Blog 9

     I found this chapter on Leadership, Advocacy, and Coordination a particularly interesting read this week. I liked the analogy of the copilot on a plane acting in ways a school counselor would act in a school setting. If both the pilot and copilot work together well and also are responsible for their own set of duties, all usually goes well. When one or both are unbalanced, even minor turbulence can cause trouble.

     I appreciated the new models of leadership that were presented in the Mason & McMahon article. As they note, "More recently, however, scholars have promoted new conceptualizations of leadership that have more to do with skills, relationships, and processes than with authoritative power or position within a hierarchy." (Mason & McMahon, 2009, p. 108). They go on to say that there is a "shift from a leader role of separation to one of collaboration" (p. 108). This works well for school counselors as we just recently learned the importance of collaboration in this position. The description of  transformational leadership felt comfortable to me and I could see myself working out of this type of framework.

     I worked as Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries for a large church in Newark, DE I was privileged to have as my boss for 10 years,  a pastor named Cliff Armour. There were many things I admired about his leadership style but I also now after this week's reading see many areas where he fell short. I think one of the things that he struggled with was that he was such a strong introvert. He could play the social game but it left him exhausted and he often made only brief appearances at events. He was a wonderful speaker (and so many did not know how shy he really was) and I always enjoyed his sermons. He was a very hands off boss in that he trusted you to run your programs with little input from him. His office door was often open so while he was approachable I didn't spend a lot of time one-on-one with him. He was passionate about many causes and put in a lot of his time and money into these causes but I don't always think I understood his vision for our church and community. Maybe he didn't articulate it well or maybe it wasn't clear to him, but I would have liked to have had a clearer direction of where our staff was headed. Back to the plane analogy...where where we flying to? what was our route to our destination? how would we know when we arrived?

     The section on participatory leadership and distributed leadership was thought provoking. The idea of participatory leadership with "the view that all participants - leaders and followers- have energy, insights, and potential to offer on behalf of shared goals" (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p.190) is exciting. I also liked the concept in distributed leadership of "The practice of leadership is the focus, rather than the leader him or herself, and the leadership process is seen as the interactions among multiple leaders, their followers, and the situation itself. " (p. 190). I have a lot to think about concerning my own leadership style. There are times when I have felt effective as a leader and other times where I have fallen short. I am still searching for my own style. The balance of power and control need to be tempered with listening, insight and guidance.




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

Mason, E.C.H. & McMahon, H.G. (2009). Leadership practices of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 13 (2), pp. 107-115.

Blog 9

So after class and reading more in depth into Dollarhide and Saginak’s (2012) article, I feel very strongly that I am a structural leader. I feel that the results of my assessment in class were biased because I was answering the questions through the framework of our CSCP project, in which I take the role of the rule-setter and organizer. It was difficult for me to put myself into a school counselor’s frame of mind when determining my leadership role and my most powerful self, but when I did succeed at the role-placement I found that the idea of political power does indeed scare me. I have always been naïve in the sense that I like to imagine that I can have a profound effect on my students without having to concern myself with the politics of the school or my relationship with parents/the community. Nakia is a realistic counter to my mindset because she often addresses political issues within a school that I would not even think of, let alone be prepared for as a school counselor. Due to this idea, I go back to the importance of collaboration. I feel lucky that our program fosters relationships between students so that we can feel comfortable asking each other for help and guidance as opposed to only competing against each other for jobs.

            Instead of only focusing on what I am not knowledgeable about, I will also focus on my leadership strengths in the framework of Mason and McMahon’s (2009) article. I want to reiterate something I have said (maybe ad nauseam) several times in the past. I feel so confident (hopefully not naively so) that we will be a generation of professional school counselors that develop our signature leadership roles during our graduate experience (not fully, obviously, but at least build a strong base) so that when we enter the workforce we will not be seen as leadership neophytes, and instead be seen as cultured individuals who have taken time to explore whether we will flourish with a structural mindset, like myself, or perhaps more of a symbolic mindset. Although all of the leadership and power roles can coexist within each of us, I am making the point that there is a way to lead with our strengths so that the more experienced school counselors do not chalk our façade (of trying to use all the strengths simply for the idea that we are supposed to) up to inexperience and will instead respect us as colleagues.

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

Mason, E. C., & McMahon, G. (2009). Leadership practices of school counselors. Professional school counseling, 13(2), 107-115.

