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History and Philosophy of School Counseling

Xavier Casanova – L20303558

CNDV 5330 – Developmental Guidance and Counseling

Lamar University

Philosophy of School Counseling

Guidance / Career, Mental Health, Developmental Guidance

Over the last one hundred years, the school counseling profession has evolved to meet the challenges and needs of students. Starting in the early 1900’s, the industrial revolution called for a more specialized set of skills; thus the school counselor was born to help guide students into career paths. The social destruction that came along with the industrial revolution, “poverty, ethnic slums, corruption, and moral decay – generated awareness of the power of the schools as a tool for social remedies that fueled the birth of the school counseling profession” (Dollarhide and Saginak, 2012, p. 11). Emphasis on mental health and developmental guidance followed in the 1920’s and 1970’s.

Today, the counseling profession encompasses all of these aspects. Professional school counselors must be ready for any sort of problem / issue to enter their office. They must be ultimately prepared to handle a wide variety of problems with effective solutions for the well being of the client. According to Dollarhide and Saginak (2012), “the best school counselors are able to integrate and balance their intellectual understanding of school counseling, young people, and schools, with their empathetic, intuitive understanding of learning, growth, and the conditions that facilitate healthy development” (p. 2). Today’s counselor and my philosophy lie in the idea that we must be passionately committed to our students and education.

Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

Holistic

Comprehensive school counseling programs are holistic. Simply stated, there is not a single variable or domain that makes a successful comprehensive school counseling program, but a variety of domains. In this case, “students must maximize their personal potential in each area: academic, career, and personal/social success” (Dollarhide and Saginak, 2012, p. 52). School counselors must be multi focused; the morning might be occupied with students coming in for schedule or grade issues while the afternoon might contain a student coming in for a personal issue. There is a wide variety of skills and training that need to be put into becoming competent academic development, career development, and personal/social development.

Systemic

Although students are at school for a third of their day, there are many more factors that come into play in their development. These factors include their community, their culture, their family and their peers. All of these systems become factors in the development of our student’s lives. Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) state that “the systems that surround children as they grow exert dramatic influences on development” (p. 57).

Balanced

Professional school counselors have many obligations to fulfill. From schedules, to testing logistics, to transcripts, to guidance and counseling, a counselor’s day is greatly varied and must be balanced. Successful and effective comprehensive school counseling programs must be led by counselors that have a good concept of allocating time to needs at their campus.

Proactive

Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) state that “being proactive means the counselors in a CSCP work to prevent problems before they become serious impediments to the success of the student” (p. 67). This becomes a difficult task because counselors do not control every aspect of student life. Students are at school for one third of their day, the other two thirds of the day, many uncontrollable factors come into play. In order to combat this fact, counselors must understand the concept know as “at risk”. These include minimal risk, remote risk, high risk, imminent risk, and at-risk activity. By understanding these labels, counselors can focus time and attention where it is most needed.

Infused

Comprehensive school counseling programs are integrated with the academic agenda of the school. Counselors in a CSCP are integral parts of the academic success of students. Professional school counselors design and implement programs that are aligned to schools academic goals in order to further assist students in their educational goals. For example, at the high school that I am employed, counselors are a very important part of the success of students. While teachers are busy teaching the content of their subject, counselors are behind the scenes planning testing logistics and information. School counselors come into the classrooms to provide information about scores and expectations of state tests for example. Their presentations are directly related to what teachers are doing in the classroom.

Reflective

Dollarhide and Saginak (2012), state that “reflection involves spending time thinking about the efficacy of our efforts as a school counselor and the efficacy of your CSCP” (p. 71). An important part of this reflection involves record keeping in order to determine the effectiveness of a program. Furthermore, reflection serves to address the accountability issues that counselors have to inevitably face from year to year. The reflective aspect of comprehensive school counseling programs is overwhelmingly positive. It allows counselors to view what they have done throughout the year and constantly improve systems and programs. The improvement of these systems and programs will undoubtedly result positively for students.

Similarities and Differences

Similarities

At this point in our counseling preparation, there are many unknowns that are yet to be realized. As a classroom teacher for the past ten years, we have an idea of what to expect, but are not always in the counseling realm of the school. Some of the strongest similarities between my philosophy, comprehensive school counseling programs, and my current campus are in the areas of holistic, infused, and proactive.

As a school counselor, I know that I will have to tackle a variety of issues regarding student success. Abiding by a holistic point of view, targeting student success in academic development, career development, and personal/social development will be paramount. As it stands in the present, our school counselors are completely infused with the academic goals of the school. If I were to enter into this counseling environment, it would be an easy transition and great similarity. Every year, our counselors do a tremendous job providing information to students that directly align with school goals. Some of this information includes credits for graduation and scores for state exams. Counselors are an important part of student success when it comes to state testing. They provide the information that students need to know and make the testing logistics seamless.

Differences

A challenge or difference I see in the comprehensive school counseling program and philosophy lie in the area of balance and reflective. It is important to stay balanced given many hats to wear throughout the school year. I just do not know how realistic this is. In my experience, the majority of students who voluntarily visit counselors visit them for scheduling purposes. At the beginning of the year, counselors are inundated with students who want to change their schedule. Being reflective is ultimately important to the comprehensive school counseling program. The only reason I list this one as a difference or a challenge is because I do not know how much of this occurs on my campus. As a future school counselor, this will be a priority, but as it stands, our counselors basically go through the same format every year. Information changes as expectations and curriculum change, but is there a time in the year where counselors sit together and consciously reflect on what worked and what did not work? I really do not know the answer to that question. This is an element that I will bring to my counseling team.

REFERENCE

Dollarhide, C., & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery services in action. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

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