Free «ASCA Theme: Leadership» Essay

According to Dahir and Stone (2012), school counselors can successfully affect the instructional program through collaborative efforts with the principal and other key stakeholders; this can in turn strengthen the school instructional program. The principal and the counselor can enhance each other’s potential acting as a collaborative team, thus increasing the school leadership potential. Dahir, Burnham, and Cobb et al. (2010) noted that school counselors and schools principals have the capacity to create a relationship to improve students’ performance. This positively affects the climate and mission of the school in delivering academic success. I plan to develop a partnership with the principal of your school through playing a unique role in fostering cooperation and understanding among the school community and playing a leadership role in advisory. There is need to change address the teachers lack of motivation in the school. Conducting staff development is thus an important area.

The main goals of staff development will be to collaborate to offer support to teachers through interventions, information, encouragement, and modeling. This will influence the attitudes and beliefs of teachers regarding educating every student to achieve high standards. The first strategy will entail working together with the principal to conduct in-service training for the teachers in important areas such as motivation, education planning, student appraisal, and achievement, helping students with special needs and issues of student diversity as well as related attitude. The second counselor facilitated staff development strategy will include empowering teachers by involving them in school and learning improvement plans. Teachers will be able to bring in new ideas on ways of promoting learning. The third strategy for promoting staff development entails setting up wellness workshops in which teachers could attend lectures on health and nutrition. This can help address stress levels of the staff especially after a difficult period of the school year. The fourth strategy will entail supporting teachers to help them look at the underlying issues that are causing failure and lack of success. The fifth strategy will entail taking the initiative, leading and guiding teachers towards referrals that are more appropriate and assist develop processes in the school building for helping struggling students to succeed. These strategies will help in staff development, which will in turn lead to improved student achievements.