Philosophy on the Purpose of School Counseling

The role of a school counselor is challenging and complex, but if executed correctly can be
rewarding and fulfilling. The ASCA National Model incorporates four major themes; leadership,
advocacy, collaboration and systemic change (ASCA, 2012). Leadership is an essential
characteristic a school counselor should posses. As a leader, ensuring equitable services and
resources for all students is crucial to the school counseling field and should be a core purpose in
all counseling framework. Leadership can complement the potential to create and develop
appropriate counseling programs in schools, which can in turn, benefit all students. Leadership
qualities can also entail taking action and generating a sense of unity among staff, administration
and teachers, so that the programs can be better facilitated and the students interests and needs
are better ensured. Leaders can more advantageously create and organize both a mission and a
vision for their programs, based on collected data and construct meaning from their personal and
professional experience to bring about change (Holcomb-McCoy, 2007). All counselors should
provide programs to help every student improve academic achievement, by helping students to
overcome their individual barriers to learning, whether they are academic, social or personal and
help all students be successful and attain their ultimate potential.
It should be a counselors responsibility and obligation to advocate for, organize and create
programs to ensure each students success. A counselor should also have high expectations for
every student, regardless of the obstacles the student may face and actively seek to expand
cultural competence and commitment to social justice (ASCA, 2012). A counselor should also
try to understand and empathize with how power and prejudice may affect students physically
and emotionally. A counselors first and foremost priority should be the student and their health

and welfare. The counselor should also be wiling to help the student achieve their goals in any
way possible, whether that means additional counseling sessions or helping to set up external
assistance. In order to help accomplish this, a counselor should have access to and review the
collected data often for inconsistencies, then set program goals to help close those gaps, giving
special consideration to students who may benefit from additional individual or group
counseling. This can help ensure goal achievement and attainment for many underperforming
students. Ideally, a counselor should also create an environment where students feel secure and
free to open up about the various issues that may be hindering their ability to lead a full and
successful life, without fear of judgment, bias, discrimination or intolerance. A counselors space
should also be known as a place where confidences are kept, unless extreme circumstances
mandate otherwise.
Collaboration is an integral component to school counseling. Firstly, it is essential to
maintain a healthy repertoire and collaborate with all members of the administration. Counselors
usually need the administrations permission to implement many of the programs they create for
their students. The counselor is also required to consult the administration when they encounter a
child who is showing suicidal or dangerous tendencies. It is also vital to perpetuate a good
relationship with the teachers and staff, since it is usually the teachers that refer students for
counseling if they feel the situation merits it. Similarly, the counselors skill and specific
knowledge of the students situation and can identify the systemic barriers to the students
achievement (ASCA, 2012). Interpreting achievement, attendance and behavioral data,
counselors can assist the administration and teachers to make appropriate decisions for the
students educational program and future at the school. It seems the administration, teachers and
counselors need to work well together, in order to help students achieve their full potential. Even

minor disagreements between the three, can cause a breach in communication, which can result
in a setback in the welfare of a student. It is therefore, important to keep the line of
communication between the administration, the teachers and the counselors open and conflict
free, so the welfare of the student can remain the focus. It is also crucial to collaborate with
parents or guardians and to keep them apprised of any and all situations regarding their children
in school. It may also helpful to be in contact with external agencies and community members,
such as psychologists, social workers and case workers, when a student is being treated outside
of the school. Collaboration is necessary to access an extensive amount of support for student
achievement and development that cannot usually be achieved by a school or individual alone.
The collaboration between administration, staff, teachers, counselors, parents and students create
a common goal of equity, and creates an environment that encourages academic success for
every student.
The function of a school counselor is to remove academic and emotional barriers and
advance systemic change, by addressing the academic, social and personal needs of all students.
This can be accomplished by encouraging equity and access to educational opportunities for all
students, which can be measured by the closing of achievement and attainment gaps. Leadership,
advocacy, and collaboration, used together along with data, has helped and can continue to help
bring about systemic change in the future.