Blog #9

            I really liked the Chapter in the text and I also liked the accompanying article. What I truly enjoyed was the fact that the two seemed to be connected in the information that they presented. What I mean by this is that the article seemed as if it was used to help create the chapter within the Dollarhide & Saginak (2012) text. I say this because the required readings both contained similar citations and the article even contained a citation to a previous Dollarhide article on counseling. All in all they both worked together to help change the perceptions that I had on what exactly it means to be in a leadership position as a counselor.

            My preconception of what it means to be a leader as a school counselor existed prior to joining this program. Heck, even still, without sounding too introspective I think that my perception remained that way up until reading this chapter and article. My belief on what it meant to be a leader as a counselor was that I was to inherently lead children as I would be an authoritative figure in the school setting. Thus I would set a good example for them, show them what it meant to be an outstanding member of the school/community, and to a lesser extent help them with their problems. With that last aspect I’ve always seen it as the primary role of the job, in my opinion, but I didn’t see it as “leading” per se. Ideally I thought I would achieve all of this simply through just counseling them and implementing a guidance program that promote personal/social, academic and career development. After reading the chapter I see how that does indeed come into play but I also see that I was overlooking some aspects. Essentially I was focusing on the pre-conceived notion of what it means to be a counselor and how that is being a leader. However, I was ignoring what we have learned all semester about additional counselor roles because these roles play a part in counselor leadership too

            The book was basically able to simplify the fact that everything that we do is in some way, shape, or form leadership. Moreover, that all those roles and how they come into play in leadership can be classified into three aspects; Advocating, Consultation, and Coordination. All of these with the present and future orientation of achieving positive goals.

            When we advocate we serve as leaders because we are helping and bettering the individuals for whom we are advocating.  Persons that we will advocate for will primarily be at the individual level via students but as counselors we can also advocate for the family, school or local community systems in an effort to improve the present and future outlooks of our students. This touches on/equates to my idea of “helping students with their problems.” Even more so if they’re unaware of them. An excellent example of this in the text was multicultural competence/advocacy.

When we consult we are immediately placed into the expert role in hopes that our expertise can help solve the issue at hand. This alone makes us a leader. We are brought in pre-emptively and reactively in hopes to solve a problem that it is believed that teachers cannot handle on their own. Additionally, the fact that the role of consultation is to help in advocating for the client also makes us a leader.

Finally, when we coordinate our comprehensive guidance programs this serves in a leadership role. With accountability backing our guidance program we can continue to be the “expert” in this situation inherently placing us into a leadership role. Additionally, in installing such a program we aim to implement change to show our students how to be outstanding members of a cohort and eventually society. This touches on/equates to my idea of modeling for them and teaching them what it means to be an outstanding member of the school and community.

So while my initial thoughts on being a leader as a counselor were “correct” to an extent they were very basic in nature and missed a wide array of/oversimplified the leadership roles.

            I would like to close this Blog with an interesting note. I found it intriguing how the “Leadership” chapter could very much apply to the conversations we had last week. Perhaps this is because they dealt with advocacy and consultation. With the Chapter 10 vignette we talked about advocating for students who did not feel like the “young” teachers were doing an adequate job. This certainly places you in a leader role in two ways; a leader for the students and a leader amongst your coworkers in bringing about systematic change to fix this situation. I think that example perfectly demonstrated leadership through advocating and consultation. I also believe the conversation sparked by Nakia, Ami and myself last week also is very much related to this week’s topic. We, as a class, got into talking about waiting to implement your comprehensive program after a year in the school to not ruffle feathers and most (if not all) of the class agreed. The Mason (2010) article seemed very much to corroborate this as it showed younger/newer counselors, even with ASCA training tend to doubt themselves as leaders but their coworkers might feel this way too. However, unlike the article I believe that this shows leadership in and of itself by displaying some leadership qualities listed on Page 191 in the text; diplomacy/tact, cooperation, tolerance for stress, and broadmindedness.

All in all I thought this was an excellent chapter and I very much looked forward to writing this blog.

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd

            Ed.). New York:   Pearson, Inc.

