Ontario school guidance program

1. Ontario school guidance program

2. Distance • Remote schools • Culturally diverse • Transportation issues • Urban vs. rura 4th largest province

3. Mandate of Counselling Program: • The school’s guidance counselors provide both academic and personal counseling to students. • Other components of the guidance program include: career and pathway planning, • study skills, life skills, • orientation for new students, • transition planning for students (Ontario Secondary School Program, 2014)

4. Support Services • Guidance counsellors can provide individual and group assistance.

5. Personal and Interpersonal Counselling • Talk with a counsellor confidentially about • emotional • social • financial • family • health issues If a student under 16 years of age discloses information which presents harm to the student or the student harming others, the counsellor must report to authorities.

6. Academic Help Counsellors can recommend strategies to help with learning and skill development • Teachers • Homework clubs • Peer tutors • Tutors

7. Typical Guidance services offered from a school perspective. Interventions include: • Attendance counselling – trying to discover reasons behind student absenteeism and strategize possible solutions • Address and dialogue with students regarding any behavioural issues in the class and create a plan for the cessation of such behaviors • Crisis counsellingintervention • Co-ordinate team meetings with parent/ guardian, administration, support staff (social worker, attendance counsellor) when deemed appropriate • Liaise with community partners such as YMCA Settlement Workers, CJI Mediators,WRPS School Resource Officers and Ray of Hope counsellors • Liaise with outside facilities and agencies, i.e. Mosaic Counselling, K-W Counselling, CAIP, etc. (http://stmary.wcdsb.ca/welcome.html, 2014)

8. The place for Guidance and Career Education in the curriculum. The goals of the guidance and career education curriculum are to enable students to: • understand concepts related to lifelong learning, interpersonal relationships, and career planning; • developlearning skills, social skills, a sense of social responsibility, and the ability to formulate and pursue educational and career goals; • applythis learning to their lives and work in the school and the community.

9. Major difference in approach Teachers in all disciplines of the secondary school curriculum share some responsibility for developing students’ learning skills, interpersonal skills, and knowledge and skills related to career planning. • Much more emphasis on career planning • Teacher take a more active role in the guidance area • Steps for success curriculum

10. 4 Strands of the guidance program: Learning Skills. • In this strand, students develop learning and thinking skills and strategies. Personal Knowledge and Management Skills. • In this strand, students develop their ability to describe and assess their personal strengths and interests. • needed for success in work, learning, and life.  Interpersonal Knowledge and Skills. • In this strand, students develop the knowledge and skills necessary for effective communication, teamwork, and leadership. • Community • School • Work force Exploration of Opportunities. • In this strand, students develop the skills needed to research information about learning, work, and community opportunities.

11. Assessment: The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Information gathered through assessment helps teachers to determine students’ strengths and weaknesses • Many different methods of gather data. • Teachers are responsible for most of this data collection. • Based on provincial curriculum standards • Can be tailored to students with special needs • Must include feedback for student learning • Use of portfolio work to demonstrate student learning

12. Reporting on Demonstrated Learning Skills: The report card provides a record of the learning skills demonstrated by the student in every course, in the following five categories: Works Independently, Teamwork, Organization, Work Habits, and Initiative. • This is much the same as the learner profile for the Nova Scotia current report card. • Problems with this method of evaluation is it is often simplified and does not reflect the mark that was gained from other methods of evaluation.

13. Antidiscrimination Education in Guidance and Career Education: The guidance and career education curriculum is designed to help students acquire the habits of mind essential in a complex democratic society characterized by rapid technological, economic, political, and social change. • gender and sexual orientation are not mentioned in this list.

14. The Ontario Skills Passport and Essential Skills: • Teachers planning programs in guidance and career education need to be aware of the purpose and benefits of the Ontario Skills Passport (OSP). • The OSP is a bilingual web-based resource that enhances the relevancy of classroom learning for students and strengthens school-work connections.