Conducting a school-based practicum: a collaborative model

Professional School Counseling, April, 2004 by Kelly Coker, Sharee Schrader

Practicum in a school counselor education program is often designed to bridge the gap between training and practice. In many programs, however, practicum continues to be a clinically based experience with little to no connection to the school environment. In an effort to increase the focus on the specific roles and functions of school counseling, the authors created a school-based model for practicum that is both collaborative and integrative.

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Much of the school counseling literature in recent years has focused on transforming the profession (Clark & Stone, 2000; House, Martin, & Ward, 2002; Paisley, 1999). The revision of the American School Counseling Association's (ASCA) National Standards for School Counseling Programs (2003), the Education Trust's Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TSCI; n.d.), and the school reform movement (U.S. Department of Education, 2001), have all inspired changes in school counselors' roles. However, according to Paisley (1999), school counselors are not being prepared or utilized to best meet the educational needs of today's youth. In order to address these deficiencies, the Education Trust TSCI offered an innovative approach for training future school counselors and for more effectively utilizing practicing school counselors. The TSCI approach encourages counselor education programs to better prepare school counselors to become action-oriented critical thinkers (House et al.). The use of school counselors as leaders in the school environment, advocates for academic equity, consultants and collaborators, and key stakeholders in the education reform movement is stressed by the TSCI (House et al.). It stands to reason that school counselors in training who have more exposure to the actual school environment and who begin to view themselves as leaders and advocates will be better prepared for the evolving role of today's professional school counselor.

Similarly, the school reform movement (U.S. Department of Education, 2001) has paved the way for a concentrated focus on student achievement, academic equity, and academic success for all students. However, school counselors have traditionally lacked the training and the opportunity to develop skills to become part of the leadership team in the school to promote the educational development of all children (Clark & Stone, 2000). The skills of coordination, advocacy, collaboration, and evaluation are often not found in traditional counselor preparation programs in either the classroom or the practicum and internship experiences. According to Bemak (2000), graduate training programs for school counselors have maintained a similar curriculum for decades, often ignoring the changing nature of public education and the changing needs of children. Bemak also emphasized the importance for school counseling students to have opportunities to develop skills in practicing collaboration and coordination while in training; not just on the job.

Despite calls for changes in the preparation of school counselors, traditional counseling programs often fail to focus on the evolving roles and functions of today's professional school counselors. On average, school counselor preparation programs offer one to two school counseling-specific courses, with the majority of the coursework following a general counseling core curriculum (Perusse, Goodnough,& Noel, 2001). Furthermore, in many school counselor preparation programs, students' first school-based experience occurs during their internship. Approximately 32% of school counselor preparation programs surveyed by Perusse et al. required no practicum experience in a school setting. As a result, some school counseling students enter internship with minimal content knowledge and little practical experience vital to help prepare them for their role in the school setting.

MOVING FROM A CLINICAL MODEL TO AN EDUCATIONAL MODEL

A question not yet fully answered in the literature is, "What kind of practicum experience is the best preparation for internship?" In order to explore this question, we conducted an electronic survey of counselor educators. Through a national list-serve for counselor educators, we posed the following question: "For school counselors, which of the following practicum experiences is the best preparation for internship?" Three choices were given for participant responses. (a) College-based clinical setting, (b) Field-based school setting, or (c) Combination of these experiences. A total of 13 counselor educators responded to the query. Of these, 2 (15.4%) preferred the college-based clinical setting, 8 (61.5%) preferred a field-based school setting, and 3 (23.1%) preferred a combination of college-based and school settings for practicum.

Some comments from the counselor educators (N = 2) who identified a college-based clinical setting as most efficacious for school counselor preparation included, "My current practicum students report that much of their time at the school is occupied doing meaningless, errand type tasks," "Another issue is ... that my students continuously express frustration at a seeming misunderstanding from the school counselor," and "There are ethical issues with transporting tapes, questions about proper supervision on site."