Strategies for Professional Practice

The population I will be working with is high school students, low middle class to high middle class, of different races. This potential population will definitely have a lot of potential issues. Some of the core issues that I might face as a counselor are parental lack of involvement, unmotivated students, language issues, teenage pregnancy, peer influences, self concept and community options. Even though there are many other issues that one can face as a counselor, I believe these will be the core issues that I will have to address with students because of the wide diversity of students.

As a counselor we can definitely make parent involvement a key to a successful school. As I counselor I can conduct parental meetings to get parent to help their students develop career awareness. One suggestion might be for parents to take their students to their work site, and other work site, to explore different careers. In the area of student motivation we can definitely get students motivated if we can help them find something they enjoy. My goal is to work with students to complete different inventories that can help them become aware of what they enjoy doing and what their strengths are. I can also conduct some classroom lessons that help them explore what people do for a living. One issue that I will face is the language issue. At most schools there are some type of program that supports students of native languages. As a counselor I can help these students understand that they have options for choosing a career. Many students might think that they aren’t able to continue their education because of their resident’s status. One of my goals is to get students to become aware of AB 540 and how they can pursue a higher education if they want. One of the biggest issues that continue to become a problem is with teenage pregnancy. This is one issue that as a counselor one can support by making connections between the parents and the students. As a counselor we can try to work with the parents to make them aware of this potential issue. For the students we can work with them to make them aware that their actions have consequences. In other words, my goal will be for students to become aware that they need to think before they act, and how having a child will impact their career choices. In the realm of peers, we need to work with students to become who they choose to be rather than whom their peers want them to be. This is correlated with the self concept of the students. Those students that have a more negative self concept usually want more approval from their peers. Those with a more positive self concept are able to care less about what their friend’s think about them. My goal as a counselor will be to work with students and their self concepts. This will influence the students peer interaction. Lastly, my goal as a counselor will be to build community relationships to get students to explore different careers. I can build a relationship with a nearby elementary school in order for the high school to visit and see if they would like to pursue a career in education. I can also do the same with other agencies around the neighborhood. If I am able to build some of these supports, I know that students will have a better opportunity to pursue their career choice.