Mason, E. (2010). Leadership practices of school counselors and counseling program

implementation. NAASP Bulletin, 94 (4), 274-285. DOI: 10.1177/0192636510395012

Leadership

One of the the primary reasons I chose school counseling as my future profession is because I wanted to serve in a leadership position in a school while also having the ability to have direct connections with students. As a result, I was really excited to read more about Dollarhide and Saginak's views of the specific leadership roles and responsibilities of school counselors in Chapter 11. I liked the analogy the authors began the chapter with, of the counselor serving as the "co-pilot of the school, responsible for the comprehensive school counseling program, the developmental curriculum, and the academic, career, and personal/social development of students" (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p. 186). The authors elaborate on four leadership responsibilities, which include structural leadership, human resource leadership, political leadership, and symbolic leadership. Out of these four, the authors remark that political leadership tends to be most difficult for school counselors, and I also foresee this being difficult for me as well, as there are so many stakeholders involved in the system that it is difficult to make decisions that address all needs and concerns. In difficult situations, I think it is important for counselors to remember that they must serve as advocates, for "those who are marginalized or excluded from decision making" (p.193). Although this often includes students, this can also involve parents, colleagues, and other members of the community. Just as important as the roles counselors are responsible for are the roles that they should NOT be responsible for, and the authors' description of these tasks are reminiscent of the class discussion we had a few weeks ago. As a general rule, I tend to approach most jobs from the perspective of "doing whatever is asked and needed of me," but I now better understand the value and importance of becoming my own advocate for identifying tasks that are most applicable to my counseling role. I think keeping a perspective and maintaining a balance are also important, and I appreciated the authors reminder that administrative tasks, such as lunchroom duty or hallroom monitor, will result in increased contact with students, perhaps allowing for the development of trust and greater awareness of the issues students are facing on a daily basis. Dollarhide, C., and Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Blog #8

            This semester and in particular this class, has really pulled together all the other classes we have taken. I have stated this in other blogs but after reading Kahn's article and the chapter about consultation and collaboration, seeing all the info being pulled together and allowing more insight into the comprehensive school counseling model. The journey I have taken through the Theory classes as well as brief have given a lot self awareness and things that I needed to work on in order to be the best school counselor I can be. The solution focused approach is very appropriate in a school setting and allows the students to take control of their own thoughts, behaviors and actions. They get a chance to tell their story and one thing that really stands out in the solution focused approach is that the client is the expert of the story they tell and their experience. One Sentence in the article really stands out for me and that is when Kahn(2000) states that even the smallest and simplest change in the demeanor of the teacher or counselor can have a tremendous effect on the student or client. The way education is changing and pressure is increasing to do well and know more even starting from kindergarten, makes it hard for teachers to really take the time and get to know the students they are teaching. Counselors have a unique chance to really get to know the students and talk to them from a different standpoint.
            I really like the solution focused approach, but sometimes, it is not always what works well for the student or client. Having knowledge on the different theories and counseling techniques is helpful in knowing what approach will work best with certain students as well as those individuals you will be collaborating and consulting with. I had the opportunity to do a mock counseling session with students in my class. It was eye opening for me, especially because I did not think things in my own bubble would effect how I would handle a situation, but it does. I was uncomfortable and irritated with the way the session was going and I felt like I had no control, but sometimes that is okay and recognizing that and being okay with that is important in moving forward. As a school counselor, we are going to be faced with difficult student, teachers, parents, and administrators. " It takes a village to raise a child",( Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, pg. 163), something that could not ring more true in the school setting. It takes more than one person, in implementing and making sure a Comprehensive School Counseling Program per the ASCA National Model is effective and beneficial to the school district and all stake holders involved. Collaboration is key to ensuring that a comprehensive model is as effective as it can be and everyone involved must be on the same page.

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

Kahn, B. B. (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 3(4), 248-254

Blog #8

            After leaving class last Tuesday, I continued to think about how real that situation with Yer was.  I am going to be Yer some day, and I am going to need people around me in the profession to help me get through difficult days or situations similar to the one that Yer was dealing with.  I have held many different jobs since I graduated with my bachelor’s degree.  One thing that I have learned over the years is that it is much easier to successful at a job if one is surrounded by good people.  I hope that when I get my first job as a school counselor, I am surrounded by a ridiculous amount of good people. 

