Reverse Advocacy
True story and too tragic not to share...
A former coworker, who is now the Assistant Regional Superintendent somewhere in Illinois sent me an email yesterday titled "School Counselor Story."
He always has something to share that inspires growth so I was eager to read this one for sure. Here is what it said:
"Last night I ran into a young lady who was in graduate school and had a two minute conversation. She told me she planned to be a Guidance Counselor. I said, "Aren't they referred to as School Counselors now?" She sheepishly said, "Yes, but most people just know them as Guidance Counselors." I told her I had a School Counselor friend that would strangle her and she better start educating people."
He was delighted to have that opportunity to remind her to advocate for her profession, and I am grateful that he seized the opportunity. I am also grateful that the one thing he took away from our interactions was how he identifies counselors in the school setting.
Beware School Counselors in training, if you don't know how you should identify yourself, one of the last people you want to educate you on what title is appropriate is the Assistant Regional Superintendent.
Our advocacy efforts are working on those outside of our profession, but maybe we should be focusing more within our profession.
Please share your thoughts on this topic.
AMEN!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are going to lose the battle if school Counselors in training are still stuck. They need a little Erin Mason in their lives.
ReplyDeleteWell, then perhaps someone should clue in the H.R. Departments in schools across the country who continue to list job postings for "Guidance Counselors" and this includes Illinois where I reside. The Assistant Regional Superintendent in Illinois maybe should have checked into that before giving the grad student a "smack down" on how SHE should be educating others. His comments to her were handled poorly, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteJoey, I agree about the job postings, that always gets me too. This guy is a real advocate for us though & we are luck to have him out there bringing people up to speed for us.
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