Dana S, Aspiring Administrator

Posted on 3/08/10

The role of guidance counselors has come under fire quite a bit in
the last five years, in our school. I teach in a suburban middle
school of 1130 students. We have two guidance counselors per
grade (6th - 8th), and they loop and follow their students for all
three years.

This model is more student-centered and more effective than a
previous model we used beforehand. In the past, counselors were
assigned by grades. This was terrific because they really learned
the teaching styles of their respective grades, but quite often
they were brand new to the students themselves. This presents
issues because students may not be comfortable approaching their
counselors with issues. This was really unfortunate becasue we
noticed that once the counselors got to know the students, they
were advancing to the next grade and the next counselor.

Since changing this model, we have also implemented the notion of
"groups". These are specific to the needs of our school and
allows counselors to meet with a handful of students that are
experiencing similar hardships (parents who have become sick,
parents who are divorcing, students who are brand new to the
district, etc). Although this has started taking counselors out
of the view of teachers, it has allowed them to better serve our
student body.

All in all, it is the teachers that have had issues with this
model, mainly because it means that counselors are not always able
to meet with the teachers at team meetings. In looking at the big
picture and why we have guidance counselors, I think this model is
key at the middle school level - students get to know and build
trust in their counselor and, in time, counselors are better able
to serve students for a variety of reasons.

Why we need guidance counselors:

As Lynne/CA states:
> academic guidance services
> personal counseling services
> crisis intervention and prevention
> conflict resolution
> career counseling services
> advisory for graduation and college entrance requirements
> alternative educational options
> postsecondary options
> character education
> goal-setting and decision-making skills

In addition:
>point person between team teachers and parents
>developmental guidance lessons/interventions
>moderating groups for students (academic concerns, emotional
concerns, family concerns)

More | Report Post

Next Post >>

Posts on this thread, including this one