The Construct Problem in Measuring Counseling Performance

This article describes the role of inadequate construct definition in the current problems involving measurement of counseling performance and suggests potential responses for improving measurement capability.     

The Process of Counseling: A Synthesis

There are many theories of counseling and consequently many approaches to describing the sequence of events that occur during the process of counseling. As a result, there is potential for student counselors to become confused over the process. Among the responsibilities of counselor educators is helping students reduce confusion and increase understanding of the process of counseling. This article proposes a four-stage, 16-phase synthesis to describe the process. The rationale for the synthesis includes the need to (a) increase student understanding of the process, (b) keep the number of phases within reason to increase use of the process, and (c) base the phases on client behaviors, particularly verbal behaviors, that occur during the process.     

Reconstructing Clinical Training: In Pursuit of Evidence‐Based Clinical Training

Clinical training and education are of central importance to both the specialty of counselor education and the profession of counseling. Unfortunately, counselor educators may be inadvertently contributing to the well‐known and well‐documented gap between research and practice. This reaction to S. C. Whiston and K. J. Coker (2000) discusses the research–training gap in counselor education and proposes an evidence‐based model of clinical training.     

The Evaluation of Filmed Excerpts of Rogers,Perls, and Ellis by Beginning Counselor Trainees

This study investigated the perceptions of beginning counselor trainees regarding the therapeutic effectiveness of Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and Albert Ellis. Twenty-nine students viewed three stimulus films and rated the therapeutic effectiveness of the therapists. The students were subsequently rank-ordered by their prepracticum course instructors on the basis of skill development and assigned to one of three groups (high, middle, or low.) The results of a two-way analysis of variance revealed an overall higher evaluation for Rogers as compared to either Perls or Ellis. Further analysis revealed that the top-ranked group of counselor trainees rated Perls significantly higher than the other two and that the bottom-ranked group ranked Ellis higher than Perls or Rogers. Several conclusions concerning the use of stimulus films for demonstration and training purposes in counselor education are drawn.     

Coming to Grips with Continuous Assessment

In the aftermath of the apartheid years the South African education system is being reformed and the curriculum transformed. One reason for doing so is that the old curriculum, apart from being the product of a universally discredited past, is also inappropriate for a developing economy in the 21st century. The new curriculum espouses outcomes based education. This shifts curricular emphasis from prescribed content knowledge to a learner centred, teacher facilitated, activity based style of education. Teachers must become adept at perceiving clues to a learner's thinking by observing science activities closely. The method of 'dynamic assessment' is discussed. It involves teachers eliciting clues or observing and interpreting learners' actions as a reflection of their concept development. By acting immediately when the learner is judged to be at a 'point of divergence' the teacher can pre-empt a conceptually costly meander. Teaching in this way requires confidence as well as good subject knowledge. The Primary Science Programme (PSP), where both authors are employed, is an in-service organisation. The PSP's work suggests that clear performance indicators which articulate distinctly what teachers must focus on is a powerful teaching and in-service mechanism. The new South African curriculum is discussed and shown to be demanding for teachers.     

Simulation and Instructional Objectives in Counselor Education

Simulation is a controlled representation of a real situation. An instructional program using simulation to reach instructional objectives is described. The four levels of simulation discussed are reading and listening, modeling, practice experiences and role playing, and supervised experience.