United States school counseling program - Term Paper Example

SCHOOL COUNSELLING PROGRAM IN THE USA INTRODUCTION School counseling is not a new concept; it has been in existence since long; however, it is also true that school counseling at elementary and middle level is a later development as compared to high school and college counseling. Academic counseling, vocational guidance and other forms of school counseling are offered in most schools these days for the students who need it. According to the Education Encyclopedia (2011), school counselors facilitate communication between students, teachers and parents while striving to make learning process a positive experience for all parties involved. This paper will provide a brief history and evaluation of the school counseling program specifically at elementary and middle high school level offered to students in the USA, focusing on the roles and responsibility of a school counselor. History of School Counseling In USA Though existence of informal school counseling, where the teacher played the role of counselor is centuries long, almost as long as that of education itself; the history of formal school counseling can be traced back to the beginning of twentieth century. In the pro social reform movement period, when child labor was at its peak, counseling was introduced in many schools of USA, but this was mostly vocational counseling which aimed at transforming people in the workforce into productive members of the society (Education Encyclopedia, 2011). During its first half, the 20th century faced two world wars. Two noticeable events occurred in the post war era that cleared the way for counseling in schools as we know it today (Yau, 1988). One was the establishment of American School Counselor Association in 1950 and second was inclusion of aid for counseling in guidance in the national defense education act in 1958 (Education Encyclopedia, 2011). In 1970’s the focus of school counseling was further expanded to engulf the special needs department. Special needs students also fell under the department of school counselor as per the Education for all handicapped children act in 1978. The ASCA has also developed a set of national standards for school counseling program, which serves as a guide for all school counselors regarding their role and responsibilities (Sabella, 2006). Importance of School Counseling Professional school counseling helps in maximizing student success via promotion of a safe and supportive learning environment (ASCA, 2009). According to Gysbers (2003), identity issues, problems pertaining to academic learning, peer pressure, drugs and changing or disturbing family relationships are a common part of students’ daily lives in the USA today. The role of counselor is therefore very important. The school counselor not only identifies the students in need of assistance, but also serves to rectify the problems and help the students in solving their issues. This is attained via expanding communication channels and introducing the students to effective life coping strategies as per the requirement. 2. ROLE OF A SCHOOL COLUNSELOR A review of available literature was conducted in order to find out the current trends and issues in school counseling in the USA and to explore the roles of a school counselor in America. The ASCA have carefully developed a national model for professional school counselors to follow. This model is typically based on four areas, namely: foundation, delivery, management and accountability (ASCA, 2011). The element of foundation in the model points out that the counselors are to develop a philosophy in their work and then to follow it. Ideally, counselors create a mission statement in collaboration with that of the school they are working at to create a supportive environment for the students that encourages learning. Delivery refers to the provision of required and expected services by the counselor to the staff, teachers, students’ and parents. Management also falls within the realm f counseling. As per the national model provided by the ASCA, counselors are to use organizational tools effectively and bridge communication gaps between parents, teachers and student, acting as a mediator at the same time. Accountability states that the counselor is accountable for analysis of data and is expected to make relevant recommendations to the school for the future in light of experience (ASCA, 2011). Though this is a very comprehensive list of roles and responsibilities; tasks expected of a school counselor, yet in reality the school counselor faces a role conflict. Following studies will elaborate this. The roles of a counselor are not so simple to act out. McDonough (2005) points out some discrepancies in the expected role of school counselors in the USA in a comprehensive paper. Research has revealed that trained school counselors are able to affect the students’ lives positively if they are allowed to practice what they have learnt. But unfortunately, they are bound to work as per the school’s administration will allow them to. Principals mostly limit the counselor’s role to scheduling, testing and maintaining discipline. Such working circumstances hinder the counselor to enact his required role effectively and communication with parents of the students is also neglected. Other principals, especially in the private sector, restrict the school counselor’s role to persuade students for enrolling in college. A third type of administration, i.e. of public schools poses a third type of problem: shortage of counselors. Sometimes there is just one counselor to account for 5000 students in public schools (McDonough, 2005). Therefore, in most cases, the school counselor is almost never provided with the ideal circumstances to practice effectively in. In another detailed paper, Bertoncello (1999) clearly differentiates between the expected roles of elementary and middle school counselors. According to Bertoncello (1999), the role of an elementary school counselor is focused on the developmental needs of the children and a counselor working at this level needs to address these issues face to face with children and has there is an increased need of involving the parents in the process while at the middle school level, the focus of a school counselor is to prepare the pupils to decide their careers in high schools. For this Bertoncello (1999) suggests that the focus