Middle School Counseling

Middle school counselors may have the most important job in a middle school. To make a professional analogy, the middle school counselor is to a middle school as the project manager is to a mid-size software company.

Both careers take on managerial roles where each have to understand the psychology of those they seek to extract the most from, either students or employees. And both professionals are accountable for the overall quality of performance they can manifest out of their pupils. However, the similarities stop there…

Middle school counseling is a combination of continual research in order to understand contemporary students’ perceptions of the world and implementation of both theoretical approaches aiding learning as well as basic intervention tactics to help wayward students get back on track.

Role of a Middle School Counselor

Middle school is a very difficult time for most students. It is a time of personal exploration, a time to seek out one’s own identity, and physiologically a time of rapid growth. Coupled together, these two attributes of the middle school aged student produces much insecurity and fear.

The middle school counselor provides expertise in establishing program development, design of program implementation, and evaluation of everything from large scale education programs to dealing with particular ailing individuals.

Typical middle school counseling involves assessments of current situations in school, in particular programs and in the individual. The goals are to create an environment where each and every student is able to find confidence in themselves and believe in their own competence as learners.

Middle School Counseling Services

Middle school counselors provide support and services in a variety of ways. In the educational environment, the middle school counselor will provide academic skills support, study and test-taking skills, and will occasionally discuss career options even though students may be years away from stepping out on their own. Career planning has proven to be a successful motivator for many school counselors.

In the student management areas, middle school counselors will provide information about coping strategies for students who have undergone some element of stress or tragedy. They will also aid in the development of students’ abilities to create positive peer relationships.

A difficult problem for any parent or educator of middle school students is the fact that during this age, many students begin relying more heavily on other students for guidance and acceptance than parents. Therefore, helping create strong decision-making abilities is a high priority for middle school counselors.

One further task that has unfortunately become a higher priority for middle school counselors is sex education. Promiscuity for middle school students has steadily been on the rise. In an effort to reduce teenage pregnancies, middle school counselors have been needing to step up their efforts on sex education and development of self-confidence in order to help students make better decisions for themselves.

Life in the Field

Life as a middle school counselor is rarely boring. If you are not dealing with a student’s emotional issues, you are most likely helping in developing program curriculum or meeting with parents or other faculty.

The career of a middle school counselor is certainly no walk in the park. However, if you enjoy working with middle school aged students, it can be highly rewarding as you see rapid maturation and educational prospering of students with the aid of your counseling.