2. Educational counseling center organization, facilities and

Transcription

1 2. Educational counseling center organization, facilities and equipment The organizational structure of educational counseling centers varies, with some established by boards of education and others at universities. Generally, however they include educational counselors who have direct contact with disabled children, supervisors with higher levels of expertise who guide the educational counselors, medical doctors who can conduct examinations and give advice from a medical standpoint, and office personnel who do the administrative work of the educational counseling center (Fig. 1). (1) Organization of educational counseling office 1) Educational counselor Educational counselors who work directly with disabled children and their families are the most important part of an educational counseling center. Following is a list of some of the qualities needed by educational counselors. Knowledge of disabilities Knowledge and skills to instruct children with disabilities Counseling skills Knowledge and skills related to methodology for intelligence tests and other psychological tests Skills to deal with parents

2 Information on resources available in the community Director Administrative staffs Educational counselors Supervisors Contracted physicians Fig. 1. General organization of an educational counseling center The qualification of people who work as counselors, according to their level of specialty, is generally a master s degree in education for children with disabilities, a master s degree in counseling, teaching experience in education for children with disabilities, or similar qualifications. 2) Supervisor Supervisors have a high level of specialized knowledge and skill, and deep experience in the instruction of children with disabilities. Generally, they are university faculty who work part time as supervisors. Rather than directly instructing children with disabilities, the main functions of supervisors are to advise educational counselors and provide skills guidance, as well as to counsel educational counselors themselves at times when they are unsure how to approach certain cases. Supervision is provided in the following scenarios. Private supervision for individual educational counselors Group supervision for more than one educational counselor Supervision in case study meetings

3 In addition, supervisors sometimes serve as instructors in study meetings related to their area of expertise, and play a role in raising the skill level of educational counselors. 3) Contracted physician Although educational counseling offices are not obligated to have full-time medical doctors, there are a fair number of cases that require checkups, instruction, or medical advice. It is therefore desirable to have a doctor available. Although the disabilities encountered at an educational counseling center will be related to the fields of orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology, and other specialties in addition to pediatrics, the educational counseling center has a different role than that of a hospital, and when medical treatment is needed the child is referred to a related medical institution. What is needed by a contract physician at an educational counseling center is good knowledge of illnesses and impairments that occur in childhood. It is also desirable to have an association with a child psychiatrist who is familiar with autism, learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other such conditions. 4) Administrative staff Office staff members who perform administrative duties play a key role in the educational counseling center. The main duties of administrative staff include allocation and execution of the budget, office work related to cooperation with relevant institutions and the formation of networks. Also, as will be discussed in

4 more detail later, the carry out public relations activities to make school officials and staff, as well as the general public, more aware of the educational counseling office. Another important task, depending on the status of the specific educational counseling center, is to make recommendations or proposals to local government bodies for the establishment of policy related to the education, welfare, and health administration of disabled children. The foregoing describes the human resources needed for an educational counseling center; the following will describe the necessary material resources, including facilities and equipment. (2) Reception When people want to make a request for counseling, they first need a place to contact. Generally, people contact a counseling center in one of two ways, by phone or by direct visit. For people to make phone inquiries the phone Fig. 2 Reception area number of the educational counseling center needs to be widely known among school personnel and the general community. In the case of people who visit the office in person, the reception desk for the office should be easily identifiable. One example is shown in Fig. 2. The reception desk is not only for first-time visitors, but is also used each time a person comes for ongoing counseling

5 (3) Waiting room After people have applied or presented themselves at the reception desk, they will often have some waiting time before their counseling session begins. A waiting room is therefore needed. The waiting room should be arranged so that people outside cannot easily see in. Also, to keep children from getting too bored, a good selection of comic books or animations, picture books, and other children s books should be available. It is also a good idea to have some magazines geared toward adults for the parents. Examples of waiting rooms are shown in Figs. 2-1 and 2-2. Note the partitions to prevent people from looking in, and the comics and picture books on the bookshelves. Fig.2-1 Waiting room (Waiting room is on other side of Fig. 2-2 Waiting room interior (With magazines and sofa) partition)

6 (4) Counseling rooms There are several types of counseling rooms for children and their parents. These include play rooms and teaching rooms used for guidance, examination rooms where intelligence tests and other tests are conducted, counseling rooms for parent interviews and counseling, and observation rooms with one-way mirrors through which play rooms and teaching rooms can be observed. 1) Play room, teaching room Play rooms and teaching rooms for direct interaction with children are essential in educational counseling. Rooms will be of various sizes and equipped differently according to the children s age; whether the room is for one-to-one individual instruction between child and counselor or for small group instruction with 4 6 children and several counselors; whether Fig. 3-1 Play room with trampoline learning tasks will be done; and whether motor tasks will be incorporated. Several types of play room and teaching room are described below. Fig. 3-2 Play room with desk

