How to Use Peer Helping, Counseling and Psycho Educational Students’ Groups to Address Individual Student Success and Systematic Change That Support School Wide Success
The usage of peer helping, counseling and psycho educational groups of students is helpful especially when it comes to helping individual students attain higher levels of success and generally change their behavior (Zunker, 2005). Peer help will most likely rely on the usage of other individuals within the same age group in which the people to be helped are in. the peer groups are supposed to be selected carefully and must have traits that are desirable. The peer group that is carefully selected among fellow students is therefore carefully positioned to enable their fellow students change in various ways. Research studies have shown that it is much easier for people within the same peer group to have strong influence on their fellows. The influence usually comes in the form of challenges to their fellows based on their achievements that will help others want to emulate such traits to also be successful.
The peer helping student groups must consist of individuals who perform better in their academics and have desirable behavioral traits. When students who do not have better academic performances or are not of desirable behavioral traits are mingled with their fellow students who have desirable behavioral traits and perform better in their academics, they tend to be challenged and thus try to emulate their counterparts. Through peer group emulation, the students with undesirable traits will develop tendencies of caring out themselves in more dignified manner that will see them avoid cases of indiscipline that would put them at logger heads with the authorities. Either, in the respective groups they would be challenged to try and work harder in their academics so as to improve. This can be made possible through embracing constructive group interactions that would be leaned towards group academic discussions and behavioral transformations for the better.
Counseling is also another important factor that can be used in encouraging students to have a general behavioral change and academic transformation. For the counseling to be successful, professional and qualified counselors have to be first identified who will take the students through the counseling session (Patton & Mcmahon, 2006). Either, the counseling environment must also be prepared to make it conducive for both the students and the counselor. The identified students must also be prepared for the counseling session in that their problems and needs must be identified before they are subjected to any counseling session.
Through the identification of the students’ problems and needs, the counselor will be in a better position to understand what kind of counseling program should be prepared for the students. Once the students’ needs and problems have been identified and the counseling program prepared, the students must be prepared in a persuasive manner free from coercion and intimidation with explanations of the importance of each and every step to be taken. The students must be encouraged through the counseling period to have a general behavioral change. The benefits of changing their behavior and working towards better academic performances must also be explained to them.
Either, psycho educational students groups can also be used to help students achieve academic success and systematic changes that would be desirable to the learning institutions. The programs found within the psycho educational groups are more academic and informative oriented. Literature materials are to be provided for the students within their groups that will help them acquire a wealth of knowledge on various aspects of life. These literature materials that the students are availed with are used to provide the encouragement for the students towards desirable behaviors and better academic performances.
How to Use Task Groups Consisting Of School Personnel and Community Constituents
Various task groups that consist of personnel from the learning institutions and the community around can be formed with individuals having diverse and specialized skills to identify the various needs of the students and develop courses of actions to take in solving the problems (Zunker, 2005). The task groups will be charged with the responsibility of doing an in-depth investigative study on the various challenges within the learning environment and problems with the individual student behavior that affects their academic performances within these learning institutions. Once the task groups have identified the various problems and challenges faced within the learning environment, they then have to categorize them accordingly in terms of their severity and agency.
They must also be group these challenges and problems according to their nature for purposes of easier solving.
The task groups must then develop strategies that will be used in addressing these identified issues that affect students’ performances within the learning institutions. The task force that consists of individuals from the surrounding community must also be charged with the responsibility of identifying the societal challenges and problems that significantly affect the learning process and students’ behavior from their community. Once these issues have been identified they must develop policies and strategies that can be used in addressing these problems. If the problems are due to individual behavioral practices that are not desirable both within the society or the learning institutions, relevant authorities must be involved in trying to address these issues. Counseling activities must also be involved with rules and regulations being instituted towards discouraging the undesirable practices.
How To Help The School More Effectively Address The Needs Of Students
The learning institutions can also be helped in their quest to nature and mentor students achieve greater academic performances for purposes of greater personal achievements through the organization of workshops and mentoring programs (Patton & Mcmahon, 2006). Professionals within the learning institutions and the corporate world are to be carefully selected so that they can share their rich knowledge with the students more so on matters relating to choices of colleges and careers development. These individuals must be selected from various fields of specialization to which they are given specific topics that they have to research on and present during the workshops and mentoring programs.
The workshops are to be designed in a manner that they are held on either a weekly or monthly basis upon which the students are informed on choices of colleges through analysis of various factors that should inform their choice of institution (Patton & Mcmahon, 2006). The workshops are to provide closer interactive sessions between the students and the guest speakers. The guest speakers must induct the students on various careers choices and their development. Either, when it comes to career choices and development the students must be well prepared with the requirements for various career paths. The grade performances must also be well known to them which they have to be helped in nurturing themselves to become the kind of individuals they so desire.
Through various assessment and counseling plans, the students can be helped to address their individual learning plans that affect their general academic performances (Patton & Mcmahon, 2006). These plans can also be used to give a bearing to the students’ career plans in the future. Such plans like individual schedules and time tables are a number of plans that can be used in addressing the individual needs of the students towards bettering their academic performances and thus achieving their dream careers. Through the development of individual plans and schedules in a more conscious manner, the students will be taught more about time management. Through managing their time appropriately, the students will thus be able to apportion the limited time they are availed with to various constructive activities that will have a positive impact on their academic performances.
Through counseling programs, the students are also taught about the need to develop personal discipline traits that will enable them strictly follow their schedules and time tables without much interference (Zunker, 2005). Through sticking to their planned time tables and schedules, the students will be able to give more ample time to their individual studies that are aimed at improving their careers. Either, the students must also be taught on how to develop personal evaluation programs that they will use to monitor their academic progress for purposes of ensuring that they remain on course and experience positive improvements both in their personal performances and general academic performances. This will help the students develop a culture that is desirable towards making their academic performances successful. They must also be helped in developing other programs that are more academic and informative. They must also be encouraged to have literature materials that will provide a wealth of knowledge on various aspects of life. These counseling and self programming activities that the students learn will thus help them develop personal assessment skills that they can use in evaluating their performances thus improving their academic performances.
Reference
Patton, W. & Mcmahon, M. (2006). Career Development & Systems Theory: Connecting Theory & Practice. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Zunker, V. (2005). Career Counseling: A Holistic Approach. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
