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The Girl Power Group consists of fifth-grade girls, ages 10-11. The girls have been recommended by their teachers, administrators, counselors, and parents. These students will participate in activities, discussions, and group counseling sessions to help resolve gaps in their social/emotional development and relationship-building skills. The lessons will help girls learn how to implement conflict resolutions skills, build self-confidence, and establish healthy relationships with other girls. These students will benefit from extra guidance in a small group counseling setting where goals and strategies will be discussed and practiced.

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Upon completion of this group, students will master mindset skills defined by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) related to their social-emotional wellness, self-confidence, attitude towards others, and personal thought patterns. Behaviorally, students will improve self-management skills such as ownership and accountability for their actions, treatment of others, and goal perseverance (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2021).

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Information about the Girl Power Group will be given to teachers, administrators, parents, and students to gauge interest and compatibility.

The counselor will discuss the group at a faculty meeting and let staff members know they will soon receive an email asking which students they recommend for this group.

The counselor will send flyers home with 5th-grade girls for parents to review. The form will explain the purpose, goals, rules, and expectations for the group. Parents will be instructed to respond to the counselor via phone or email if they think the Girl Power Group is a good match for their child. Flyers will also be placed in the 5th-grade girls' restrooms.

Since this will operate as a closed group, the counselor will collect suggestions and recommendations for student participation for three weeks. After this three-week window passes, interviews and screenings for the group will begin.

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Slide 4: Pre-Group Interviews and Screenings

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Slide 4: Pre-Group Interviews and Screenings

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The "TAP-in" process will be used for the screening process of this group (Morganette, 1990). This process first includes telling potential participants about the rules, goals, and expectations of the group in an individual, in-person interview.

Once the student has been informed of these policies and guidelines, the second step is for the counselor to inquire about the student's dedication and interest level in continuing with the group based on the rules and expectations of group members.

Finally, the counselor will review notes from the interviews, consider recommendations from staff members, and use personal experiences with students to pick which applicants will be the most appropriate match for the group.

Any students that are not selected for the Girl Power Group will be informed in person by the counselor. The counselor will also send emails home to parents explaining that not every student was chosen for this group. The counselor will make recommendations to students and parents for other groups or community activities that encourage empowerment and collaboration for girls as an alternative to this group.

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A consent form will be sent home for the parents/parent to sign once the minor students are chosen for the group sessions. Attached to the consent form, the counselor will have an advertisement flyer that explains the group sessions with the understanding that this is voluntary.  If the student is not a minor, they may sign the consent form.

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Stage 1: For the group members to build relationships and trust, the counselor will discuss confidentiality. First, the counselor will verbalize the importance of keeping information private and not sharing outside of the room what the group discusses during their sessions. The counselor will emphasize that if she/he believes that a child is in danger, could cause danger, or cause harm to self it must be reported to an administrator or other adult. To help build relationships the counselor can ask the students to participate in an activity where the children get to know each other before beginning the first session. An example is to sit in a circle and toss a ball from one person to another and the child answers a get to know you question. One question example is: What is your favorite sport? The group will decide and agree on their norms for the behavior expectations when interacting with other members.

Stage 2 : To keep group members working cohesively and productively the counselor must be prepared and create engaging activities for the students to discuss and complete. The counselor must attend to what is happening in the group and put forth an effort to have interpersonal interactions in order for the sessions to be productive. It is important for the counselor to have individual check-ins with each group member and inquire to see if each member is experiencing improvements.

Stage 3: For group closure, the counselor should make sure that members believe they can apply the skills and information learned from the sessions. The counselor can meet with each member privately and gauge how they are feeling about the group sessions ending. The members must be reminded of the importance to continue the confidentiality even after the end of the sessions. It is critical for the counselor to set up a post-group follow-up session about 4-6 weeks later and ask the members to share success stories. As a counselor, one can even do small check-ins between the last sessions and before the post-group follow-up session.

