Педагогические  науки / 2.Проблемы подготовки специалистов

Грегоращук Ю.В.

Тернопільський національний педагогічний

університет ім. В.Гнатюка, Україна

Peculiarities of professional school counselor’s job

in the USA.

High school years are full of growth, promise, excitement, frustration, disappointment and hope. It is the time when students begin to discover what the future holds for them.

School counselors enhance the learning process and promote academic achievement. School counseling programs are essential for students to achieve optimal personal growth, acquire positive social skills and values, set appropriate career goals and realize full academic potential to become productive, contributing members of the world community [3].

Professional school counselors have a minimum of a master’s degree in school counseling, meet the state certification/licensure standards and abide by the laws of the states in which they are employed.

As emphasized in the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) national standards, school counseling and guidance services are meant to address the barriers students have to learning, both educational learning and life-long learning [2]. They have advance training in Psychology and Sociology to better assess the students’ lives. They study different counseling techniques to address different needs.

Professional school counselors are employed in elementary, middle/junior high and high schools; in district supervisory positions; and counselor education positions.

We’ll give you an information about peculiarities of counselor’s job to understand what kind of professionals they are.

Professional School Counselors Implement the Counseling Program by Providing: Classroom Guidance (academic skills support; organizational, study and test-taking skills; post-secondary planning and application process; career planning; education in understanding self and others; coping strategies; peer relationships and effective social skills; communication, problem-solving, decision-making, conflict resolution and study skills; career awareness and the world of work; substance abuse education; multicultural/diversity awareness);

Individual Student Planning (goal setting; academic plans, career plans; problem solving; education in understanding of self, including strengths and weaknesses; transition plans).

Professional School Counselors Collaborate with: Parents (academic planning/support; post-secondary planning; scholarship/financial search process; school-to-parent communications; school-to-work transition programs; one-on-one parent conferencing; referral process);

Students (academic support services; program planning; peer education program; peer mediation program; crisis management; transition programs);

Teachers (portfolio development, providing recommendations and assisting students with the post-secondary application process; classroom guidance lessons on post-secondary planning, study skills, career development, etc.; school-to-work transition programs; academic support, learning style assessment and education to help students succeed academically; classroom speakers; at-risk student identification and implementation of interventions to enhance success);

Administrators (school climate; academic support interventions; behavioral management plans; school-wide needs assessments; data sharing; student assistance team development);

Community (job shadowing, worked-based learning, part-time jobs, etc.; crisis interventions; referrals; career education) [3].

School counselors are people students can turn to when they need help. Counselors know how to listen and can help students with life’s challenges. They have special training in how to help pupils to solve problems, make decisions, and to stand up for themselves.

That doesn’t mean that counselor will wave a magic wand and the problem will go away. But it does mean he or she will help to cope with it. Sometimes, grown-ups have difficult problems. Coping means that someone is trying to handle these problems and make things better.

School counselor is available for everybody and wants to make school experience the best it can be. The counselor’s job is to take student’s problem seriously and to help him or her to find a solution. The counselor also wants to help pupils to learn as much as they can in class, to be contributing members of the school community, and to be a positive influence on their environment.

Having a counselor’s help means you don’t have to face difficult school problems alone.

Typical school counselor might visit each class or talk at a school assembly to let pupils know that he or she is available. Some schools use their website to explain what the counselor does and how to get a counseling appointment. It’s a good idea to know about the school counselor, even if you don’t need any help right now.

If you’re unsure how to contact the counselor, ask your teacher, parents, or one of the people who work in the school office. Generally, counselors meet students in: a private meeting; group meetings with kids who are dealing with the same problem; classrooms, where the counselor teaches a class on a subject that affects everyone, such as study skills.

The most common setting to meet with a counselor is in a private meeting. The meeting could be just you alone, or other students, your teacher, or parents could be there. Counselors typically have offices where you can sit down and talk.

Don’t worry that you need to know exactly what’s bothering you when you talk with the school counselor. The counselor will try to help you to figure out what’s going on and he or she will have ideas for how to make things better.

It’s important to know that if you meet with a guidance counselor, your conversation will be confidential. However, there are some cases when a counselor can’t keep it confidential — if the counselor thinks that you or someone else is at risk of being harmed. But even then, the counselor would share that information only with people who need to know [1].

Today, counselors help students handle almost any problem that could get in the way of learning, guide them to productive futures, and try to create a positive environment for everyone at school.

References:

1. Chris Cortellessa School Counselors http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=lluch&article_set=34053&lic=222&cat_id=20067

2. The Role of the Professional School Counselor http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=240

3. Why Secondary School Counselors? http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=233