Thozi: Changed Impressions of the Role of Guidance Counselors

The most striking change that seems to come to light is societal. The population is becoming increasingly diverse and mobile. New technologies are being introduced almost every other day, if not on a daily basis. By definition, therefore, students should be adequately prepared to be the next generation of parents, leaders, business people and citizens. The way in which this could be done is to offer guidance, support and counseling during the transition into adulthood and the world of work. The profession of school counselors has risen to meet this need. In addition, professionals have argued that appropriate support, guidance and counseling services are called for even when students are younger, while in the formative elementary and middle school grades. I had no idea of all the above.

School counselors are professional educators who have a mental health perspective, who understand challenges presented by today’s increasingly diverse and fast changing society. They are now an integral part of the educational program. They design, develop, implement and evaluate a comprehensive, developmental and systematic school counseling program. There are national performance and ethical standards by which they are expected to abide.

Moreover, there are structures in government that are designed to lend their support to counseling professionals. The Division of Learning Support implements programs and services to support successful academic achievement as well as school completion by all students. These include school counseling, school social work, school psychology, alternative education and many others. They recommend certain time allocations for guidance and Counseling services from Elementary through High School. Of particular note would be the recommended time allocations for Guidance which decline slightly from 50% (Elementary) to 30% (High School). At the same time, Counseling services are supposed to increase from 10% (Elementary) to 30% (High School). The rest of the school counselor’s time should be spent on System Support, Responsive Services and non-program activities. Very interesting, indeed! And it is quite new to me, I might add.

The preparation of school counselors takes place at universities, such as the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, among others. It is overseen by knowledgeable professors who study the field, research, write papers, articles and books, and address conferences on the subject. Therefore the required rigor in school counselor preparation is ensured by these institutions.

After reading the websites, my personal impressions have changed completely. My old impressions have been thrown out the window. I have gained more respect for the profession. I have learned that it is a worthwhile profession that has evolved through time. It is a live profession that keeps pace with the changes taking place in our society. It is a needed profession that makes it possible for students to be better prepared for adulthood, citizenry and the world of work. It has an organization that maintains ethical and performance standards. I can only give unlimited praise to the work done by school guidance and conseling professionals in our schools.