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Article Excerpt
The authors outline the Goals, Functions, Roles, and Systems Model (GFRS). a school counseling-specific model for supervising school counselors-in-training (SCITs). The GFRS was created as a guide for assisting in supervising and preparing SCITs for the multifaceted tasks they will undertake in their internships and careers. The components of this model are described within the context of the systems influencing supervision of SCITs. The GFRS is detailed to illustrate how it meets the specific needs of school counseling supervision. Examples are included of the GFRS when applied in supervision.
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The ever-increasing, specialized expectations demanded of school counselors make modification of the supervision of school counselors-in-training (SCITs) essential (Nelson & Johnson, 1999). Today's SCITs will be expected to perform numerous and varied duties. Therefore, these students require a supervision model that is clear, concise, and practical, and one that provides concrete preparation regarding their professional knowledge and roles (Akos & Scarborough, 2004; Crutchfield & Borders, 1997). School counseling-specific supervision remains a neglected issue in counselor training despite empirical evidence that supervision results in school counselors' increased effectiveness and accountability, improved counseling skills and understanding of expectations, enhanced professional development, and improved job performance, confidence, and comfort (Agnew, Vaught, Getz, & Fortune, 2000; Crutchfield & Borders, 1997; Herlihy, Gray, & McCollum, 2002).
To reflect competent, judicious, holistic, and ethical training and preparation of school counselors, school counseling-specific clinical supervision is crucial (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997; Nelson & Johnson, 1999; Studer, 2005). Furthermore, the paucity of school counseling-specific supervision models supports the need to create supervision experiences that directly reflect the roles that SCITs will be expected to fulfill. Current models and theories of counseling supervision do not fully reflect the needs of SCITs as they prepare for the future roles they will perform (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997; Herlihy et al., 2002; Studer, 2005).
Current Supervision Models
Several worthy models of counseling supervision have been proposed over the past 3 decades (e.g., Bernard, 1979; Bordin, 1983; Bradley & Ladany, 2001; Holloway, 1995; Littrell, Lee-Borden, & Lorenz, 1979; Loganbill, Hardy & Delworth, 1982; Stoltenberg, 1981). Social role models (e.g., the Discrimination Model; Bernard, 1979) emphasize specific roles and functions of counseling supervisors. Developmental models of supervision (e.g., Stoltenberg, 1981; Stoltenberg & Delworth, 1987) focus on how SCITs change throughout their training and supervised experience. The Systems Approach to Supervision Model (SAS; Holloway, 1995) focuses on seven empirically derived dimensions that interact in a concentric process affecting the core factors of supervision relationships, tasks, and functions.
Clinical/mental health models of supervision, however, are inadequate for the supervision of SCITs. For example, some clinical models focus a great deal of supervision time on helping SCITs to integrate several counseling theories into consistent practice (Leddick, 1994); however, because traditional counseling theories are not directly related to all of the tasks required of school counselors, such as leadership and advocacy (American School Counselors Association [ASCA], 2003), this approach seems to be limited as a model of supervision for SCITs. Other models of supervision are designed to focus on clinical case conferences (Bernard & Goodyear, 1998); a clinical knowledge of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (see Bernard & Goodyear, 1998); marriage, family systems, and couples counseling approaches (Holloway, 1995); and counselor training for noneducational settings (Bernard, 1979). Although a few clinical supervision models contain valuable components for all counselors-in-training (i.e., Bernard, 1979; Holloway, 1995; Littrell et al., 1979), current clinical supervision models lack the school counseling-specific supervision and training elements that SCITs need. For instance, existing models do not include supervision that focuses on the diverse roles and tasks required of school counselors such as academic planning, comprehensive school counseling program implementation and evaluation, parent-teacher conferences, classroom teaching for guidance curriculum delivery, and school counseling advocacy.
Moreover, current supervision models fail to specifically address the multiple systems that have an impact on supervision in the school counseling setting. Cams and Cams (1997) suggested that schools are essentially "supra" or "mega" systems comprising many smaller subsystems. Supervision related to school counseling involves several more systems of individuals (i.e., parents, teachers, and school administrators) that must be considered during supervision. The unique interactional systems in schools that have an influence on supervision warrant a model that incorporates the distinctive features of school counseling supervision and preparation for working in a K-12 school setting, such as the necessary consultation interactions between school counselors and various individuals in the systems just mentioned.
The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) released school counseling standards in 2001 that called for SCITs to be trained and prepared to design, function within, and evaluate comprehensive school counseling programs. However, no recent...
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