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As the leader of the small counseling groups, one would use the Participative Leadership style so that children would participate in quality discussions and help make decisions. As the counselor, it is essential to encourage members to feel motivated and engaged, participate, and allow students the opportunity to be creative. When the children feel that their voice is heard, they are more apt to commit to reaching their goals.
(Cherry, 2021)

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There are many aspects of Yalom's Therapeutic Factors that are applicable to the Girl Power group. The development of socializing techniques will be critical for this group to demonstrate how girls can treat others, as well as themselves, with higher regard. (Yalom ID, 1995). The factor of altruism is the sense of going out of one's way to help others, and feeling that helpful sense in oneself. A primary goal of this group is to teach girls how to be kind to each other and lift each other up, so the concept of altruism will reinforce that goal. Lastly, the Universality factor (Yalom ID, 1995) will be present in this group as the girls realize they are not alone in how they feel when they see others go through similar challenges.

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Slide 10: Legal and Ethical Requirements Part I

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Slide 10: Legal and Ethical Requirements Part I

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The ASGW Best Practice Guidelines A.7.d states that the group worker must inform all group members of the importance of confidentiality and the potential repercussions of breaking confidentiality within the group. This assists the school counselor in ensuring that all students in the group are aware of these expectations before beginning with the group This also ensures each student is held responsible for any break in confidentiality.

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Slide 11: Legal and Ethical Requirements Part II

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Slide 11: Legal and Ethical Requirements Part II

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The ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies B-SS 3 explains the expectations of providing short term counseling to small groups of students. This standard includes the right for school counselors to use student data to determine needs. It also addresses school counselors providing support for these students in times of heightened stress.

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The school counselor will decide a few rules before the first meeting. A few examples of the rules are:
1. Be respectful of each other.
2. Maintain Confidentiality
3. One person speaks at a time.

When the group begins their first session together, other rules will be established, and the group must agree upon the new rules. The Participant Guidelines/Ground Rules form will be used to add rules or delete rules. The counselor may create an anchor chart with the rules and hang it in the meeting room. Finally, the counselor should refer to the rules each time the students attend the session as a quick reminder of the expectations.

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American School Counselor Association. (2021). ASCA student standards; mindsets and behaviors for student success.
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

Cherry, K. (2021). Leadership styles and frameworks you should know. VerywellMind.
https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015). Professional school counselor's guide to planning, implementing & evaluating school-based counseling groups. https://www.missouricareereducation.org/doc/smallgroup/SmallGroupCounseling.pdf

Morganett, R. S. (1990). Skills for living: Group counseling activities for young adolescents. Chicago: Research Press.

Yalom ID. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (4th ed.). Basic Books.

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Leadership styles are classifications of how a person behaves while directing, motivating, guiding, and managing groups of people. There are many leadership styles. Some of the most widely discussed include: authoritarian (autocratic), participative (democratic), delegative (laissez-faire), transformational, transactional, and situational.

Great leaders can inspire political movements and social change. They can also motivate others to perform, create, and innovate. As you start to consider some of the people who you think of as great leaders, you can immediately see that there are often vast differences in how each person leads.

Fortunately, researchers have developed different theories and frameworks that allow us to better identify and understand these different leadership styles.

Lewin's Leadership Styles

In 1939, a group of researchers led by psychologist Kurt Lewin set out to identify different styles of leadership.﻿﻿ While further research has identified more distinct types of leadership, this early study was very influential and established three major leadership styles that have provided a springboard for more defined leadership theories.

In Lewin's study, schoolchildren were assigned to one of three groups with an authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire leader. The children were then led in an arts and crafts project while researchers observed the behavior of children in response to the different styles of leadership. The researchers found that democratic leadership tended to be the most effective at inspiring followers to perform well.

Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)

Authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. This style of leadership is strongly focused on both command by the leader and control of the followers. There is also a clear division between the leader and the members. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently, with little or no input from the rest of the group.

