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Studious Students Squad:

A counseling group aimed at equipping 8th graders labeled as “at-risk” with study skills to improve academic performance.

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Small Group Action Plan - Keating, Emily M.

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ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors

M 4 Self confidence in the ability to succeed
B-LS 3 Time-management, organizational and study skills
B-SMS 7 Effective coping skills

Participants will develop several ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors, including a sense of self-confidence in ability to succeed academically. Also, they will hone their time management skills and organizational and study skills. In an effort to mitigate academic stress, participants will explore strategies for effective coping.

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Notify All:
To inform the school of the small group counseling, the counselors will include pertinent information within the weekly newsletter that will be sent to all staff and parents of the campus.

Notify Specific Parents:

In addition to notifying parents of the small group within the weekly newsletter, the counselors will also send emails to parents of students who are "at-risk" and currently failing two or more classes by the fourth week of school.

Notify Staff:
Since staff are usually inundated with emails, the counselors will briefly introduce the counseling groups and how it may affect their schedule as sessions progress.

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Slide 4: Pre-Group Interview / Screening

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Slide 4: Pre-Group Interview / Screening

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Inform Participant:
Students will be introduced to the idea of group counseling sessions targeting study skills through a quick survey that students will be sent via a Google form. They will fill this out during their homeroom time.

Assess Participants
Participants will be chosen based on the amount of interest and "at-risk" categorization within a Google form survey. The survey will include information about the group sessions and ask for their initial willingness to participate, interest, and readiness on a scale from one to five, with five being the most willing/interested/ready and one being the least willing/interested/ready. Based on the survey data, the counselors can utilize this data to assess the most intrigued and "at-risk" participants quantitatively.

Screen Participants:
The counselors will conduct pre-screening interviews with groups of participants that quantitatively align with the goals of the group sessions. The pre-screening interviews aim to help the counselors determine the most well-fitting participants. Interviews will utilize the "Tap-in" method for screening candidates. First, the interviewer will more thoroughly inform the candidate of the counseling group sessions. After asking similar questions of interest as the survey, the counselor should have a more solid opinion of appropriate candidates for the counseling process. Screening in groups can inform the interviewer of group dynamics and behaviors of potential participants.

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Informed Consent:

Informed consent is a key component of the provision of group counseling services. Once a student has been identified as being appropriate for counseling, he or she will be provided an informed consent form to bring home for their parent(s) or guardian(s) to review and sign. These forms will include information about the counseling that is to be provided, the goals of counseling, and the risks and benefits of counseling. Students will then bring this form back to the counselor so that it was be securely stored on file.

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Ground Rules:
This resource will be used prior to each counseling session. Prior to the initial session, this will be reviewed in detail and certain "ground rules" will be established with the goal of having the entire group in agreement. The resource will help each group member to better characterize what each ground rule means to them individually. Basic rules of respect among the group (eg, one person speaks at a time, no put-downs, etc.) will be predetermined. The group will brainstorm additional rules (eg, the length of time we will meet, specific activities that will be engaged in, etc.)

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Group Dynamics:

Stage 1:
As the counselor, I plan to build relationships between group members and myself by introducing myself to the group and building connections with the students. Psychological safety and connections are vital in building trust with the students in each group session, especially the first meeting. I plan on having each student briefly introduce themselves in order to feel a bit more comfortable and acquainted with interacting with others in the group. We will set explicit expectations and norms as a group. I will continue to reinforce and model those norms throughout the sessions. We can keep a written copy of these norms to review at the start of each session. I will also discuss the importance of confidentiality, and their responsibility as a contributing group member.

Stage 2:
The expectation is that group members are contributing to each session. As the counselor, I will facilitate and encourage conversations amongst group members. In order to ensure progression towards our learning outcomes, we will state them at the start of each session. I plan on checking-in with each group member by sending out concise surveys to gauge the individual progress. If group members do not fill in the check-in surveys, I will bring them into my office to discuss their growth.

Stage 3:
In closing the group counseling sessions, we will review the importance of confidentiality and utilizing the skills they've learned throughout the sessions. I plan on sending a group closure survey to help determine the feelings of group members. Lastly, I will schedule a follow-up sessions around a month after the final meeting. In this follow-up session, we will discuss lasting impact and successes.

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Leadership Style:

I would use a democratic/participative leadership style when working with my group. I feel that this approach would work best because it involves each member equally so that they can have input into the activities and discussion topics. I think that this population would be more productive using this model. Furthermore, group members can give feedback about the lessons, whether they discovered anything to be more or less helpful, etc.

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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.

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Yalom's Therapeutic Factors:

The members of the group would display universality, altruism and direct advice most often. They would display universality by concluding that they are not alone in their difficulties. Further, they would exhibit altruism after empathetically listening and gaining an increased understanding of the struggles of their fellow group members. Finally, they would be able to synthesize their own experiences with the experiences of their fellow group members to offer direct advice to one another during the session.

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Yalom's Curative Factors of Group Treatment 

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Legal Requirements:

Based on the Texas Education Code, school counselors general duties include planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive school counseling program to address the special needs of students. These "special needs" include students that are at-risk of dropping out of school. The primary focus of the group counseling sessions is to address this population of at-risk students on campus and develop their academic abilities.

Excerpt from Texas Education Code:

Sec. 33.006.1..  SCHOOL COUNSELORS; GENERAL DUTIES.

(1)  participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve all students and to address the special needs of students:

(A)  who are at risk of dropping out of school, becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or committing suicide.

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EDUCATION CODE CHAPTER 33. SERVICE PROGRAMS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

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EDUCATION CODE TITLE 2. PUBLIC EDUCATION SUBTITLE F. CURRICULUM, PROGRAMS, AND SERVICES CHAPTER 33. SERVICE PROGRAMS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES SUBCHAPTER A. SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND COUNSELING PROGRAMS Sec. 33.002. CERTIFIED SCHOOL COUNSELOR. (a) From funds appropriated for the purpose or other funds that may be used for the purpose, the commissioner shall distribute funds for programs under this subchapter.

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Ethical Requirements:
Implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program requires the counselor to follow appropriate local, state, and national laws and ethical policies. Based on the American Counseling Association, the counselor must be aware of gaining consent. In group counseling, the counselor should acquire consent from the parents, while also balancing the ethical rights of students to participate. In group work, it is also incredibly important to explain the expectations of maintaining confidentiality of statements made by members of the group counseling sessions, even after group sessions are completed.

Excerpts from the American Counseling Association:

A.2.d. Inability to Give Consent
When counseling minors, incapacitated adults, or other persons unable to give voluntary consent, counselors seek  the  assent of clients to services and include them in decision making as appropriate. Counselors recognize
the need to balance the ethical rights of clients to make choices, their capacity to give consent or assent to receive
services, and parental or familial legal rights and responsibilities to protect these clients and make decisions  on their behalf.

B.4.a. Group Work
In group work, counselors clearly explain the importance  and parameters of confidentiality for the specific group.

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References

American Counseling Association (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA

Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Cherry, Kendra. (2023, June 27). 6 leadership styles and Frameworks. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015). Professional school counselor small group counseling guide: A professional school counselor’s guide to planning, implementing, and evaluating school-based counseling groups. Retrieved from https://www.missouricareereducation.org/doc/smallgroup/SmallGroupCounseling.pdf

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

2 Texas Education Code § 33