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Professional Educators using reflection and problem-solving to make informed ethical

decisions School Counseling Reflection 1:

Student Development

Standard 1: Student Development The professional school counselor utilizes his/her skills and knowledge of student development and behavior to promote the mental health and well-being of all students by facilitating their academic, career, and personal/social development. Artifacts

1. Vision Boards 2. Stress Activity 3. Implementing a Culturally Responsive Strategy in the Classroom

Introduction

In order to fully understand student development, one must first understand a

child’s cognitive development. Cognitive theorist, Jean Piaget, is perhaps the most

influential researcher on child development. Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory

states that, “children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their

world” (Berk, 2013, p. 18). In his cognitive development theory, Piaget breaks down the

development into four stages: sensorimotor (birth-2 years), preoperational (2-7 years),

concrete operational (7-11 years), and formal operational (11 + years). It is important to

note that while Piaget heavily influenced research on child development, his theory has

the field divided (Berk, 2013). Another researcher of human development, Lev

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Vygotsky, focused on sociocultural theory and how culture; the values, beliefs, customs,

and skills of a social group, is transmitted to the next generation and how these factors

also affect a child’s development (Berk, 2013). While Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that

children are active, constructive beings, Vygotsky viewed “cognitive development as a

socially mediated process, in which children depend on assistance from adults and more-

expert peers as they tackle new challenges” (Berk, 2013, p. 23). A third researcher in the

field, Urie Bronfenbrenner, developed the ecological systems theory, which views the

person “as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple

levels of the surrounding environment” (Berk, 2013, p. 24). His theory is broken into

four systems: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the marcosystem.

All of this is to say, it is not simply enough to know one theory and believe we

have sufficient information to be successful educators in student’s lives. Therefore, as

practicing educators and counselors, we must stay abreast of all child development

theories so we may better serve our students’ needs.

Quality Indicator 1 - : Human Growth and Development: The professional school counselor demonstrates knowledge of human development and personality and how these domains affect learners, and applies this knowledge in his or her work with learners. Students at different ages, in different stages in life, and raised in different

cultures experience life differently. For example, a student who receives good scores on

assignments in class might show them with pride to a teacher, parent or mentor. But,

when asked to share with the class, might do so hesitantly and be uncomfortable in doing

so because the context changes the value of the outcome for the student. The student’s

teacher, parent or mentor will respond positively and the student knows this. However,

the student’s peers may respond negatively and the student is also aware of this reaction.

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Therefore, in order to best help students, counselors must understand human development

and personality and how they affect learning. Counselors can use this knowledge by

providing both individual and small group counseling sessions. Some students might

excel when placed with a small group of their peers, while others will recede and not

participate, resulting in lost purpose for that session. By providing students with a simple

questionnaire, counselors can better determine the needs of the student and how best to

serve them in the educational setting.

As a teacher in the middle school level with grades 6, 7, and 8, I am aware of the

developmental needs of my students at these ages. My sixth graders come to me shy,

nervous, excited, and very social with their peers. They are much more focused on their

social lives than their academic careers. They do not have the mindset to understand how

their education is preparing them for their adult lives. However, as these sixth graders

come to me in eighth grade, they are more mature and more focused on their academic

careers and where it will lead them. They pay less attention to what their peers will think

of them and become more self-confident in themselves as individuals. As a school

counselor, understanding the development of my students at different age levels will help

me identify with them better and serve them more efficiently.

Quality Indicator 2 – Counseling Theories and Interventions: The professional school counselor knows and understands established and emerging counseling theories and applies knowledge of techniques and strategies for innovative and differentiated interventions. According to Degges-White and Colon (2014), “If [school counselors] are to

effectively … provide a comprehensive school counseling program that addresses the

needs of all students, school counselors need to have innovative strategies and

interventions available on their school counseling ‘tool belts’” (p. 6). Through my

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readings in my Foundations of School Counseling course, I came across Degges-White

and Colon’s (2014) book, Expressive Arts Interventions for School Counselors. The

book discusses “the use of expressive arts as a healing modality” (p. 3) and an innovative

way to differentiate interventions for student learners. The expressive arts discussed

include: visual arts, music therapy, movement and dance therapy, and expressive

writing/poetry therapy and how these arts can be applied to academic development,

career development, and personal/social development.