Researchers found that decision-making was less creative under authoritarian leadership.﻿﻿ Lewin also concluded that it is harder to move from an authoritarian style to a democratic style than vice versa. Abuse of this method is usually viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial.

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Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group. The autocratic approach can be a good one when the situation calls for rapid decisions and decisive actions. However, it tends to create dysfunctional and even hostile environments, often pitting followers against the domineering leader.

Participative Leadership (Democratic)

Lewin's study found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is typically the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other group members. In Lewin's study, children in this group were less productive than the members of the authoritarian group, but their contributions were of a higher quality.

Participative leaders encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say in the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative. Democratic leaders tend to make followers feel like they are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.

Delegative Leadership (Laissez-Faire)

Lewin found that children under delegative leadership, also known as laissez-faire leadership, were the least productive of all three groups. The children in this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation, and were unable to work independently.

Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave the decision-making up to group members. While this style can be useful in situations involving highly qualified experts, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation.

Lewin noted that laissez-faire leadership tended to result in groups that lacked direction and members who blamed each other for mistakes, refused to accept personal responsibility, made less progress, and produced less work.

Observations About Lewin's Leadership Styles

In their book, The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications, Bass and Bass note that authoritarian leadership is often presented solely in negative, often disapproving, terms. Authoritarian leaders are often described as controlling and close-minded, yet this overlooks the potential positives of stressing rules, expecting obedience, and taking responsibility.

While authoritarian leadership certainly is not the best choice for every situation, it can be effective and beneficial in cases where followers need a great deal of direction and where rules and standards must be followed to the letter. Another often overlooked benefit of the authoritarian style is the ability to maintain a sense of order.

Bass and Bass note that democratic leadership tends to be centered on the followers and is an effective approach when trying to maintain relationships with others. People who work under such leaders tend to get along well, support one another, and consult other members of the group when making decisions.

Additional Leadership Styles and Models

In addition to the three styles identified by Lewin and his colleagues, researchers have described numerous other characteristic patterns of leadership. A few of the best-known include:

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is often identified as the single most effective style. This style was first described during the late 1970s and later expanded upon by researcher Bernard M. Bass. Transformational leaders are able to motivate and inspire followers and to direct positive changes in groups.

These leaders tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate. They are not only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group members fulfill their potential.

Research shows that this style of leadership results in higher performance and more improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles. One study also found that transformational leadership led to improved well-being among group members.

Transactional Leadership

The transactional leadership style views the leader-follower relationship as a transaction. By accepting a position as a member of the group, the individual has agreed to obey the leader. In most situations, this involves the employer-employee relationship, and the transaction focuses on the follower completing required tasks in exchange for monetary compensation.

One of the main advantages of this leadership style is that it creates clearly defined roles. People know what they are required to do and what they will be receiving in exchange. This style allows leaders to offer a great deal of supervision and direction, if needed.

Group members may also be motivated to perform well to receive rewards. One of the biggest downsides is that the transactional style tends to stifle creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Situational Leadership

Situational theories of leadership stress the significant influence of the environment and the situation on leadership. Hersey and Blanchard's leadership stylesis one of the best-known situational theories. First published in 1969, this model describes four primary styles of leadership, including:

1. Telling: Telling people what to do

2. Selling: Convincing followers to buy into their ideas and messages

3. Participating: Allowing group members to take a more active role in the decision-making process

4. Delegating: Taking a hands-off approach to leadership and allowing group members to make the majority of decisions

Later, Blanchard expanded upon the original Hersey and Blanchard model to emphasize how the developmental and skill level of learners influences the style that should be used by leaders. Blanchard's SLII leadership styles model also described four different leading styles:

1. Directing: Giving orders and expecting obedience, but offering little guidance and assistance

2. Coaching: Giving lots of orders, but also lots of support

3. Supporting: Offering plenty of help, but very little direction

4. Delegating: Offering little direction or support

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It seems like there are as many different styles of leadership as there are leaders. Discover some of the most common leadership style frameworks.