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1Ā Ā Ā Ā Why are teachers good counsellors?
This is a very good question. What I have observed over my years working in schools is that teachers and school staff make very good counsellors due to having a number of very good innate skills. Some of the skills I have observed are:
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Being very well organised. The day-to-day running of a classroom requires great organisation skills. Teachers will plan and teach lessons, mark work, communicate with fellow staff, parents and students, work on extra curricular activities and complete ongoing staff professional development (I am sure there are things I have missed). To do all of these things you need to be well organised, which teachers are.
A good counsellor is well organised because they manage their time well, plan counselling sessions, communicate well with clients (in childrenās cases, often parents), complete ongoing professional development and genuinely care about people. The similarities in teachers and counsellors are there in the micro and macro skills.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Having the ability to think very quickly whilst on the go. When you spend some time in a classroom watching a teacher, count the number of decisions that are made in a five-minute period across a wide range of areas. The numbers are huge. As a result of this, teachers develop the ability to think fast and make decisions on the spot. It is this ability to think on their feet that I see as a vital skill in counselling.
When counselling, more often than not you are not going to know what will be said. A counsellor who is rigid in their counselling style may not suit many clients ā particularly students ā whereas a counsellor who can think fast is likely to be able to adapt their method to meet the need of the client.
Good counsellors think quickly and make decisions on the approach that best suits a client. Teachers have to do this all day and have the ability to adapt and be flexible: a key component to good counselling.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Good problem-solving skills. Teachers are constantly solving problems in a classroom on a day-to-day basis. The role of a teacher has changed so much over the last 20 years due to societal changes; this has led to teachers needing much greater problem-solving skills. When watching teachers it is easy to see this in action. Issues in junior primary such as not having a drink bottle, forgetting lunch, losing a book, not having a pencil, losing a hat, etc., happen every day. Teachers solve these issues quickly and efficiently.
As students get older the problems become more complex but fortunately teachers have the skills and, in most cases, the support networks to cope. Counsellors also work with clients in teaching them problem-solving skills. The only difference is teachers tend to solve the problems due to it being too busy in the classroom, whereas counsellors will work with clients so they learn to solve the problems themselves. An easy adjustment for teachers, provided time permits.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Good skills in teaching strategies to students that help them. Teachers teach and in doing so develop a wide range of techniques to convey information and impart skills to students. So much of counselling is in the ability to teach skills to clients that can be applied to the situation when needed. Teachers know how students learn and how to pass on information in a variety of methods.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Good role modelling behaviours. Teachers have the opportunity to role model so many behaviours and in doing so they can teach students great coping skills. By using examples from day-to-day life, teachers can show students how they cope with a variety of situations.
Case study ā role modelling
A Year 7 teacher walks into the classroom first thing in the morning and writes the following on the board ā āPlease sit quietly and read for ten minutes as I have had the worst morning possible.ā The students appear somewhat shocked, but they comply. After ten minutes, the teacher gets up, takes three deep breaths and says, āThank you for being quiet. I have had the worst morning. On my way to school I was nearly in a car accident and it has really shaken me up. Sitting quietly has allowed me to take some deep breaths, reassure myself that I am okay and settle myself down for the day.ā
What have the students learnt through this? They learn that teachers have bad moments in a day but they have strategies to cope. The students also learn that when things go wrong, sitting quietly and taking some deep breaths is a strategy that can be used to become calm.
Counsellors will also role model strategies; however, teachers get so many more opportunities as they spend such large amounts of time with students. The use of art, drama, writing, physical activity and music can be helpful in getting a student to talk and as teachers have skills in these areas, counselling for teachers can be much easier.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā A good sense of humour, which goes a long way in counselling students. Many students would question whether their maths teacher, who is always very stern, has a good sense of humour. However, having spent a lot of time over the years with teachers I can honestly say that most of them do have a good sense of humour and they can make students laugh and smile. I think one of the essences of being a good counsellor is to be able to make a client smile despite how devastating a situation may be.
Teachers read situations well and they are able to use humour to help students see the funny side of things ā that can lead to gaining perspective. A sense of humour can never be discounted in counselling and teachers do it well.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Teachers and school staff were once students themselves so they understand what it is like to be at school. All teachers went through school. They understand what it is like to be a student but also how the world has changed. Being able to reflect on experiences and use that experience to help current students is invaluable. Life experience helps and teachers, having seen many students over the years, are in a good position to read a student through their behaviour and then guide them through the school journey. You canāt buy experience.
ā¢Ā Ā Ā Ā Teachers have the ability and opportunity to build relationships with students. Through their jobs teachers have the opportunity to work with students every day. In my practice as a psychologist, this very rarely happens and more often than not it is due to a person being in a hospital setting ā but even upon release, appointments tend to be weekly. As a result of daily interactions, teachers can work with a student to build quality counselling relationships quickly.
When working with students who have anxiety, daily interactions can be a huge advantage as the teacher can receive regular feedback and work with a student to implement little changes that are working towards an agreed goal. Teachers can also be there to correct with kindness when things go wrong, provide positive reinforcement to good behaviour changes and act as a mediator to help a student communicate with other teachers, parents and peers.
It seems logical that when so many of a studentās challenges are based around school, why not have people at school who can work with the student to help them work their way through the challenges.
