Journal of Education and Counseling (JECO)

Self-Compassion Tendencies of West Javanese Students and Their Implications for Culture-Based Humanistic Counseling

2026-06-11T23:14:48-04:00

This study investigated the level of self-compassion among university students in West Java and explored its implications for culture-based humanistic counseling. A descriptive quantitative approach was employed involving 569 university students from various higher education institutions in West Java. Data were collected using an adapted Self-Compassion Scale based on Neff's six dimensions: self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to determine the distribution of students' self-compassion levels and the tendency of each dimension. The findings revealed that 66.26% of students were categorized as having moderate self-compassion, 17.57% were in the low category, and 16.17% were in the high category. Aspect-based analysis showed that self-kindness and common humanity represented the strongest dimensions, indicating that students generally possessed the ability to understand personal difficulties and recognize them as part of shared human experiences. In contrast, self-judgment, mindfulness, and over-identification were relatively less developed, suggesting that many students still experienced excessive self-criticism and difficulties regulating negative emotions. Overall, the findings indicate that students possess a foundation for emotional resilience, although support is still needed to strengthen adaptive emotion regulation and reduce maladaptive self-evaluation. These findings suggest that culture-based humanistic counseling integrated with local values has the potential to enhance self-compassion among university students.

Enhancing Student Emotional Intelligence with Ludo Emosi: An Effective Experiential Learning Model for Group Guidance

2025-08-27T03:02:03-04:00

Low emotional intelligence is a significant problem that hinders the social and academic development of high school students, where conventional guidance methods often fail to engage students effectively. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative group guidance intervention model that uses the Ludo Emosi game media in the Experiential Learning framework to improve students' emotional intelligence. This study used a pre-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest design involving eight 11th-grade students with low to moderate levels of emotional intelligence. The intervention was carried out in three structured sessions following Kolb's learning cycle, namely concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The results showed a statistically significant increase in participants' emotional intelligence scores from before (pretest, M=19.12) to after (posttest, M=51.75), as evidenced by the Paired Samples t-test (t(7) = -15.76, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the N-Gain Score analysis produced a value of 0.80, indicating that the intervention had a practical effectiveness level classified as “High.” These findings demonstrate that a game-based experiential learning approach can effectively improve students' emotional skills and provide a practical, validated intervention model for guidance and counseling teachers.

Implementation of the Student Employability Journey (STAR) Program for Career Preparation at Telkom University

2026-05-24T06:27:56-04:00

Career preparation programs in higher education must be well-designed and recognized as a strategy for helping students enter the workforce successfully. This article describes the implementation of the Student Employability Journey (STAR) program at Telkom University and analyzes its alignment with internationally recognized career guidance frameworks—namely the Gatsby Benchmarks and the career development competencies established by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC). This qualitative study used a non-interactive document analysis design, drawing on a data corpus comprising the Strategic Plan of the Directorate of Career Development, Alumni, and Endowment, the management performance contract, STAR implementation reports, program records, and related institutional policies. Data were analyzed through identification, categorization, and synthesis to map program components against the reference frameworks. Findings indicate that STAR is structured around three core stages: pre-career preparation, career preparation, and job immersion, which accommodate the NOICC domains of self-knowledge, educational and occupational exploration, and career planning. The analysis reveals that all eight Gatsby Benchmarks are accommodated within the program's design and implementation, particularly through integrating career-related activities into the learning process, using digital technology, providing career assessment and counseling services, and building industry partnerships. Nevertheless, several aspects require strengthening: data-driven labor market information, integration of career service platforms within existing systems, and measurement of the program's impact on student and graduate work readiness. These findings suggest that STAR can serve as a structured model for career preparation programs in higher education, while offering a reference point for developing career services grounded in internationally recognized frameworks.

Empirical Analysis of Factors Influencing High School Students' Career Decision Making

2026-05-24T06:24:21-04:00

This study aims to analyze the influence of environmental factors, interests and talents, learning experiences, and personality on students' career decision-making. The study used a quantitative approach, employing a survey method, with 206 grade XI students of SMA Negeri 15 Surabaya selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire that had met the validity and reliability tests (? = 0.90). Data analysis used multiple linear regression. The results showed that environmental factors, interests and talents, learning experiences, and personality had a significant influence on students' career decision-making (p < 0.05), both in partial and simultaneous analyses (F = 1203.884). Environmental factors were the most dominant variable (? = 0.613), followed by personality (? = 0.464), learning experiences (? = 0.268), and interests and talents (? = 0.185). The coefficient of determination (R²) value of 0.960 indicated that 96.0% of the variation in career decision-making could be explained by these four factors.

