As we have noted many times in
class, there can be a disconnect between what administrators expect and value
in a school counselor and the ASCA National Model. This is really no surprise when considering
the trends within school counseling itself.
It would seem that some of the administrators that were part of the
qualitative study are reflective of some of the earlier emphases. Once again, we are reminded that our role as
school counselors will be to educate others about our role and what we can
bring to the school environment through what we say, do, and offer.
I found it interesting when reading
the chapter this week that mental health was listed as an increasing trend in
the schools. This would seem to agree
with one of our panelists who also spoke of the number of students with mental
health issues. As this trend continues
to rise, and as schools are increasingly faced with supporting such students
and families, it would seem that counselors would benefit greatly from a strong
mental health knowledge base. Schools
are one of the places where the entire breadth of the school-age population is
evident. Therefore we may be at the
front lines for identifying and noticing the potential mental health issues
that are at work in a student. Should we
not be well trained in identifying some possible red flags or signs and
symptoms of mental health issues? It
would be reasonable to anticipate that school administrators and teachers would
looks to the school counselor, school psychologist, or school nurse to be aware
and knowledgeable about the various mental health diagnoses that students may
have. And with that knowledge we could
provide some helpful collaboration for teachers as they work with these
students. I was left wondering how we
would get additional training or experience in this area.
It would seem there are many areas
people may come to us for, hoping that we would have some expertise. Each of us may bring certain pieces to the
combined expertise of the counseling department depending on our unique
background. Therefore it would seem to
be important to take advantage and cultivate a team concept for
counselors. Even if we are the only
counselor in the building, we would do well to learn about the various
strengths and experience of other counselors so that we could utilize and
benefit from their particular expertise.
We cannot know everything by ourselves.
But over time, we will gain even more expertise.
I was struck by the section
regarding technology. Although the text
was copyrighted in 2012, this section still seemed very out of date. I would agree the use of technology is
assumed and necessary for all practicing counselors, at least on some
level. In order to be as effective as
possible, we will all need to be comfortable with its use. However, as seen by the out of date
information in the text, technology changes rapidly. We will need to continually learn and update
our skills and information. We will need
to adapt very quickly to the changing ways students and parents communicate and
operate. And we can learn from students,
as to the primary way they communicate this year, not assuming that the way
they did things last year is still current and effective.
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.
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