Elementary Counseling Thesis Statement

Theoretical Basis

Elementary Counselors

“Today’s young people are living in an exciting time, with an increasingly diverse society, new technologies and expanding opportunities. To help ensure they are prepared to become the next generation of parents, workers, leaders and citizens, every student needs support, guidance and opportunities during childhood, a time of rapid growth and change. Children face unique and diverse challenges, both personally and developmentally, that have an impact on academic achievement."

– “Toward a Blueprint for Youth: Making Positive Youth Development a National Priority,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

According to American School Counselor Association, since elementary is the time that children

start to develop a sense of themselves in the academic setting and learn confidence in academic abilities, it is important to have counselors specifically trained in handling the elementary aged students. Also during this time, they are learning how to interact with their peers, about character traits, and attitudes about social groups and elementary counselors can help them successfully navigate this sometimes tricky mine field. Elementary counseling involves counseling, consulting, coordinating and assessment services for students, parents and teachers. Counselors work with teachers collaboratively to help more successfully reach all students (Schmidt, 2014). Elementary counselors work with students to learn how to interact with each other socially by providing group counseling sessions and activities.
It has been prove that the use of early intervention and identification strategies help to reduce the learning barriers for students in elementary classrooms, so to help this endeavor, elementary counselors conduct classroom observations to see if children qualify for special education and other assessments to determine the child’s eligibility. They also implement a counseling program to help teach students about themselves, working with others, and bullying. To accomplish these goals, counselors form relationships with parents and teachers to help facilitate their interactions with the students.
Middle School Counselors
Middle school counselors are the next line of support for the students in the academic world. These counselors help the students in their journey to becoming good citizens and leaders of the next generation. They are trained to help adolescents deal with difficult situations, both personally and developmentally, that can affect their academic success. During this time in their lives, adolescents explore various interests, learning how their school work applies to the real world, rapid changes in their growth and hormones, and figuring out their own identity and where they will fit in the world. Students are sensitive to what their peers think about them or say about them during these years and depend on their friends to give them acceptance and validation of their self-worth (American School Counselor Association).
Middle school counselors are there to help the students develop appropriate coping skills when dealing with negative comments from their peers. With these skills, students can effectively handle difficult or stressful situations in a calmer fashion and gain a more accurate picture of their self worth. Handling these types of situation successfully helps students build their self-esteem and confidence. During this very emotional time, middle school counselor give students the ability to explore different careers and interests to help them find out what they might want to focus on while planning what to do with their futures. They also provide support to students by helping them plan for the future and giving them study and test taking skills that they can use to perform better in the classroom setting. Performing better in the classroom setting prepares them to do better in high school and also helps them build their self-esteem. To facilitate this, these counselors use group counseling sessions and individual sessions to help the students plan and reach their goals.
High School Counselors