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Strengths and weaknesses of a school counselor
School counselor roles and responsibilities
Strengths and weaknesses of a school counselor
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The four themes of leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systematic change are expressed through how a school counselor functions and through expectations by way of ASCA model’s components of foundation, management, delivery, and accountability.
• The foundation of a counseling program describes the “what” of the program and what should happen as a result of the program. Leadership is shown through the school counselor and other school faculty leading and helping students follow the school’s mission statement and the mission of the program. This done to promote a change into a positive learning/work environment for students and faculty alike. Leadership is also shown through advocating for students because they are placing themselves in the forefront to better support the students and the school’s mission. Advocating can include using needs assessments to find those
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students who need a particular kind of assistants. Collaboration is seen through working with stakeholders (i.e. students, parents, community leaders, and faculty) to facilitate, and better school counseling programs. Systematic change is seen through collecting, analyzing, and using data to find and change aspects of the program that needs to be adapted. • Management System expresses leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systematic change as well.
The school counselor leads the organization and organizations tools of the program including calendars, assessments, and agreement. Advocating is used by the counselor’s regular evaluations of the program to ensure it is the best program possible and the it is helping the most students possible. For instance, an advisory council, which is made up of stakeholders, is used as a way to advocate for students through collaborating with the stakeholders to make decisions because all the different perspectives are combined to make one “voice”. Also, the advisory council is used in systematic change by data collection, measurement of the program to ensure that program is working. The program, counseling, and closing the gap measurements included developmental, prevention, and intervention services to measure student competences, achievement of students. Calendars are used to keep students, parents, and faculty informed of the counselor’s availabilities and it holds the counselor accountable of their
time. • The Delivery System informed the stakeholders of how the program will be used. It includes direct, in-person, services and indirect services. Responsive services are used to give immediate help to students and involves issues that are not long-term. The School counselor lead the given student(s) in solving the issue and setting up a plan of action in case the issue occurs again. Student planning also has the teacher taking the lead and assisting the student in creating goal for life after school. School Counseling Core Curriculum are created by stakeholders including the school counselor, to collaborate and to support either other when creating a plan to support students, through developmental needs, data-driven needs and needs assessments. Indirect services are done to support the students, but are not done with them, where the counselor works with others. Advocating for students are done through data driven counseling. This data is used to development and analyze the program/ systematic change of the school for success. • Accountability is used to analyze the data to show whether or not the program is working. Counselors are accountable to the stakeholders, school district, and advisory group and are working with the stakeholders to better the program. They are also ultimately accountable for maintaining the systematic change throughout the school.
The first component in the program audit is the foundation of the program. Foundation covers the beliefs and philosophy of the program, the mission of the school counseling programs, the domains and goals of the programs, and the ASCA national standards and competencies (ASCA, 2005). Foundation addresses the components that drive every school counseling program. The foundation “serves as the solid ground upon which the rest of the comprehensive school counseling program is built” (ASCA, 2012, p. 21).
Counselors are very dependent on the research of others. Counselors are among many who are responsible for producing evidence based practice. Counselors have a responsibility to be eager and capable of locating and using evidence based interventions. Research reports are used to help summarize the findings of different types of research in the counseling profession. The results of a research report should summarize the findings of the research. According to Sheperis, Young, and Daniels 2010, “it should be easy for the reader to connect the findings with the stated research questions and to determine whether the finding support or refute your hypothesis” (p.239). The following are two challenges that the counseling profession is faced with when it comes to outcome research: (1) producing sufficient volumes of evidence and (2) being able to find, interpret, and use the evidence from previous research. These challenges place a limit on the variety of interventions that are available to the counseling profession. One intervention that works for one child, might not produce the same results for another child. So it is very important that research provides information that is useful and effective. The lack of studies makes it more challenging to determine whether or not an intervention is an effective solution that will improve a student’s behavior or academics. “Ultimately, regardless of how effective a counselor may be, if the problems are not properly measured and assessed, intervention is disadvantaged and treatment is comprised” (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010, p. 3). In order to best serve clients we have to complete comprehensive research and use the results to the advantage of the client.
The responsibilities of a professional school counselor are to design and deliver comprehensive programs to promote student achievement. The guidelines
Leading organizations of school administrators offer educators various opportunities to encourage educators to become leaders. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has mandated that leaders be better prepared for the task of providing quality education to all. NCLB “… is forcing all educational stakeholders to face the weakness of contemporary school leadership and is making it impossible to ignore the need for higher quality principals” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). It is believed that all educators can be and are leaders in their own right. A leader is a visionary and has the ability to inspire others to aspire to greatness. Of the numerous opportunities that are offered, those that are most beneficial include but are not limited to leadership training programs, professional development, and creating shared leadership opportunities for teachers to become leaders. The systems “…that produce our nation’s principals are complex and interrelated – and governed by the states. Each state establishes licensing, certification and re-certification” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). States use the ISLLC standards “…as the framework for preparation programs and in service professional development of school superintendents, principals, and other leaders” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.3).
