In my small, rural high school, there is one administrator. He is the manager. He is the instructional leader. He is in his first administrative position. Now, let me preface this by saying I have complete confidence in his abilities and total respect for his professionalism. But the nature of our building has created an interesting dynamic that - as a future leader - makes me wonder and even worry.
Without a designated Dean of Students, there tends to be a shortage of supplemental "authority" in the building. Basically the principal is the be all, end all in discipline. As the year continues, however, our new and young (but very passionate and effective) guidance counselor has occasionally been involved with disciplinary matters. From a management standpoint, I can understand that sometimes a leader just needs another person to help. Yet I have strong reservations about those occasional responsibilities falling on the shoulders of the person in a counseling position. I guess I am left with several questions:
Is it appropriate for the guidance counselor to be involved in disciplinary matters?
Will his or her involvement eventually be detrimental to effectively forging relationships with students?
Or would a less "top down" approach to discipline be more productive for students?
Until next time...
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteWhat are your reservations about these responsibilities falling on the shoulders of the counselor? I have wondered the same question. In my out of district assignment, the counselors do help sometimes with some of the smaller discipline matters. In my elementary school, my principal will send out an email saying she is gone, but the counselor will be available if a major discipline matter arises. I am still trying to make my own decision on this philosophy and am looking for help either way.
This discipline method within smaller schools is interesting. I have always been immersed in schools where there is a definitive line between the counselor and the principal/dean roles. But your reservations make me ponder...Why does the principal or dean have to be seen as always the "authoritative, disciplinarian?" Our leaders in our school, including counselors should be places to go to solve problems, this includes undesired behaviors.
ReplyDelete