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This article was downloaded by: [University of Tennessee At Martin]On: 07 October 2014, At: 00:19Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number:1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,London W1T 3JH, UK
International Journal ofAdolescence and YouthPublication details, including instructionsfor authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rady20
The Elementary SchoolCounselor: A RoleDefinitionJean A. Pardeck a & John T. Pardeck ba Perry County School District Number 32b Department of Social Work , SoutheastMissouri State University , Cape Girardeau ,MO , 63701 , USAPublished online: 27 Mar 2012.
To cite this article: Jean A. Pardeck & John T. Pardeck (1989) The ElementarySchool Counselor: A Role Definition, International Journal of Adolescence andYouth, 2:1, 53-60, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.1989.9747660
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02673843.1989.9747660
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International journal of Adolescence and Youth 1989, Vol. 2, pp. 53-60 0267-3843/89 $8 © 1989 A B Academic Publishers Printed in Great Britain
The Elementary School Counselor: A Role Definition
Jean A. Pardeck
Chapter I Reading Teacher, Perry County School District Number 32
John T. Pardeck
Chair, Depar/men/ of Social Work, Southeast Missouri Stale University, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. USA
ABSTRACT
The elementary school years are crucial to a child's total social and emotional development. In order to facilitate the child's total development during the elementary school years, he or she must have ready access to an elementary school counselor. Elementary school children who feel comfortable with and have been in contact with a school counselor will probably not hesitate to use the services of the counselor later in their school years. It is for this reason that elementary counselors must carefully examine their unique role and functions within the framework of the elementary school. This paper presents such an analysis.
INTRODUCTION
The elementary school years may well be the most crucial time for children to have access to the services of a counselor. It is during these years, when children are typically between the ages of 5 and 11, that a foundation for a life-long positive view toward the counseling profession can be obtained. The elementary school child who feels comfortable with and has been in contact with an elementary school counselor will probably not be hesitant to seek out the middle school and secondary counselor in later years. It is for this reason that elementary counselors must carefully examine
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their unique role and functions within the framework of the elementary school. By defining their role and the functions associated with it, elementary counselors can better serve their primary purpose: the facilitation of growth of children which will lead them to a more fully functioning life (Van Hoose, Pietrofesa, and Carlson, 1973).
ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ELEMENTARY COUNSELOR
During the 1960s, a sample of American School Counselor Association (ASCA) members responded to a questionnaire concerning what might lie ahead for the counseling profession in the next 20 years. It is interesting to note that the elementary school counselors in this study made some quite accurate predictions about the role and functions of present day elementary counselors. Among their responses concerning what they expected in the 1980s were a consensus that: 1) counseling students would remain the most basic counselor activity, 2) coordination of counseling in the school and community would become more important, and 3) the counselor's function of being a resource person for teachers and administrators would be forthcoming, with the teacher sharing responsibility for guidance with the counselor (Wrenn, 1962).
More recently, in describing the unique role of the elementary school counselor, the ASCA Governing Board (1978) stressed these same points. The elementary school counselor is seen as a helper to pupils, teachers, and parents. Individual and group counseling of children is a quite important function, as is coordination of services and consultation with those individuals who have an impact on students' lives.
Although various authors disagree on the order in which to prioritize each of the following functions, most would agree that counseling, consultation, and coordination are all tasks of the elementary school counselor. Dinkmeyer (1973) places consulting first in his hierarchy of counselor tasks, while Muro (1970) agrees that consulting has value, yet urges counselors to make counselling their top priority. Individual counselors must personally rank the "3-Cs" of counseling, consulting, and coordinating depending on their setting, pupil needs, school needs, and the community.
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COUNSELING
Perhaps this is the function that all counselors in training most anticipate. Counseling is the most personalized function of the counselor's work (Van Hoose, Pietrofesa, and Carlson, 1973). During counseling, the counselor can aid elementary children in discovering better ways to fulfill their needs, in releasing disturbing feelings in a safe atmosphere, in recognizing their strengths and limitations, and in accepting others and realizing their place within the classroom, family, and neighborhood (Muro, 1970).
Elementary counselors can make use of techniques such as play therapy, art therapy, bibliotherapy, and puppetry in working with the elementary child. The use of play media in individual counseling can be of great value in opening the door to the child's world, providing tryout opportunities, and encouraging expression and communication (Nelson, 1972). For young children whose verbal skills are not yet fully developed, drawing and painting are ways of expressing their own very personal reactions to an experience or situation. The use of children's literature for bibliotherapy can prepare young people for a new experience or help them to cope with physical, social, and emotional developmental needs. Puppetry provides an outlet for a child's imagination and is less threatening than other forms of dramatic activity for children who are shy (McCaslin, 1968).