            Collaboration and consultation should start long before a problem comes up in a school.  We always talk in class about taking a proactive approach to counseling.  I think that is extremely important to have everyone on the same page as much as possible before thinking about how to handle an issue.  For example, it may benefit me as a counselor to have a quick presentation at the beginning of the year to explain to the teachers and administration ways that we could collaborate.  It would also be important for all of the counselors, school psychologists, and administration to develop action plans on how to collaborate with each other within the schools, but also explore outside collaborations within the community.  Making those connections before hand will help streamline the process and prevent a reactive counseling philosophy.  For these reasons and many others, I think a Solution-Focused Consultation Model would be extremely successful within any school.

            Since I am going to be spending an “average of 18 percent of my time in consultation” (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012), why not focus on making that 18 percent of time usage as efficient as possible.  Many of the school counselors in the field bring up issues with lack of time in general.  By preparing an effective plan for consultation, the result could lead to creating more available time for other important things.  I truly believe that it does “take a village” to raise a child.  Growing up I had teachers and administrators who worked with my mom to help guide me down the right path.  With only my parents pushing me to become successful, I was unable to stay focused and dedicated to my school work.  However, when a few teachers and the vice principal stepped in to collaborate with my parents and showed that they also truly cared about my success, I became much more motivated.

Dollarhide, C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2012). Comprehensive School Counseling Programs.   (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.

Consultation

Words that come to my brain when consultation is said: discussion, debate, negotiate, collaborate. I feel comfortable discussing all of these terms in relation to the concept of consultation. After our class last week and the varying discussions about Yer and her discussions with Peg, I thing my biggest struggle as a future school counselor will be helping others to understand the importance of collaboration and consultation. Those aspects of our job are equally as important as the counseling and advocacy aspects.


I know there was significant distress within our group over whether we as future counselors should sit in on the classroom to monitor both students and the teachers. or whether we would be able to view the situation clearly. I think, that with a security net of other (another counselor who could also monitor the student/teachers) individuals opinions will allow a more of an unbiased perspective into the situation. There is a lot to say about collaborative relationships and the labor of love that they are essentially are. There will always be individuals with feelings and attitudes that may be different or opposing. Resistance is one of the biggest barriers to successful collaboration between school counselors and school psychologists. Dollarhide and Saginak (p.169) said that the majority of school counselors spend 18 percent of their time in collaboration.


Consultation (p. 171) always involves the consultant, the consultee and the client. The purpose is to address situations and interventions involving the consultee ( a teacher) and a third party (school psychologist). I can see how individuals outside of the helping professions to think that consultation is synonymous with advise giving, but this again will be another spot to get out my pom poms and advocate for myself. The section on Collaborative Culturally Competent Schools was awesome! I love the level of advocacy that is available within the school. Level 2: family empowerment was something that really stood out to me as the idea of wrap around services, community and family involvement are important factors in successfully advocating for the best needs of our students. This was another really great chapter. I rented this book expecting to turn it in at the end of the semester, but I plan to buy it for real and keep this within a quick reach on my “professional shelf”. I feel that this book is very valuable and will be a source that I can continue to reflect on for many years. 

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

Blog 8 Chapter 10

I feel that when we discussed this chapter in class, our group was divided about the opening vignette.  Some of our group was concerned about the interaction between Yer and Peg, feeling that they were not being collaborative with each other.  Some felt that Yer was dumping on Peg and that Peg was not showing compassion for Yer’s feelings.  I feel that this is important because this chapter is all about collaboration and consultation and they were both professionals from school districts.  After looking at the questions after the vignette our group was able to come together and answer the questions without further disagreement because the authors wanted to know our opinion about the being put into Yer’s position and her feelings about the teachers, students and where to go from here. 

            Collaboratively we discussed Yer reaching out to other member’s of the staff to help her in her efforts with the students and the teachers.  It was also discussed that Yer does need to observe the students in these classrooms to obtain the necessary data to take the next steps, if that is required.  Specifically, Yers’ next steps after collecting the data would be to address it with the teacher, then the administration if the teachers were unwilling to change their teaching styles to accommodate the students or for Yer to come up with a behavior plan to help the students focus on the lesson.

            I found the article by Kahn to be interesting and relevant to this chapter along with to my everyday life as a TSS.  The assumption is that exploring the problem only tells the consultation team more about the problem and not necessarily about the solutions (Kahn, 1998).  Exploration of the past focuses on exceptions, times in which the problem did not occur (Kahn, 1998).  These are things I look at when working with clients everyday, what was the trigger, is the trigger always the same, does time of day matter, what coping skills are used, how long has this been an issue, have there been exceptions when the trigger happened and the client didn’t react, if so what was different and how can we duplicate that and the list goes on.  Then my job turns into positive reinforcement for every single positive thing, good job ignoring, nice job using your words, or a token economy like tickets that can be earned for prizes later or immediate rewards like stickers or a piece of candy.

