It is said that school is second to home, and teachers act as a child’s parent.

The role
of a teacher therefore is equated to the role of a parent. One of these roles, and
perhaps the most complicated one is the role of giving guidance.

First, one cannot guide if he is lost. Meaning, inorder for a person to be able to give
out guidance to another person, he must first examine himself very well. Because
guidance is all about leading someone to the right path.

Therefore, if a student is problematic with his studies and is at risk of failing or

dropping out, it is the teacher’s primary role to examine the cause – it could possibly
be because the teacher is so strict, or could be because the teacher’s main concern is
only imparting the subject matter without giving importance to his/her student’s
interest. Because sometimes, it could also be that a teacher is the one who is lost.

Guidance takes two to tango. It is not one sided. There must be a giver and a taker.
The teacher acts as the giver of help, and the problematic person as the taker of the
teacher’s advice. This relationship must be seriously attended to by each side until
both parties reach the point of stabilization. If ever one of them breaks from this act
while in the middle of the process, then guidance is not given at all, there is only
waste of time, and the child remain helpless.

Teach a man how to fish, and he will live forever. Guidance must not be spoon-
feeding. It should not be about being dependent and giving solutions to a man’s
problem. Instead, it is about teaching a person how to be independent and strong
enough to find solutions to his own problems. Guidance is given so that a person must
learn to make his own decisions, his own insights and realizations.