The elementary counselor may also elect to use group counseling in an effort to meet the needs of more children. Groups can provide valuable opportunities for personal growth and development. A child in a group can experience a sense of commonality in the discovery that others also have problems (Frost, 1973). Many of the techniques used for individual counseling can be adapted for working with groups of elementary children. In addition, the use of role playing for older children provides an opportunity for all children in a group to develop sensitivity toward the feelings of others and encourages changes of attitude through understanding (McCaslin, 1968). It is stressed that while there are obvious advantages to group work, some children need the one-to-one relationship of individual counseling due to their particular problem (Frost, 1973).
In addition to counseling children about their typical developmental needs or contemporary problems such as the effects of family disruption, the elementary counselor must also be prepared to work with special needs students. Those students from other cultures may have problems adjusting to the school setting. The
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counselor needs to be knowledgeable about various handicaps as they affect a student's school life. The gifted also have special needs related to their place within a school system. An understanding of the general characteristics of each group helps the counselor in being sensitive to needs that call for a wide variety of services (Tolbert, 1982).
CONSULTING
In a study by Furlong, Atkinson, and Janoff (1979), elementary school counselors who were given a list of 14 counselor roles ranked consultation in second place, right after the role of counseling. Consultation refers to a 'one-to-one or small group situation in which there are adults in need of assistance or communication that may enhance the effectiveness of each in working with a particular child or group of children' (Van Hoose, Pietrofesa, and Carlson, 1973). The elementary school counselor consults with teachers and administrators, as well as parents, in trying to best meet the needs of individual pupils or groups. It is recognized by the ASCA Governing Board (1978) that teachers, administrators, and parents are all involved in the total counseling process.
Through consultation with the counselor, a teacher can learn skills and strategies to solve a problem and apply those skills to future problems (Umansky and Holloway, 1984). A teacher with a reoccurring classroom problem may be encouraged by the counselor to examine classroom practices in an effort to make needed changes. Behavioral management plans to improve classroom behavior can be set up through consultation between the counselor and a teacher. The counselor as consultant may offer to instruct a teacher in effective ways of encouraging and promoting positive behavior in children. Thus the counselor's work with one teacher can affect 25-30 students in one year and potentially thousands of students during a teacher's career (Umansky and Holloway, 1984).
With the support of the administration, the counselor as consultant can also work with groups of teachers to improve organizational development. This involves the improvement of problem-solving strategies and communication skills within the organization, such as sharing feelings and giving and receiving feedback (Umansky and Holloway, 1984). It is hoped that through these kinds of activities individuals will develop new roles and procedures within the organization that will benefit the student population.
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Through consulting, parents may be helped to understand their children and to work with them more effectively. Some of the same consulting strategies used to aid the classroom teacher can also benefit parent groups. The counselor can counsel individual students about their personal problems and can consult with the student's teacher to improve the classroom environment, but too often all efforts are wasted if a consulting relationship with the student's parents cannot be established (George and Cristiani, 1981).
COORDINATING
Members of the ACES-ASCA Committee on the Elementary School Counselor in 1969 suggested that besides counseling and consulting, the counselor bears a third major responsibility-that of coordination (Nelson, 1972). The coordination aspect of the "3-Cs" is still an important function for counselors today. Coordination is the method used to bring into focus the school's total effort on the child's behalf, eliminating duplication of effort and insuring follow-through on decisions made and policies established (Nelson, 1972). The elementary school counselor is typically involved with coordinating programs related to testing, career development, etc., as well as services available to students within the school and in the community.
The elementary school counselor is in a position to insure that the testing and assessment program is focused on the developmental needs of children. According to Muro (1970), the counselor's involvement with the testing program includes: 1) coordinating the readiness program, 2) selecting group tests with the aid of a testing committee, 3) helping to determine the systemwide testing program, 4) interpreting "new" tests to staff, and 5) helping teachers develop classroom tests. The effectiveness of a school's testing program will increase as its staff-not just counselors-obtains training and gains experience in using tests in the instruction and guidance of its pupils (Muro, 1970). In particular, the counselor must combat the misuse of test results in certain situations such as student~ being categorized exclusively on the basis of test scores.
Coordination of a career development program is an excellent use of the counselor's skills. By working with the counselor, the teacher can make career education a planned approach rather than the incidental hit-or-miss affair that is utilized in most elementary schools (Muro, 1970). A counselor-coordinated career education program with specific goals and objectives for each grade level
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would give teachers direction, yet allow for their input. A similar plan can be followed for coordinating school wide programs ori topics such as alcohol and drug awareness.
The elementary counselor is also involved with the coordination of referrals both within the school system and outside of it. A close working relationship must be maintained with reading and speech teachers, special education teachers, the school nurse, etc. to provide a harmonious mesh of their efforts on behalf of students. The elementary counselor often is involved in the diagnosis and appropriate placement of certain special needs pupils within the school. Contact must also be established with community agencies, crisis centers, and protective services outside of the school. Keeping in mind the fact that coordination is a total effort on the child's behalf, referral to outside agencies may at times be needed when a child's problem goes beyond the school's capabilities.
