msc position Flashcards
msc position
what is the main role as a school counsellor?
work with school management to provide social and emotional support to students
what are the three core work of a school counsellor?
- system support
- responsive services
- preventive programme
what are the responsibilities under system support?
- counselling service
- identification of at-risk students
- referral system
- evaluate school counselling programme
- consult school on counselling matters
- staff and parents training
- partnerships and external agencies
- CARE team
what is CARE?
Caring Actions in Response to an Emergency
what are the responsibilities under responsive services?
- 1-to-1/ small group counselling
- home visits
- referral for specialised help
- feedback to school management on cases
- consult with teacher on how to follow up/ better engage at-risk students
- record cases (comprehensive admin work)
what are the responsibilities under preventive programme?
- preventive psycho-education programme
2. tailored resources for at-risk students
what is moe’s new policy on mental health?
new cce curriculum which includes mental health education that will be progressively rolled out in 2021, along with peer support structure by 2022
what is cce?
character and citizenship education
what are the personal qualities of a school counsellor?
- interest in working with at-risk students
- strong passion in counselling
- good team player
- ability to relate well to students of diverse backgrounds
why are you keen in becoming a school counsellor?
a. ENTHUSIASM FOR MOE
- my main driving force in becoming a school counsellor is having the honour to impact a student’s life, especially students who are at-risk, in a significant way. the main role as a counsellor is to provide social and emotional support to students and it can be as simple as listening but it is powerful for a student that wants to be heard and valued. and it would be a privilege to be part of a pivotal change in a student’s life. and working with at-risk students has always been an interest of mine.
- moe recently rolled out a new cce curriculum which included mental health education and a peer support programme this is something i personally feel strongly for and want to be a part of as it is vital for students today to be resilient and aware about the importance of mental health.
b. GOOD-FIT
- i have no formal experience in counselling but during my time in college, i joined smu peer helpers. smu peer helpers is a club aimed at supporting the student wellness centre in smu by equipping students with basic helping skills to extend the reach of the wellness centre.
- my time in peer helpers has nurtured my interpersonal and communication skills as i got to attend various trainings conducted by silver ribbon singapore and sos (gatekeepers intervention skills workshop). being a peer helper allowed me to learn how to identify and reach out to my friends in distressed.
- i have peer helped about three friends over the course of two years, regarding relationship issues, academic matters and emotional struggles.
c. CAREER TRAJECTORY
- aside from basic helping skills, my time as a peer helper has allowed me to build on my collaboration skills, along with the ability to be resilient and positive. my involvement in smu peer helpers made me realised my passion for counselling and promoting mental wellness.
- i am eager to see how i am able to contribute to this position as a school counsellor as i feel that my interest and experiences aligned well, thus applying for this role was only a natural step to take.
- i believe the role of a school counsellor is essential in helping me cultivate essential life skills such as self-awareness and empathy. the role of a counsellor is able to provide me with the experience and opportunity to be familiar with various helping skills that will be crucial for maintaining healthy relationships around me in life and decision-making in the future.
(i am very interested and excited to learn during the training about designing, implementing and evaluating counselling programmes especially, where students that can be informed about mental health, to build a healthy and resilient generation)
what if you do not get this job?
i am committed to pursue a career in the field of counselling and i will continue to wait for future intakes while exploring opportunities to enhance my skills and build experience through volunteer stints with a social service (SOS).
why did you not take a degree in counselling? why psychology?
- my passion for counselling kindled during my university years when i joined the peer helpers programme in smu
- i always had an interest in understanding human behaviour and counselling altered my interest to a contributing medium.
- i believe that my knowledge in psychology can value add and facilitate my learning as a school counsellor.
- a portion of the coursework is dedicated to child and adolescent development which was heavily covered in several psychology modules which i took such as developmental psychology, abnormal psychology and abnormal child psychology.
- my candidature as a psychology student instead gives me a competitive edge when it comes to understanding behaviours and allows a more accurate assessment of a student’s conduct., hence being able to tailor an effective plan for the student.
it is emotionally draining to be a counsellor, how are you going to cope with this kind of stress?
- the job as a school counsellor is indeed emotionally daunting and i acknowledge the innate rigour this position possess.
- i believe the emotional stress can be handled with self-care and setting distinct boundaries. i learnt a lot about both skills during university as it was a stressful time.
- after finding out what worked for me, i have been applying self-care whenever i felt emotionally tired.
- my self-care manifests in the form of physical, social and emotional self-care.
- physical self-care is through exercising and stretching. i exercise about one hour daily as a means to stay physically healthy and to relax my mind. i exercise at home by following exercise videos on youtube.
- social self-care is where i reach out to my family and friends. i realised that talking to my family and friends has a cathartic feeling which relieves many of my anxieties. i am very fortunate to be surrounded by a supporting network of family and friends whom i can rely on when it comes to talking about feelings.
- emotional self-care comes in when i am unable to reach out to my family and friends due to the sensitivity of the issue and that is when i turn to journaling. i find peace in penning down my thoughts as it slows down my thought process and actualises my worries, allowing me to see the worry better. i write a journal on a monthly basis to reflect and plan what areas i can improve on depending on what occurred that month. (e.g covid situation making me realise i haven’t been spending much time with my family)
- these are the self-care areas that i have explored and tried and i am still exploring more ways to practise self-care.
- these self-care skills will come in handy when it comes to setting boundaries. drawing boundaries has been important in understanding myself better and it comes with experience. while learning more about my limits and self, i will utilise my self-care skills to cope with the problem.
- mentally challenging situations inspires me to be a better helper for my friends. as much as i am there to listen and guide through their emotions and thoughts, i learn how to be a better friend and peer helper, aiding in my growth as an individual.
name one example where you helped a student
as mentioned earlier, i peer helped a friend regarding relationship matters. after his breakup, he was very depressed and had suicidal ideations. as i was still schooling, while he was in ns, we talked about his emotions mainly through texts.
the knowledge i have gained during my training in peer helpers really guided the way i talked to my friend. i used egan’s model as a framework and applied basic helping skills such as paraphrasing, clarifying and summarising., after texting for a month, i could tell that he was emotionally more stable. i avoided giving him advice and just listened to what he had to say. after the incident, he would then text me when he needed a listening ear.
this incident pushed me to apply what i had learnt from peer helpers and realised my passion for counselling. the feeling of fulfilment when he slowly managed to understand his situation better. it was not easy, and there were moments where i wanted to tell him to move on so i could be done listening to him. he was really repetitive (losoh). now moving forward, after realising the impact i had on my friend’s life, i aspire to guide students when they are feeling lost, allowing them to express themselves in a safe environment, and for them to rise above their difficulties.
what makes you think you can handle an entire cohort?
i acknowledge that i do not have the experience of managing an entire cohort of over hundreds of students. but i am confident in my interpersonal and communication skills that is able to build a good rapport with the students. this was exemplified during my internship at TOUCH community service, where i had to interview students to evaluate an ongoing programme. the interview sessions challenged me to speak with different groups of children, and i had to alter my behaviour and language which suited the children.
i am also confident in my public speaking skills which have been nurtured over the course of my candidature at smu where presentations were norm.
when faced with difficulties, i will reach out for help from my batchmates and senior counsellors for guidance and advice. i talked to friend who is a school counsellor and she mentioned the circle she had formed with her batchmates.
