Post 13

After reading the vignette at the beginning of Chapter 13 in Dollarhide and Saginak’s (2012) book, I couldn’t help by think, I know how it feels! When I taught my first year down in South Carolina, I had a few parents rip into me because of what I have shared with them regarding the progress of their child behaviorally and academically. I learned that you cannot take it personally. However, it can be very hard to bear in the heat of the moment. I was glad to see that Erin made herself visible during these conferences, and more importantly, I was glad to see that she stopped in to intervene. Although the parent left upset, Erin supported her colleague. If Erin did not witness the altercation that took place among the 2nd grade teacher and Samuel’s mother, then it would have made it that much harder for Erin to consult with the teacher. Reading over the statistics regarding mental health needs of students, I couldn’t believe the 1 in 5 children or adolescents who have a diagnosable mental health or addictive disorder (Dollardhide and Saginak, 2012). Wow, that is such a high number. I have to question why it is so prevalent today? Are doctors over diagnosing today? Were there children and adolescents with these mental health problems undiagnosed in the past? These statistics are scary if you think about it. If the trend continues, I am sure the 1 in 5 ratio will increase throughout the next 20 years. If so, this will make our job even more difficult. The poverty section in this chapter hit home for me. I have been working with parents in inner city environments ever since I started teaching. In addition, I was raised in a poverty stricken environment. I may not get the whole story, but I can relate to the experience. I feel that I can be more “real” with parents who are living in poverty. This open dialogue has helped build many strong relationships with parents. These relationships have helped me build a strong rapport with their children as well. I have learned that it is important to continually keep them informed on how their child is doing behaviorally and academically (good or bad). This can be done through phone calls, notes home, or in-person conversations after school. I enjoyed reading the perceptions of school administrators in Amatea and Clark’s (2005) article. They used their qualitative data to find that the selected administrators viewed the role of school counselors in different ways. I can see how each role is vital for a school counselor to meet. I wouldn’t say that there is one simple role that a school counselor must be responsible for. I believe that all four (innovative school leader, collaborative case consultant, responsive direct service provider, administrative team player) are all significant and needed within a school system. We must be prepared to wear many hats. One day we may be the innovative school leader, yet another, we may be the responsive direct service provider. Furthermore, we may be all four in a given day. This will be a challenge, but like one of the school counselors addressed last week, we will have specific skills that others in our building will not have. Amatea, E. S., & Clark, M. (2005). Changing schools, changing counselors: A qualitative study of school administrators' conceptions of the school counselor role. Professional School Counseling, 9(1), 16-27. Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd Ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.