Reference:
Young, A., Dollarhide, C. T., & Baughman, A. (2015). The voices of school counselors: essential characteristics of school counselor leaders. Professional School Counseling, 19(1), 36-45.
The article under the study puts light on the qualitative research, which lacks in majority of schools. Most of the schools focus more on the quantitative analysis instead of qualitative analysis. The article argues on different practices of the leadership in elementary schools, which are seen to play an important part in the lives of the young students. Many elementary schools fail to realize the importance of certain characteristics which needs to be developed in students from a very early age. These characteristics play a vital role in making them the future leaders and also participate in improving their overall personality. The study discussed five characteristics which were seen to be the most effective. These are relationship attributes, leadership attributes, exemplary program design, communication and collaboration and advocacy (Young, Dollarhide & Baughman, 2015). These five characteristics are concluded to be the essentials for school counseling leaders and should be used in elementary school guidance and counseling.
I personally believe that the article is a must read for the teachers and counselors of elementary schools. It does not only provide a complete guide for teaching students, but also gives different tips which can significantly improve their work. The clarity of the text and real life examples in the paper really make it interesting and thought provoking. All the authors of the paper are professionals of the field of counseling and have put up a very useful collection of information for the readers.
The most useful part of the paper, which I would use as a school counselor, would be to integrate my students towards relationship attributes. I find this one characteristic specifically interesting because it does not only caters the professional life of a person, but also has an impact on the personal lives. In my opinion, it is the most impactful and useful characteristic identified in the paper.
References
Young, A., Dollarhide, C. T., & Baughman, A. (2015). The voices of school counselors: essential characteristics of school counselor leaders. Professional School Counseling, 19(1), 36-45.
