counsellors or university-based supervisors, supplemented by quarterly individual supervision and annual practice review. Supervisor training curricula, supervision agreement templates, record-keeping standards, and fidelity assessment tools are provided. Cultural adaptation guidelines for addressing Hausa-Muslim community contexts in supervision discussions are integrated. Expert review by nine counselling supervision specialists confirmed the framework's professional rigour. The study recommends pilot testing in six schools in Kano Municipal with formal process and outcome evaluation at 12 months.

Keywords: counsellor supervision, school counsellors, supervision framework, Kano State, professional development