Final Blog - Listen to the Voices

Final Blog - Listen to the Voices

This article has come at a time when we are wrapping up the semester and I am thinking about practicum.  I have been wondering if I should go for primary or secondary or both.  I made a list of some of my favorite parts of school counseling are here were my top 5:  1. Helping students with personal issues 2. Career planning 3.  Teaching social skills 4.  Removing barriers/ advocacy 5.  Utilizing multiple intelligences.  So when I read this article and I read the emerging priorities of middle school and high school counselors I felt most in line with middle school counselors followed by high school counselors. 

I sincerely had an ah-ha moment when I realized that naturally preferred.  The authors state, “The results suggest that the middle school counselors were significantly more strongly involved than the elementary and high school counselors on student-related tasks” (Dahir, Burnham, & Stone, 2009, p.8).   Speficially there are more involved in social/ personal tasks.  Middle school students need more support making decisions as they experiment with moral reasoning and independence. 

I am also drawn to career planning.  I love personality tests, skill assessments, helping people discover their identity, set goals, and forge a path is all very exciting to me.   The authors state, “Career and Postsecondary Development subscale, the highest mean scores came from the high school counselors” (Dahir, Burnham, & Stone, 2009, p.9).  A secondary certification would probably lead me to more opportunities to focus on career development.  Academics and career planning run hand in hand at the secondary level. 

I could also integrate my appreciation of multiple intelligences when helping middle school and high school student acquire academic resources.  The authors state, “data revealed that middle school counselors placed a stronger emphasis on helping students acquire skills related to improving grades than did the elementary, K-12, and high school counselors” (Dahir, Burnham, & Stone, 2009, p.10).  Again I am really drawn to the academic side of school counseling.  On a personal note when I began this journey I use to be a really successful sales-lady but I felt empty pushing a product I didn’t believe in so I took a job at the University of Phoenix so I could get more school and try to figure out what I wanted.  As an academic counselor I helped students navigate their degree program and slowly I began to build relationships with them.  I began to care and I wanted to help them make it to graduation. I made up career tools and personality tools never really knowing there was a science to it.  I realized that education changes lives and education was a product I could sell and really feel proud of it.  I think when I read this article and reflect back upon the reasons that drew me to school counseling I would feel most at home as a middle school or high school counselor. 

Dahir, C. A., Burnham, J. J., & Stone, C. (2009). Listen to the voices: School counselors and comprehensive school counseling programs. Professional School Counseling, 12(3), 182-192. doi:10.5330/PSC.n.2010-12.182