First I’ve got to say, so far I am impressed with this
book! I like the reflections, case
studies, and especially the analogies used to explain various concepts. I found
the dialogue in the first case study to be disheartening, and I wonder how many
people feel this way about counselors and their job descriptions. The challenge questions in this section
asked us to reflect on why we want to be counselors. While I am already a teacher, the reason I want to be a
counselor certainly is not to get students into college prep classes or sit in
my office all day. The reason I
want to be a counselor is to work with students on a more individual level, and
to be able to focus more energy on the social and emotional well-being of students
than I am currently able to do. I
want to be able to reach out to a larger population of students and families
than I currently do as a special educator. I really enjoy learning about counseling techniques and
theories, and I honestly just get excited thinking about doing this for a
living some day.
The book asks us to reflect on the best counselor we have
known during our k-12 experience.
The problem is, I didn’t really know my counselors. There was one that I vaguely remember
who helped mentor the student assistance club with which I was involved in high
school, but it was primarily run by students. I also remember going to a
counselor to discuss a schedule change, but that is the extent of it,
unfortunately. Thinking back on
that, and reflecting on the first case study of the chapter, I am even more
compelled to be a presence in the school and to work hard to make positive
change both in the school climate and for individual students.
One question that I had from reading is, what is the difference
between a National Certified Counselor and a National Certified School
Counselor? I was talking with a
school counselor from a district near Philly the other week, and he told me
that when he went through his practicum he had the option of becoming certified
as a private counselor. I’m
wondering if that is also an opportunity for us, as I would like to keep my
options open.
The same counselor I just mentioned also told me that my
chances of getting a counseling job are greatly increased because I am a
teacher, and especially because I teach special education. As mentioned in the book, however,
teaching experience was not a predictor of counselor success (Dollarhide &
Saginak, 2012). I have mixed
feelings about this topic. I
believe that good counselors are those who are passionate for what they do,
have a theoretical foundation on which they operate, care about students and
are willing to do what is best for all students, communicate well, are
creative, etc. You don’t need
teaching experience to have all of these qualities. However, I do believe that it could be beneficial for
counselors with teaching experience to truly understand the issues that schools
and teachers face, and to be sensitive to those issues when advocating for a
student. I also believe that it
can be beneficial for counselors who are responsible for 504 plans and who are
very involved in the IEP process.
Either way, these are skills that anyone learns from experience; it just
may take someone longer to truly understand if he/she has never worked in a
school.
I am looking forward to learning more about the ASCA
National Model and school counselor competencies. I think that this class will help to culminate everything we
have learned so far and to give us a “big picture” of what our jobs will entail
as school counselors.
Reference:
Dollarhide,
C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs.
(2nd
ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc
No comments:
Post a Comment