COMPARISON OF COUNSELOR ROLES
In comparing the elementary counselor's role to that of the middle school or secondary counselor, there are many similarities in their functions. At all three levels, the "3-Cs" of counseling, consulting, and coordinating take up certain proportions of the counselor's working hours. However, due to the differing developmental needs and capabilities of students at the elementary, middle school, and secondary levels, the school counselor's role and functions must vary accordingly.
The secondary school counselor, in working with students who are quite capable of making decisions and who have adult-type problems, has an advantage in being able to employ a variety of counseling techniques which may not be suitable for younger students. The middle school pupil has developing social needs concerning peer relationships; therefore, the middle school counselor may opt for group counseling, as the social interaction inherent in this approach facilitates growth and problem solution (Tolbert, 1982), This is not to say that individual and group counseling is not just as important on the elementary level. The elementary school counselor simply would use different counseling techniques and set different goals with the child this age. Group counseling on the elementary level requires more structure and more carefully defined limits with elementary counselors assuming more responsibility for the counseling process as they help young children pinpoint and verbalize their concerns (Muro, 1970).
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Consulting also differs on the elementary level. In counsulting with teachers, the elementary counselor will typically be working with a classroom teacher who spends the majority of the school day with a troubled student or classroom in need of management. This gives the elementary counselor the opportunity to better support students through developing the guidance role of the classroom teacher. Middle school and secondary counselors, on the other hand, must consult with many different teachers in an effort to aid any one single student. Parental consultation groups will also vary for the elementary counselor, versus the middle school or secondary counselor, due to the differing concerns of parents of elementary school aged children.
As far as coordinating activities, counselors at the middle school and secondary levels normally need to spend more time on testing, career development, and so on. In the Furlong, Atkinson, and Janoff (1979) study, however, elementary counselors rating their actual and ideal roles placed several areas of coordination at a moderate level: program planning, referral, career development, and curriculum planning. The elementary counselor would appear to have an excellent chance of coordinating on the ground level of the school system to provide for another transition to the middle school and secondary levels.
The school counselor in general shares many functions with counselors in other settings. The post-secondary counselor in particular has many of the same functions related to consultation and coordination, albeit with an older student population. Community agency counselors and rehabilitative counselors may have more specialized functions due to their clientele, yet these counselors employ many of the same techniques the school counselor uses.
SUMMARY
The guidance worker in the 3-pronged role as consultant, coordinator, and counselor is viewed as the key person on the school staff concerned with all aspects of the school program and with the total functioning and deyelopment of all pupils in the school (Muro, 1970). In trying to fill this important role, elementary school counselors must prioritize and also document their functions according to their settings, pupil needs, school needs, and their particular communities. Only through a visible, well-defined, and carefully evaluated program can the elementary counselor determine a distinct and invaluable position within the school.
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REFERENCES
American School Counselor Association Governing Board (1978). The unique role of the elementary school counselor. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 12(3), 200-202.
Dinkmeyer, D. (1973). The counselor: Specialist in human development and human relations. Elemenlary-school guidance and counseling: A composite view (W. Van Hoose, J. Pietrofesa, and J. Carlson, eds.). Houghton Mifflin: Boston.
Frost, J. (1973). The elementary-school counselor and his work with groups. In Elementary-school guidance and counseling: A composite view (W. Van Hoose, J. Pietrofesa, and J. Carlson, eds.). Houghton Mifflin; Boston.
Furlong, M., Atkinson, D., & Janoff, D. (1979). Elementary school counselors' perceptions of their actual and ideal roles. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 14(1), 4-11.
George, R. & Cristiani, T. (1981). Theory, methods, and processes of counseling and psychotherapy. Prentice-Hall; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
McCaslin, N. (1968). Creative dramatics in !he classroom. McKay; New York. Muro, J. (1970). The counselor's work in the elementary school. International Textbook
Company; Scranton, Pennsylvania. Nelson, R. (1972). Guidance and counseling in !he elementary school. Holt, Rinehart, and
Winston; New York. Tolbert, E. (1982). An inlroduclion Ia guidance: The professional counselor. Little, Brown
and Company; Boston. Umansky, D. & Holloway, E. (1984). The counselor as consultant: From model to
practice. The School Counselor, 31(4), 329-338. Van Hoose, W., Pietrofesa, J., & Carlson, J. (1973). Elementary-school
counseling: An overview. In Elementary-school guidance and counseling: A composite view (W. Van Hoose, J. Pietrofesa, and J. Carlson, eds.). Houghton Mifflin; Boston.
Wrenn, C. (1962). The counselor in a changing world. American Personnel and Guidance Association; Washington, D.C.
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