Role of the School Counselor
The field of school counseling has experienced great change over the past few generations. The profession began in the early 1900s with administrators and teachers providing "vocational guidance" to students (ASCA, 2012). Many adults in their 40s to 60s either did not have a school counselor in their schools or remember "guidance counselors" who seemed to just sit in their offices all day waiting for students to stop by looking for advice (Somers-Flanagan & Somers-Flanagan, 2005). As years passed, the profession gained structure and credibility as licensed, professional SCHOOL (not guidance) counselors focused on developing comprehensive, data-driven programs with interventions that clearly impact student achievement (ASCA, 2012).
So what do today's professional school counselors actually do? When you are trying to learn about someone's career, the first question you would probably ask that person is, "What do you do in a typical day?" My first experience exploring the field of school counseling was when I job shadowed a school counselor for a day, and of course I asked her this question. She laughed and told me there was no such thing as a "typical day" for a school counselor, and throughout my own school counseling experiences, I have certainly seen truth in this statement. On certain days I may get to almost everything on my to-do list: senior planning meetings, individual counseling sessions with a few students, running a group session during free period, and finalizing my lesson plans for the next school counseling core curriculum lesson. And then there are days I might get to just one of those things because someone needed their lunch duty covered, ECA testing is coming up and I need to help students walk through the practice test, AND I have three meetings. School counselors wear many hats and have many different responsibilities throughout the day, and even throughout the school year. Some of these responsibilities are appropriate and align with what we are called to do as professional school counselors. These include providing direct individual, group, and classroom counseling to students, as well as managing school-wide school counseling programs. However, activities such as lunch/bus duty, covering teachers' classrooms, and proctoring tests are inappropriate "non-counseling" or "assigned" duties that take up the valuable 80% of our time that ASCA recommends we should be devoting to directly serving our students (ASCA, 2012). See the attached Appropriate vs. Inappropriate Activities for School Counselors document from ASCA outlining additional responsibilities and common assigned duties that school counselors must navigate.
But dealing with non-counseling tasks is not something that school counselors should simply complain about and accept as "fair-share" responsibilities. Being assigned these duties gives school counselors the opportunity to model advocacy practices and educate others about our purpose and role. This role includes being leaders, advocates for student success, and data-driven change agents who ensure equitable practices to close opportunity, attainment, and achievement gaps. School counselors advocate for our role by sharing resources and information about our role and position (like those attached below) with administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and students. Practicing school counselors have shown evidence of the impacts of redefining their roles from "class schedulers" and "advice-givers" to holistic, data-driven advocates for student success, resulting in improved student achievement (Salina et al., 2013). Most stakeholders understand that teachers play a central role in student achievement, but fewer of these individuals recognize the direct impacts of school counselors' actions on the school as a whole (Hatch, 2014). That's why we need to show them our impacts. Showing all stakeholders that school counseling activities are having a clear, positive impact on student achievement through the sharing of results reports is one of the most effective ways to advocate for the professional nature of being a school counselor (Salina et al., 2013). School counselors can talk about our role and tell stakeholders that what we do matters until we are blue in the face, but it is hard to argue with numbers and facts.
So what do today's professional school counselors actually do? When you are trying to learn about someone's career, the first question you would probably ask that person is, "What do you do in a typical day?" My first experience exploring the field of school counseling was when I job shadowed a school counselor for a day, and of course I asked her this question. She laughed and told me there was no such thing as a "typical day" for a school counselor, and throughout my own school counseling experiences, I have certainly seen truth in this statement. On certain days I may get to almost everything on my to-do list: senior planning meetings, individual counseling sessions with a few students, running a group session during free period, and finalizing my lesson plans for the next school counseling core curriculum lesson. And then there are days I might get to just one of those things because someone needed their lunch duty covered, ECA testing is coming up and I need to help students walk through the practice test, AND I have three meetings. School counselors wear many hats and have many different responsibilities throughout the day, and even throughout the school year. Some of these responsibilities are appropriate and align with what we are called to do as professional school counselors. These include providing direct individual, group, and classroom counseling to students, as well as managing school-wide school counseling programs. However, activities such as lunch/bus duty, covering teachers' classrooms, and proctoring tests are inappropriate "non-counseling" or "assigned" duties that take up the valuable 80% of our time that ASCA recommends we should be devoting to directly serving our students (ASCA, 2012). See the attached Appropriate vs. Inappropriate Activities for School Counselors document from ASCA outlining additional responsibilities and common assigned duties that school counselors must navigate.
But dealing with non-counseling tasks is not something that school counselors should simply complain about and accept as "fair-share" responsibilities. Being assigned these duties gives school counselors the opportunity to model advocacy practices and educate others about our purpose and role. This role includes being leaders, advocates for student success, and data-driven change agents who ensure equitable practices to close opportunity, attainment, and achievement gaps. School counselors advocate for our role by sharing resources and information about our role and position (like those attached below) with administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and students. Practicing school counselors have shown evidence of the impacts of redefining their roles from "class schedulers" and "advice-givers" to holistic, data-driven advocates for student success, resulting in improved student achievement (Salina et al., 2013). Most stakeholders understand that teachers play a central role in student achievement, but fewer of these individuals recognize the direct impacts of school counselors' actions on the school as a whole (Hatch, 2014). That's why we need to show them our impacts. Showing all stakeholders that school counseling activities are having a clear, positive impact on student achievement through the sharing of results reports is one of the most effective ways to advocate for the professional nature of being a school counselor (Salina et al., 2013). School counselors can talk about our role and tell stakeholders that what we do matters until we are blue in the face, but it is hard to argue with numbers and facts.
References:
American School Counselor Association. (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
Hatch, T. (2014). The use of data in school counseling: Hatching results for students, programs, and the profession. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Salina, C., Girtz, S., Eppinga, J., Martinez, D., Kilian, D. B., Lozano, E., & ... Shines, T. (2013). All hands on deck: A comprehensive, results-driven counseling model. Professional School Counseling, 17(1), 63-75.
Somers-Flanagan, R., & Somers-Flanagan, J. (2005). This is not your grandparents' school counselor. ASCA School Counselor Magazine.
American School Counselor Association. (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
Hatch, T. (2014). The use of data in school counseling: Hatching results for students, programs, and the profession. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Salina, C., Girtz, S., Eppinga, J., Martinez, D., Kilian, D. B., Lozano, E., & ... Shines, T. (2013). All hands on deck: A comprehensive, results-driven counseling model. Professional School Counseling, 17(1), 63-75.
Somers-Flanagan, R., & Somers-Flanagan, J. (2005). This is not your grandparents' school counselor. ASCA School Counselor Magazine.