-
Counsellor also has a very core role to play in overall school development. They are not just a part-time worker, they are also part of school stakeholders. The counsellor has many responsibilities at school—
-
They conduct individual and group counselling sessions to
advise and assist students with academic and life skills development.
-
They conduct
student SWOT analysis. Evaluate students' attributes and assist
them in realizing their objectives.
-
The
counsellors also develop and implement counselling strategies with contemporary
methods of mentoring/guiding.
-
They also
deal with student mental health issues.
- They also deal with challenges such as stress, bullying, suicidal tendencies, gender issues etc.
How do counsellors engage with children at school:
When we interviewed one of the counsellors in our study, she said that for counsellors engaging children in regular classes is very helpful. Generally, counsellors teach life skills from class 1 to 10th which helps them to see and understand children in their natural environment. They get the opportunity to interact with children in the class. When counsellor teaches at the class, the children do not feel counsellor as alien and someone outsider. And students do not see a counsellor in isolation, because the counsellor is a part of other staff in the school. During these life skills sessions, the counsellors through group interaction can identify the children who need the counsellor’s support.
The other advantage of interacting with children is that the children think that counsellors are also like one of their teacher at school. Sometimes it might happen that, the children might think counsellor as someone who works only with mentally ill and depressed people. If this assumption is built in the children, then the counsellors cannot build bonding with children, and the role of counsellor will not be beneficial. In addition, the counsellors take a round of the school every morning to observe children in the campus. This will help to observe the general behaviour of the children in school.
School counsellors collaborate with below:
 |
| Click for Source |
What do teachers feel about the counsellors:
During our study we interviewed a few teachers, we found that teachers have their own perception and expectation about the counsellor.
- One teacher responded that children are sent to school not to be counselled, it is a responsibility of parents.
-
Other teacher said, she has
not felt the need of a counsellor, it is the duty of the teacher, she can do the
job better, and she does not want principals and counsellors to interfere in her
class. If a teacher is not able to do it, then its teacher’s weakness. She
added that a counsellor cannot observe the child every time, whereas a teacher
can observe a child most of the times. Teachers should be autonomous to do
their work as per the situation. Let the counsellor guide and train them.
We did another subsequent study after this, in that we found that there is a concept in the Singapore education system where teachers are trained to be counsellors. This will be discussed by us in our further publications.
This is part of Children's mental health and wellbeing series brought to you by Credence Learning Foundation. This article is taken from a study submitted as course work at Azim Premji University.
