Episode 35: New Year's Special Discussion! What is Counseling?
The Teacher Skill Study Group, commonly known as the Kobayashi Seminar, is an online study group hosted by Akifumi Kobayashi, a classroom improvement advisor. This is its fifth year.
The seminar members are mainly elementary, junior high, and high school teachers from across the country, and they gather in a Zoom room about once a week to discuss various educational topics.
Starting this fiscal year, we have also begun sharing information on Instagram and stand.fm.
Here, we provide articles that are transcriptions and summaries of the audio files distributed on stand.fm.
This program delivers the after-talk from the regular meeting of the Teacher Skill Study Group held on January 10, which was the first one in 2025.
We are asking our host, Mr. Kobayashi, about today's seminar.
This time, we held a New Year's special discussion. We welcomed Mr. Suzuki, a school counselor who has had a long-standing relationship with Mr. Kobayashi, as a guest to talk about counseling and the study of homeroom teaching. If you are interested, please lend us your ears...
The Role of a School Counselor and 'Introduction to Homeroom Teaching': Counseling and Practice in the Educational Field
At the first regular meeting of the Teacher Skill Study Group in 2025, school counselor Mr. Suzuki was welcomed as a special guest for a discussion with Akifumi Kobayashi.
Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Kobayashi have known each other for a long time, ever since they were teachers at a high school in Saitama Prefecture, and they have built a deep relationship, especially in the fields of educational consultation and counseling.
In this discussion, the conversation covered the roles and methods of counseling, as well as how to utilize Mr. Kobayashi's book, 'Introduction to Homeroom Teaching'.
Differences between counseling, coaching, and teaching
The first theme focused on in the discussion was the fundamental question, 'What is counseling?' Mr. Kobayashi explained the differences between counseling, coaching, and teaching as follows:
• Teaching: Bringing people who lack the basics of knowledge or skills up to a standard level.
• Coaching: A process of guiding people who are already at or above the standard to an even higher level.
• Counseling: Support to restore people whose consciousness or energy has fallen below the standard, ultimately improving their performance.
Counseling requires the ability to accurately assess the other person's state. In particular, if someone has a mental illness, it cannot be handled by regular counseling, so a referral to a specialist is necessary.
It was emphasized that making such judgments is an important role for counselors and teachers.
Ideals and reality of school counselors
Mr. Suzuki currently works as a school counselor, visiting multiple schools.
Originally, the role of a school counselor is not only to provide direct support to students but also to help teachers learn counseling techniques and broaden their range of student guidance. However, in reality, there are many situations where 'troubled students are left entirely to the counselor.'
Mr. Kobayashi pointed out the need to create an environment where teachers and counselors can collaborate more effectively.
Utilization of 'Introduction to Homeroom Teaching' and training ideas
Mr. Kobayashi's book, 'Introduction to Homeroom Teaching', is a volume that systematically summarizes homeroom teaching skills. It divides class management into four stages: 'opening,' 'nurturing,' 'supporting,' and 'protecting,' and proposes specific skills for each. Mr. Suzuki mentioned that he used this book in school training and actually practiced 'seating chart creation' and 'role-playing.' This provided teachers with the opportunity to experience specific actions and learn how to interact with students.
In addition, Mr. Kobayashi shared his vision of developing training programs and worksheets that can be done in a short time, and he hopes that training formats that are easy to implement in the field will continue to spread.
Introduction to the activities of the Teacher Skill Study Group
The Teacher Skill Study Group works on various themes through four regular meetings every month. A wide variety of activities aimed at improving teacher skills are conducted, such as 'Active Book Dialogue,' where participants read books together, and discussions based on lesson videos. Participation is free for the first month, so if you are interested, please take a look!
Articles of previous after-talks can be found here.
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