The city-wide peer counselling program

Chtldrrn and t’outh Smnrrs Reww, Vol. 10. pp. 217-232. 1988 Printed in the USA All rights reserved.

0190-74o!w38 13.00 + .oo Copvright 0 1988 Pcrgamon Press pk

The City-Wide Peer Counselling Program

Rey A. Carr University of Victoria

Considerable attention has been focused on involving students as peer counsellors in the delivery of counselling services. The City-Wide Peer Project was designed to integrate the peer counselling training resources of three school districts and two independent schools in the Greater Victoria region of Southern Vancouver Island (a major urban area in British Columbia, Canada). The roles and activities of the students who were trained and supervised as peer counsellors are described. A comprehensive evaluation design is detailed and the interim results of the two-year project are presented along with a number of cautions.

Introduction

School systems across Canada have initiated deliberate strategies to involve students in the delivery of counselling services to other students. Sometimes called peer counsellors, peer tutors, peer facilitators, health advocates, student assistants, peer support work- ers or counsellor aides, these students now play a significant role in providing effective counselling services. Carr (1987) estimated that the number of Canadian peer helping programs grew from less than a dozen in 1978 to just over 2000 in 1987. Kingsland and Carr (1986) found that 50 percent of the 200 colleges and 60 universities in Canada had established peer programs.

The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of peer counsellor Wade Anderson in collect- ing data from teachers, students and parents. This project was funded in part by the Van- couver Foundation and the Society for Educational Alternatives. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Key A. Carr. Peer Counselling Project, Univer- sity of Victoria, Box 1700, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 2Y2, Canada.

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218 Carr

Carr (198 1) listed a number of conceptual foundations which have contributed to the increase in peer programs. Among the eight factors he identified were (a) several adolescent developmental and self-reported needs, including the need for c0mpetenc.v. and the need for autonomy as well as the need to make and keep frtends: (b) elements of peer group interaction or peer pressure which are often obscured bp negative media and misunderstood b!. adults, but can be used for positive purposes: (c) the potential of peer counselling training to be a valuable source of assistance to the peer counsellor as well as the persons peer counsellors will be helping; (d) concerns for more effective methods to reduce loneliness, suicide and drug and alcohol abuse: and (e) attention to preventive approaches including learning coping skills and developing caring environments.

Several empirical studies have also contributed to the rise in peer counselling programs. DeRosenroll and Mover (1983); blcIn- tvre, Thomas and Borgen (1982); and Hudson and Sparks (1984), for example, hav:e shown that when adolescents are experiencing worries, frustrations or concerns they are more likely to turn to their friends for assistance. Yet many adolescents report that when friends do turn to them, they often do not know what to do to help (Varenhorst 1984). Consequently, peer counselling programs build on adolescent experiences and needs by providing the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable peers to help each other. Peer counsellors are people who put their caring into action by talking and listening to their peers about their thoughts, feelings and experiences. While they may give advice and other practical assistance when appropriate, they primarily encourage self-exploration and decision-making. And while peer programs increase the quality and quantity of help available within the peer group, peer counsellors are not therapists or substitutes for professional counsellors. Instead peer counsellors are an extension of professional services, often acting as a bridge between troubled friends and appropriate professional resources. This link enables professionals to become more effectively involved in adolescent subculture.

In the Greater Victoria area (population 258,000) these foundations are reflected in the creation of peer programs at virtually all senior secondary schools in each of the three school districts as well as a number of programs in alternative school, junior secondar): schools. elementary schools, independent schools and a variety of non-school based peer programs (college, universit) , senior citizens, hospital and community agencies).

While many of these local programs are based on the principles outlined bv Carr (1981), each program has had to rely on its own resources for program organization, peer training and supervision

Peer Counselling 219

and program evaluation. Program leaders were interested in cooperating with each other and building on the existing rivalries between schools in a way that would enhance the delivery of peer services. Cooperation on issues of “turf’ was seen by the program leaders as a method of increasing the availability of peer services throughout the geographic region. Leaders hoped that cooperation between programs would increase the presence of peer counsellors in non-school areas, such as the downtown core, shopping malls or other places where young people gather.

