Professional School Counselor Portfolio (PSCP)

Brief Reflection Form

Standard 5 ~ Career development, education and postsecondary planning (Strength)
Competencies Addressed:
1. Assist students in the assessment of their individual strengths, weaknesses, and differences,
including those that relate to academic achievement and future plans.
2. Apply knowledge of career assessment and career choice programs.
3. Implement occupational and educational placement, follow-up and evaluation.
4. Develop a counseling network and provide resources for use by students in personalizing the
exploration of postsecondary educational opportunities.

Date Created: Fall 2015

Student Name: Sha Hall

Reviewers Initials: _____________

Describe the context in which these artifacts were collected and identify the standard and
competency(s) the artifact represents.
The artifact selected for this standard is a Career Exploration Unit project I produced for my
Career Development and Assessment in the Schools GEDU 549 class. The competency it
represents is #1 assist students in the assessment of their individual strengths, weaknesses and
differences including those that relate to academic achievement and future plans.
What do they demonstrate to you about your learning and mastery of the competencies,
that fall under this standard?
Before I started the BVU program I was totally confused on why or how elementary school
counselors would address careers to the babies in a K-5 setting. I now understand the role of a
school counselor is to expose K-5 students to the world of careers and present career options to
them in a non-biased format. That is to say, offering girls and boys the same opportunities and
presenting all careers as options for both boys and girls.
What do these items of evidence tell you about your overall progress toward your personal
goals and your growth as a professional school counselor?
It was challenging for me to produce this career unit and I really had address my biases about
career development and education being most appropriate for middle and high school students
rather than K-5 students. I did a lot of reading and research on the topic of K-5 career education
and I spoke with several K-5 counselors in my school district to see how they were approaching
their career units. My career exploration unit is not comprehensive nor will it be the only
resource I use in my curriculum but it is a good start.

What are your plans for additional growth or improvement in this area?
My plans for continued growth in standard five includes additional collaboration with other
counselors in my district, which would include observations of their lessons and feedback from
them after they observe mine. I will also utilize ASCA scene and continue my search for fun,
innovative lessons on careers and future planning for my students. Another way I could improve
my practice is to increase my knowledge about how middle school counselors approach career
development in their school counseling programs and piggyback on that with my 4/5 grades. It
could be valuable for my students to make connections between what I offer them and what they
eventually get offered in middle/high school.