Blog 8: Collaboration and Consultation

When reading the chapter on collaboration and consultation, I was able to relate to what Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) were saying regarding collaboration to my job.  Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) stated that it has been found that collaboration between groups has resulted in a positive effect on student achievement and success in school.  I believe it is important for a counselor to gain positive relationships with all staff and students within a school and the case study of Yer's Island" is a perfect example.  ASCA highlights the role of collaboration and states, "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" (pg. 164).  At Hamilton, as a fourth grade team, we meet on a biweekly basis with the counselor and discuss our students and learn about resources available.  At our previous meeting, our counselor brought up the SAP referral system and we discussed the difference between that and the student support plan.  I felt that it was important to understand the difference between the two and be aware of the resources that we have available to us.  On an additional positive note, the barriers that Staton and Gillgan (2003) reported which were lack of time and administrative support are areas that I feel that are adequate within Hamilton.  Even though we could always use more time, we are given the time to meet whereas before there was no time allotted.  I believe that the administration is supportive because they understand that we all need to work together as a team in order to reach the common goal of student success.    

In addition to collaboration, consultation was another aspect that was brought up in this chapter.  I found it interesting how they compared consultation to counseling and how even though they are similar they are also distinct in their differences.  The way that they are different is that, with counseling, you are looking at making direct changes in a persons individual life.  On the other hand, consultation involves three people where the problem has to do with the consultee and the third party.  The scenarios that Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) brought up helped me understand the differences in how counseling focuses on the individuals feelings whereas consultation focuses on setting an intervention to solve the problem two people are facing.  However, there are similarities between the two which the main one that Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) state is, "they are predicated on a helping, genuine, respectful relationship, and both are focused on the goal of an independent, fully functioning helpee/consultee" (pg. 171).  When reading this, it related to the article on "A Model of Solution Focused" by Kahn (2000)  The article brought up evidence that this consultation has been used successfully with individual and group counseling as well as with a full range of students.  Using the solution-focused method with students of mine, I have seen great success.  Instead of me telling them what to do, they are able to discover solutions independently.  I am there to guide them through the process of looking at exceptions and creating goals in a positive manner.  One of the quotes that stood out to me was, "Exploring the problem only tells more about the problem, not necessarily about solutions" (pg. 253).  I found this enlightening because all we do at times is focus on the problem and not how we can work towards the solution.  In conclusion, the information presented on collaboration and consultation is important to keep in mind when working with students.  As stated before, it is vital to establish positive relationships so that collaboration, consultation, and counseling will be effective and result in student achievement and growth within the school.

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

 

Kahn, B. B. (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 3(4), p. 248-254.