A needs assessment and analysis conducted by the staff of the Peer Counselling Project (a clearinghouse, training and consultation resource for all levels of peer helping, located at the University of Victoria) revealed that local programs serving similar client groups could combine their training resources and establish a core training. While centralized training would likely yield consistent training standards, individual programs could still add special training for their particular school needs. Centralized training would reduce the need for each professional counsellor to provide the forty plus hours of training per student group. The counsellors believed that this reduction in training time would enable them to focus on other priorities.

Peer program leaders, local counselling association representa- tives, district superintendents and school principals agreed to coop- erate across school and district boundaries and participate in what was to be called the City-Wide Peer Program (CWPP). The primary goal of CWPP was to develop a model for the first city-wide training program in Canada. A second goal was to enable the program to increase its financial self-management and decrease its reliance on external funding and resources. The third goal was to determine the effectiveness of this program development and to evaluate its implementation. The purpose of this article is to describe the structure of the resulting city-wide program, detail the activities of the students trained as peer counsellors, present the results of the first year’s evaluation and share some cautions and strategies for others considering this approach.

Program Structure

The main project objective was to recruit, select, train and supervise adolescent volunteers to act in a variety of peer counsellor roles in the school systems of the Greater Victoria region. Ninety-six students representing ten senior secondary schools volunteered in June of 1986 to give two weeks of their time at the end of August to participate in peer helper training. Students were recruited from

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grades ten and efeven and were ~lol~li~lated for participatior~ in the program b!: at feast one of’several methods: self-nomination (%shich accounted for the largest number of nominations), peer nomination (which accounted for the second largest number of nominations). teacher nomination, and counselfor or other adult nomination. All volunteers were accepted into the training program, and only students who could not make a commitment to the training period were not accepted. Students appeared to represent a variety of subgroups tvithin the adolescent culture based on their descriptions of themselves and aduft trainer observations of students. Their academic achievement revealed that while most students were obtaining pass- ing grades, several volunteers were not making satisfactory progress in school.

All students returned signed parent permission forms, which informed parents that students would be involved in 30 hours of basic communication skills training, thirty hours of special issues training (such as family issues, sexual issues, peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, death and dying and suicide) and fort?.-f”lve hours of supervised in-school work experience. Parents were also informed that student volunteers would be required to complete a number of personal, self-reporting forms and be videotaped for research purposes. Ten weeks later when the training began. six students had time conflicts with family trips to the 1986 World’s Fair in Vancouver and other such holiday comnlit~lents, and consequently could not attend the training.

Each school entered into a written agreement with the C:M’PP coordinator. The schools were responsible for recruiting and selecting students, providing, maintaining and supervising the school’s peer program, and assisting with the research and evaluation com- ponent of the project. The CWPP coordinator provided all the training personnel, the training site and services, assessment of each program volunteer, follow-up services (which consisted mostly of feedback to program organizers throughout the scf-tool year) and consulting services with individual school programs. One senior secondar?: school which already had an established program was unable to parttcipate because of counselfing staff changes.

The training phase took pface from August 19, 1936 to August 29, 1986. Each student was involved in 10 training sessions, approx- imately three hours in length. The training closely followed the format and content developed by Carr and Saunders (1979). Stu- dents were divided into groups of 14-16, and each group was fed by an experienced trainer who had received training through the Peer Counselfing Institute (a 10 day, intensive program offered each summer by the Univesity of Victoria) and a co-leader who had


worked as a peer counsellor. Each group was composed of students from the same school, although several social and training events brought students together as a large group. The decision to structure training group membership in this way proved to be a factor which limited other CWPP goals and will be discussed later in this report.

All training sessions took place at one school building. This building normally housed an alternative school and was suitable for large and small group work, staff meetings and a variety of interpersonal activities. Expenses associated with building maintenance, facilities rental, audio-visual equipment, utilities, copying or student transportation were donated by the organization overseeing the alternative school.

Peer Counsellor Roles

Each school was responsible for developing peer activities or peer counsellor assignments based on school needs and consultation with the newly trained students, If applicable, continuing peer counsellors were also consulted as to the various types of helping assignments to be created or strengthened. Most of the peer counsellors engaged in several roles while a few students preferred to work exclusively in one role. This section will detail the different helping activities.

