Training methods and best practices

School Counseling - Singapore

School Counseling in Singapore

In the article entitled, "Training school counselors in Singapore: first impressions of a multicultural challenge," authors Rivera et. al. explored the history and current situation of school counseling in Singapore. In the article, the authors expressed the need to evaluate the kind and quality of training on school counseling in the country, which requires a culture-specific approach rather than implementing curricula and theoretical frameworks developed in the context and experience of 'western countries' such as the United States and European countries.

In determining this need and evaluating the current scenario in the Singaporean setting, Rivera et al. conducted an in-depth qualitative article review of two (significant) studies conducted on school counseling, specifically in the Asia/Singaporean contexts. These studies were identified as follows: (1) E. Tan's (2002) exploration of school guidance counseling in Singapore, focusing on its history and eventual development into a "holistic model" and adoption of specific concepts and components of counseling "as understood in U.S. terms"; and (2) Chong's in-depth analysis of Singaporean students' understanding and capabilities in terms of being a personal agents and self-regulating individuals in charge of and deciding for their lives' choices (pp. 220-1).

The qualitative article reviews from the studies of the above-mentioned authors set the foundation of Rivera et al.'s study. It is through these studies that the authors developed the thesis of their study, which reflects the need to develop a multicultural approach in school counseling in Singapore. As mentioned in their article review and gleaned from Rivera et al.'s study as well, the Asian context of counseling is laden with values and belief systems that are inherently practiced within each individual (p. 220). Because these values and beliefs are deeply ingrained and part of the Asian individual's personality development, frameworks and concepts of counseling used in the American or European contexts will not be responsive to Asian students/clients. Thus, it was through this insight that Rivera et al. developed the thesis and study confirming that indeed, Asian/Singaporean school counseling must that will be developed and implemented must be responsive to the cultural experience and realities of Asians/Singaporeans.

Rivera et al.'s study on school counseling in Singapore provided additional information on the seemingly scarce literature on counseling in the Asian context. Thus, the study conducted and reported by the authors are one of the few that could be used as a credible source or reference on the topic, in the same way that Rivera et al. relied heavily on Tan and Chong's study to provide a more in-depth understanding of school counseling in Singapore. Since the literature on the topic is limited, establishing the study results' reliability remains a challenge; however, quality and credibility can be determined from the rigor in research and analysis by which the authors have conducted their study.