Culturally Responsive School Psychological Counseling in Ethnic Minority Semi-Boarding Schools in Northern Vietnam: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Implementation and Pilot Outcomes

Abstract

This study examines the implementation and preliminary outcomes of school psychological counseling in ethnic minority semi-boarding schools in Northern Vietnam, a context characterized by linguistic diversity, geographical isolation, and limited institutional resources. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, quantitative data were collected from 478 teachers and school administrators, 384 students, and 384 parents across 23 schools, and were subsequently complemented by qualitative interviews, structured observations, and a four-week pilot intervention.

The findings indicate that school psychological counseling was present but only partially institutionalized, operating primarily through teacher-led and relationally embedded support practices rather than professionally specialized services. Among the examined variables, teachers’ counseling competencies demonstrated the strongest association with counseling activities, followed by stakeholder awareness and contextual support conditions. Counseling activities were negatively associated with students’ psychological difficulties, which were most strongly related to language barriers, academic pressure, emotional restraint, and homesickness in the semi-boarding context.

The pilot intervention further suggests that a culturally responsive and teacher-facilitated support model can enhance students’ emotional expression, help-seeking behavior, peer communication, and perceived social support under routine school conditions. These findings highlight the importance of culturally and linguistically responsive psychosocial support in multilingual and under-resourced educational settings.

This study contributes to the international literature by proposing a systems-oriented and context-sensitive framework for understanding school psychological counseling as a culturally embedded support ecology in marginalized school contexts. It also provides preliminary empirical evidence for a feasible and scalable model of school-based psychosocial support in low-resource educational environments.