School counseling is a professional field that focuses on enabling the students to achieve their career objectives through eliminating barriers that hinder academic achievements. The profession capitalizes on supporting social and emotional development that helps towards educational and career goals and objectives. School counseling profession faced an evolution that is attributed to different trends and changes within the education sector and the political aspects of a given region. The history of the school counseling profession dates back to the late 1800s in the United States. According to Lambie and Williamson (2004), the growth of the profession resulted from the occurrence of industrial revolution, which played a significant role in the development of different concepts and ideologies regarding the profession. In the late 1800s, American society experienced significant changes that created the need to push individuals towards getting opportunities to advance their income. Additionally, it is important to note that American society experienced a significant shift from rural migration to urban migration, which resulted from the industrial revolution.
The industrial revolution in the US contributed to the development of factories in urban areas, thus creating employment opportunities. The rapid proliferation of the factories in the urban areas formed an opportunity for vocational training to ensure that more people from rural areas receive appropriate training to enable them to work in the factories. Kolbert et al. (2016) mention that the Vocational Bureau of the Civic Services was founded in 1908 by Frank Parsons, aimed at enhancing the role of vocational teachers who had adopted dual roles to serve as factory workers as well as teachers in vocational training. The founding of the bureau served as the primary aspect that enhanced the aspect of school counseling by broadening its horizon from mere training into a profession that had a significant impact on the students. During this time, the school counselors became an important part of the society as they focused on assisting students and ensuring that they instilled the socially acceptable morals in the students.
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The school counseling profession experienced evolution and development during the 20 th century, which is an aspect that resulted from changes in social and technological trends in society. Davis (2017) discuses that the federal government played a vital role in the growth of the profession considering the release of the federal funds that helped to enable the professionals to better their roles and responsibilities. American society experienced a significant increase in the number of school counselors. The increased number school counselors related to the increased opportunities in the industrial revolution. The establishment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 had an important role in the growth of the profession as it focused on enhancing the roles of the school counselors and incorporated other teaching aspects such as the need to focus on the wellbeing of the students. Since the 20 th century to the 21 st century, the profession has experienced significant growth, which has transformed different functions of the school counselors (Lambie & Williamson, 2004). Today, school counseling has become one of the professions that stands alone as an essential aspect of education. The roles of school counselors have changed from training and teaching students to impacting the behavioral, psychological, and emotional development of the students.
Development of the Profession
The school counseling profession has experienced tremendous progress and development, which associates with the support offered by different organizations in America. The professional associations in America played a central role in supporting the expansion of the profession through the provision of advocacy and easy access to different essential publications. Additionally, the professional organizations helped in the provision of a platform for professional development and training, which is an aspect that helped to ensure that the school counselors learn different ways of enhancing professionalism in their specialty. The professional organization helped in ensuring that the preparation standards implemented to support and develop the professional were successful and that the school counseling career becomes a noble and a well-known profession.
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is a certified organization that played a significant role in supporting school counseling. The professional organization for school counselors purposed on promoting professionalism and ethical standards within the profession (Wakimoto & Lewis, 2019). The role of the organization is fulfilled through the provision of different resources that help the school counselor to enhance their professionalism. The membership of the professional organization involves three main steps that are necessary for any individual that purposes to join the organization. The first step involves joining the organization through the online platform, while the second step entails making a phone call to express interest in joining the organization. The last step is printing the membership application and making the necessary payments based on the type of membership selected.
The main benefits associated with joining the organization is the provision of an opportunity to grow professionally and personally through the experience of other school counselors and the available resources. The membership cost in the organization ranges between $69 and $129, which depends on the type of membership selected. Another professional organization that plays an integral role in the development of school counseling experts is the Florida School Counselors Association (FSCA). The main objective of the organization is to center on the development of skills and knowledge of the school counselors to enhance the quality of education provided to the students. The cost of joining the organization ranges between $15 and $45, which defines the nature of benefits obtained, such as access to different resources and services.
The professional organizations mentioned focuses on the issue of accountability in the school counseling field. The level of accountability in the professional is attained through the implementation of preparation standards that are in line with the accredited programs defined for effective school counseling process. The Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Program (CACREP) has an essential role in ensuring that the programs offered in the professional meet the set standards (Mascari & Webber, 2013). The ability to ensure that the school counselors meet the required standards required for the profession is an important factor that guarantees the quality of education provided to the students. Ultimately, the aspect of accountability in the profession plays a vital role in enhancing growth and development and ensuring that the profession becomes an important asset in education.
Legislation and Government Policy
The most significant aspect to note about school counselors is the fact that they have ethical and legal obligations that hold their daily engagements in school counseling. In that case, the professionals are governed by different laws and policies. In Florida, the school counselors are governed by state policies and laws that define the mandates of the programs and the counselor that should be implemented to enhance school counseling. Wakimoto and Lewis (2019) mention that one of the state polices in Florida entails having a written guidance plan. The guidance plan contains crucial information that directs the school counselors on the implementation of the guidance programs. The guidance programs focus on ensuring that a school counselor remains honest with the students and communicate all the necessary such as opportunities that arise for the students. The main objective of the programs is to create a conducive environment for the students and the school counselors to interact effectively with any barriers.
The federal law in the state focused on enhancing the process of developing counseling programs and other key aspects such as record-keeping and confidentiality when engaging students in school counseling programs. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are some of the legislations that focus on governing different aspects that relate to the school counseling occupation. The main objective of the legislation is to ensure that the records of the funding provided by the government through the federal grants are maintained to promote accountability and to capitalize on the development of the profession. Additionally, the legislations ensure that school counselors maintain high levels of confidentiality as it is a vital aspect of the profession. The school counselors should focus on reviewing different aspects of the legislation to ensure that their actions and activities work towards meeting the stated goals and objectives.
An important aspect to note is that the state laws and government policies have slight differences with the CACREP preparation standards and the requirements of the School Counseling program. The first difference entails the application of the state laws, which apply to the programs and also to the school counselors. On the other hand, the preparation standards of CACREP are only applicable to the programs offered in school counseling. In that case, the main objectives remain to focus on the evaluation of the quality of programs provided by the school counselors. It is imperative to remember that the school counseling program capitalizes on setting requirements that should be met by the learners. However, the similarity noted within the three key players in school counseling entails the main objective of developing the profession and ensuring that the school counselors obtain the highest possible level of professionalism that is required to improve on the quality of education provided to the students.
References
Davis, T. E. (2017). School counseling. In Introduction to the counseling profession (pp. 410-432). Routledge.
Kolbert, J. B., Williams, R. L., Morgan, L. M., Crothers, L. M., & Hughes, T. L. (2016). Introduction to professional school counseling: Advocacy, leadership, and intervention . Routledge.
Lambie, G. W., & Williamson, L. L. (2004). The challenge to change from guidance counseling to professional school counseling: A historical proposition. Professional School Counseling , 124-131.
Mascari, J. B., & Webber, J. (2013). CACREP accreditation: A solution to license portability and counselor identity problems. Journal of Counseling & Development, 91 , 15–25.
Wakimoto, D. K., & Lewis, R. E. (2019). School counselors' changing perceptions of ePortfolios: From graduate students to professionals. The Internet and Higher Education , 41 , 45-50.
