Post 5

At the beginning of Chapter 6, Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) present a case study about a school district in its beginning stages of creating a school counseling program. To be honest, it seems quite overwhelming! I can tell that this district needed to start with a foundation. The delivery model would be the foundation for their district wide guidance program. That is simple to say, but actually deciding on which program to role with is the difficult part. I like how Dollarhide and Saginak compared the delivery model to a vehicle for driving the program. There are different vehicles one can choose depending on what they are using it for. Large families would most likely choose a van/SUV for transporting multiple passengers. A college student would most likely choose a sedan for lower gas mileage. A person can use any transportation vehicle to get from point A to point B, but what transportation vehicle would be the best for them? I feel the delivery model chosen must be the best suited model for that particular school district/school. Counselors have different options when choosing a delivery model. Prescriptive models have clear assumptions for school counselors and their programs, while nonprescriptive models focus on the needs of the school and school body (Dollarhide and Saginak, 2012). After reading their descriptions, I couldn’t help but think about Second Step and our discussion from class a few weeks ago. My comparison may not be correct, but I’ll give it a shot. A prescriptive model would be like Second Step, where a teacher/counselor would follow the program step by step (script). A nonprescriptive model would give a teacher/counselor some freedom, but he/she would focus on a particular topic (empathy). Both models would be focusing on empathy, but the delivery would be different. Reading over the different types of delivery models, I felt more drawn to the nonprescriptive models. I feel that these models are more student focused. By this I mean that your delivery is based off of what the student body needs. As a teacher, we are data driven. The data comes from our students. If some of my students are poor in understanding the main idea of a selection, while others are poor at making inferences, and even others are poor at plot (conflict/resolution) – it is my goal to meet the needs of my students. I would teach all of my students about main idea (again) if they have already got it! I would simply be wasting their time. I feel that nonprescriptive models allow for differentiation based on student needs. At the same time, I feel that prescriptive models are needed to define the counselor’s role in a school (ASCA). Schwallie-Giddis, Maat, and Pak (2003) article recognizes, the ASCA National Model defines the role of the school counselor well. The model provides a counselor with a framework for the profession. If I am ever approached by the school board, administration, or parents asking what I do…I will refer to this model. In the end, I feel that a counselor can use parts of prescriptive and nonprescriptive models to better assist his/her school. Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd Ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc. Schwallie-Giddis, P., Ter Maat, M., & Pak, M. (2003). Initiating leadership by introducing and implementing the ASCA National Model. Professional School Counseling, 6(3), 170-173