Sharing our Role as Counselors with our School Community

“What do you actually do all day?” “When we have curriculum meetings, what will you be doing?” “It must be nice to not have a ‘duty’!” “I didn’t know there was a counselor here!”

These are just a few of many possible statements I am sure many of us have heard within our role as professional school counselors. There is no doubt in my mind that we all value our role in the school and know it is imperative to the success of our students. While preparing the details of our yearly counseling programs, we must be intentional about how we can make our role visible, clear, and accessible to our school community. It is also important to remember that with each new school year comes new families, students, and colleagues- all who need to know who we are and how we can support them!

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Impact of School Counseling webpage shares many research and data-based studies that support the role of the school counselor. These resources share in detail why school counselors are an integral part of the school community and imperative to the academic and behavioral success of students. While the ASCA resources are based on statistics and studies in the United States, the information gathered can be transferable across all populations, as all students have a need for academic and social/emotional support. Part of our role as counselors is not only to advocate for our students, but to also share with our communities what we do and why our role is important. At the start of the year, find a way to share and discuss your role and its importance with others. It is safe to assume that there is almost always someone in your building that is unsure of what exactly you do. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

Sharing with Administrators:

• Set up a pre-year meeting to share out your Comprehensive, Developmental School Counseling Program Plan for the year. This meeting will allow you to share the ins and outs of your day to day life as a counselor, as well as your vision and goals. It will hopefully also allow for time to align your vision and goals with those of your administrators so you can work cohesively throughout the year. You can use ISCA Annual Agreement templates to help as a baseline for your planning and meeting, see below.
• If you create year-end data reports of any kind, provide this “snapshot” with your administrators to show where your time was spent last year, what the needs were, and how you plan to use this in your planning for the year ahead. Administrators love data- this also helps solidify and share the value of our role, and gives you a moment to celebrate your successes, too!

Here are some resources to help with your conversations with administrators:

• Recommended and not recommended activities for School Counselors
• ISCA Annual Agreement
• International Model Resource page includes links to resources
• School Administrators’ Guide to Supporting School Counselors

Sharing with Teachers and Colleagues:

• Give a presentation during “Back to School Week” for teachers that shares about your role, and include others that may be a part of your student support services team (i.e., Learning Support Specialists, ELL Teachers, School Psychologists, etc.). Take a moment to share where your time is spent during the day by presenting a brief snapshot of what a potential day could look like for you, being sure to share that no day is predictable or ever the same! Be sure to also share how you plan to consult and collaborate with your colleagues during the year (emails, newsletters, in-person or Zoom meetings, etc.), and how they can reach you when needed.