Interview – Reflection Paper

As part of my assignment, I had a chance to interview Kathleen Lopez. Kate is a member of

the teaching staff at my school. This reflection paper will contain her views and opinions
regarding the following questions:

1. What is your understanding of Guidance and Counseling?

2. What do you think is the role of Guidance and Counseling in an academic setting?
3. As a teacher, what do you think is a common misconception about the guidance
office?
4. What types of services do teachers consider to be the most valuable provided by their
school counselor?

After analyzing Ms Kate’s responses to the interview questions, I feel that we have similar
understanding of what Guidance and Counseling is. We express the same ideas in particular
that guidance is providing direct assistance to someone who is in need of help while
counseling is more on a professional service that can be available for those who need to
overcome certain problems.

In an academic setting, Ms Kate mentioned that guidance involves making the learner
become aware of his/her capabilities - both good and bad and that this process helps a learner
make the right choices so that they can have a balanced development in terms of his
academic growth. She also mentioned that guidance and counseling ties in with discipline,
and having to sometimes use “tough love” on students, as it is a vital part for the learner to
weigh in his/her choices and actions. I do agree with Ms Kate that guidance involves making
a learner become aware of his/her capabilities but I feel that it doesn’t necessarily mean
involving tough discipline or what is better known as punishments. I agree with Ms Kate
when she said that there are several misconceptions about the guidance office and one of
them is that it is a place for students who are in trouble for an offence or misbehaving. We
share the idea that some teachers think that every challenge that students face is to be dealt
with by the school counselor. While it is one of the counselor’s jobs to oversee the wellbeing
of the children in the school, a joint effort from teachers and counselors, and even parents to
address issues concerning issues or challenges that can affect a learner’s holistic needs.

Ms Kate mentioned in the interview that one of the services she considers to be most valuable
that is being provided by the school counselor, is having small group counseling sessions. In
a school setting, this type of session is important for children who deal with social anxieties. I
share the same opinion with her that having small group sessions can help children warm up
to fewer children.

I believe that this interview was beneficial to understand that teachers have different
perceptions about the guidance office. I feel that if the guidance office is better introduced to
a school, services to students and staff can be fully utilized.