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Group Description & Small Group Action Plan

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Group Description & Small Group Action Plan

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College, Career & Military Readiness Leaders (CCMRL): The CCMRL group is a group of 9th-12th grade students selected by the counselors to meet and develop ideas to promote enrollment in Career & Technical Education (CTE) courses as well as enlistment in military branches. The group will be tasked with boosting enrollment in CTE courses and military enlistments by serving as student ambassadors who answer questions from their peers and disseminate information on the benefits of CTE courses and military enlistment.

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Group AKSx2 Small Group Action Plan - Google Docs

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The school counselor will recruit ambassadors for this task group. Ideal candidates should have previous experience with CTE courses or the military. The student should also be in good-standing with their teachers. The school counselors will place flyers in all of the CTE and JROTC classes to promote recruitment as well as make daily announcements to scan the QR codes around campus for more information. Furthermore, student recommendation forms will be placed in all school staff's mailboxes.
Once the desired recruitment number of 15 student ambassadors is met through our selection process, the school counselors will distribute personal invitations to these students. Additionally, the parent or guardian of the student will receive an informative letter about the task group and a permission form to participate.

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Upon completion of this group, students will acquire mastery of the following ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors:
Mindsets
M 3. Positive attitude toward work and learning
M 4. Self-confidence in ability to succeed
M 5. Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes
M 6. Understanding that postsecondary education and lifelong learning are necessary for long-term success
Behaviors
B-LS 1. Critical thinking skills to make informed decisions
B-LS 2. Creative approach to learning, tasks and problem solving
B-LS 7. Long- and short-term academic, career and social/emotional goals
B-LS 10. Participation in enrichment and extracurricular activities
B-SS 1. Effective oral and written communication skills and
listening skills
B-SS 2. Positive, respectful and supportive relationships with students who are similar to and different from them
B-SS 3. Positive relationships with adults to support success
B-SS 7. Leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse groups
(American School Counselor Association, 2021).

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To begin the interview or screening process, we will make daily announcements about leadership opportunities and provide a QR code for students to request more information. Once we compile a list, we will meet with the CTE teachers and gain their input on whether or not they think the student would be a viable candidate for our group as well as acquire other teachers' input. After this, we will send a Google Form to these students asking our pre-assessment questions. As a team, we will analyze the responses, conduct individual interviews with the students, and then make our selection for the CCMRL group.

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When working in group settings, it is important to gain parental consent and student assent to participate.

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The group focuses heavily on obtaining new information about postsecondary options, but in the process several of Yalom's Therapeutic Factors may appear.  The group members may experience universality as the group's focus is on future goals.  Because all of the group members are at the same stage in life, the impending transitionary period and questions about the future is a common challenge that all members will encounter.

The imparting of information may appear as group members learn ways to build mental strength and self-esteem that facilitates effective communication with others.  The group members may learn metacognitive strategies that help with the removal of barriers to critical thinking.

Altruism within the group may materialize as group members share their hopes and goals for the future, thereby encouraging others to do the same.  Group members can serve as embedded support systems for others with the same goal (e.g. to join the military).  By encouraging one another and pooling their knowledge, group members could see altruism.

The development of socializing techniques is a major learning goal of this small group. Because the small group is a task group whose mission is to disseminate learned information to their peers about postsecondary options, the improvement of communication skills is a stated goal of this small group. To develop better verbal and nonverbal communication skills as well as learn to actively listen, the group members must practice and model their newly acquired skills and will social more effectively (Yalom ID, 1995).

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Yalom's Curative Factors of Group Treatment

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Legal & Ethical Requirements - Confidentiality

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Legal & Ethical Requirements - Confidentiality

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The success of small group counseling is predicated on the active participation of the group's members.  In order for students to participate, they must feel safe and supported in the small group counseling space.  A fundamental tenant to a safe counseling space is having firm boundaries for confidentiality and clear group expectations.

American School Counselor Association's (ASCA) Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2016) explicitly lists confidentiality as an ethical responsibility to students by a Professional School Counselor (PSC).  Section 11 of standard 5 of the Texas Administrative Code (2017) also charges the PSC to "adhere to best practices connected to ethical and legal considerations around appropriate use of technology and email, documentation, record keeping, privileged communication, and informed consent process."  Confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in small group counseling because the counselor cannot control the actions of the other group members, but the school counselor should help the group to establish rules around mutual respect and confidentiality (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators [MPSCCE], 2015).  A sample form from the MPSCCE for group rules includes a section where both the professional school counselor and the students agree to what confidentiality looks and sounds like (MPSCCE, 2015, p.26).  Students should also understand the limits of the confidentiality which include the student disclosing a "perpetrated or perceived threat to their physical or mental well-being", if the student threatens to harm others, or if a court requires the PSC to break confidentiality (ASCA, 2016, A.9).

