School Counselor Roles the Main Activities of Essay

School Counselor Roles

The main activities of me being a school counselor would define the main content of this paper. The main aims and responsibilities of the school counselor is the main content of the paper.

The main responsibilities of the school counselor are to make sure that the students of K12 are guided in a proper manner. The kinds of guidance that are provided to the students include education, career, and future goals, academic as well as social competencies. Many kinds of interventions are used by the school counselors in these cases include the developmental school counseling curriculum lessons, annual planning for individual students as well as groups.

The literature has highlighted that some of the old terms that have been used for school counselor is guidance counselor or education counselor. But these days the term school counselor is more used based on the fact that the school counselor advocate for the success of the students in their social as well as academic careers. Asia, Europe, America and Africa, the term guidance teacher and school guidance counselor has been used in place of school counselor. School counseling programs and guidance counseling is very common in the schools and it is more based on the economics and funding of the schools, certifications of the school Counselor, local and national legislations (Bor, 2002, p. 55).

In most of the schools, counseling is provided by certified counselors, and educational specialists. In some sets of the schools, counseling is provided by the classroom teachers. These are the teachers who are given less responsibilities of teaching and curriculum development and have more responsibilities of counseling.

School Counselor Roles

The main programs that are developed by the school counselors are such that they promote achievement within the students. Ethical rules and regulations that are required to be followed by the school counselors have been defined in the ASCA National Model. The authenticity and the level of education in the counselors can be decided based on the fact that most of the counselors have earned a graduate degree in counseling from Counselor Education graduate program. In the cases of countries like Canada it is seen that certifications and expertise are required by the teachers in order to begin with the student counseling. More than three years of college and education experience is required by the teachers in China in order to become counselors. The term school counselors were first used in japan in the year 1990 and the initial focus of these counselors was on behavioral issues (Corey, Corey, and Callanan, 2010, p. 44).

Employment of school counselors

Mostly it is seen that the school counselors are employed in schools, high schools, middle and elementary schools, counselor education faculty-based positions, and in district supervisory settings. The second important employed position of the school counselors is in the post-secondary settings in academic careers, career counseling, social and psychological counseling, as well as program coordination. One of the main aims of these student counselors is to make sure that more focus is given to the development and growth of the students in social, psychological and an intellectual manner.

Duties and Functions of Student Counselors

There are three main domains in which student counselors serve the students; academic counseling, social counseling and career counseling. An increased emphasis is given by the counselors on the college access and success in the colleges. These are the three domains where most knowledge and skills are required in the students. In order to let the students have these skills, a number of strategies are used by the counselors. Some of the main techniques that are used by the counselors in these cases include classroom instructions, appraisals, counseling, coordination, consultation and collaboration. Career and personality assessment methods may be used by the counselors in the case of appraisals. This can help the college students in exploring more in the colleges to get success (Corey, and Corey, 2010, p. 39).

Interventions by the School Counselors

Many kinds of interventions are made by the school counselors but two of the most important interventions that are made by the school counselors include individual and group counselors. One of the main examples in these cases is that of a student whose behaviors create conflicts for him, acting as obstacles in his or her achievement in academic career. Such student may be keenly observed by the counselor in the classrooms. Secondly plans may be made in order to intervene with the teachers and ask them to observe and provide consultation for inappropriate behaviors of the student. With proper collaboration of the teachers and the counselor, plans can be made and successfully implemented on the student. These collaborations can also help in the provision of consultation to parents of the student as well as the family members in relation to college access, career and intellectual development, study skills, parental skills, adolescent as well as child development and school home transitions and changes (Corey, Corey, and Callanan, 2010, p. 38).

Another important intervention in the case of school counselors is in case of the development, planning, designing and implementing of student counseling programs. These are the plans that can promise in the delivery of successful academic, intellectual, career and college success-based goals along with personal and social competencies to the students of all levels. There are four main areas of the student counseling programs that have been mentioned by ASCA National Model. These include the following;

1. Foundation in which the mission of the counseling program is mentioned along with the belief and philosophy statement, focus on the standards that have been defined by ASCA National Model, its competencies and how the plan is implementable on all the students,

2. The second important part of the counseling programs is the delivery system that promises about the ways in which counseling will be provided to the individual and group students.

3. Management plans are the third important part of the counseling approaches in which calendar events, dates, counseling sessions, meetings with students and the family members are mentioned.

4. Accountability system is the third important part in which use of school audits for the purpose of counseling is mentioned.

Earnings and Success in Being a School Counselor

There are many factors that define the earnings and job growth of the school counselors. One of the main facts in these cases is the country in which the school counselor is employed. Type of funding received by the school is the second important factor. If school counselors are working in international schools, it can be seen that they face the same pays and rules as that of common U.S. based schools. Third important factor in this case is that pays and salaries of the school counselors also vary in accordance to the roles and functions that are being performed by them. Pay varies with the identities of the counselors, the identities of the counselors, expectations of the counselor and from the counselor, certifications and qualifications of the counselor.

In accordance to some of the main facts that have been mentioned in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, average salary for the school counselors in U.S. was around U.S.$60,000. When this is converted into an hourly rate, it comes out to be around U.S.$28 per hour. More than 30,000 people are employed in different U.S. based schools at the posts of school counselors, or in related titles, where the main aim is to advise the students about career and academics.

Growth rates of school counselors are higher. Projected growth rate of the counselors is between 13 and 19%, which is higher than average occupations in the U.S. It has been predicted that between the years 2008 and 2018, more than 95000 vacancies will open for school counselors. Australian Guidance and Counseling Association conducted a survey and it…