I received the pleasure of interviewing two school counselors, Mrs. Jean Harmon and Mr. Devon Herrick. I was excited about interviewing school counselors within the Chicago land area. Despite many negativities spoken about the Chicago Public School (CPS) system, I desire to work within CPS. I’ve heard many pros and cons of working at a selective enrollment school, compared to a public charter school. By interviewing these two individuals, I assumed that I would get a snapshot of a potential work day for a school counselor. Mrs. Harmon is a school counselor at King College Preparatory high school. Mr. Herrick is a personal counselor at Urban Prep Charter Academy- Bronzeville campus. It was interesting in learning about the daily responsibilities,
To make a long story short utilizing good counseling techniques will progress students self confidence and independence. Once a student is empowered they will see growth within his/herself.
I cannot recall a more rewarding experience than helping facilitate a child’s education while enabling parent participation alike. These experiences have drawn me to my current position as an Educational Assistant where I am constantly interacting and establishing relationships with students, learning about their goals and aspirations. It is that same desire to empower our future students that has steered me towards a career as a school counselor. By enrolling in the Masters in counseling program, I aspire to develop methods and experience to become an effective, experienced, and adaptable school counselor that promotes self-awareness, allowing students to realize their full potential and impetus them towards a promising future. I want to learn skills that facilitate personal and career development, ensuring that our students grow accomplishing their goals and ambitions. To discover techniques that help students improve in all areas of academic achievement, establishing relationships with students and parents alike. By becoming a school counselor, I am determined to become an advocate for underserved youth. I aim to become an effective agent educational reform, providing support for students in the various institutions that may disempower
School counseling has evolved over the years into a significant component of the educational system. School counselors are taking on new roles in schools as leaders, working with “school administration and staff in developing student attitudes and behavior which are necessary to maintain proper control, acceptable standards of self-discipline and a suitable learning environment within the school” (Secondary School Counselor 2012). Counselors work in “diverse community settings designed to provide a variety of counseling, rehabilitation, and support services” (Counselors, 2010). When working in a school district as a counselor, you can either be an elementary school counselor, middle school counselor or a high school counselor. This essays explores a recent interview with a high school counselor.
As a school counselor, it is important to be knowledgeable about children and adolescents developmental level in order to choose the appropriate intervention. Vernon (2009) mentions in the text that "counselors must also consider developmental factors in conceptualizing problems, in designing or selecting age-appropriate assessment instruments, and in developing interventions that take into account the child's developmental capabilities" (p. 5). The effect that the developmental levels have on the choice of internvention is that it depends on children and adolescents situtation in terms of physical, cognitive, social and emotional factors. When it comes to those factors, School counselors need to be mindful that children and adolescents
American School Counselor Association. (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Theoretical Perspective: This semester in procedures of counseling class we discussed a lot of different types of counseling theories. We also did a lot of practicing with each theory with our partners. I found that person-centered therapy best fits my personal attitudes and style of counseling. I think this would be a good style of counseling for me because I can see myself better helping people as a whole than trying to fix an actual problem.
There is this saying, “Everything happens for a reason” and I believe certain things do. I believe that everything I have gone through my life has been preparing me for the beginning of a great career. This world can be a scary place, but there is also beauty in this world with lots of opportunities, and people who want to help make a difference. I want to be one of those people who inspire others to do better, to guide them and to teach them to not give up. If it was not for my counselors and mentors I would not be where I am at today. I was able to accomplish one of my goals of being the first in my family to graduate with my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from CSULA. I want to further my education to better myself, and help others along the way.
This assignment was conducted with myself as the counsellor and Olivia, a fellow classmate, as the client. A fifteen minute counselling session occurred and was recorded, in order for students to be able to critically analyze their counselling skills. Olivia felt the need to talk with a counsellor due to the pressure she is experiencing trying to fit all of her commitments into her weekly schedule. Olivia is currently struggling with splitting her time between her family, friends, school, and new fitness goals. Throughout this counselling session various techniques were used in the beginning stage, action stage and ending stage of the counselling session. These techniques were used throughout these stages of counselling to gain information
A counselor is defined as a person trained to give guidance on personal, social, or psychological problems. Professional counselors help to identify goals and potential solutions to problems which cause emotional or social interruptions. Counseling also improves communication, strengthens self-esteem, and promotes behavior change in relations to mental health. Counseling enables us to appreciate how we are in healthy relationships and safe environments due to some of the bad things others experience. Counseling helps clients understand and clarify their views on life and learn to reach their goals through making wise choices. In most counseling situations, the client is experiencing personal issues such as low self-esteem,
One aspect I found striking was the role of advice giving in counseling. Prior to this class, I knew that counselors did not typically give opinions or advice to lead a client in a certain direction. What I did not know was the entire reasoning behind this. A counselor might avoid giving advice so that a client learns to make his/her own decisions, does not become dependent on the counselor, and to ensure that a client will not later blame the counselor if the counselor’s advice did not turn out well. In this context, I have a better appreciation and understanding of why therapists refrain from telling the client what to do.