Giving Compass' Take:

• Kiara Davis, writing for Getting Smart, discusses various methods on how to provide meaningful guidance for students on post-secondary education and preparation. This guidance can come from more than just counselors. 

• Why is guidance especially crucial for kids who do not come from supportive or financially stable families?

• Read more about the effects of school counselors on students.

When we think of guidance and advisement, in regards to our students, we may think of the normal guidance counselors and academic advisors. Individuals in these professions are key to student development. Though, if implemented properly in our schools, guidance, and advisement can show themselves in many forms through different entities.

We all play a role in student success, meaning parents, teachers, counselors, advisors, and even peers. This factor alone is a key motivator of why advisory is so important and why it should be a priority in our schools. The methods we use to guide and advise our students are like puzzle pieces to their now and their future. Students can benefit from advisory through:

  • Personal development: For those students who do not have the support of their parents makes other forms of guidance that much more important.
  • Relationship building. Advisory is an opportunity for students to connect with their teacher(s) and peers through different activities and on levels that enhance their growth.
  • Setting long-term goals. Accountability and student goal-setting are key in advisory. Students must ask themselves, “What am I doing now that will help me reach my end goal?” Further, we should ask ourselves, “How am I helping these students to reach their end goal?”

So, what exactly do these methods look like? How do we, other school personnel, contribute to our students’ success, between them entering our schools and, years later, venturing out into the post-secondary world? We reflect on our roles, collaborate, and provide the necessary resources for our students to be equipped. We take accountability for our students and their emotional well-being and educational development, understanding that we, too, have a role to play alongside guidance counselors and academic advisors.

Read the full article about post secondary preparation from guidance counselors by Kiara Lewis at Getting Smart