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Show New Help | Eiementary-school guidance counselors add specialists to the staff?” Why indeed? Mrs. Zelda Ferber, guidance counselor in two public four C’s: Counseling, Consultation, Coordination, and Classroom guidance. schools in Port Washington, N.Y., of- COUNSELING Eric, Judy, and Lisa were all helped by individual counseling, the procedure fers this explanation: “It’s often difficult for a teacher to combine the teaching role and the guidance role. The teacher is the authority figure who gives a youngster tests and grades. Children won't usually talk freely to someone who they feel is judging them. But a counselor can assure a child that he cantell anything he wants, that his secrets will be safe, and that no one will do anything but try to help him.” Giaidance counselors are especially trained to work with children, teachers, and parents so that normal children can develop to their full potential. They help a child learn what kind of person he is, what he can accomplish, how he feels about other people, how he feels about himself. One of the most important counseling goals is to help a child form a favorable self-image, to give him confidence to meet challenges both in school and outofit. But does a child need this help when Qh the first day of the - school term, red-haired, freck- , le-faced Eric stood at the door of the kindergarten room and sobbed, “I won't go in there because I can’t bring mykitten in.” On the second day, Judy, a pigtailed second-grader, refused to play during recess. She tearfully confessed to her teacher that she was afraid of being hit by the big rubberball. On the third day, Lisa, a bright fourth-grader, was asked a question in class and, although she knew the answer, butterflies invaded her stomach, and she silently shook her head, flus- tered and embarrassed. These three were perfectly normal, ordinary youngsters. But they were plagued by fears and anxieties that are a part of growing up. Most of us vague ly remember similar childhood wor- ties; some of us have never entirely overcome the emotional scars we suffered as young children. Today Eric, Judy, and Lisa are luckier. Because they go to an elementary school that has a guidance counselor on its staff, they had someone to take their troubles to—someone whohadthe time to he is only six, seven, or eight years old? “He does, because that is when a child is at a crucial stage of development,” says Dr. Don Dinkmeyer, Professor of guidance and counseling at DePaul University in Chicago. “By the age of 10, a youngster’s life style is guidance counselor is an important new member of America’s educational structure. Guidance counselors have been active on the high-school level for some years; but it is only recently that elementary schools across the country have been hiring them. About 7,000 counselors are now on school staffs, and school superintendents and principals in many states would like to add more. But they are faced with taxpayer resistance to spiraling school costs; and also with the argument that “teachers have been helping kids for years—why should we conquered her fear of the gym ball after three sessions of talking and playing. The counselor and Judy tossed a small ball back and forth, then a bigger one, then a ball of the same size that had seemed just recently so frightening on the playground. One-to-one counseling also helps children like Jack, a bright secondgrader who suddenly refused to go to school, became ill when he was forced to do so, and constantly fought with other children. After 12 counseling sessions, during which he played with toys andtalked, Jack was able to bring to the surface some of his angry and troubled feelings about his parents’ recent divorce. As he released some of these bottled-up emotions, his bebavior gradually changed. By the 2d of the counseling period, Jack was attending school regularly, getting good grades, and playing on the school hockey team. Velma, 11, came for counseling be- cause she felt overwhelmed with vague worries. Her counselor suggested that she separate them into three categories: “Worries I Can Do Something About,” often set. He already has formed opin- “Worries I Could Do Something About,” and “Worries I Can't Do Any- ions about himself and others and at- thing about.” As counseling proceeded, titudes toward work and school. We siould direct more of our services to Velma was able to transfer many of youngsters in their early years instead of waiting until their outlook on life has been molded.” listen, the interest to care, and the ability to help. The elementary school that usually takes more than half a counselor's time. Judy, for example, ML. Ferber cites studies which show that by the timehefinishes third grade a child has reached about 50 percent of the general achievement level he'll attain by his senior year in high school. “If we can help a boy orgirl function better in the early grades, the child will keep on doing well,” she points out. In other words, the elementary-schvol counselor tries to nip problems in the bud. A counselor's work will be different with every student, in every school, and in every community, but the basic elements of guidance counseling are fairly constant. We can call them the her anxieties from the third category to the first, and to recognize how much control she had over her own life. A counselor often makes good use of his limited time by talking to 4 group of children with similar concerns: newcomers to the school district, for instance, or under-achievers or youngsters who are always “getting into trouble.” Airing problems common to all of them in front of a sympathetic listener often helps them to formulate their own solutions. COORDINATION Part of the counselor’s job is to CO ordinate the services of other school personnel. For example, a parent may call, and say, “I don’t know what to do with my daughter. She has become completely uncooperative and doesn’t seem to have any friends in school.” |