Training of Support Personnel in Three Human Relations Skills: A Systematic One-Year Follow-Up

This article reports a systematic, one-year follow-up of trainees taught three human relations skills. Results support the conclusion that response-contingent behavior decreases when supervisor reinforcement is not present. The results and their implications for training support personnel and counselors via the microcounseling paradigm are discussed.     

Coached-Client Effects on Counselor Trainee Response

This study investigated whether or not coached clients modified the verbal responses of counselor trainees. The responses were judged on two dimensions: (a) interpersonal relatedness and (b) portion of total time consumed by the counselor. The subjects of the study were 58 pre-practicum graduate students in counseling at the University of Washington. The coached clients did elicit significantly different responses on both the dimensions of relatedness and speaking time. For example, aggressiveness or intrusiveness on the part of a mother client limited counselor verbalism, while aggressiveness on the part of a boy client stimulated overtalk. The counselor's social responsiveness was significantly related to his tendency to respond with reflected feeling instead of inference of diagnosis.     

Preservice Occupational Information and Vocational Guidance Curriculum: An Evaluation

This study was designed to identify the areas of strength and weakness in the occupational information and vocational guidance preservice counselor education curriculum. Interviews were conducted with 197 counselors and 21 counselor educators concerning the extent of coverage actually and ideally devoted to 22 content areas. Arranging the ratings for the 22 content areas from highest to lowest suggests a hierarchial emphasis for these topics in curriculum planning. In addition, within group and between group comparisons provide bases for discerning the types of curriculum that are seen as most advantageous by both counseling practitioners and counseling professors.     

Toward the Development of Facilitative Counselors: The Effects of Practicum Instruction and Individual Supervision

The functioning of 22 counseling and therapy practicum students on the dimensions of empathy, regard, genuineness, and concreteness was assessed over a 20-week period. Predictions of growth were made on the basis of the level of functioning of individual supervisors and practicum instructors. It was found that those students with high-level practicum instructors and high-level individual supervisors showed significant growth. The students with high-level practicum instructors and low-level individual supervisors also showed significant gains but took a longer period of time to do so. Those students with low-level practicum instructors and low-level individual supervisors showed no growth on these dimensions.     

THE PASS-FAIL GRADING OPTION AT A STATE UNIVERSITY: A FIVE SEMESTER EVALUATION1

To evaluate the pass-fail grading option, course and grade data were generated each semester. Faculty and student attitudinal data were obtained once. Because pass-fail students were not identified to instructors, all students were given traditional A-E grades. During administrative data processing, the A-E grades of pass-fail students were converted to pass or fail. In comparison with traditionally graded students in the same classes, pass-fail students received lower grades on the average. The pass-fail option proved to be popular. Students favored the pass-fail option, although their reasons for electing the option were not necessarily in accord with the official rationale, to foster exploration. Perhaps because they perceived students as abusing the option, the small faculty sample had somewhat negative attitudes toward the pass-fail system.     

Rousseau and the Education of Compassion

In this paper I examine Rousseau's strategy for teaching compassion in Book Four of Emile. In particular, I look at the three maxims on compassion that help to organise Rousseau's discussion, and the precise strategy that Emile's tutor uses to instil compassion while avoiding other passions, such as anger, fear and pride. The very idea of an education in compassion is an important one: Rousseau's discussion remains relevant, and he has correctly understood the significance of compassion for modern life. But in linking compassion to self-interest, he creates a tension between Emile's natural sentiments, including compassion, as a way of bringing him into the social order. The Buddhist and Christian views of compassion help to clarify some of the difficulties with Rousseau's account.     

Does Every Child Know They Matter? Pupils' Views of One Alternative to Exclusion

Schools are now urged to make every child matter. In this paper we present the case of the Coalfields Alternatives to Exclusion (CATE) strategy in which pupils at risk of permanent exclusion are offered the opportunity to start afresh in a new school. Without the stigma of exclusion, pupils are able to develop new relationships with peers and teachers and enhance self-esteem. We argue that this system of managed moves, despite some difficulties and challenges, offers an insight into the ways in which feelings of mattering can be translated into new behaviours and intentions. This we suggest provides pupils with a positive opportunity to resume their education and to be genuinely included in the life of their new school.