7 Trampolines are popular with children, and Fig. 3-1 shows a play room with a trampoline built into the floor so that Fig. 3-2 Desk children will not be hurt even if they fall. Figure 3-2 shows the same room, but with a desk placed near one wall. In this Fig. 4-1 Ball pool room children can play (exercise) on the trampoline and also do learning tasks using the desk. Teaching programs are generally prepared that combine motor tasks and study tasks, depending on a child s attention level and concentration. The play room shown in Fig. 4-1 is geared toward young children. In one corner there is a ball pool, which young children usually enjoy. There is also a small trampoline for use by young children. Fig. 4-2 Shelves for toys and educational material Toys and educational materials for young children are placed next to one wall (Fig. 4-2). A play room such as this one is useful in helping children become accustomed to play rooms, and its free design allows for instruction that utilizes a child s spontaneity. Conversely, the many fun things in the room may at times distract children s attention. In such cases, it is useful to place a partition so that they cannot see the play equipment, or move to a small teaching room with less play equipment to keep the children from being distracted

8 Figure 5-1 shows a larger playroom that is big enough for small group instruction. It has a whiteboard and piano. There is no special play equipment, but such equipment or teaching materials can be brought in from the storeroom as needed. Fig. 5-1 Teaching room for small group lessons Partitions can also be arranged to divide the room, as in Fig. 5-2, so that the children can be separated into groups for learning tasks. Figure 6 shows a teaching room that allows for small group instruction. It is a large room equipped with a large trampoline and a stage-like platform Fig. 5-2 Teaching room for small group instruction (using partition) with a small slide attached. In contrast, Fig. 7 shows a teaching room with no educational materials and no play equipment. With this kind of room educational materials, play equipment, desks, chairs and other things are brought in as needed for instruction. Fig. 6 Teaching room with stage-like platform

9 For restless children and others who have difficulty maintaining attention, such a room can be convenient in that it allows free arrangement of the environment. Seen in the upper right is a remote-controlled video camera that is used to observe and record the situation Fig. 7 Teaching room with no play equipment while instruction is being given. On the right wall is a one-way mirror for observation by parents or other educational counselors, who can talk as they observe the situation in the room. 2) Examination rooms In addition to play rooms and teaching Fig. 8 Examination room rooms for instruction, examination rooms where the children can take intelligence tests and other psychological examinations are also needed. To avoid distracting the children, no play equipment or educational materials are placed in the examination rooms. Since some children are drawn to the view outside if there is a window, curtains or blinds on the windows are also a good idea. Desks and chairs should also be suited to the height of the child being tested (Fig. 8). This kind of examination room can also be used mainly as a private study room when learning tasks are given

10 3) Counseling rooms Counseling rooms in which to conduct interviews and counseling sessions for mothers or parents, middle school students, or high school students are also needed. General study desks and chairs may be fine for sessions with Fig. 9 Counseling room students, but for sessions with parents a room with a sofa set to create a calm atmosphere may make it easier for them to talk. Such interviews may touch on things that are intensely private, so voices should not be able to be heard from outside room. The curtains to the observation room may also be shut as needed. Figure 9 shows an example of a counseling room for adults, which has comfortable chairs and a table. 4) Observation rooms An observation room enables observation of a play room or teaching room when instruction is being, and has the advantage that the educational counselor assigned to a mother can interview the mother while they watch the instruction in the room. An observation Fig. 10 An observation room with video recording equipment

11 room is not absolutely essential, but being able to observe the situation when instruction is being given is beneficial not only in sessions with parents but also for training of educational counselors. Figure 10 shows the observation room adjacent to the large teaching room shown in Fig In addition to allowing observation of what is going on in the teaching room, a video recording can be made through a remote-controlled video camera installed on the ceiling of the teaching room. This makes it possible, when studying counseling methods, to examine the video of the instruction session in detail after the session is over. Of course the consent of the parents and child is necessary when making a video recording, and use of the video other than for the intended purpose is strictly forbidden. When an observation room allows observers to look inside a counseling room or examination room, it is also desirable to have curtains or blinds on the observation room side, so that the view may be cut off as needed. The foregoing describes the various rooms that are used for instruction and conducting interviews, but this does not mean that educational counseling is impossible unless all the various rooms above are set up just as described. Any kind of building can be used for educational counseling if there is at least a room in which to instruct children and a waiting room for parents

12 (5) Recording sheet When conducting educational counseling, it will be necessary to have record sheets that include various items: who, when, the kind of complaint for which was counseling requested, which counselor, when counseling started, the kind of instruction and counseling sessions provided, the format, the time counseling ended, and other items. A counseling record sheet that is in actual use is included at the end of this paper as a reference. This is just one example, however, and the format of a record sheet should be arranged to meet the needs of the respective educational counseling center. 1) Initial Request form The initial request form is used to record the response of the educational counselor when there is a request for educational counseling by phone or visit. Attachment 1 is an educational counseling reception sheet, on which the following information is recorded. Date of initial request Reception number (serial number and reference number are shown, so that they correspond to the records for the subsequent intake interview and ongoing consultation records) Person receiving request Request method (telephone, visit, other) Name of person making request and relationship (mother, etc.) to person for

