Читать книгу Critical Incidents in Counselor Education - Группа авторов - Страница 52

 A.1.a. Primary Responsibility

 C.2.a. Boundaries of Competence

 F.1.a. Client Welfare

 F.4.b. Emergencies and Absences

 F.6.a. Evaluation

 F.6.b. Gatekeeping and Remediation

 F.7.i. Field Placements

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Beth was a white, middle-class, first-semester student in a master’s program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. She was taking five courses: Human Development, Counseling Theories and Models, Professional Orientation, Counseling Skills, and Research and Statistics. Her Human Development instructor, Professor Edwards, informed students that one course requirement would be a 25-hour service-learning (SL) project. This was the first time he had included SL in his course. Professor Edwards had spent the summer meeting with partners to establish SL placements in local schools and community agencies. He informed the students that the SL project was directly related to the course objective of understanding how the psychosocial development of individuals potentially enhances their cognitive development. Students were required to complete a poster describing their experience and what they learned, and they would present their posters at a special event at the end of the semester.

Beth enthusiastically approached Professor Edwards and told him she would like the SL placement at Champion Middle School (CMS) that involved helping facilitate an after-school program. Professor Edwards explained that this would be an excellent opportunity for her to gain experience working with children in a program designed to foster psychosocial development. Professor Edwards connected Beth with the school counselor at CMS, Suzie Mitchell.

Ms. Mitchell informed Beth that the primary purpose of the Success Program was to assist students in developing social competence (e.g., waiting one’s turn to join a game, decreasing inappropriate verbalizations) and related behaviors in classroom and nonclassroom settings. During program sessions, cofacilitators promoted healthy peer interactions. In addition, the Success Program was part of a larger initiative to improve the overall social climate at CMS, a school in which 70% of students came from families of low socioeconomic status. The after-school program consisted of three groups of 20 students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. A full-time CMS school counselor and one graduate student volunteer cofacilitated each group. Beth was assigned to work with Ms. Mitchell and the sixth-grade group.

Beth completed two 90-minute facilitator training sessions co-led by Ms. Mitchell and another school counselor. Beth learned that one of her primary responsibilities would be to interact with students in ways that promoted and modeled competent behaviors. She was informed she should verbally reinforce good behavior, inform students when they broke rules, avoid long conversations with individual students, and model socially competent interpersonal behaviors (Rathvon, 2008). In the training sessions, student volunteers learned and practiced fundamental skills that were essential for working with the middle school students. Some of these skills included engaging in active listening, reflecting meaning and feeling, providing praise and encouragement, and giving constructive feedback. The volunteers also learned about a variety of evidence-based games and activities to use during the program.

During the first group session, Beth cofacilitated a game in which students received coupons for exhibiting prosocial behaviors. Afterward, Ms. Mitchell praised Beth and provided some constructive feedback to promote her growth as a cofacilitator. Ms. Mitchell shared some information on the background of students in the group, including information about a 12-year-old boy, Quetzal Rodriguez, who came from a Latinx family, was of low socioeconomic status, and had recently sprayed graffiti on an outer wall of the school. The graffiti incident had resulted in his referral to the Success Program. Beth was curious about Quetzal and asked several questions about his behavior, academic performance, and personality.

The following week, Beth returned to CMS to cofacilitate another session. However, Ms. Mitchell was out sick, and Ms. Davenport, a sixth-grade teacher, co-led the session with Beth. Ms. Davenport looked to Beth to fill her in on the procedure for the session. Beth asked Ms. Davenport whether it would be OK to pull Quetzal aside for a one-on-one conversation during the group activity. She explained that she would like to work on developing rapport and providing him with individual support. Ms. Davenport did not see any harm in Beth talking privately with Quetzal, and Beth and the student had a conversation in an available office. They played a popular game called Dots and Boxes, during which Beth inquired about the graffiti incident. During their conversation, Beth asked him to tell her what had happened and his motivation for drawing graffiti on the wall. Quetzal shared that he had artistic interests in painting, creative writing, and music. Their one-on-one meeting lasted about 20 minutes before Quetzal returned to the group.

A few days later Beth again cofacilitated the group with Ms. Davenport and invited Quetzal to meet with her for a one-on-one conversation. This time the conversation lasted 30 minutes and included talk about holistic wellness and healthy eating habits. She made several recommendations based on an article she had recently read. These included choosing food brands with less sodium and sugar, engaging in mindful eating, and ensuring that fruits and vegetables made up half of one’s plate. Beth was certain that the conversation had gone well.

When Ms. Mitchell returned, Beth learned that the school had received a telephone call from Quetzal’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez were concerned about the individual counseling their son had been getting from the school counselor and the fact that he had been taken out of the beneficial group activity. Ms. Mitchell reprimanded Beth for counseling Quetzal without proper training and authorization from the school. Though Beth met the hour requirements for her SL project, Ms. Mitchell gave her a very poor evaluation of her performance.