If you want to be a school guidance counselor, counseling continuing education is an important step. This article looks at the education requirements to become a guidance counselor, and how this step fits in to the picture.
Whether you're a teacher interested in making a career change,
or an undergraduate with your career path chosen, becoming a school guidance counselor has one essential step - counseling continuing education. Experience and an undergraduate degree are important, but it's really this certification that fully prepares you to help the kids at your school.
What A Guidance Counselor Does
Guidance counselors play an important part at the schools where they work. In elementary schools, they get to know the kids so that they can understand their strengths and weaknesses. They then use this information to help out parents and teachers. They also work as a teacher and supervisor at times like lunch and recess. High school guidance counselors also work with kids on their strengths and weaknesses, but other duties include preparing them for college entrance exams.
Educational Requirements
The educational requirements vary from state to state, but all involve an undergraduate degree, a teaching license and a certificate obtained through counseling continuing education.
The major for your undergraduate degree is not so important as the teaching experience and counseling continuing education. What's most important is that you've got an undergraduate degree. If you studied a field related to teaching, like education, psychology or social work, this helps. But it's not a requirement.
You'll have to get a teaching license in order to become a guidance counselor. This is because many of the duties overlap with those of teachers. You also should have some teaching experience under your belt, but this differs from state to state as well.
Counseling Continuing Education
The most important step is your counseling continuing education, and it's often the easiest to obtain. While you can expect lots of coursework in getting your undergraduate degree and teaching license, some states do not even require you to complete a course. Depending on where you live, they may require only a certain number of completed class hours.
For teachers who want to become counselors, this is good news, especially considering that this coursework can often be done online. This means that even if you've got a busy teaching schedule, you can still work on your coursework on evenings and weekends. This makes it a goal that is quick and easy to obtain if you're teaching already.
Finding A Good Program
The first place to look for a good counseling continuing education program is to ask your peers or instructors. They'll be able to recommend a program that's reputable, and they may also know instructors there, which will help you get in the door. Word of mouth is always the best way to find just about anything.
Failing that, look for a program offered by a well-known institution. These will be not only legitimate (some online schools aren't), but recognized by future employers.
Being a school guidance counselor is a great choice for people who want to really make a difference in their students' lives. It's easy for anyone who is interested and caring to get the counseling continuing education necessary to make this career change.