Recently, vision boards have become popular within our culture and are used to

help individuals set and visualize their goals. Degges-White and Colon (2014), discuss

the use of vision boards to utilize in the academic domain with students. I have fine-

tuned their lesson to create one that will benefit my middle school students (artifact 1:

Vision Boards). The vision board can be adapted to coincide with individual, small

group, or whole classrooms to visualize short-term immediate goals or long-term life

goals as well as when students are facing challenging situations (Degges-White & Colon,

2014). When creating their vision boards, students will search for images and words to

represent individual goals that have been identified. They arrange these images and

words in a creative manner on their board and share their final product if they so choose.

Students will decide on a prominent place to hang their board so they may visualize them

throughout the day. “Daily viewing of the words and images will unconsciously help

them to make choices throughout the day that are consistent with the goals listed”

(Degges-White & Colon, 2014, p. 15).

Quality Indicator 3 – Helping Relationships: The professional school counselor establishes helping relationships with students through individual counseling, group work, classroom guidance, and mental health and well-being activities within the comprehensive guidance and counseling program.

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Relationship building between school counselors and students is crucial for

success. According to the website, School-Counselor.org, this relationship building is

also called building rapport (retrieved June 2015). “It's recognizing that others have

differing points of view, yet allowing people to communicate without feeling judged,

condemned or guilty” (school-counselor.org, retrieved June 2015). Building helping

relationships with students allows them to openly share their thoughts and feel respected

and understood by their school counselors.

To build helping relationships with the students in my school, one activity I might

use is a classroom lesson on stress (artifact 2: Stress Activity). We would understand

the cause, consequences and management of stressors on students. I would begin the

lesson by hanging three large pieces of paper around the room labeling them as “school,”

“relationships,” and “changes during adolescence.” Students can then walk around the

room adding different examples of sources of stress for each category. By allowing them

to respond on their own, I am able to address all particular concerns of the group. I

would then follow up with a lesson describing the different types of stress, what causes

the stress, and how we can manage stress. While discussing ways to manage stress, we

might practice some of the techniques such as meditation, yoga, or listening to music

(DeMaso & Gold, 2006).

Quality Indicator 4 – Social and Cultural Diversity: The professional school counselor demonstrates knowledge and understanding of how social and cultural diversity affects learning and development within the context of a global society and a diverse community of families through lesson plans, guidance activities, and interactions with students.

In my Developing Responsible Leaners class we studied intensely about social

and cultural diversity and how it affects learning and development. I developed a lesson

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(artifact 3: Implementing a Culturally Responsive Strategy in the Classroom) to

involve families in children’s learning to help the students build a link between school

and home. I learned that culturally responsive strategies “honors the communities in

which students belong, portrays the life experiences of children’s families, and

recognizes the accumulated wisdom of caregivers and other family members” (Amatea,

2013, p. 56). In the lesson, I worked with students to develop family history projects in

which they explore their cultural backgrounds and share them with the class. With the

project, the students were to conduct an interview, create a family tree, write a narrative

based on the interview, and prepare a presentation for the class. I had given them

freedom on how they choose to work on their projects. They had to conduct the

interviews at home but their class time could be spent how they saw fit. Some students

chose to work on their presentations in the classroom while others wanted help with

writing their papers and chose to write their papers during class.

I had several parents contact me during the week asking questions, and expressing

their joy over the project because it allowed them to have conversations with their

children. One parent commented specifically how this project has “forced” her son to sit

down with her in the evenings and communicate together which doesn’t typically happen

as he is often playing games or with his friends. Another parent mentioned that the

project allowed for very fun and interesting conversations between the whole family, and

sparked discussions about her parents and grandparents, relaying stories of her childhood

to her daughter. Overall, I truly enjoyed this project and plan on starting out the next

school year with this so that I may gain a better understanding of my students’

backgrounds earlier in the year and establish relationships with my student’s families.

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While this lesson was conducted with my role as a classroom teacher, this activity

could absolutely be implemented in my role as a school counselor. By doing so, I will be

able to understand my student’s diversity and better serve their needs.