Peer Counsellors

Students volunteering as peer counsellors had been selected by self and peer nomination and were known as persons who would listen and support their friends. The peer counsellors used these qualities as a foundation for learning additional skills in listening, questioning and problem-solving. They learned to increase their ability to listen so that others would talk to them and they encouraged others to solve their own problems and provided practical assistance. This kind of active listening by peer counsellors enabled other students to identify better solutions to troubling concerns. The training peer counsellors received enabled them to pay attention to potential trouble signals shown by their friends, and help their friends think about alternatives, including referral to a professional helper. Peer counsellors connected with other students on an informal, one-to-one basis by “working the halls, malls and city walls,” meeting with students who sought them out or by being assigned to work with a particular student as a result of a referral from a professional counsellor. To help them determine their own

222 Carr

limits and consider other ways to help members of their peer group, peer counsellors received weekly supervision from a professional counsellor. Because they, learned about the role of community resources and professional counselling and because some young people would rather talk to a peer instead of a professional helper, peer counsellors often acted as bridges to help their friends get appropriate professional assistance.

Considerable research has shown peers are very effective as tutors (Carr, 1986a). While many peer counsellors are trained as tutors, a majority of the peer programs used peer counsellors as tutoring coordinators, link pins or catalysts for matching students who need academic help with other students who can provide that help. Traditionally, only students who were considered tops in aca- demics had been selected as tutors. However, research has shown that by engaging in tutoring, tutors can improve their own learning. And by selecting tutors who have experience with learning difficulties and have learned to cope effectively, the match between tutor and student is enhanced. Trained peer tutors helped not only with academic subject matter, but they also helped other students with their confidence and esteem as learners.

One-third of school-aged children change residence in Canada every year, often necessitating a change in schools, friends and communities. In addition cities such as Victoria attract many new immigrants from Pacific Rim countries. Entering a new school and not understanding the language can be a frightening and confusing experience. Many new students have difficulty with different academic standards and practices often resulting in poor performance, feelings of loneliness and alienation. Students transferring from other schools are also faced with similar problems: they have no friends, feel alone and may have a hard time adjusting to the routine of a new environment or neighborhood. Peer counsellors have been trained in relationship building skills and have learned to extend a friendly hand to strangers, helping them to feel welcomed and involved. Several peer counsellors spoke the native language of incoming students. Some peer counsellors came from families struggling to maintain ethiiic identity and become part of Canadian culture. These students could understand the concerns of an adolescent immigrant eager to be accepted within his or her peer group yet not


wanting to reject family cultural traditions. Peer counsellors often acted as buddies, taking new students or school visitors on tours, introducing them to other students, and answering questions that students would only ask other students.

Peer Orientation

Before they actually enroll in senior highs or secondary schools, students from feeder schools often have worries, fears, expectations or questions about what it will be like to be in their next school. Because high schools are generally larger, include a wider variety of student peer groups and have a more extensive academic program and course selection process, teachers and counsellors have recognized the importance of providing orientation for students while they are still attending the feeder school. An effective orientation program reduces student adjustment problems and increases student preparation for academic success in high school classrooms. Peer counsellors, trained in communication skills, assisted the professional counselling staff by helping younger students develop realistic expectations, taking them on school tours, answering questions and being available as a buddy or special friend. The attention senior high peer counsellors provided to these grade seven or grade eight students as well as the peer counsellor’s extension of friendship often turned a potentially overwhelming period into a confidence-building experience.

Cla.s.sroom Presentations and Workshops

The training in helping skills peer counsellors received increased their ability to tune-in to issues of concern to their friends and peers. One way they put this sensitivity to peer needs into practice was by arranging opportunities for additional training and knowledge for themselves and other students on a variety of topics. While in some cases a peer counsellor made presentations to younger students, a majority of their special workshops brought local experts in to help them consider ways they can help their friends communicate more effectivelv on sensitive issues. Some of the topics which seved as a focus point this year included stress management, loneliness, preventing pregnancy, AIDS, drinking and driving, self-defense, suicide, and alcohol and drug abuse. Using their knowledge from these special areas and their experience within the peer group, several peer counselling programs designed and wrote their own pamphlets and increased their ability to make use of community resources.