needs to be on teaching the pupils to assert their choices and make the right decisions for them; which can be achieved with the ability of expressing one’s emotions adequately and effectively. Elementary school counseling had developed a bit later than the middle and high school counseling, one reason for this is the focus on the vocational nature of counseling at the higher levels which stemmed from the vocational movement. Elementary school counseling has also developed later than counseling at other levels due to the difficulty in differentiating teaching role from the guidance role at the elementary level (Yao, 1988). Though some barriers exist in counseling practice, but it is clear from above studies that training is being provided to counselors at all levels. There are implementation limitations though, since the counselors are not able to practice fully whatever training they have received. Electronic school counseling in USA The American School Counselor association (2009) also provides a comprehensive school counseling program online, via the World Wide Web. There is a list of counseling websites available on the ASCA website, for the guidance of students and the parents of students who may be in need of counseling. The ASCA provides a list of states where the education department does maintain a website for its counseling services. The august issue of ‘Counseling Today’ (2008, cited in ACA, 2011), contained a compilation of views from experienced, professional online counseling experts regarding the usage and effectiveness of online school counseling programs and the skills counselors need to be abreast with to be a part of online counseling programs. The general consensus of these experts was that online counselors should be tech Savvy, meaning they should keep themselves technologically updated so they can make use of maximum technological developments in online counseling. They also agreed that using e-blogging and social networks is very helpful to deliver online school counseling effectively. Two of the senior professionals also admitted that the counselors are not up to date with technology and they need to come a long way yet to maximize the technology potential in order to enhance the effectiveness of online counseling. In the paper school “Counseling and technology”, Witmer (2000) has thrown light on the ways online counseling is conducted in the US. The paper explains how technology like web chats, webcam-chats, email, online platforms and social website profiles are effectively being used in school counseling. These means of counseling also ensure greater confidentiality and avoid in person contact between student and counselor, therefore, such online counseling programs are gaining more popularity with time. 3. FUTURE OF SCHOOL COUNSELLING IN USA The accountability element of the national model for counselors has been stressed upon by most researchers (Sabella, 2005). This is perhaps the most productive part of the model and must be stressed upon; which is why the National School Counseling research center is focusing more on gathering relevant data via counselors working at different levels, to identify common barriers to learning and effective techniques to overcome these barriers (Sabella, 2005). Bertoncello (1999) has also pointed out that with the advancement in time, new counseling needs are surfacing, and it is very important to anticipate these counseling needs in advance and to take relevant steps accordingly by bringing about innovations in counseling and by training counselors on how to deal with these new issues pertaining to the new generation of the 21st century. According to ASCA (2011), there is evidence of effective licensing and training of counselors, which is a promising prospect for the future of school counseling. Counselors are flexible in their practice and they keep amending their counseling approaches and ways to address different issues based on the latest research in counseling (Gysbers, 2003). This suggests that counseling in the USA has a promising future and is progressive in nature. It can be expected that it will be further improved and more uniquely specialized to address various school levels with more research. 4. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION It is evident from research that counselors need more support from the licensing authorities to work effectively. They are well trained by the training organizations but they are not allowed to deliver their roles effectively due to limitations pertaining to their employers. There is a strong need to standardize and implement the practices of school counselors in all schools as per the national model for school counselors. The studies reviewed as part of this paper have also highlighted a difference in counseling needs of students’ at all three school levels namely the elementary school, middle school and high school level. It is recommended that specialized training be offered to counselors so as to prepare them to deal with each school level effectively. BIBLIOGRAPHY ASCA. The Role of the Professional School Counselor. Schoolcounselor.org. 2009. Timberlake publishing. Accessed 7 April, 2011 . ACA. Counseling today online. 2011. Accessed 14 April, 2011.< http://www.counseling.org/Publications/CounselingTodayArticles.aspx?AGuid=e2f4f952-69c6-4e50-bbc5-1abcd1a7eb0d>. Bertoncello, Ludhiana. E.K.S. The School Guidance Counselor in USA. Iniciacao Cientifica. 1.1 (1999): 52-55. Education Encyclopedia. Guidance and School Counseling. Stateuniversity.com. 2011. Net Industries. Accessed 7 April, 2011 . Gysbers, Norman. C. The Implementation and Evaluation of Comprehensive School Guidance Programs in the United States: Progress and Prospects. ASCA Professional School counseling. 6.3 (2003): 222-227. McDonough, Patricia. M. Counseling and College Counseling in America’s High Schools. Inpathways. 2005.National Association for College Admission Counseling. Accessed 6 April, 2011 . Sabella, Russell. A. The ASCA National School Counseling Research Centre: A Brief History and Agenda. Resources. 9.5 (June, 2006): 412-415. Witmer, J. School counseling and technology. Managing your school counseling program. 2nd ed (2000). Minneapolis: Educational media corporation. Yao, Betty. The School Counseling Program in the United States: Observations of Services in Schools in San Francisco. CUHK Education Journal . 16.1 (1988): 53-66. Read More