After completing the comprehensive school counseling program on Tuesday night, I feel very accomplished. Being able to see the hard work and effort that our group put into the project over the past semester was incredible. It took me a while to even recognize what the final project would end up looking like and I was amazed to see everything that we had done. Through this project, I learned a lot about myself, my role as a future school counselor and the amount of time and effort it takes to put together a comprehensive school counseling program.
Something I was able to recognize is that all the pieces of the ASCA National Model are important and should be connected together in order for a CSCP to be successful. It was hard to imagine from the beginning that it would be necessary to go through all the steps on our wiki and in our framework book in order to develop what we have now. With this opportunity I was able to understand how those pieces fit together and why/how they can benefit a school environment. I also learned how to look at the big picture, the CSCP, and the individual pieces that make it up. Zooming in on each of those pieces made sense but then being able to bring it back to the overall project was a challenge. I learned how important it is to tie everything back with your beliefs, mission, vision and goals. Your program is founded on those concepts and should help to form all other parts. Lastly I was able to gain a greater understanding for how the ASCA model functions. Before this class and this project, the ASCA National Model was just an idea to me and now I see it as a workable manageable model.
The largest barrier that I think I will have taking this project out into the real world and implementing it is the support and collaboration of all stakeholders. I have come to recognize that even though you can make small changes as a school counselor, effectively producing and using a CSCP that will be successful requires the buy-in of everyone. After reading the Dollarhide & Saginak (2012) text and all the various articles this semester, it has become clear that we have a difficult road ahead of us. The conception of what a school counselor actually does is still varying and many stakeholders do not recognize the entirety of what we can do in a leadership role within our schools. When we go out and find school counseling jobs, we will need to be ready to fight for our role within the schools and advocate in the best interest of the students.
Practicum is the next step we will take before going out and getting jobs. During this class, I have been able to find some different practical pieces that I can use at my practicum site. One important thing to know and understand is all of the responsive plans and systems put in place at your school. This semester I learned a lot about their importance within a school and how crucial it is that the school counselor knows these procedures and is able to function in a time of crisis. Another practical piece has been learning about programs that can collect data or other small surveys and pre/post tests that can be used on a regular basis in order to help with the accountability portion of the model. In my practicum, I feel more prepared to create a data collection program within my school. Finally the last practical piece I can take to practicum is learning how to form goals for the school year based on previous data and school climate.
Speaking to my preparation for trying to implement our program successfully, I feel somewhat prepared. I definitely have a greater understanding of everything that goes into a CSCP but I am still unsure about some of the portions of the project. I believe that once I actually start to put something into place, I will gain more experience. It seems that most school counselors make mistakes along the way and are learning day by day.
The last article we had to read for class discussed the readiness of school counselors to implement a CSCP and what school counselors are currently doing well and need to improve. The part of the article that I found most interesting was the issue of a power struggle within a school environment. "Awareness and understanding is power and motivates school counselors' desire to align beliefs with behaviors for the benefit of improving student achievement and school success" (Dahir, Burnham, & Stone, p. 11, 2009). Several times this semester the idea of power was brought up and discussed as to whether or not school counselors have it. My feelings are that without a belief that we have power, school counselors won't be capable of making changing and benefiting their students to the best of their ability. This quote says it best that with awareness and understanding of our role and the importance of the ASCA National Model we can gain power in our position and help the entire school community. My goal as I move forward in the program is to gain as much awareness and understanding that I can so that I can have a sense of power that will make be a better school counselor in the future.
Dahir, C., Burnham, J., Stone, C. (2009). Listen to the voices: School counselors and comprehensive school counseling programs. Professional School Counseling, 12(3), 182-192.
Dollarhide, C. & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Dahir, C., Burnham, J., Stone, C. (2009). Listen to the Voices: School Counselors and Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. Professional School Counseling, 12Dahir, C., Burnham, J., Stone, C. (2009). Listen to the Voices: School Counselors and Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. Professional School Counseling, 12
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