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As students reach their last year in high school, their conversa- tions about career goals, further schooling and job possibilities increase. Building on this natural interaction has bee]) considered a major task of’secondar\ school peer programs (Carr, 1984: France. 1984; hlacCulloch & Cochran, 1985). Several secondar! programs involved peer counsellors in helping other students consider and set career goals. In addition peer counsellors helped lvith career IT-

source centers, catalogued pamphlets and job information circulars, provided other career or post-secondary information and helped counsellors organize career days. In some schools peer counsellors assisted other students learn hole to use a computerized career information system. Not surprisingI?:, the peer counsellors themsel\.es began to think of career opportuntties in the helping professions as a result of their volunteer experiences. %lany peer counse!lors recognized the role and value that effecti1.e co&municatiolj skills ivill play in virtuall~~ any future career they, choose for themsel\,es.

As a way of increasing opportunities to appl!, their helping skills, peer counsellors \,olunteered to coordinate or participate in community projects such as acting as big brothers or big, sisters to elementar), students, helping out at parent nights, partlctpating as “guest lecturers” for universit), teacher training courses, organizing food hamper drives, helping with special Ol!~mpics, lvorking \\.ith da\ care centers, special classes, special schools and senior citizens. In’ some schools the peer counsellors paticipated in intervie\\ring, selecting, orienting and training incoming peer counseilors. One peer counsellor became activel!, involved in interviewing parents of peer counsellors, the peer counsellors themsel\zes as lvell as scl~ool principals and school counsellors as to their \,ie\vs about the effectiveness of the Cit!,-M’ide program.

Students who are academically talented are of’tell considered special or different from others withill their peer group. Yet they also need the support and friendship of’ their peers. The situations or expectations they encounter, while of’ten different from their peers, require support from others ivho kllo\v \vhat it is like to have these experiences. And they need peer support that can enable them to deal effectively with the types of problems they experience as


gifted adolescents. One school imple~lented special peer training to help gifted students deal with issues such as high expectations, per- fectionism, disappointment, boredom and leadership (McDowell & Lazaruk, 1987). While many other school districts have developed programs to identifv and develop gifted and talented students, this is the first program’in Canada to help gifted students learn how to help each other and in so doing learn effective methods to help themselves.

With the training they received in listening skills and their ability to ask productive questions, peer counsellors assisted other students in goal setting and course selection. They helped students who had failed courses discuss their experience and what to do. In addition they helped students consider more than one option, while at the same time assisted them in planning for situations where expectations or goals were not achieved. Peer counsellors helped other students think through potential course changes and prepare to take the initial steps to change a course. Once these preliminary steps had been accomplished, the student was referred to a professional counsellor for further discussion and action.

Evaluation Plan

Carr ( 1986b) surveyed 650 peer program organizers across Canada and found less than twelve percent use any systematic or formal evaluation to determine their effectiveness. While over eighty percent of the survey participants rated the need for evaluation as very important, most indicated they lacked a model, example or comprehensive evaluation design to follow. The evaluation system designed for CWPP was intended to be both a model for other programs as well as a comprehensive information source for evaluating the specific goals of the project. Since CWPP was to be conducted over a two year period (August, 1986 to July, 1988), much of what follows is primarily a description of the design and organization of the evaluation system, rather than a reporting and analysis of the results. [Readers are invited to write to the author for further results after September, 1988,]

The evaluation plan for this project focused primarily on assessing the degree to which the project goals had been achieved. The design required the administration of surveys, self-report in- struments, structured interviews, and pre-post videotape simulations. In addition anecdotal reports, log books and diaries were used

226 Carr

as data sources. Foul- groups of participants were included in the evaluation. Group A consisted of those people receiving training: the students who volunteered as peer counsellors. Group B included those persons providing rhe training and supervision: trainers, training assistants and professional school counsellors. Group C consisted of’ adults in a position to observe the impact on or possibl! be affected by the actions of the peer counsellors: teachers, administrators and parents. Group D included other !‘oung people who were in a position to observe or experience the impact of peer counselling and peer counsellors: the students in the .junior and senior secondary schools.

School district personnel were involved in the development of some portions of the surveys and structured interviews. School principals, district curriculum specialists and other school board staff were interviewed to determine what questions, for example, they would like answered or what specific areas thev would need information about in order to support the continuatibn and/or ex- pansion of the project. Monthly meetings were held with school counsellors and district administrators to solicit feedback and reactions.

