Robert Bardwell: School counselor touts 'reinvented' profession

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

For those of you who are regular readers of my column, you will notice that this month I am taking a bit of a different approach, one that is very personal. Usually I try to pick a topic about education, present a balanced argument and give the reader something to think about.

With this column, however, I need to take a different approach because this is National School Counseling Week. I feel the need to do this for a couple of reasons:

Most importantly, I am proud of what I do and the work that I and my fellow school counselors do on a daily basis to help students work through the issues and challenges that they face in both school and their personal lives. In other words, if I don't take this opportunity to celebrate the profession and bring attention to school counselors, who will?

In addition, I feel the need to focus on a personal level because for the first time in many years, school counselors are beginning to formally educate policy makers and others about what we do by organizing a formal professional development experience on Beacon Hill in Boston. The Massachusetts School Counselors Association, in conjunction with 13 other state, regional and national organizations, ranging from college admission to school administrators to parent and teacher organizations, have come together in support of this event.

While some may see this event as self-serving, I prefer to view it as an opportunity for the students of the commonwealth. The core of the school counseling profession is to advocate for our students with teachers, administrators, parents, college admission personnel - whoever we need to reach out to in order for our students to benefit. This event is to advocate and educate policy makers who may have little or no understanding of what we do or just how important we are to the school climate and culture.

If school counselors don't do a better job helping policy makers understand what we do, then there is a lost opportunity to help our students. Furthermore, for many who are not educated about the role of the present-day school counselor, they may have an image of their own guidance counselor who was not all that helpful and perhaps left a bad taste about the effectiveness of the school counseling profession. I am constantly hearing things like, "I never saw my counselor unless I went to see her," or "My counselor told me I would never get into college."

Unfortunately, these negative views haunt us to this day. Many folks had no use for a school counselor back then and feel the same way today. So when budgets get tight and layoffs must happen, school counselors may be the first to go.

So today we take our case to Beacon Hill. I have no idea how many people will show up. Thousands have been invited. Speakers will talk about the critical role we play in schools today, how we make an impact on student achievement and how we give students the skills to cope in our complex world. We will hear from administrators, parents and students who value what we do and think we are an essential part of the services a school must provide, right up there with teaching reading and mathematics.

Assuming you won't be there yourself, all I can ask of you is to give my profession a second look and not think of me in the past sense. The profession has been reinvented - school counselors provide a whole different set of skills and services to our schools and our students. I am in the classroom helping to teach students skills about decision-making, career-planning and getting along with others. I am collecting, analyzing and interpreting data to ensure my students are achieving the things they need for success. I am collaborating with teachers and administrators about best practices and methods to eliminate the achievement gap or raise MCAS scores.

The bottom line is, the school counselor of today is not the guidance counselor of yesterday. We are much more, a better and improved model.

So let's celebrate National School Counseling Week and, if you have a chance, let your school counselor know just how much you appreciate what they have done, even if you don't have a child in school. Chances are, you or someone whom you care about wouldn't be where they are today without the help of a school counselor. It's a great profession and I am proud of what I do for my students, my school and my community.

Robert Bardwell is a school counselor and director of student support services for the Monson Public Schools. He is the secondary level vice president of the American School Counselor Association and president of the New England Association for College Admission Counseling. His column appears monthly during the school year.