Name: Mary Rose N.

Reniedo

Concept paper

The School Counseling Profession Emerges

We often hear about school counselors who work in elementary, middle, and high schools, but we don't
really understand what exactly they do and what role they play in the educational system. This lesson
will provide an overview of the history of the school counseling profession, and the evolving role of
school counselors over time - from the late 1800s to today.

School counseling as a profession first evolved in the late 1800s primarily as a response to the Industrial
Revolution and the vocational guidance movement. The vocational guidance movement was all about
preparing young people for their entry into the workforce, and so the role of school counselor evolved.
The first school counselors were primarily vocational counselors who were focused on getting students
on the path towards work. Vocational counselor responsibilities typically included:

identifying students who were failing

implementing strategies to prevent students from failing

ensuring students obtained work cards

urging students to stay in school

preparing students to work

In 1913, the National Vocational Guidance Association was established and helped to promote school
counseling as a profession. When War 1 started shortly thereafter, the psychological testing of soldiers
during World War 1 got the attention of educational professionals. It was soon noted that testing could
have positive benefits for education, and this became part of the vocational counselor's role.

School Counseling in the '20s, '30s, and '40s

In the early 1920s, the role of the school counselor started to expand beyond the traditional vocational
focus. Educational professionals started to recognize that the social and emotional needs of students
also needed attention. However, during the 1930s and the Great Depression, funding for counselors was
cut. Only in 1936, with the passage of the George-Deen Act that provided funding for counseling
services, did school counseling see additional support for services. After World War II, in the mid 1940s,
psychologist Carl Rogers influenced the field of school counseling through promotion of his 'client-
centered' approach. Rogers's theory emphasized empowering the client and encouraged counselors to
refrain from providing advice or solutions. There was a move away from psychological testing at this time
as well.

School Counseling in the '50s and '60s

In 1953, the American Personnel and Guidance Association, now known as the American School
Counseling Association, was formed. This had an impact on school counseling because it helped to
highlight and gain recognition for the profession through promotion of services. In 1958, school
counseling as a profession gained another boost by the National Defense Act passage which provided
funding for counseling services in the schools. By the 1960s, the number of school counselors hired by
schools had increased tremendously and new counseling theories that emerged in the 1960s were being
applied in the field.

School Counseling in the '70s and '80s

The growth seen in the school counseling profession in the 1950s and 1960s did not carry over into the
1970s. People in the field of education started to question the validity of the school counselor's role.
There was no defined role associated with the school counseling profession and there was question
about the contributions school counselors were making in educational settings. Many school counselor
positions were eliminated during this time. It wasn't until the late 1970s, with the emergence and
endorsement of the developmental approach to guidance, that school counseling regained support.

The emphasis placed on a developmental approach to guidance in school led to a reorganization of

school guidance programs and the role of the school counselor during the 1980s. There was an emphasis
on comprehensive school counseling services, that took away clerical responsibilities from counselors
and re-focused the role of school counselor on the social, emotional and educational development of
students. Counselors at this time also became involved in the development and implementation of
Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs for short.

Recent history

In 2002, the American School Counselor Association released the ASCA National Model framework for
school counseling programs, written by Dr. Trish Hatch and Dr. Judy Bowers, comprising some of the top
school counseling components in the field into one model.

In 2004, the ASCA Code of Ethics was substantially revised to focus on issues of equity, closing gaps, and
ensuring all students received access to a K-12 school counseling program.
The ASCA Model encourages professional school counselors to use crosswalking strategies and to create
action plans and results reports that demonstrate "how" school counselors are making a difference in
the lives of students.