Finally, and most importantly, teachers and school staff care about students and it is the caring and genuine concern of a studentās well-being that leads to teachers and school staff doing the little extra things that mean so much to a student in need.
Teachers make excellent counsellors and the previous indicators are a small snapshot of how they can use their teaching skills to help students.
Having conducted counselling skills seminars over the last ten years I am always astounded by not only how quickly the teachers learn counselling skills, but also the passion they have for counselling and helping students.
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2Ā Ā Ā Ā Why we teach problem-solving skills
A big part of counselling in schools is the teaching of problem-solving skills; in this book I will provide a very straightforward and structured model for problem-solving skills counselling. However, I think it is relevant to all students, as a part of their mental health education, for teachers and school staff to teach problem-solving skills. Here are the reasons why.
1Ā Ā Ā Ā To prepare students for life after school.
Often I am asked to define what a successful education of a student is. My answer is, āa successful education is one where a student leaves school and is able to enter into a vocation of interest within their capabilitiesā. At present I am seeing students who are not at all prepared for life after school due to not having the skills to cope outside a structured, routine-based environment. A big part of this is that students do not know how to solve problems: due to never having the need, but also because they have not been taught how to.
It is evident in society today that we are seeing increased numbers of young people being diagnosed with mental health conditions; I believe some of this can be attributed to students not having the skills to cope or problem-solve outside of a school environment. By teaching a problem-solving model we can equip students for some of the challenges that they will face in life after school. A study commissioned by Mission Australia in conjunction with the Black Dog Institute in 2016 found that, of the students surveyed, one in four aged 15 to 19 years old met the criteria for having a probable serious mental illness. The top three causes were stress, school/study or depression.
2Ā Ā Ā Ā To build resilience.
The teaching of problem-solving skills directly helps students to build resilience for when things go wrong. In my practice I am meeting more and more students who simply do not have any: this is because they donāt know what to do when their day-to-day expectations of life are not met. A structured problem-solving model provides students with a process to follow, so when an event occurs they have the skills to be able to stop, think and then work through a process to solve the problem.
Teachers can also ask a student to work through the model before coming to them for further help if required. We must remember there will always be events where direct teacher help is needed but often students can work things out for themselves. The question I encourage teachers to always ask is āHow can I help you?ā This is the response to a problem question rather than giving the student the answer directly.
3Ā Ā Ā Ā To deal with helicopter parents.
In todayās society we are seeing more and more parents who completely control their childrenās lives. Some of the terms used to describe these parents are helicopter parents (hovers over a child to make sure everything is okay), lawn mower parents (clear the pathway for their child), gunship parent (more extreme version of the helicopter parent). The end outcome is this style of parenting produces children who have no problem-solving skills at all, because they have never had to solve a problem. By teaching a problem-solving skills model and providing the opportunity to use it, students learn to solve problems for themselves. The challenge is to ask the helicopter parents to stay grounded.
4Ā Ā Ā Ā To create enthusiasm for learning.
Learning how to solve problems can create an enthusiasm for learning for students, due to them knowing how to work through challenges and having the skills to tackle problems that are presented as a part of learning. Often students who are disengaged with learning can be engaged by providing them with hands on problem-solving tasks. Part of the learning for students is how to solve the problem in a structured manner.
The teaching of problem-solving is a part of counselling in schools but it is also a very good day-to-day life skill to teach all students. It assists in developing adults who have the ability to work through issues as they arise and creates solutions to help them cope. I see the building of resilience as an important component of a childās development given the challenges students are now facing as they progress through school and into adulthood. Resilience can be created by learning to solve problems.
The Mission Australia study in 2016 indicated that 25% of adolescent students will experience some form of mental illness whilst attending school. The teaching of problem-solving skills will help to reduce this figure.
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3 Counselling for teachers
Whenever I run the Basic Counselling Skills for Teachers seminar I always ask the group two questions at the start. The first is, āWhat is counselling?ā; the second is āWhat is not counselling?ā When I ask what counselling is I ask participants to focus on the behaviours of counselling, taking into account how we present ourselves, the environment and communication required to counsel effectively.
What is counselling?
Here are some of the most common responses.
Talking to students
Taking the time to sit and talk whilst also showing an interest in a student. Learning about what the studentās interests are, what school is like for them, who their friends are, etc.
Solving problems
Working with students to solve problems. This is not solving the problem for a student but working with a student to teach them the steps in solving the problems they are experiencing.
Mediating disputes
Working with two or more people to assist in solving conflicts.
Listening
Simply sitting and listening. Using active listening skills shows a student that you are really with them and you care.
Case study ā active listening
When working as a school counsellor I had a 16-year-old girl come in who was quite visibly distressed. I sat and I listened, nodding, making body gestures to show I was listening, used words such as āreallyā, ātell me moreā, āwowā, āokayā, āmy goodnessā, etc. to show I was listening.
After 45 minutes the girl stood up and said āThank you Mr Dansie, I feel so much better now.ā All I had done was sit and listen and show an active concern for the girlās well-being.
Caring
Doing the little things like saying hello in the school yard, following up on agreements and ensuring the student knows you are there for them.
Being there
Making time for students. A good counsellor knows time boundaries yet has the uncanny ability to be able to make time for students. This can be done through...
