Guidance Counselor Even the Most Lackadaisical Student

Guidance Counselor Even the most lackadaisical student is familiar with the role of the high school guidance counselor.

Even an individual whom never attended an American high school would be familiar with the common image of the high school guidance counselor today, in the American media, as viewed through the deflationary 1980's eye of many a John Hughes film such as "Pretty in Pink," or most particularly one scene from the 1990's popular independent hit classic "Clerks" that portrays a guidance counselor, driven mad because of the supposed uselessness of his occupation, in the process of inspecting eggs for breakage at a local convenience store, to allegedly give him a sense of purpose in life.

Yet, according to social science analysts Hackman and Oldham, one of the five core job characteristics are that of skill variety, and one of the difficulties faced by many high school guidance counselors is not that they have little to do, but too much to do.

High school guidance counselors ideally advise students coming into the school system regarding their choice of classes, help sophomore and junior year students negotiate the treacherous academic and social waters of high school, identify problems when and if they should arise, and finally help senior year students enter appropriate academic and vocational tracks after the years of high school, within the college or vocational school systems. Guidance counselors are thus vocational and academic counselors and also social workers, frequently simultaneously.

The reason for the common dislike of guidance counselors may not be that they 'do nothing,' but that their task identity is so unclear, and their function may vary depending upon the needs of the student and also the needs of the school. Also, students may project their own frustrations with teachers, fellow students, the college admissions process, and their own anxieties about growing up onto the counselor.

(Osborn, 2004) Depending on the nature of the school, the expected tasks of a guidance counselor on the part of parents as well as students may vary widely. Parents cannot be ignored as significant pressure points upon the emotional and social fabric of a school -- or a guidance counselor's sanity, for that matter. For instance, an urban school with a strong social support system for the student body in the form of highly involved community social workers might have little need for guidance counselor's social input.

For entirely different reasons, a school with students from largely strong family structures might require its counselors to be mostly involved in preparing students for college and constructing strong college resumes and applications. Also, in terms of this vocation's task significance, schools with high-pressure environments might require guidance counselors to be more highly involved, advocating for students in the college admissions process, and thus value guidance counselor's input more personally.

As with all social service occupations, the perception of the significance of the counselor's tasks frequently depends on the individual's use of the services, and the degree to which the worker has the autonomy to exercise autonomy and judgment may vary from school to school.

The feedback received by the guidance counselor perhaps ideally comes from the students he or she has aided over the course of the student's education, but feedback will also come from other administrators who may desire to improve the curriculum structure and college level admissions placement, as well as the student's parent's and teachers whom are either grateful or frustrated with the results of the process.

Because guidance counselors are dealing with human individuals and students during the unstable period of high school at that, however, the feedback they received may be colored by influences over which they have no control, unfortunately -- perhaps the real reason the occupation is so frequently viewed.