History of School Counseling - Other Countries

Other Countries

A balanced, comprehensive school counseling program provides services to promote student success. It involves school counselors working in conjunction with parents, teachers and other school personnel and community agencies. Many developmental concepts that must be covered through a comprehensive program can be incorporated into other classroom studies, giving the school counselor more opportunities for direct counseling, prevention, and remediation functions. It is important that a comprehensive school counseling program provide a range of services in order to address the needs of all students. Counselors should strive to balance their time among all these services, based on the unique needs of their school community. By developing and implementing a comprehensive school counseling plan, school counselors can establish services and activities that allow them to spend most of their time providing direct services to children.

In the United States, the school counseling profession began as a vocational guidance movement at the beginning of the 20th century (Schmidt, 2003, p. 6). In 1907, Jesse B. Davis became the principal of a high school and encouraged the school English teachers to use compositions and lessons to relate career interests, develop character, and avoid behavioral problems. From that grew systematic guidance programs which later evolved into comprehensive school counseling programs that address three basic domains: academic development, career development, and personal/social development.