Post 4

After reading about the ASCA National Model in chapter 5, Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) helped me begin to put some pieces together in regards to our project. This is what I have gained from it: the model is a framework with which a counselor can use to create his or her own comprehensive school counseling program. I found that you cannot have a CSCP without the ASCA National Model. The model is like a blueprint for a house, while the CSCP is the final creation of the house. To liken it to teaching, our curriculum is the CSCP, while our state standards are the ASCA National Model. Saying this, I find that setting up a CSCP could be quite difficult! Like I mentioned before, as a teacher, we are given curriculums (of course the administration/school board approves a particular curriculum prior to teachers getting it). This is quite different from creating a CSCP because it is up to the counselor to decide what he/she would like to include in their CSCP, while the curriculum guide is what a teacher follows or at least can follow. Basically, it isn’t like I walk into school each day, read the standards, and develop my lessons using my own resources and materials. I have a guide which already includes the standards that are needed to teach my students. If I only had the standards, it would be simply crazy for me to make up my own lessons day in and day out (especially when I am teaching 5 different subjects). This is where I feel the article written by Galassi, Griffin, and Akos (2008) can comes into play. Strengths-Based School Counseling serves all students. It is a model that emphasizes the school counselor’s primary role - to promote and advocate for positive youth development for all students and for the environments that improves and maintains that development. The ASCA National Model does not explicitly identify a research base for these competencies, nor are they developmentally sequenced or context-based (Galassi, Griffin, and Akos, 2008). SBSC supplements the standards by identifying research-based student competencies associated with positive development in each of these domains. In a way, SBSC is like a curriculum for a school counselor. The SBSC article (2008) helped me recognize the importance of my school’s community and environment. I can see why there is not one direct curriculum for a school counselor! A CSCP will vary depending on the needs of the student population and the community. It simply is not possible to have one “curriculum” for a school counselor because all students and communities are different and moreover UNIQUE. A good CSCP must tie in SBSC as well to ensure that all students succeed. Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd Ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc. Galassi, J. P., Griffin, D., & Akos, P. (2008). Strengths-Based School Counseling and the ASCA National Model®. Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 176-181. doi:10.5330/PSC.n.2010-12.176