School Counselors Circle 2014:

Going Beyond Borders

With the ASEAN 2015 framework in the process of being implemented, it becomes more apparent that the demand for competency and standards in the practice of the school counseling profession will be more heightened. To address these challenges, the School Counselors Circle (SCC), in partnership with the Asian Psychological Services and Assessment (APSA) will be holding its 14th Annual Convention on Dec 1-2, 2014 at the Century Park Hotel, Malate, Manila with the theme, “Going Beyond Borders: Transformed School Counselors using Standards-Based Programs.” This year’s convention is a follow-up from last year’s convention which focused on priming school counselors for the changes connected with the implementation of the DepEd K +12 program. It will also be an opportunity for school counselors to attend the APECA Biennial convention which will be held in Singapore from Dec 4 – 6 and will actualize a chance to know more about the counseling practice beyond one’s own borders.

For this year’s SCC convention, Dr. Carol Dahir will share her expertise and knowledge of the current practices not only the United States, but also in other international countries, like Turkey, where she is a consultant. Relevant information gained from the discussions will help school counselors to be at par with international standards as they hone their skills in the practice of school counseling in our educational system. This will be furthered strengthened by the talk of Dr. Rose Salazar-Clemeña on the Philippine standards for counseling and how it impacts on the new K-12 curriculum.

As an update to the current demands of the counseling profession, the Professional Regulatory Board (PRB) will also share the latest dimensions in the regulation of the practice of the profession. Dr. Carmelita P. Pabiton will lead the discussions that will ensue on how our existing laws affect the practice of the guidance and counseling profession.

To strengthen last year’s introduction to the need for research in counseling, Dr. Carlo P. Magno, APSA Vice President for Research , will share his expertise by giving a talk on “Developing Evidence-Based Research in School Counseling. “ This will be collaborated by the papers that APSA member school counselors will present in the research forum.

In the workshops, Mr. Earnest Tan will share his experiences in “Techniques in Managing Team Media” while Dr. Belen Vergara will share on “Stress Debriefing Techniques. To encourage our counselors to hone their academic counseling roles, Dr. Jose Alberto Reyes of De la Salle University will share his views on “Facilitating Learning Experiences in Homeroom Guidance.”

The SCC Convention is an annual gathering of school counselors and practitioners dedicated to helping school counselors be updated with the current trends and issues in the school counseling profession.