And lastly, united we stand, divided we fall -guidance is collaborative. Inorder for
guidance to succeed, it needs everyone’s support-both from the school’s community
and the child’s community. It needs constant cooperation between the child’s family
and the school’s guidance committee which could be composed of the guidance
counselor, principal and the teacher. The center of focus is the problematic child. It is
like bayanihan, it demands everyones effort to help for it to be successful.
Guidance Counseling Services present professional, systematic and psychological help
to the students at BLIS.
The major aim of Guidance Counseling Services is to encourage students’ academic,
social, emotional and personal development. To reach this aim, guidance counseling
services help students get to know themselves better and find effective solutions to their
daily problems. They also help students improve themselves in all areas and be full-
functioning individuals. Counselors monitor students’ development and according to
their needs they give students necessary support such as helping them to understand
themselves and their needs, to solve their problems, to make realistic decisions, to
improve their abilities and skills, and to adjust themselves and their environment in a
healthy way.
While implementing guidance counseling services, showing respect to individual
differences is essential. Continuity and willingness are vital in guidance, and also
confidentiality is essential in psychological counseling.
In the guidance and counseling services, the student and his/her needs are in the
center. While supporting him, counselors cooperate with the administrators, teachers,
parents and the other staff members if it’s necessary.
Working with the teachers and administrators is another service which is given by the
counselors. Preparing handouts, trainings for the faculty or contacting outside experts to
get consultation and trainings; preparing handouts/trainings for the parents about
parenting related topics or inviting outside experts to do the trainings can be defined
under these services.
The programs that the Guidance and Counseling Services run are as follow:
 Orientation Program
 Growth and Development Program
 How to Cope with Bullying
 How to Cope with Peer Pressure
 How Can I Improve My Organizational Skills?
 Strategies for Effective Learning
 Transition to Upper Grades / Divisions
 Career Guidance
 Social Skills Program
In the Light of Guidance Counseling Services’ major aims, you can find specific
divisional information in the following tabs.
BLIS Elementary School Guidance Counseling Services
During elementary school students begin to develop their self-understanding (self-
awareness and self-acceptance), emotion identification, academic self-concept and
their feelings of competence and confidence as learners. They also build decision
making, communication, friendship building and interpersonal skills, as well as acquiring
attitudes toward school, study habits, peers-social groups and family. As Elementary
Counseling Service, our goal is to foster this growth by creating and implementing a
comprehensive developmental school counseling program which enhances the
knowledge, attitudes and skills that our students acquire in the competencies of
academic, personal, social and career development.
The essential elements of Elementary Counseling Service can be summarized as
follows:
Working with children
Assessment of individual students is the major role of the counselor. For this reason,
the elementary counselor observes the students in the school setting, makes individual
and group counseling interventions when needed, prepares and conducts
developmental and preventive counseling services focusing on personal and intellectual
development of students (e.g. peace education, coping with bullying, friendship building
skills, conflict resolution skills, problem solving skills, social skills counseling programs).
Individual, small-group, personal, and crisis counseling are available to all students.
Additionally, the elementary counselor is responsible for preparing PSE Lessons
(Personal Social Education) to provide the students with knowledge of personal, social,
academic, and career development. The PSE guidance curriculum consists of
structured developmental experiences presented systematically through group activities
in Pre K through Grade 4. Classroom teachers implement these lessons with the
cooperation of counselor every week.
Working with parents
Consultation with parents is an important part of our support process as we all work
together to create a safe and caring environment for students in and out of the school.
-When do you contact the school counselor?
   Academic, social and emotional concerns
 Family transitions such as divorce, death or moving
 Requesting evaluations
 To inform the school of outside supports in place for your child
The elementary counselor also informs the parents about the development of their
children in the school, conducts guidance sessions for parents to improve their
parenting skills and enhance their relationships with their children when needed or
requested.
Working with teachers and administrators
The elementary counselor collaborates with teachers and administration to identify
barriers to academic and personal growth and develop interventions to address areas of
need. We attach importance to identify the talents and uniqueness of each student as
early as possible. Additionally, in-service trainings are given to the teachers when
needed. Furthermore, Elementary Counselor Division work together with administrators
and regular meetings are hold with the principals and vice principal to assist with
identifying and resolving student issues, needs and problems.
Working with other experts
If required or requested, the elementary counselor refers resources outside of school to
help support our students. We contact with other professionals such as clinical
psychologists, psychiatrists and special education experts when children have any kind
of behavior problems or learning difficulties. Also, the counselor may bring an expert to
the school to give in-service training to the school personnel when needed.
Please feel free to contact us with questions about services available or concerns you
may have regarding your student.
Elementary School Psychologist Contact Information:
Esin MEFTUN, MSc. (Pre-kindergarten)
+90 312 290 8270
esin.meftun@blisankara.org
Elementary Clinical Psychologist Contact Information:
Özlem Başaran, MSc. (Grade 5 -6)
Kindergarten: +90 312 290 8222
Grade 5: +90 312 290 8235
ozlem.basaran@blisankara.org
Elementary School Psychologist Contact Information:
Melike AYBAR, MSc. (Grade 2 & 4)
+90 312 290 8910
melike.aybar@blisankara.org
Elementary School Counselor Contact Information:
Ceren DİLEK ERDEM, MSc. (Grades 1 & 3)
+90 312 290 8918
ceren.dilek@blisankara.org
BLIS Middle School Guidance Counseling Services
BLIS Middle School Guidance Counseling Services held its services as follows:
Psychological Counseling:  Individual and group counseling sessions are the content of
psychological counseling. According to the students’ needs which are mentioned by
their teachers, parents, or administrators, sometimes by the request of students,
individual or group counseling sessions are held by the guidance counselors. The aims
of individual counseling session are to get to know the students better, to identify their
needs and to give support according to their needs. The guidance counselors can also
have meetings with the students’ parents or teachers. The aims of these meetings are
to be preventive about students’ needs and if it is necessary to discuss the intervention
strategies with the relevant parties. According to the students’ needs, the guidance
counselors also have group sessions with students for conflict resolution or to train them
in social and emotional skills. To encourage new students’ orientation period to school,