Videotape simulations (Saunders, 1982) were used to determine the progress of the peer counsellors in learning peer counselling skills. Prior to the beginning of the formal training program, all peer counsellors were videotaped while responding to real concerns expressed by other adolescents in a role work “helping” situation. Following the two week training period, a randomly selected group of peer counsellors were again videotaped while responding to similar real concerns of their peers. Graduate students in counselling, who had received training as skill raters, rated the pre- and post- training videotapes using scales developed for this purpose. III addition the peer counsellors completed self-report measures asking for their perceptions of changes they experienced as a result of the training; ways in which they did things differently; what, if any- thing, had changed in their relationships with their peers, parents and teachers; and how they felt about themselves in terms of self- esteem, problem-solving and friendship skills.

The peer counsellors also completed a Goal Attainment Scaling process (Carr, 1979) where they identified and prioritized their goals as well as described quantitative and qualitative ways of demonstrat- ing their goal achievement. At various points during the project, peer counsellors and trainers reviewed the goal charts and made periodic assessments as to the degree of success in goal achievement. The peer counsellors also rated the individual training sessions, ad- vanced skill and special issues sessions and supervision session giving


feedback about their usefulness for discussing and resolving concerns and applicability to the situations they faced in working with their peers.

As part of their training and as a required part of their supervision, peer counsellors kept log books or diaries, recording or documenting their feelings, experiences and reactions to training; the kinds of things other students talked to them about: their own assessments of how they handled these talks; and notes for future interactions. The peer counsellors were also asked to maintain a portfolio of other records, including their school attendance records, grade averages and other comments from teachers.

A random sample of teachers, parents and parents of peer counsellors were interviewed regarding their knowledge of and reactions to the peer counselling programs. They were asked what changes or characteristics of peer counsellors (as a student in class, or son or daughter, for example) they noticed or observed, includ-’ ing interpersonal behaviours and academic work. Parents of peer counsellors were aksed whether they noticed any academic, personal or interpersonal differences in their son or daughter.

School administrators were asked about their awareness of and attitudes toward their peer counselling programs. In addition they were interviewed about their perspectives on the positive and negative features of the program and its progress as well as suggestions as to what would be necessary to improve the program in the future. School counsellors were asked in addition to the preceeding areas, what advantages and disadvantages they saw or experienced as a result of the city-wide training approach. They were also asked to report on any quantitative and qualitative indicators they used to measure the work effectiveness of the peer counsellors in their re- spective schools.

Peer trainers and training assistants were asked to report on their views as to the effectiveness of the training, provide suggestions for improvement, identify strong points, describe potential curriculum changes, and give feedback about the appropriateness of the training and implementation procedures.

Finally a random sample of students from schools within the CWPP area were surveyed using a system developed by Edge (1984) to assess the impact of peer counselling on the general student population.

Results and Discussion

At the present time an overview of the evaluation data available suggests that all persons involved with the City-Wide Peer Program

228 Carr

rated the impi~mentat~on of the city-wide training as successful and beneficial to students and staff and believe ir should continue into its intended second year. However, several of the measures used are as yet incomplete and were not designed to yield interim results. More dramatically, labor conflicts between the Provincial teachers association and the government resulted in a work-to-rule campaign which decreased the opportunity to collect important data during the end of the first year of the project. Specifically, the plan to collect data from the student recipients using the method developed by Edge (1984) had to be postponed and therefore restricted any direct information about the impact of the program on the students in general. [At the time of the writing of this article (July, 1987), the campaign is still in place and will likely influence the start time for the second year program.] Therefore, the results described in this section should be regarded as an interim report.

During the first year of the Project, the school districts contributed time and personnel resources to the program, but did not contribute financially to accomplish the program. However, as a resuit of their perceptions of the success of the first year, each district has increased its financial contribution to forty percent of project costs. External sources account for the remaining sixty percent.

