Counselor Training Via Computer

Findings from a decade of research on using computers in counseling have suggested that the computer may be considered not only as an informational support system and an adjunct to counseling, but also that it may have applications in counselor training. This article (a) outlines the capacities and characteristics currently available in computer technology as they relate to the tasks and methods of counselor education and (b) reviews available computer system models and limitations in terms of implications for use in training efforts.     

Alcohol Awareness Counselor Training: Utilizing a DWI Program

This article describes a cooperative effort of a community agency and a counselor education program in dealing with community alcohol problems. A DWI education and awareness program and a counselor training program in alcohol problems are presented. The training program uses students at four phases of development to counsel court-referred clients. Each phase is described in terms of goals, activity, feedback focus, and expected outcome. This program provides benefits for all involved: (a) students have real-life counseling experiences, (b) the agency maintains contact and uses the resources of university programs, and (c) the university has the opportunity to respond to a current issue in the community.     

Peer Supervision: Toward More Effective Training

This article discusses peer supervision as a vehicle for increasing student responsibility for self-assessment and peer assessment, and increasing independence and interdependence among students for professional and personal growth. The article also explains a model currently in use in a master's degree program in counseling. Included are rationale, definition, implementation, evaluation, and recommendations for use.     

The foundations and assumptions of technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments

Direct instruction approaches, as well as the design processes that support them, have been criticized for failing to reflect contemporary research and theory in teaching, learning, and technology. Learning systems are needed that encourage divergent reasoning, problem solving, and critical thinking. Student-centered learning environments have been touted as a means to support such processes. With the emergence of technology, many barriers to implementing innovative alternatives may be overcome. The purposes of this paper are to review and critically analyze research and theory related to technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments and to identify their foundations and assumptions.     

The Counselor's Role in Mental Health: An Evaluation

This study was a follow-up investigation on the counselor's role in community mental health. We surveyed 170 multiservice mental health agencies to evaluate counselor job performance. We received 150 responses. In general, we noted that master's degree level counselors delivered direct care services in a competent manner. The findings also indicated that counselor education departments should consider strengthening student knowledge of psychotropic medication, psychopathology, individual assessment, and use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) (Williams, 1980). Finally, analysis of the data suggested that counselor educators should encourage students to pursue continuing education in program evaluation and budget planning.     

A Competency-Based Model for Counselor Certification

The state of Washington has recently begun several state-wide competency-based certification programs. These programs are being used to evaluate school counselors at three levels of functioning. Examples of the program used by the Southeastern Washington Counselor Consortium to certify counselors at the beginning level are presented. Required competencies, activities that help the counselor achieve proficiency in these competencies, and individual evaluation procedures are included in the program. The purpose of this competency-based program and an evaluation of counselors, programs, problems, and issues are presented.     

Elementary and Secondary School Counselor Preparation Programs: How Different are They?

There is a paucity of current information on training programs for elementary school counselors. Also, criticisms about roles and the need for specialized training for this group are contained in recent literature. This article presents the results of a national survey that focused on the differences in preparation programs for elementary and secondary school counselors. Data on specific courses and number of required courses for elementary and for secondary counselors are included.     

Performing for the Students: Teaching Identity and the Pedagogical Relationship

Teacher identity is defined in its relations, on the one hand, to curriculum and, on the other, to students: to be identified as a teacher is to be taken by the latter as a bearer of the former. In this essay I consider some variations on theorising teacher identity within these relational terms. Beginning with the educational task of cultivating student subjects within the often impersonal aims of curriculum, I reject a correspondingly personalised production of teacher identity that would humanise education through the teacher's personality. Turning instead to the idea of a teaching role defined by institutional authority, I look at two perspectives from which the teacher's identity can be theorised as a matter of performing that role. Jane Gallop's performative definition of teaching highlights the teacher as a pre-existing role but is fundamentally concerned with the teacher's self-understanding, this fails, however the relational requirements of teaching. Ultimately, bringing performativity into the context of the transferential relation between teacher and student provided by Plato's Symposium , I argue that student desire produces teacher identity in response to the teacher's performed relation to truth.