            Our treatment plan goals for each client are also very specific, based on percentages given a location and noting all the people present.  The treatment plan goals often include social skills; eye contact, looking up when walking or talking, safety; looking for cars before crossing the street, not talking to strangers to coping skills; when you are angry you will ask for a time out, use “I statements” to get your needs met, all the same things Kahn listed in the article. 

Reference

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

Kahn, B. (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors. Professional school counseling,3(4), 248-254.

Post #8 - Chapter 10 and Kahn article

One of the problems with the way many school support services are designed is that such services often only serve the population with the most intense needs.  This is a problem because with the focus on the high-needs population of students, the majority of students who fall somewhere in the middle of the continuum between high-needs and low-needs get missed (Adelman & Taylor, 1998, as cited in Drummond & Jones, 2012).  However, by collaborating with other educational professionals, families and the community, counselors can effectively multiply themselves and the support services that they can offer to students.  I appreciated Addelman and Taylor’s (as cited in Drummond & Jones, 2012, p. 166) comment that “school professionals often feel threatened by the intrusion of community professionals in the school setting, creating alienation from community resources and isolating school professionals and students.”  Collaboration is not an easy task, even if it can be more effective in providing more services to a greater amount of people.  Collaboration involves asking for help – it means admitting that you can’t do a certain task alone.  As a person who struggles to ask for help and to delegate tasks to others, collaboration may be hard for me.  While I really like the idea of teamwork and of multiplication of services to reach greater numbers of students, I also have a hard time allowing others to take over tasks or services that I want to see done in a certain way.  For me, collaborating with others will mean developing relationships with more adults both inside and outside of the school setting and trusting them to reach students who might otherwise get missed when it comes to having their needs met.

On an unrelated note, I found the Kahn (2000) article to provide much food for thought on the topic of Solution-Focused consultation.  The assumption that a small change on the part of the consultee (teacher or parent) will cause rippling effects throughout the entire system, including the students’ behavior, seemed to fit well with what I know about the RTII approach to intervention.  I could really see Solution-Focused Consultation as a pre-cursor to a Tier 2 targeted intervention.  I could also see it being better received by teachers who might otherwise be reluctant to come to a school counselor for consultation sessions.  The great thing about the Solution-Focused approach is that it empowers people to fix their own problems.  Working together, counselors and teachers and/or parents, can spend more time thinking about what does work for students rather than what keeps students stuck.  I could definitely see myself utilizing this approach in the future.

References

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K. A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson References

Kahn, B.B. (2000).  A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 3 (4), 249-254.

Week 8 Blog

I found this week’s article (Kahn, 2000) to be a valuable resource for practical ways to effectively collaborate with other professionals.  It compelled me to think about how I can use these solution-focused techniques in my position as a special educator when collaborating with other teachers.  I guess I never thought about utilizing solution-focused techniques with other professionals, at least not to this extent.  I feel like people look at me as the expert, and it’s my job to give suggestions for how to intervene with students.  I often feel like a very sought-after person in my position, and many of my afternoons after school are taken up by a revolving door of teachers coming to my room and asking for suggestions or advice.  I am going to make more of a conscious effort to use these solution-focused consultation techniques because I think that could really make my life easier by helping the other teachers come up with their own strategies to help the students.

Not only do I think that the process and questions posed in the article are effective for collaborating with professionals, but I also think that this is effective when collaborating with students in order to make positive change in the classroom. Through reading the article I was inspired to come up with a game plan for my co-taught math class.  The general ed teacher with whom I work is becoming overwhelmed at the behaviors of students in the class.  The class is two periods long, and unfortunately I am there for only the second half, so often times I come in mid-situation.  We have been trying to find time to plan out a class behavior plan, but with no common planning time and lots of other obligations after school, we haven’t had the time to really sit down and hash out a plan.  I wrote a series of questions to ask the students in class this week, and just asked her if I could run a class discussion to come up with a plan together.  This then got me thinking that perhaps a focus of counselors could be on equipping teachers to effectively collaborate with students in a solution-focused way.