the guidance counselors also have individual counseling sessions with the students.
Monitoring and encouraging students’ development:  Collecting information about
students’ development is the content of this heading. Administrative files, Counseling
files, report cards, attendance records, parent and teacher conferences, individual
counseling sessions with the students, any kind of inquiries or questionnaires that are
implemented by the Guidance Counseling Services according to the students’
development are the major factors that are used by the guidance counselors to get to
know the students. These records also used to monitor and encourage students’
development by the guidance counselors.
Communication and cooperation with parents and the others in relations (teachers,
educators, psychologists, psychiatrists etc.) It is essential for guidance counselors to
communicate and cooperate with the students’ parents and the others in relations
because when all the information is gathered together about a student, guidance
counselors have a clear opinion about the student’s need. Either the guidance
counselors can ask for a meeting about the student’s development or the student’s
parents and teachers can. Parents may also ask for an appointment from the guidance
counselors to discuss their child’s academic, social, emotional development or to give
information about the changes in their family life or the changes in their child’s
development. These meetings are confidential.
Educational Guidance: These are the services that are given to the students by the
guidance counselors individually or as a group of student to improve their study skills,
time management skills, learning strategies, growth and development.
PSE (Personal, Social Education) lesson is another content of Educational Guidance.
This lesson is from grade 5 to 8 in BLIS Middle School. The program of PSE lesson is
structured and has been developed according to the students’ developmental needs.
The major themes that are held in PSE lesson are educational achievement and
development, interpersonal relations, family and community life, secure and healthy life,
emotional development, career development and coping skills. Under the content of
these major themes, there are subheadings such as study skills , problem solving &
conflict resolution skills, respect to diversity, how to improve friendship, improving
communication skills. PSE lessons are held by the homeroom teachers who are
supervised by the guidance counselors. In the PSE lesson, there are also assemblies
and presentations about variety of subjects which are held by the counselors or guest
speakers.
School Profile
Please click here for BLIS School Profile
Career Guidance: This service includes monitoring students’ career development and
giving individual and group guidance to the students to identify their aptitudes, interests,
abilities, skills and personality. Giving information about high school and occupations/
professions is also implemented under the content of this heading.
Middle School Guidance Counselors Contact Information:
Yasemin DURAK
290 82 89/ Office: Middle School Building, 103
yasemin.durak@blisankara.org
Özlem OĞUZ, M.Sc.
290 82 83 / Office: Middle School Building, 300
middlecounselor@blisankara.org,  ozlemo@blisankara.org
BLIS High School Guidance Counseling Services
BLIS High School Guidance and Counseling service is committed to a student-centered
developmental guidance and counseling program for every individual. The counselor
serves as a resource to students, teachers and parents in meeting
 personal,
 emotional,
 social,
 educational
 and career needs of our students.
This is accomplished through individual/ small group counseling sessions, classroom
presentations, career guidance and Personal and Social Education (PSE) lessons to
develop self-awareness, problem solving skills, communication skills, decision making
skills, coping skills, anger management skills, time management skills etc. Special guest
speakers are also invited to speak on relevant topics of concern at the secondary level.
This comprehensive guidance program supports personal and academic growth of each
individual student in attaining their maximum potential by helping each student identify
their strengths, weaknesses, interests and intellectual abilities.
Career Guidance
In high school we put more emphasis on career guidance. Career guidance activities
carried out through various ways such as:
 PSE activities:  Different PSE lesson plans and activities are prepared to
help our students get a clear picture of who they are and what they want at
this stage of their lives. Career planning process includes examining 4
aspects: Personality (What Makes Us Unique), Interests (What We
Like/Dislike), Values (What’s Important To Us), Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities (What We’re Good At).
 Career tests: In various times, Personality Type and Career Interest related
career tests are given to our students in Turkish and English. The results of
these tests are discussed with our students in private counseling sessions.
 Professions Day: “Professions Day” event is organized twice a year. While
organizing the first one in the fall, we cooperate with Bilkent University
academic staff. That’s why we call this day as “Bilkent University Day”. The
second “Professions Day” is organized in spring with the help of our parents
and graduates. During these events, Bilkent University academicians, our
parents (from elementary to high school) and graduates make short
presentations about their professions. The survey conducted with our high
school students reveals that they enormously benefit from this activity.
Academic follow up system
In high school, we have rigorous academic programs (IGCSE and IB) and high
academic expectations. Therefore, it is expected from the students to develop very
good organizational skills, time management skills, note taking skills, listening skills etc.
to be able to meet these expectations. In that sense, high school counselor works very
closely with the administrators, IGCSE coordinator, IB coordinator, grade coordinators,
subject teachers and the parents to follow up the academic development of the students
and to identify their needs. Once their needs are identified, the counselor meets with
each student to help them develop necessary skills and/ or develop a study plan for
themselves.
Turkish University Entrance System
High school counselor gives information about the Turkish University Entrance System
(ÖSYS) to the students and parents through seminars and individual meetings. “College
Nights” is one of these informative meetings organized in the fall and spring semesters.
During these College Nights, college counselor and high school counselor make
presentations about university entrance systems and Universities in Turkey and abroad
to our parents and students. Moreover, the process related with university applications
to Turkish universities carried out by high school counselor, too.
Psychological Counseling
In high school; the physical, social and emotional changes in adolescence period, in
addition to the high academic expectations, make life difficult for the high school
students. Therefore, the high school counselor meets with the students regularly to
check their needs. The counselor holds counseling sessions according to the needs of
the students and sometimes asks for feedback from the teachers and parents to follow
up the specific cases. In some situations, the counselor refers the students and their
parents to an outside expert. It’s necessary to emphasize the importance of cooperation
between parents and counselors which is crucial for the efficient fulfillment of counseling
position. The parents are expected to contact the counselor anytime they need to talk
about their child. Certainly, the personal information about the students and parents are
kept confidential.