Page 43 - EdViewptsSpring2019-web

How to Best Help School
Counselors Working With
Parents — Building a Strong
Working Relationship
By Aaron Kleinman, Ed.D., Supervisor of School Counseling, Teaneck Public
Schools
The Role of The School
Counselor
Parents who are unfamiliar with
secondary school counseling offices
and counselors’ job duties miss
out on vital information aimed at
assisting their child to succeed in
school and beyond (Hughes, 2008;
Wilder & Dee, 2013). Secondary
school counselors provide parents
with resources that benefit their
child, but most parents are not
Educational Viewpoints
familiar with a counselor’s job
duties. Secondary school counselors
can help parents navigate post-
secondary planning, including but
not limited to financial aid, college
and career planning, testing for
college placement, and referrals for
outside services. Parents who work
with secondary school counselors
can assist their children in making
important decisions and making sure
that their children make deadlines
that students often forget on their
-41-
own. If parents have a better
working relationship with the school
counselors, then students benefit.
Parents’ Perceptions of
School Counselors
No one will argue that parents influence
their children. In the millennium view
of how parents interact with educators
in the school system, much has been
written about parents’ roles in the school
system. However, helicopter parents
Spring 2019