Before reading into the differences between consultation and counseling, I had some thoughts about consulting with students.  The following is what I wrote before reading:

I find it interesting that the only definition or requirement for consultation that includes students in the process is that of CACREP. It is also interesting that Dollarhide & Saginak (2012) state, “counselors from all three levels spend from1 to 80 percent of their time providing consultation” (p. 169).  One percent?!  How was consultation defined in this study? Merriam-Webster defines consultation as, “a meeting in which someone to a person about a problem, question, etc.; a discussion about something that is being decided” (2013).   Considering that students are the reason school counselors are in the schools, this definition should include students.  Therefore, I would hope that one’s consultation with students would be a major component of the job, taking up more than one percent of one’s time! 

After reading the difference between consultation and counseling, I realize that I was using the two synonymously.  I am happy to see that the authors do specify that students are, in fact, consultees.  Still, I am not 100% clear on the difference.  Dollarhide & Saginak (2012) did say, “it is difficult to distinguish when a counselor is consulting with students about a third person for whom the student feels responsible, and when the counselor is problem solving with the student about a third person” (p. 173).   I wonder, too, does it always have to involve a third person? For example, when students are struggling academically, it is the counselor’s job to intervene in some way.  If the student lacks effective organization and study skills, and the counselor educates the student on strategies that may be helpful, would this not be consultation?  Or, concerning the career domain, could career counseling be considered consultation? The counselor is working as a consultant with a consultee (the student) on determining what path in life the student wants to take, and helps him/her determine how to get there. This isn’t really working on a personal problem, so it isn’t counseling, is it?  I think I need more clarification on the differences and what this might look like in a real-life situation.

References:

Consultation (2013). In Merriam-Webster online.  Retrieved from             http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consultation

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs

            (2nd Ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc. 

Kahn, B.B., (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors.

            Professional School Counseling, 3 (4), 248-54.

Blog 8 collaborate and consult

Collaboration is a very interesting topic. So much depends on our ability to collaborate with others. It is necessary for us to communicate idea, to garner support and to achieve the best results. There are so many people within a school staff that are in their positions because they want to help children grow to be the best citizens possible. But with so many different ideals and frames of reference, it is important that we understand the individual roles within a school system as well as how the pieces fit together. The book talks a lot about the importance of understanding the roles of all pupil services members. This would be a very good topic of conversation within course work for all educators, including principalship curriculum. So many roles overlap, it would be beneficial to have some idea of the breadth of our roles. However, we are still defining our own roles in our national program, let alone locally. Coordinating support program goals in the school would help maintain a cohesive schema. In graduate studies, our shared coursework is a valuable, yet underutilized forum where SC, clinical and school psych could collaborate and discuss school systems and roles. It would be advantageous to make use of these opportunities to create connections which will serve us in the field. Perhaps creating a community within our fields on the professional training level would further enhance the school communities.

On a larger, meso-systemic level is community asset mapping. Counselors I have spoken with have said they invite professionals from area service providers to join SC meetings to inform the suite of their services. They tell me however, this happens only every few years. This is not often enough because of policy changes and that the personnel turnover rate is relatively high in social services. I am aware of a local agency which informs community citizens of aids and services. I feel this would be a beneficial group to connect with. Counselors work closely with area agencies for referrals and collaboration.

The book speaks of the vast majority of students whose needs go unmet because they are not at either extreme, high achievers or at-risk. As one of the average students, it is very frustrating to be overlooked, set aside and considered good enough. This is one population which I am drawn to counseling to help. I don’t want to see these kids fall through the cracks. I believe, the TAP program model does address this matter to a good degree; allowing each child to be seen as a unique individual. The relationship with the teacher advisor can be somewhere around 1:20 or less, as opposed to 1:400. Ideally, through this format each child is provided opportunity to connect to the school and an advisor on some level, regularly.

As the Kahn (2000) article suggests, collaborating with individuals from these groups and students can include a solution focused and positive approach. Each agency service provider and school support personnel’s ideas are motivated by student betterment and reflect our frame of reference and expertise. SFC is based on searching for common ground and success within the existing system, individual and relationship. SFC supports a respectful framework for integrating ideas and reflecting on the small changes that will lead to bigger improvements.

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

Kahn, B.B., (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors.Professional School                  Counseling, 3 (4), 248-54.