The Effectiveness of Role-Playing Techniques in Group Guidance Services to Improve Academic Hardiness

2026-05-20T00:08:55-04:00

The low level of academic hardiness among junior high school students in coping with academic pressure indicates the need for interventions that can strengthen students’ resilience in academic settings. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of group guidance services using role-playing techniques in improving students’ academic hardiness. A quantitative approach with a pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was employed. The participants consisted of 8 students selected based on their academic hardiness levels. Data were collected using an Academic Hardiness Scale developed based on Kobasa’s theory, encompassing the dimensions of commitment, control, and challenge. The instrument was tested using the Rasch model and demonstrated good measurement quality, with person reliability of .90, item reliability of .99, and Cronbach’s Alpha of .92. Group guidance services using role-playing techniques were conducted in four sessions to strengthen students’ commitment, control, and challenge in dealing with academic demands. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro–Wilk normality test and a paired sample t-test. The findings indicated that group guidance services using role-playing techniques were effective in improving students’ academic hardiness. These findings suggest that role-playing can be implemented as a practical strategy in group guidance services to help students strengthen resilience, maintain learning commitment, and cope more effectively with academic pressure.

Guidance and Counseling Service Management in the Development of Anti-Bullying Program: Transformation from Bystander to Upstander

2026-06-02T00:10:08-04:00

The phenomenon of bullying in vocational schools remains a serious challenge in creating a safe and inclusive school climate. One factor that strengthens the sustainability of bullying behavior is the low active role of students as bystanders who tend to remain silent or allow bullying to occur. This study aims to develop a management model for guidance and counseling (BK) services in an anti-bullying program that focuses on transforming the role of bystanders into upstanders. The research method used a focus group discussion (FGD) approach at SMKN 3 Cimahi. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and documentation studies of BK teachers. The results show that the effectiveness of the anti-bullying program is highly dependent on the managerial skills of BK teachers in planning programs based on student needs, implementing group guidance services with an experiential learning approach, and continuous evaluation through cross-school collaboration. Experience-based interventions have been shown to increase students' awareness of empathy and sense of social responsibility in preventing bullying. This study recommends strengthening the capacity of data-based and collaborative BK service management as a key strategy to create a proactive and caring school culture.

Academic Engagement in Higher Education Research: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review of Scopus-Indexed Studies (2021–2024)

2026-07-07T19:22:55-04:00

Academic engagement—students' behavioural, emotional, and cognitive investment in learning—is one of the most robust predictors of achievement, persistence, and well-being in higher education. However, the field is expanding so rapidly that periodic syntheses are needed to map how, where, and with whom engagement is being studied. This systematic review, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 statement, maps recent Scopus-indexed research on academic engagement. Records were retrieved from the Scopus database and limited to open-access, English-language journal articles in the psychology subject area published between 2021 and 2024. Of 40 records identified, 13 studies met all eligibility criteria. Four questions guided the synthesis, concerning the temporal distribution, research designs, populations, and geographic spread of the evidence. The results show that publication activity peaked in 2023 (five studies), that quantitative survey designs dominate the field (six studies), followed by mixed-methods (three), qualitative (two), and intervention-based designs (two). Contrary to common assumptions, twelve of the thirteen studies were conducted in higher education settings, and the corpus spans ten countries across five continents, with South Africa, Portugal, and China contributing two studies each. Six studies appeared in Q1 journals and six in Q2 journals, and the corpus has accumulated 184 citations, indicating the growing scholarly impact of the topic. The review concludes that pandemic-era disruption has repositioned academic engagement as a central lens for understanding technology-mediated learning, and it identifies longitudinal, qualitative, and Global South research as priority gaps for the next research cycle.

The Gap Between Standards and Practices in Guidance and Counseling Management: A Systematic Analysis of the Implementation of Ministry of Education and Culture Regulation 111/2014

2026-06-04T03:53:30-04:00

Ministry of Education and Culture Regulation No. 111 of 2014 establishes comprehensive standards for guidance and counseling services in schools, but implementation reports show a gap between regulations and practice. This study aims to analyze these gaps through a Systematic Literature Review using the PRISMA protocol. The search was conducted on Google Scholar, Portal Garuda, and institutional repositories for publications from 2014 to 2024. Of the 127 initial publications, 23 articles met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using thematic synthesis and gap analysis. The results showed five main groups of gaps: counselor-student ratio (91%), counselor competence (78%), resource limitations across facilities, dual roles, and budget constraints (57–83%), lack of operational implementation standards and supervision (65%), and service quality with low to moderate client satisfaction (39%). The contributing factors were at the individual, school organization, system policy, and socio-geographical context levels. Overall, there were systemic and multidimensional implementation gaps, with the counselor-student ratio being the most consistent finding. Closing these gaps requires multi-layered interventions involving counselors, schools, and policymakers.