The explicit and implied assurance of confidentiality supports the PSC in their role because it helps the students feel safer during counseling and helps to establish trust between the PSC and the student.  In turn, the student is more likely to fully participate during the small group counseling and the intervention has a greater likelihood of being successful and producing intended outcomes.

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We will follow these guidelines as a group. Rules set by the counselors are:
1. No electronics unless needed for research.
2. Arrive on time.
3. Trust each other to keep everything confidential.
Students will collectively decide on general norms for the group. We will have five roles that the students will volunteer for:
1. Leader-main speaker
2. Facilitator-makes sure group stays on task
3. Researcher
4. Transcriber-takes notes on everything
5. Production Manager-ensures production of advertisements are made and professional in appearance.

(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Education, 2015)

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The population for this group are 9th-12th grade students who are or were previously enrolled in CTE courses or military preparation courses.
• Stage 1- Due to the screening and interview process, selected students will have a common goal in mind when they apply for this group. To instill trust, we will have a "Meet and Greet" before the sessions start. This will allow students to share their stories, get to know one another, and create group norms. Group norms will be explicit, meaning the counseling team and group members will create the guidelines together and review them before every meeting. The group norms will include confidentiality rules to keep group information private unless it is information that needs to be shared in order to promote the CCMRL information. The group norms will also include clear expectations for the group, positive communication, and participation stipulations.

• Stage 2- Each session will have an agenda, so goals are achieved. This will ensure that meetings are productive. Students will learn different military and career opportunities and then use that knowledge to encourage others to be involved. Students will use their knowledge to create a budget sheet using the projected salary from their desired career. Progress will be measured by the number of students enrolled in CTE courses and military enlistments following the completion of the group.

• Stage 3- Group closure will include a brief overview of the purpose for the group. There will be discussion on how students can continue to promote the recruitment in the CTE courses and military even though the sessions have ended. Students will be reminded that confidentiality needs to continue. To conclude the group, students will share what experience they valued the most or their favorite session. There will be a follow up meeting 4-6 weeks after group closure to share success stories and discuss any increase in student enrollment in the CTE courses or military.

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The best leadership style for this group would be participative leadership, also known as democratic. The work from this group will be monitored by the counseling team, but students will do much of the collaboration and planning to promote learning for other students. This group will model leadership skills by promoting CTE and military opportunities to other students. This specific leadership style will be the best approach because students are stepping into those leadership roles. Democratic leaders are present, but student involvement is necessary to meet the goals for this group (Cherry, 2021).

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American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA Code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center

American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA Ethical standards for school counselors.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf

American School Counselor Association (2014). ASCA
student standards; mindsets and behaviors for student success. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

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

Texas Administrative Code, 19. Tex. Admin. Code § 239.15 (2017). https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=T&app=9&p_dir=N&p_rloc=187036&p_tloc=&p_ploc=1&pg=23&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=239&rl=15

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

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Legal and Ethical Requirements - The Role of the Professional School Counselor

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Legal and Ethical Requirements - The Role of the Professional School Counselor

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Continuous professional development is an ethical and legal responsibility of the Professional School Counselor. The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling lists the understanding of differences “including those related to cultural background, gender, ethnicity, and learning styles” as a fundamental responsibility of the Professional School Counselor (PSC) (Texas Education Agency, 2018, p.28).  Additionally, the PSC is charged with advocating for an environment that is “responsive to all learners” (Texas Education Agency, 2018, p. 29). Ethically, the PSC should design curriculum and activities, and structure small groups grounded in culturally-sensitive and inclusive research to reach all subpopulations of the student body.

Legally, the Texas Administrative Code (Tex. Admin. Code) states in standard 6 that the PSC should “engage in continued professional development experiences to learn and apply concepts, skills, and practices related to increasing college and career readiness and promoting postsecondary opportunities and preparation for all learners” (Tex. Admin. Code, 2017).  The PSC is both ethically and legally required to participate in ongoing professional development – this ensures that the PSC has the knowledge and skills necessary to design learning experiences that will allow all students to achieve their postsecondary goals.