13 whom request is being made Name, sex, school year, and age of person who will receive educational counseling Address and contact telephone number Concern (matter for consultation) Client s introduction to counseling (person, institution, etc. that made referral to education counseling center) Time and date of intake interview (conducted at the educational counseling center using this initial request form. The person making the request is informed at the time the request is made of the time and date of the intake interview (initial interview)) 2) Educational Counseling Request form This form is completed by the parent and the person receiving counseling themselves. For people who apply in person, it is filled out at the time the application is made; for people who apply by phone, it is filled out at the time of the intake interview (Attachment 2). 3) Intake Interview Record This form is used at the time of the initial intake interview. As shall be described in greater detail below, at the intake interview it is necessary to obtain information needed for a decision as to whether the case should be ntaked at the educational counseling center, or whether it would be better to refer it to another institution. If it is decided that it should be intaked, the information will also have

14 to be organized so that it will be helpful to the counselor who is put in charge of the case. The following information is written on the Intake Interview Record (provided as attachment 3) either during or after the interview. File number (this is number given to each case, which is needed for filing the records. The file numbers for the record sheets are given in order for the academic year. For example, the 90th case for the 2005 academic year would be given the file number ) Name, age, sex, and school year of person receiving educational counseling Date of initial request Time and date of intake interview Name of person who came to office for intake interview, and name of educational counselor who conducted intake interview Date of intake conference (an intake conference is held at a later date to decide whether the case should be intaked, based on the information obtained in the intake interview) Name of educational counselor in charge of ongoing counseling (determined at the intake conference) Main concern (main matter for which consultation is desired) History of problem (background for matters related to main concern) Family structure and attitude (not only family structure, but also family s attitude toward focused child and thinking with regard to main concern) Summary of early developmental history Conditions for visiting counseling center (confirm times and days that the

15 child and parent can come to the counseling center) Notes (write down motivation for coming to the educational counseling center, person or organization that referred client, etc.) 4) Ongoing Counseling Record After a case has been intaked, the counseling continues and a record is made of each counseling session (attachment 4). Instruction program charts, works made by the child during counseling, exercise sheets incorporated in study tasks, and results of tests conducted may be attached as needed. 5) Counseling Progress Chart A counseling progress chart is placed as the first page in the case file that holds the above record sheets. The session number, date, client, and contents of each counseling session are recorded on this chart, so that the counseling progress can be grasped at a glance. 6) Case Filing Sheet One of these sheets is filled out for each case at the time of the intake interview. Basic case information (name, date, address, counseling content, etc.) is written on this sheet, together with the date of the intake interview and the date that counseling was concluded. The Case Filing Sheets are filed in order in a dedicated filing cabinet. This Case Filing Sheet may be referred to in the event that counseling is again requested after once being concluded, or a referral must be made for some reason. The actual case records kept in the case file can also

16 be found from the file number. 7) Case file A case file holding the various record sheets for each case is needed. Similar to the Case Filing Sheet, the case file is strictly maintained in a storage cabinet. (6) Miscellaneous 1) Staff office Fig. 11 Staff office A room is needed for educational counselors and office administrative staff. Figure 11 illustrates the situation in an educational counseling center with 6 counselors and 2 administrative workers. The room contains a desk for each person, and cabinets to store case files. 2) Telephone counseling In addition to counseling conducted when the client visits the educational counseling center in person, counseling can also be done by telephone. In most educational counseling centers, regular counselors are also in charge of counseling over the phone. In some offices, however, full-time telephone counselors are appointed. This demonstrates the point that telephone counseling requires skills different than those for face-to-face counseling

17 3) Conference room A conference room is also needed where counselors can hold intake conferences, case conferences, or provide supervision. This room is similar to a general meeting room. 4) Storeroom for play equipment and educational materials If the center has accumulated play equipment and educational materials suited to various ages and disabilities, there will be a large amount and variety of things needing to be stored. This will require a storage room. Figure 12 shows the interior of a storeroom for play equipment and educational materials. The Fig. 12 Storeroom for play equipment and educational materials counselors can select the things they want and take with them to the play room, or in some cases have the child him- or herself select the things he or she likes. 5) Publicity In order for people to use the educational counseling center, its location and purpose need to be widely known among school faculty and the general population. Each counseling center therefore needs to publicize itself, such as by preparing an introductory pamphlet and distributing it to all schools, and putting information in community public relations magazines

18 6) Confidentiality and informed consent The things that are said during educational counseling include matters related to client privacy. Counselors are obligated to maintain client confidentiality, and not relate to others information obtained in their work. Maintaining confidentiality is essential if educational counseling is to continue. In addition, when tests are to be conducted the counselor must explain the need for the test to the parents in a way that is easy for them to understand, and perform the test only after obtaining the parent s consent (informed consent). Test results should also be explained to parents. 7) Storage cabinet for records Records must be strictly maintained. These documents contain much personal information on clients, which should not under any circumstances be revealed outside. Therefore, a dedicated filing cabinet is needed to store records, with access to the cabinets strictly limited to people involved in the educational counseling