School counselor perceptions of factors facilitating transitional support: Focus group interviews with school counselors

Abstract This study aimed to identify factors that promote transitional support for K‐12 students through focus group interviews with 18 school counselors with 10 or more years of experience. In the interviews, the respondents were asked about their perception of the current status, challenges, and ideals related to transitional support. As a result, several themes were extracted. These themes were categorized and discussed: factors related to SCs, factors related to schools, factors specific to transitional support, and factors related to the community. Factors related to SCs were considered to be SCs' own skills and work structure that made transitional support behaviors more difficult. Factors related to schools were cited as barriers to transitional support in the school setting. That is, differences in teachers' views and perspectives about children at different school levels were considered to make it difficult to build a foundation of trust between schools. Factors specific to transitional support include the need for a standardized system and manuals and a smooth handover of information. As for factors related to the community, the utilization of a network of local resources was highlighted. Overcoming these issues and improving these factors are expected to promote the provision of transitional support.