Psychology 640 School Counseling Sample Syllabus Course Description Psychology 640 is an introductory course in school counseling. It is designed to provide a basic understanding of the school environment, the role and responsibilities of the school counselor within the school environment/community, the components of a school counseling program, the current legal and ethical issues in school counseling, and the changing nature of student populations. The format will include lecture, class discussion, role play, student presentations, guest presentations, field trips and experiences in the schools. Course Objectives: The student will be able to 1. Explain the history and rationale for counseling in the schools. 2. Describe the unique role and function of the school counselor in daily and crisis situations (includes comparing and contrasting this role with the role of other helping and school professionals). 3. Distinguish the primary functions of the school counselor according to the ASCA national Model with emphases on the practical application of each of these professional roles. 4. Name many of the issues and problems (including social, emotional, educational, and vocational needs) faced by school age youth and explain how these concerns are addressed by the school counselor. 5. Describe unique needs of diverse student populations (including exceptional students). 6. Examine and resolve pertinent legal and ethical issues as they relate to the role of the school counselor. 7. Demonstrate the planning, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of an effective school counseling program (comprehensive and developmental) verbally, in writing, and in practice. 8. Name the national, state and local professional school counseling associations and will be prompted to be a member of VCA, CVCA and VSCA. 9. Describe the role of the school counselor as a leader and change agent. Required Readings **Note: textbooks required by individual professors may differ from this list Echterling, et al., (2002). Thriving!:A Manual for Students in the Helping Professions. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Davis, T. (2005). Exploring School Counseling: Professional Practices and Perspectives. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Supplemental Readings Baker, S. B. (1996). School Counseling for the Twenty-first Century (2 nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill. Blum, D.J. (1998). The School Counselor s Book of Lists. Paramus, NJ: The Center for Applied Research in Education. Cobia, D. C., & Henderson, D. A. (2003). Handbook of School Counseling. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Gyspers, N. C. & Henderson, P. (1994). Developing and Managing Your School Guidance Program (2 nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Lee, C. C. (Ed). (1995). Counseling for Diversity: A Guide for School Counselors and Related Professionals. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Myrick, R. D. (1993). Developing Guidance & Counseling: A Practical Approach (2 nd ed.). Minneapolis: Education Media Corporation. Pederson, P. B., & Carey, J. C. (2003). Multicultural Counseling in Schools. (2 nd. ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Wittmer, J. (1993). Managing Your School Counseling Program: K-12 Developmental Strategies. Minneapolis: Education Media Corporation. Each student will be assigned to report on one of the following books: (I will provide the books) Cline, F. & Fay, J. (2006). Parenting with Love and Logic. Colorado: Pinon Press.
Faber, Adele & Mazlish, E. (1999). How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Faber, Adele & Mazlish, E. (2005). How to Talk so Teens Will Listen and Listen so Teens Will Talk. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Field, J., Kolbert, Crothers, Hughes. (2009). Understanding Girl Bullying and What to Do About It. CA: Corwin. Gilbert, Susan. (2000). A Field Guide to Boys and Girls. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Kindlon, D. & Thompson, M. (2000). Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. New York: Random House Kindlon, Dan. (2001). Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age. New York: Hyperion. Payne, Ruby K. (2005). A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Texas: aha! Process, Inc. Peacock, Gretchen & Collett, Brent. (2010). Collaborative Home/School Interventions: Evidence-Based Solutions for Emotional, Behavioral, and Academic Problems. New York: The Guilford Press Phelan, Thomas & Schonour, Sarah Jane. (2004). 1-2-3 Magic for Teachers. Glen Ellyn, Illinois: ParentMagic, Inc. Pipher, Mary (1994). Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Random House. Pipher, Mary. (1996). The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding our Families. New York: Random House. Simmons, Rachel. (2000). Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. Tyre, Peg. (2008). The Trouble with Boys. New York: Three Rivers Press. Wiseman, Rosalind. (2002). Queen Bees & Wannabes. New York: Three Rivers Press. Wiseman, R. with Rapoport, E. (2006). Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads. New York: Random House. Course Requirements 1. Your attendance and your full participation will be expected as well as integral to the class. 2. Attend a training workshop presented on Sept. 12th by the Liaison Librarian for the School of Psychology. You will learn about research databases, helpful technology resources. etc. which will be of assistance for article reviews, classroom lessons, and future research projects. 3. Attend visits to schools with the class (elementary, middle, and high). Also, prepare a two-page write-up on your impressions of the experience. 4. Read assigned articles and post a one page response for each on Blackboard. Classmates will read your posting about your impressions of the article that you have read. State two to three main points that stood out from this article, one thing you found helpful, and one question or concern that the article leaves you with. Do this for each article and read and comment on each other s responses. (Grading System: 2 = proficient, 1 = below average). You must post your responses by noon on the Monday preceding the class and you must read classmates responses before you come to class. You should be ready to discuss classmates postings. 5. Develop a classroom guidance lesson related to the course objectives. The lesson should be developed with a particular population in mind and should be developmentally appropriate and inclusive of students of diverse backgrounds. Possible topics include social skills, school transition, character counts topics, career exploration, college preparation, child abuse, separation/divorce, grief and loss, suicide, etc. The lesson should be approximately 30 minutes in length, include handouts, and incorporate both didactic and experiential components. Each student in the class should be provided with copies of your handouts. Preceding the lesson, you will provide rationale for the importance of your topic, including relevant literature, statistics, and developmental considerations. Criteria for evaluation are as follows: 2 points Rationale for lesson 2 points Organization & clarity 2 points Material presented (including appropriateness of content) 2 points Class involvement (experiential component) 2 points Quality of handouts 6. Spend at least 3 hours shadowing and volunteering in each school setting (elementary, middle and high school) for a total of 9 hours. You must write a summary of your activities and your thoughts about working in each school level. I will assist you, but you are ultimately responsible for making sure that you have placements.