Quality Indicator 5 – Appraisal of Student Growth and Achievement: The professional school counselor knows and understands the principles of measurement and assessment, for both individual and group approaches, as they apply to the academic, career, and personal/social development of all students through full implementation of a comprehensive guidance and counseling program and defines the counselor’s role in assessment consistent with level of training, expertise, and a fully implemented comprehensive guidance and counseling program. “Assessment activities include assessing the current program to determine what is

working, what needs revising or adjusting, what needs implementing, and what needs

tossing” (Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012, p. 94). Appraising or evaluating allows a

counselor to see growth of the students and overall school environment. Evaluations and

assessments should take priority in the planning process and can be done individually, in

small groups, within the school climate, among families, and peer groups. Assessment

should guide all aspects of counseling services. They will tell us what needs to be

addressed, how well those needs are met, and if they should be revisited after a lesson.

As a school counselor in training, I have participated in assessment classes that

have helped me gain a better understanding of and familiarity with assessments I may use

during my counseling career. For example, the Behavior Assessment System for

Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) may be used to assess the behavioral and emotional

functioning of adolescents and can be an effective tool in promoting student success.

This assessment can help counselors detect academic problems that may result in

behavioral and emotional deficits so they may be corrected before negatively affecting

the student.

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Quality Indicator 6: Career Development and Planning: The professional school counselor demonstrates knowledge and understanding of career development and planning processes across the life span and assists all students in their career awareness, exploration, decision-making, and planning. Dollarhide and Saginak (2012), suggest that, “Career development is an important

part of what school counselors do at every level” (p. 53) and list seven steps in the

process of making career choices:

1. Understanding of self (knowledge of one’s likes, dislikes, abilities, skills, gifts, challenges, values,

needs, dreams, lifestyle goals, personality, interests)

2. Understanding the world of work (knowledge of career paths, job titles, salary levels, employers,

employment environments, occupational projections, training requirements)

3. Reality testing (firsthand experience through employment, volunteering, internships, cooperative

education jobs, lab experiences, job shadowing)

4. Commitment (making a decision, with relative confidence, in the face of uncertainty)

5. Career preparation (accessing formal or informal training for the job or occupation)

6. Placement/career entrance (using job-seeking skills, filling out applications, writing cover letters

and resumes, participating in interviews, then accessing opportunities in the chosen occupation)

7. Evaluation and renewal (as the individual matures throughout life, the core self changes in terms

of likes, dislikes, values, and other variables outlined in Step 1. Concurrently there are changes in

the work world. Individuals continuously evaluate their level of career satisfaction, and will begin

again at Step 1 when their level of career satisfaction reaches a low-point threshold of tolerance.

If they still like the tasks of the occupation, they may decide to change employers. If they dislike

the tasks, they may decide to change occupations entirely.) (p. 53).

While for some, it might seem inappropriate to begin career exploration with

students at the elementary level, we know from research that when children begin to view

their interests, strengths, and challenges as possible indicators of future careers, they will

be more ready to enter the workforce when they become young adults. Therefore,

beginning a career portfolio with students at the elementary level that they will continue

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to revise and revisit throughout their academic education will ensure their success when

choosing post-secondary education or careers.

The Labor Market and Career Information (LMCI) department of the Texas

Workforce Commission has created an activity workbook for elementary grade students

that focuses on careers entitled, Careers Are Everywhere. The activity book instills the

importance of self-knowledge, educational and occupational exploration, and career

planning with young students in a fun and challenging way. As a school counselor,

having access to resources such as this will allow me to provide career development for

students even at the elementary level.

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References Amatea, E. (2013). Building culturally responsive family-school relationships. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Berk, L. (2013). Development through the lifespan. New York, NY: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Building Rapport with Students. (n.d.). School-Counselor.Org. Retrieved from

http://www.school-counselor.org/topics/rapport-with-students.html

Children’s Hospital Boston and McLean Hospital. (2006). An adolescent mental health

& wellness curriculum: A starter kit for schools (2nd ed.). Belmont, MA:

DeMaso, D. and Gold, J.

Degges-White, S. and Colon, B. (2014). Expressive arts interventions for school

counselors. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Dollarhide, C. and Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-

12 delivery systems in action. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Texas Workforce Commission. (n.d.). Careers are everywhere: Activity workbook.

Austin, TX: Hughes, M.