Blog 4: ASCA National Model

I thought that the chapter regarding the ASCA National Model was very informative.  This is a topic that I was interested in learning about and it worked out perfect that I became more knowledgeable before my interviews.  The chapter began by discussing how counselors need to stay current within their profession.  It is already known that people are unsure of what exactly school counselors do and I feel that at times they have to work even harder to ensure they are doing an adequate job.  When I was reading over the themes of the ASCA model, advocacy and collaboration stood out to me.  I believe that it is vital for students to have someone to advocate on their behalf and fight for what they need.  Every child is in need of something throughout their educational journey and as educators and counselors we need to make sure that it is provided.  The second theme, collaboration, was also a theme that I felt was important.  Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) stated that the ASCA highlighted the role of collaboration in the model, stating that, “school counselors build effective teams by encouraging genuine collaboration among all school staff to work toward the common goals of equity, access, and academic success of every student”  (Dollarhide & Saginak, p. 77, 2012).    At Hamilton, we have professional development everyday from 8:00-8:30 and what I am looking forward to is the collaboration meetings.  It provides us with a time to sit down with the counselor and/or special education liaison to discuss the students and work together at the common goal which is student success.

Next, I reviewed the elements of the ASCA National Model and the one aspect that was vital was the values.  The question that was stated was, “What is most important: academic, career, or personal/social development?” (Dollarhide & Saginak, p. 22, 2012)   I feel that each area is important in their own way but we have to keep in mind that there are several factors at stake.  I believe that academic is extremely important but if there is a personal/social issue arising the academics are going to be affected until the issue is resolved.  We have to make sure that we are covering the needs of the students whether they are academic, social/personal, or career.   In terms of career, it should be discussed every year with the students.  I know that the school counselor at Hamilton does a lesson on career with each of the grade levels.  She will modify the information to the student’s level but are still providing the exposure of career even at the elementary level.  In conclusion, I felt that this is an informative chapter that introduced me to the ASCA National Model that I was not aware of.       

Dollarhide, C. & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action (2^nd ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.