7. Begin to develop your Professional School Counseling Portfolio. Guidelines will be handed out in class. You will turn in a working copy of the portfolio this semester and will continue to develop it throughout the duration of your program. If you would like, you can post your portfolio on the web as an alternative to a paper copy. 8. Present your oral and written review of the assigned book to the class. Include the following criteria: 2 points Based on the author s background do you consider his/her work credible and why or why not? 5 points What did you learn from reading this book? 3 points How might a school counselor use this author s information? 9. Read the entire Thriving book and bring 5-10 points for discussion 10. In place of a final exam, I would like you to assist a school counselor in leading a group of students through the entire group counseling process and write a summary of what you did and how you did it. A group usually meets 6-8 sessions to cover a topic and each session could be from 30 min to 1 hour. I will get a list of counselors who would like a helper for a group counseling topic. 11. Students will complete the Counseling Psychology Student Progress Review Form near the end of the semester since one of the major goals of the practicum experience is to enhance your ability to self-reflect as you offer counseling services in an applied setting. First, take some time to think about all that you have discovered, learned and experienced during this semester. Second, rate your progress and comment on your performance in each of the five areas. Finally, describe how you plan to continue your progress. The faculty members then will meet to discuss your performance this semester, complete the committee-rating portion of the form, and offer feedback to you. After the review, you and your advisor will each receive a copy of the completed form. I encourage you to meet with your advisor to discuss the results and recommendations. Your ideas, thoughts and reflections add depth and richness to this process. Course Evaluation Class school visits & written summary 10% 90-100 A Library workshop 3% 80-89 B Completion of school visit hours & written summary 21% Blackboard summary/reaction assignments (8) 16% 70-79 C Guidance Lesson Presentation 10% 60-69 D Professional School Counseling Portfolio 10% Below 60 F Thriving Questions/Discussion 5% Book Review 10% Group counseling 15% Notes: The schedule and procedures for this course are subject to change. Weekly topics and reading assignments will follow in the general order listed, although some topics may be explored for several weeks. If you have specific needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, please notify me immediately. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate your needs. Students are respectfully reminded to refer to the university policies regarding conduct of courses, including the JMU Honor Code, located in the university catalog. Policy on Adding Courses Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class schedules on e-campus.
CLASS SCHEDULE Date Topic Readings & Assignments Due on this date Class 1 Course Introduction Thriving Manual, Chapter 1 & 2 Class 2 School Counseling as a Career Davis Chapters 1 & 2 Common SC Models & Ethics Baker article review on BB by Mon. Portfolio Examples Class 3 Ethical Issues continued Davis Chapters 3 & 7 Counseling Roles Vogt, Remley and Capuzzi articles on BB by Mon. ASCA National Model The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Classroom Guidance Lessons Counseling Programs Class 4 ASCA National Model (continued) Consultation & Coordination Davis chapters 4 & 5 Non-counseling Roles Paisley and McMahon article on BB by Mon. Acadenic/Personal & Social/Career Dev. VA standards http://www.pen.k12.va.us/vdoe/studentsrvcs/guidance-cnsl.shtml Class 5 Collaboration with family/community Davis Chapters 8 & 9 Collaborating with school staff Mullis and Edwards article review on BB by Mon Class 6 Leadership Davis Chapters 10 & 11 School Violence Prevention/Crisis Dollarhide and Allen. article reviews on BB Intervention by Mon. Class 7 Supporting Students Davis Chapter 6 Multiculturalism & Sp. Ed. Vines and Williams reviews on BB by Mon. Class 8 Accountability Davis Chapter 12 & 13 Advocacy House article review on BB by Mon Thriving questions and discussion Class 9 Class 10 Student presentations of classroom guidance lessons Student presentations of classroom guidance lessons Class 11 Personal & Professional Journey Davis Chapter 14 Borders article review on BB by Mon. VCA Convention Williamsburg CVCA social Class 12 Student presentations of book reviews School shadowing/volunteering summaries due Speaker: Data Access Program Class 13 Thanksgiving Break Class 14 Child Abuse Group counseling summaries due Student presentations of book reviews Complete Student Progress Review for Counseling Dept. Class 15 Working copy of portfolio due Course evaluation Class 16 Course summary