School Counseling: A Tool for Shaping the Future - Essay Sample

Introduction

Guidance and counseling are critical, tools in the educational sector. It is used in transforming children from negative issues that are fed to them through the peer group. Hence, there is a requirement for a school counselor to support the child in shaping their future by consistently performing counseling therapy. The school counselor is perceived as a mentor and receives high regard from the students. Counselors undergo intense training, and some of the critical features are to be friendly to students, give a listening ear to the learners, shortcomings, and give guidance to them in their journey of moulding to assume the right track to take in their life pursuit. The design of this strategy was carried out by a team of members from various professions. As a team leader, my task involves guiding and directing the group, develop and implement timeline, and delegating tasks to members. We perform our duty by employing Tuckman's 5-Stage Model of Group Development. These stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.

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Forming Stage

This was our first stage in our meeting with the team members. Since we were new to one another, we introduce ourselves to one another, specifically by names, educational background and specialization, place of work, and the residence. We then form the ground rules, introduce what our project entails, and what to expect from individual team members. Additionally, we formulate how to apportion labor and task and how to coordinate ourselves effectively. The Challenges that we faced are setting the objectives of the team and how various members could fit into the team. We resolved these challenges by Encouraging members to embrace transparency and openness in the team goals and operations. We also motivate team members to participate in a group discussion to make them feel that they are all valued and welcome

Storming Stage

The stage involved focusing on setting the goals of the team and the goals of the project. The goals that we set for the team as members are to better the relationship, explore individual talents, finish the project on time, refine the training process, Boost work performance, and increase status. The objectives of developing school counseling project were to enhance academic achievement in schools, to enhance personal and social development, and to enhance career awareness among students. Moreover, it develops decision making and problem-solving among students, assist in getting knowledge for self and others, and modify students to be ready for the challenges in the 21st century (Nkechi Theresa, 2016).

The challenges that we encounter in this stage were the conflicts that emanate from personal styles, needs, interest, and attitudes. Others obstacles were competition and formation of smaller teams within the team. Moreover, external factors and company culture, arguments amongst team members, negative mindset and attitude about the team and the project's success were experienced. Lastly, the members displayed resisting opinions and improvements suggested by others and challenging of the authority.

We overcome the challenges by accepting the individual difference and discussing the conflicting ideas as a team. Also, we develop communication skills, particularly conflict resolution, we let the storm and monitor future conflicts, doing regular one-one one-check-ins, reviewing established norms, and requesting members to change behaviors and not personalities (Stratton, 2015).

Norming Stage

At this stage, the members were aware of their job description and worked on their goals with interest. Most team members significantly improved problem-solving and conflict resolution skills. Individuals exhibited more significant commitment and expressed their opinions accordingly. The challenges that were encountered were anxiety and uncertainty from members. The problems were overcome by avoiding controversies and stressing on caution during handling of the task.

Performing Stage

The stage was lively since the relationship and process was well-rooted. The members were united and committed to doing the task and meeting the goals. More duties were assigned. The assignments of more obligations made members more engaged and valued. Efficient facilitation and support enable us to make appropriate decisions. We developed guidance of designing a school counseling centre which outlines the aims, objectives of guidance and counseling centre in school, designing of counseling program in school, components of counseling program in school, qualification of a counselor, program development cycle, and benefits of counseling centre (Suhag, 2017).

Adjournment

Having designed the guidance of developing the school counseling project, we break up the team. The roles of each individual were terminated, and everyone moves to the upcoming project. The challenges that we faced in this stage were the difficulty of members to come to terms with breaking after they had developed excellent working relationships, and their future was uncertain.

Level of Cohesion in Our Team

Our team demonstrated a high level of cohesion. It was shown by high cooperation and unity from the members. We focused on the process of developing a school counseling project and not members of the team. Also, there was a high level of respect among team members, extreme commitment to the strategies and team decisions, openness and greater accountability, and high morale was witnessed due to increased communication among team members. Lastly, there was a high level of loyalty, friendly team environment, and members contributed equally in decision making. I strongly agree that a low-performance team is terrible because employees tend to work to satisfy themselves and not to meet organizational goals.

Level of Decision Making

We rely on group thinking in our team. It was because the team was composed of multi-skilled members from different professional fields. Each member contributed new ideas that enable successful design and completion of the project. The factors that lead to group thinking are greater understanding of the decisions, increased acceptance and commitment to the project, higher perspective and approaches, and significant knowledge and resources enhanced by the pooling of group member resources.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Thinking

Advantages

• Diversification in opinions
• A high degree of involvement
• Greater acceptability and agreement
• Expert opinions
• Encourages team building

Disadvantages

• Consumes a lot of time
• Overuse of authority
• Forming of other small groups
• Social pressure and negatively influenced the individual mindset
• There is a prioritization of ideas

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Our team applied cost-benefit analysis in arriving at its decision. We look at the cost of investment in developing school counseling project and long-term benefits. For instance, evidence suggests that school-based counseling save mental health in children which starts at childhood. Hence, reduce the burden that the families could have experienced in future. School-based counseling assists children whose mental health challenges may not have attained severe stage (Beecham et al., 2019).

References

Beecham, J., Pearce, P., Sewell, R., & Osman, S. (2019). Support and costs for students with emotional problems referred to school-based counselling: Findings from the ALIGN study. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 47(4), 460-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2018.1552777

Nkechi Theresa, E. (2016). The role of Guidance and Counselling in effective teaching and learning in schools.

Stratton, S. (2015). 5 tips to manage the storming phase of group development. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-tips-manage-storming-phase-group-development-shawn-stratton

Suhag, A. (2017). A Guideline for establishing a new guidance and counseling center in school. Journal of Scientific Research, 2, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.4281/zenodo.345735