This is the completed discussions for Module 1
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Task 3:
As per module:
"Now it's time to introduce yourself to your classmates and your course instructor. As we learn about 'Guidance and Career Education', we also can learn from one another so this is your opportunity to share your experience, why you are taking the course and what you hope to learn from the course. Post your introduction on the Discussion Board by clicking on the Discussion Board link in your left-hand menu and then clicking on the Module 1 Introduction link. You can type right in the box on the screen or copy and paste your response into the box.
If you feel comfortable, please include any or all of the following:
A bit about you - family, pets, hobbies, interests
The school, board, level (P, J, I, S, Adult &/or Alternative) and if applicable disciplines (this helps the instructor understand your point of reference), and years teaching
Your Personality Type from Task #2
Why you are taking this course/What you hope to get out of this course
Any other information you wish to include.
* Please note that when entering your content on the Discussion Board, you should save a copy of it as there are times when your screen could sit idle too long and your session will timeout and you would then lose everything you typed."
As per discussion,
"Greetings,
My name is Carmelo Bono, I am an English/HPE/Socials Teacher with a great deal of exprience overseas in Canadian Offshore Schools. I have been teaching for nearly 10 years and look forward new learning/work experiences. I have taught careers more than a few times to know I should probably get a qualification for it so that the experience is a little more well documented. My wife is currently our guidance counsellor at our school, however the role is a little different than what we have in Canada as this role goes through the local-based team's graduation department first and foremost.
In my experience I have coordinated a many opportunities for students to learn about academic opportunities and prepared students for their time overseas through "Graduation Transition interviews" as introduced through the BC Curriculum back in 2015-2017.
I completed the 16 personalities test to learn that I am a Campaigner, this soudns accurate, I still struggle with the idea of the extravert characteristic. I honestly feel a great deal of anxiety (after reverting back to regular daily life) when it comes to socializing, I am self-conscious about meet-ups after meeting-up, at the time of meeting, I don't care, but after I tend to reflect or over-think a bit much and in turn makes me second guess if I would head back out again. There are folks around me who I really "don't care about how I act in front of them, and what I say-kind of, those are the best types of meet-ups for me, where there are seetings to help loosen up a bit", which are fewer and far between after my wife and I had our son and then COVID-19. Life won't ever be the same, but hey, its life, it changes.
Looking forward to getting to know you and hear back from ya at some point :) Cheers!"
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Task 3
As per module, "The Ontario School Counsellors' Association, known also as OSCA, provides leadership and support resources for Guidance Counsellors. Visit the OSCA website for this task.
For this task, our class has been divided into 2 groups. Group 1 (Surnames A - L) will answer question 1 on the discussion board, while group 2 (Surnames M - Z) will answer question 2. You are welcome to read the postings in both groups, but please limit your responses to your own group.
Read the ‘Welcome to OSCA’ site and scan through the resources and information shared on the site. Choose one resource link from the OSCA website that you believe would be helpful to yourself as a Guidance Counsellor. On the Discussion Board, share what you chose and why it would be relevant/beneficial to Guidance Counsellors.
In 2018, People for Education published a report entitled "The Expanding Role of Guidance Counsellors". As the needs of students change so does the role of the Guidance Teacher/Counsellor. Whether you are interested in guiding students in elementary or secondary, this article gives and overview of the role of guidance. After reviewing the article, respond to the following question on the Discussion Board: What do you think is one of the challenges facing education/educators/students today? Respond to this post on the discussion board under the 'Expanding Role of Guidance Counsellors' thread.
Link to the Article - The Expanding Role of Guidance Counsellors
If you have not already reviewed the Discussion Board Rubric, we recommend you do so as this is your first formal discussion post."
As per discussion,
"I checked out the OSCA website and explored a bit, lots of good resources to support teachers and students, one that I found interesting was CPPA webinars, (found here: https://osca.ca/cppa-webinars/). These are all webinars that seem to be based on MOOC's available through Coursera and other post-secondary education providers. I choose this because it seems like it draws an emphasis on the key idea that was shared in the provided article. I find psychology and the idea of influencing behaviour to be interesting from an observational perspective, but to be a positive influence on a student is extremely meaningful and great, I really look forward to opportunities to employ these kinds of learnings in my career.
