I have the highest regards for guidance counselors. They wear many hats. They provide road maps for students. They must know what classes are required for graduation and they must know the students interest. They are required to provide testing, academic planning, solve personal problems, help with post secondary education, assist students in crisis situations, provide mediation between the parent and student and schedule meetings with the parents.
They must have good communication skills and truly have concern for the students.
It's funny, your post stood out to me the most. Counselors roles and responsibilities are vast. They do have many hats. Your post speaks to what Counselors do; however in reality they are overwhlemed, and over worked. I guess it's hard because many of my good friends are Counselors, and I know they are working hard for their students. My experience has been so negative that I forget to find the positive. I believe that we all, in the education field, have a repsonsibility to assist where we can. It is about the students...right?
ReplyDeleteYes..I would have to agree. They do wear many hats and I am amazed at how they keep students on track for graduation, become mommy and daddy at the drop of a dime, deal with the crisis, and everything else and still be sane. I think that as teachers we often look at what we precieve to be the negative aspects of the counselors instead of looking at all the great things they do that we don't take into consideration.
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