Blog 1

Reading chapter one of Dollarhide and Saginak's (2012) text increased my confidence regarding my current knowledge about CSCP a bit. I understood what was being discussed, even though that's most likely because the information covered was historical in nature and was a reminder of many prior counseling classes. But regardless, I believe I have recovered from the syllabus shock from last night.

This sense of related information from prior classes was especially prominent on page 3. In the discussion of qualities that a professional school counselor should have, I was pleased that I felt comfortable with the idea of individual, group, and multicultural counseling (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012). It was the first time that I really understood the culmination of our classes becoming applicable to our future careers.

One item in the text that was a bit surprising was in Dollarhide and Saginak’s (2012) text was the idea that there is an idea among professionals that teachers make better school counselors (p. 4). I am in no way negating this perception; it was just an idea I had never really thought of before. Call it ignorance, but the fact that there are several current teachers in our program always seemed like a coincidence. I never knew it was a common enough occurrence that it had become almost a stereotype. This section went on to partially disillusion me to the thought that teachers (who I have heard are under-recognized for their hard work both in society and in the school system) have more “perks” thank school counselors! This section specifically made me truly want to believe in our generation as being the counselors who demand to be appreciated and put in positions of helping as we were trained to do.

I struggled somewhat with Dollarhide and Saginak’s (2012) section on the philosophies of education. It may be that the word “pedagogy” is not part of my daily vocabulary, but I had to read the section several times to understand which of the teaching styles was preferred and which ones had become obsolete. When I think of progressive teaching, I more or less picture a Montessori school, however all the different progressive hybrids began to throw me off course. I’m hoping this is something we discuss in detail in class.

I enjoyed ending the chapter with information on the development of the phrase “professional school counselor” because often I correct people for calling my future position “guidance counseling” but I’m never exactly sure why it is wrong. Overall, this book is pleasantly readable while remaining informative and interesting.

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd Ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.