Blog 12

           

            I’ve probably told this story before. Growing up there were only two career paths I have ever been interested in; School Counselor or Serviceman in the Army. For the longest time I was leaning towards being a School Counselor at the secondary level in order to be a better counselor than the one I had in High School. Despite having all the qualifications he essentially refused to help me apply for West Point because he “knew” I wouldn’t get in. So at that point I knew I wanted to help students to not feel this same shame and disappointment that I felt there. I wanted to help kids reach the colleges they wanted to go to. However, after finishing undergrad and spending some time in the real world I realized that college isn’t for everyone. So when I read page 210 in the Dollarhide & Saginak (2012) text about the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation funded research stating the need to press students to attend college I was very miffed. This was one of the reasons, coupled with my recent experiences with primary and intermediate aged children, that I eventually chose to transition my preference to the Primary level. If the Rayle (2006) article is any indication I made the correct choice.

            I think that the reason that Elementary and Middle School counselors find their jobs more satisfying as a result of feeling they matter more is because of  the nature of the curriculum that they primarily deliver. As mentioned in the Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) text Elementary schools tend to have more of a focus on the Personal/Social and Academic domains. In Middle School this is the same but of course with an additional emphasis on the emergence of Career prospects for that domain. However, as stated in the text this is inverse in the Secondary setting where it is primary Career and Academic. My personal belief – and I mean no disrespect to those aiming to work in the Secondary setting – is that those domains don’t make you feel as responsible for the growth of a person as does the Personal/Social domain. And that is where the delivery system aspect comes into play. The types of lessons you’re going to predominately deliver are going to be in that domain. You can directly witness a student as they become a “better” person. You can hear teachers say how their classroom has become better thanks in part to your intervention/consultation. I think that corroborates the Rayle (2006) article as to why Elementary counselors feel so appreciated/as if they matter and thus experience such high job satisfaction. With a Secondary student you’re not always aware of their success in the career domain after leaving. Sure you can make them aware of career prospects but to me personally that isn’t as tangible. I think these feelings of feeling like you matter are even more amplified in middle school due to the complex personal/social nature of students at that stage of development alongside the emergence of career prospects and the everpresent aspect of academia.

In regards to other things covered in the text I particularly enjoyed the section about the school in Tuscan as it was an elementary school. I was shocked to learn about the lack of RAMP certified schools nationally, so it’s obvious that I would like to do some more research into this particular school to better any program I eventually come up with or use. What really made me happy was that it was RAMP certified and yet the counselor is allowed to work as the Interim principle. Although most in the class admitted they’d feel uncomfortable I think I’d revel in such an opportunity and look forward to potentially doing so. I also would like to use the “time preference signup sheet” as it allows for you to keep a good rapport with the teachers and still conduct in-class facilitations. I also like the relevant feedback for certain classrooms aspects too. That certainly gave me many ideas that I think I could steal and that would also help me in feeling that curriculum delivery is having an effect on students and will make me feel as if I’m making a difference like in the Rayle (2006) article.

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

           

Ed.). New York:   Pearson, Inc.

Rayle, A. (2006). Do School Counselors Matter? Mattering as a Moderator between Job Stress

and Job Satisfaction. Professional School Counseling, 9(3), 206-215.