One of the challenges I see education facing in the twenty-first century (post-covid), after reading come down the compounded needs of recouperation that schools are expected to achieve. This goes across the literal board and scope of the school. In the article, "mental health" has been focused on as a specific area wherein guidance counsellors are expected to respond to students who demonstrate need for support regarding mental health issues. Granted there is an exxtremely fine line between guidance counsellor and student support, as someone who has been in a department without a guidance counsellor the role includes mental health support because for some students their academic pressures are immense. That being said there are students who do need the guidance counsellor to advocate on their behalf with regards to course changes and collaboaration with the teacher to ensure that students are meeting their academic achievements.
It is interesting to hear that there is a lack of guidance teachers employed by the province in relation to numbers, it is even more interesting to see the numbers in toronto stifling, I would be curious what sorts of mental health issues are being sought out to be supported by guidance counsellors because to a degree, there are mental health supports that a guidance counsellor cannot legally provide.
The role of the guidance counsellor has always been an interesting one, being viewed as a mix between an administrative role and a classroom teacher, I looking forward to learn more about what this entails. From my experience here teaching in China, the role is predominantly spent on student support through the management of tutorials in the department as well as the initiation of student graduation transitions (at the high school-level). Our school suffers a lot in regards to student support because of the lack of mental health support resources available, teachers, principal, administrative staff as a whole work together and collaborate in a less-formally organized 'school-based' team.
In a previous experience we had a resource room similar to the idea of a sensory-neutral environment wherein teachers would support their students there as needed and there was a teacher who was specifically tending to the students who were scheduled for time in there. Often times students would 'drop-in' to check-in with teachers there or seek support as needed, but the role was not favoured by the school's execute administration (business-side), as it was a costly endeavour and they didn't feel they were seeing results that supported its continued use. I believe it does still exist but has long since become more of a study room that teachers are scheduled into after school as a part of tutorial duties, so the original ideal didn't stick, unfortuantely."
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As per module, "In the previous task you explored the website of the Ontario School Counsellors' Association (OSCA). For this last task in Module 1, you will explore a resource published by the Association for Guidance Counsellors, called 'Ethical Guidelines for Ontario School Counsellors'.
If you have not already purchased the document, please visit the OSCA website to complete your purchase. (Or join OSCA for $50 and get access to the document (and many others) for free)
Ethical Guidelines for Ontario School Counsellors
Decisions we make as teachers, and more specifically as Guidance Counsellors, are often ethical in nature. We will be referring to the 'Ethical Guidelines' throughout this course. The document begins by discussing professional competence and conduct.
Consider the following statement;
"A counsellor contends that they are capable of effective Guidance work on the basis of their training and continuing to keep up-to-date with their reading. They neither belong to the Ontario School Counsellors’ Association nor participate in any of their conferences or training initiatives. They do not belong to any other national, provincial or local professional counselling organization."
Before reviewing the Guidelines, what is your initial reaction to the statement? Would you deem it an acceptable response for a Guidance Counsellor?
Read the Guidelines up until the end of the Introduction (to the end of page 5 (2022 version)) to see if the 'Guidelines' deem it acceptable or not acceptable. Continue reading through the Professional Competence and Conduct section (to the end of page 13 of the 2022 version). Within this content, there are implications for the Counsellor with respect to legal and ethical responsibilities.
This Journal Entry is for your own personal reflection only - Do Not Submit
After reading pages 6 - 13 is there a specific individual case (acceptable or unacceptable) that stands out to you?
What made it important, or enlightening, or disturbing to you as a future Guidance Counsellor or teacher in a guidance role?
Did you encounter anything you disagreed with or was it all common sense?
Do you think reviewing the different scenarios and information presented in the OSCA Guidelines will benefit you in your role as a Guidance Counsellor? "
As per discussion,
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