I Can See the Tops of Trees:Building Collaborative Relationships with Students, Teachers and Parents
Michael Anthony Ingram
Abstract
The school counselor has an array of responsibilities within the school environment. One important responsibility is building collaborative relationships with students, teachers and parents. This article examines the school counselor’s role and challenges in building these working alliances. It also presents a counselor empathy model that can be utilized to strengthen empathic bonds in school relationships.
Conclusion
"The school counselor’s role requires that school counselors possess many of the following proficiencies:
A working knowledge of the differences, as well as similarities, that exist between students, teachers and parents (Davis & Garrett, 1998; Helms & Ibrahim, 1985; Wilgus & Shelley, 1988);
the ability to provide feedback that will be helpful in building better communication patterns between each group and ultimately enhance students’ performance levels (Schmidt, 1996);
and an empathic understanding of the feelings behind the experiences of the aforementioned groups (Kottler & Kottler, 1993; Kottler & Kottler, 2000)."
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