School counsellors reported that the work of the peer counsellors aided them in a variety of ways. They experienced the peer counsellors as a support system for their own work, and they appre- ciated contact with a group of students who could think in positive ways about dealing with the difficulties of’ adolescents. The positive regard counsellors had for the peer rounsellor students also had an unexpected outcome. The school counsellors, while initially sup-

portive of not being directly involved as the trainers of these students, began to feel they had missed an opportunit); to get to know the students more fully. Consequently when the,), did work more directly with the students, they felt torn between grving up the initial training and wanting to spend more time with these peer counsellors.

Counsellors reported that the nun1 her of’ referrals of students with significant difficulties increased, and that the number of referrals to professionals external to the schools also increased. The school counsellors attributed this increase to peer comlsellors encouraging and supporting their friends and other troubled students to seek the help they needed. They described this increase as improving their ability to come into contact with the students who were most in need of professional assistance. School counsellors described individual cases where peer counsellors played an integral role in preventing suicide, enabling treatment for physical abuse, and providing motivation for student academic success.


Several tasks, including computerized career counselling systems professionals had described as overly routinized, were described by the school counsellors as becoming “revitalized” or “energized” when the peer counsellors became involved. In addition school counsellors stated that the peer counsellors showed considerable leadership and initiative in helping a wide variety of students from all social segments of the school population. School counsellors also indicated that they saw many instances where peer counsellors acted as models for other students and strongly contributed to creat- ing a climte of caring within the school system.

Peer counsellors reported that the training they received improved their ability to help their friends, get along with their parents better, and improved their job hunting skills. The videotape ratings of the peer counsellors showed a statistically significant improvement in their ability to consistently demonstrate helping skills and their ability to draw from a repetoire of skills. Many of the peer counsellors believed that their training and experience as peer counsellors enabled them to get to know themselves better and enhanced their confidence and self-esteem. Several peer counsellors found ways to develop behaviours which they wanted to improve within themselves, such as speaking out more, being a better listener, being less fearful in social situations or dealing more effectively with peer pressure.

All students believed their experiences as peer counsellors contributed positively to their own academic achievement, and none believed that the increased time for training and supervision inter- fered with their academic success. However, several students indicated that they had to cut back on their peer counselling responsibilities because of other extra-curricular interests. Of the ninety students in the initial training group, eight students did not complete the one year program because of other commitments.

Peer counsellors believed that they represented all the social spectrums within the school which they generally described as: “heads,” “ dopers,” “jocks,” or “sucks,” etc. Using their logs or diaries as data sources, the peer counsellors stated that they worked on every type of problem encountered by adolescents, often referring or physically accompanying a friend to a referral source. Concerns they perceived as occurring most frequently among the student population included thinking about suicide, coping with peer pressure, making and keeping friends, getting a job, dealing with sexual situations, getting better grades and getting respect from parents and teachers.

Parents of peer counsellors believed that the experience contributed to the total growth and development of their son or daughter. Parents in general believed that the existence of peer counsellors

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in the schools would increase the positive decision-making abilities of young people and would increase the likelihood that their own son or daughter would be able to have a friend who would be able to solve problems in better wavs.

Anecdotal reports from school administrators and superintendents showed considerable support for the program. In the larger of the three school districts, discussion of this program was placed on the agenda of the meeting of the principal’s association. The support for the program expressed by the principals of the schools involved contributed to stimulating principals from six schools not involved in the project to initiate a program for their own schools (mostly junior secondary schools).

Several other factors contributed to the interim success of the City-Wide Program. The availability of qualified and experienced trainers, the availability of volunteer consultants who are also na- tionally recognized leaders in the field of peer counselling, and the willingness of local educational organizations to donate resources and facilities were integral to the success of the program.

Other factors may have interferred with the success of the project. During the initial meetings with school counsellors, the project staff agreed to let the counsellors independentl?, recruit and select the students for the volunteer program. This procedure worked well for those schools where the counsellors had already established a set of peer counselling program goals and expectations. However, in one school, the counsellor had not articulated these goals or expectations and instead had mistakenly believed that peer counsellor training was equivalent to a treatment intervention for socially dis- turbed students. And while students with such difficulties can gain benefit from peer counsellor training, CWPP was not organized as a social skills training program. Therefore, the students from one senior high represented a narrow social spectrum within their school, and they evidenced behaviours (individually and as a group) for which the trainers were unprepared. This difficulty was com- pounded (unknowingly) bv the organizational structure which kept each school group together for the training. Trainers reported that had these students been part of a random distribution of all students to the various training groups, the more socially skilled students could have acted as models and likely could have influenced to a greater degree the skill learning of the students from this particular school.

