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Newington Comprehensive School Counseling Program

OVERVIEW

Comprehensive Developmental School Counseling

Comprehensive developmental school counseling is designed to respond to the developmental needs of all students in a school district. The developmental approach is based on the works of developmental theorists such as Benjamin Bloom, Erik Erikson, Robert Havighurst, Lawrence Kohlberg and Jean Piaget, and it recognizes that all students move in a sequential manner toward self-understanding and self-enhancement. The developmental approach is founded on the belief that individuals experience general stages of personal/social growth and that school guidance programs must be structured to anticipate and fulfill the academic, career, and personal/social needs of all students.

The emphasis in a developmental guidance program shifts from working with individuals to working with all students through classroom guidance activities and structured group experiences. The emphasis also shifts from remediation to prevention, from crisis-based to a planned orientation, and from unplanned and unstructured approaches to a systematic approach that delivers a guidance curriculum and individual planning sessions to all students.

Guiding Principles of Developmental Guidance

The guiding principles of a developmental guidance program are provided by Robert D. Myrick, Ph.D. (1993), in Developmental Guidance and Counseling: A Practical Approach. He identifies the following principles of a developmental K-12 guidance program:

Developmental guidance is for all students.

Although there will always be students who need the attention of the school counselor because of their special needs or circumstances, developmental guidance is directed to all students.

Developmental guidance has an organized and planned curriculum.

Based upon developmental stages, skills and learning conditions, the guidance curriculum is a planned effort to provide each student with a set of skills and experiences that enhances all learning.

Developmental guidance is sequential and flexible.

Based on experiences with students at different ages and grade levels, particular units and topics are presented to students. Flexibility is also important so that guidance lessons can accommodate student readiness as well as address new concerns.

Developmental guidance is an integrated part of the total education process.

The guidance program is not a separate or isolated part of the educational program. It is integral to the total school program.

Developmental guidance involves all school personnel.

Although school counselors are responsible for organizing and planning a developmental guidance program, the cooperation and support of teachers and administrators is essential to the success of the program.

Developmental guidance helps students learn more effectively and efficiently.

All guidance goals and objectives have an educational base, and all guidance and counseling services are related to helping students get the most out of school.

Program Components

A comprehensive developmental guidance program model typically includes four major components:

The Guidance Curriculum Component consists of structured developmental experiences presented systematically to all students through classroom and group activities that address the three primary domains of human development: Academic development, career development and personal/social growth. The curriculum lessons focus on decision making, goal setting, peer relationships, self awareness, career awareness, the world of work, labor market information and educational and career planning. The counselor’s responsibilities include the organization and implementation of classroom guidance lessons and group guidance.

The Responsive Services Component are reactions to the immediate needs and concerns of individual students whether these concerns involve individual or group counseling, information dissemination, crisis intervention, consultation or referral.

The Systems Support Component activities are twofold. The first includes those activities that establish, maintain and enhance the preceding three program components. Activities in this component include program development, program evaluation and assessment, parent education, materials development, testing and community relations. The second aspect of systems support includes activities that support other programs in the school - testing, helping administrators and teachers identify student needs, serving on school committees and curriculum committees, etc.

These four components address skills and understandings needed to help students in the three broad domains of student development:

Academic development includes acquiring skills, attitudes and knowledge that contribute to effective learning in school; employing strategies to achieve success in school; and understanding the relationship of academics to the world of work, and to life at home and in the community. Academic goals support the premise that all students should meet or exceed the local, state and national goals.

Career development goals guide the school counseling program to provide the foundation for the acquisition of skills, attitudes and knowledge that enable students to make a successful transition from school to the world of work and from job to job across the life span. Career development includes the employment of strategies to achieve future career success and job satisfaction as well as fostering an understanding of the relationship among personal qualities, education and training and the world of work. Career development goals and competencies ensure that students develop career goals as a result of their participation in a comprehensive plan of career awareness, exploration and preparation activities.

Personal/social development goals guide the school counseling program to provide the foundation for personal and social growth as student’s progress through school and into adulthood. Personal/social development contributes to academic and career success by helping students understand and respect themselves and others, acquire effective interpersonal skills, understand safety and survival skills and develop into contributing members of our society. Personal/social development helps to ensure that students successfully and safely negotiate their way into an increasingly complex and diverse world.