Another positive outcome of this project has been the accep- tance of the type of training the peer counsellors receive as a “curriculum” in one of the participating school districts. Students who volunteer for the training can receive credit towards graduation,


and school counsellors who supervise the peer helpers can consider their peer counselling program responsibilities as part of their in- school teaching duties.

The use of students as peer counsellors has been called an emerging strategy (Down, Altmann, & Nysetvold, 1986), a quiet revolution (Carroll & King, 1985) and an innovative service delivery system (Carr, 1981). Varenhorst (1984) thoroughly reviewed and critiqued the history and present status of peer counselling. While her review identified some critical, but unanswered research questions, she concluded that peer counselling is an effective extension of professional counselling services. While the City-Wide Peer Pro- gram was not designed to examine basic assumptions about the val- ues and effectiveness of peer counselling within a school system, the preliminary data adds to the number of reports and studies supporting the significant influence students can have in contributing to the growth and development of their peers.

References

Carr, R. A. (1979). Goal attainment scaling as a useful tool for evaluating progress in special education. Exceptional Children, 46(2), 88-95.

Carr, R. A. (1981). The the09 and practice of peer counselling. Ottawa: Employment and Immigration Canada.

Carr, R. A. (1984). Peer career counsellors: A conceptual and practical guide. Toronto: Guidance Centre.

Carr, R. A. (1986a). Peer tutoring: An annotated and idexed bibliography. Victoria, British Columbia: Peer Counselling Project, University of Victoria.

Carr, R. A. (1986b). Report on evaluation survey results. Peer Counsrllor, 4(l), 6. Carr, R. A. (1987), June). Peer helping in Canada: Status and prospects. Paper pre-

sented at the conference of the Canadian Guidance and Counselling Association, Toronto.

Carr, R. A., & Saunders, G. A. K. (1979). Peer counsellingstarter kit. Victoria, British Columbia: Peer Counselling Project, University of Victoria.

Carroll, M. R., & King, V. G. (May, 1985). The peer helping phenomenon: a quiet revolution. Counseling and Human Development, X7(9), l-8.

DeRosenroll, D., & Moyer, L. (1983). The “who’s” “where’s” and “what for’s” of peer counselling. The School Guidance Worker, 39( 1). 24-29.

Downe, A. G., Altmann, H. A., & Nysetvold, I. (May, 1986). Peer counseling: More

on an emerging strategy. The School Counselor, 33(5), 355-364. Edge, A. K. (1984). An evaluation of the peer counselling program at Clarence

Fulton Secondary school. The B.C. Counsellor, 6(2), 1419. France, M. H. (1984). Training peer counselors for career development. The Voca-

tional Guidance Quurterly, 32, 198-202. Hudson, G., & Sparks, R. (1984). Health advocates: The use of trained peer coun-

sellors. Health Education, 22(3), 2-5.

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Kingsland. L., & Carr. R. A. (1986). Peer programs in post-secondary institutions in Canada. Car~ndju?r Jour~l of Counselling, 20(Z), 1 14- 12 1.

MacCulloch, W.. & Cochran, L. (1985). The career development of peer counsellors in a vocational counselling program. C’~?M&N Counsellor, 19(3 and 4). 128-134.

McDowell. C. A., & Lazaruk, L. (1987). C oulu-rllirrg I& gifted ado&et& A peer counsel-

lzng training program manual. Victoria, British Columbia: Peer Counselling Pro- ject, University of Victoria.

McIntyre, D. R., Thomas, G. H., & Borgen, W. A. (1982). A peer counselling model for use in secondary schools. Canadian Counsellor, 1 i(2), 29-36.

Saunders, G. A. K. (1982). The development, implwmetiztatiott and eualuatiott of a peer

counsellor trainingprogrammefor seconda~ students. Unpublished masters thesis, Uni- versity of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.

Varenhorsr, B. (1984). Peer counseling: Past promises, current status, and future directions. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Zent (Eds.), Handbook of Counseling Pqcholog?‘. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

Documents

The city-wide peer counselling program