International School Counselling

A colleague in Asia recently asked me about qualifications for school counselling in the international school context. We talked briefly about how this job often entails two distinct roles: emotional & behavior-related counselling as well as careers advising.

I know that each country has its own requirements (or some have none at all), but the colleague was interested in any kind of professional certificates, graduate diplomas, or master's degrees that would help someone build up the skills to succeed in those role, as his particular country of residence did not have any requirements beyond a teaching license, which he already possesses.

I did some initial searching and found a number of degree programs from the US, which were aimed at state licensure. These degrees, such as in the case of the A&M program, were very narrow in scope, requiring teacher licensure in that state before being admitted to that program. So sadly, most everything I found had to be crossed off the list.

There were two programs that caught my eye though:

1. The University of San Diego's International School Counseling Certificate: https://www.sandiego.edu/soles/academics/international-school-counseling-certificate/
   
   This program is actually split into two. They have a graduate certificate and a professional certificate. The two vary quite a bit in price (~16k vs 3k US dollars), but I imagine they fit two very different use cases.
   
   
2. The Principals' Training Center's Certificate of International School Counseling: https://www.theptc.org/ctc-certificate
   
   This program comes from a non-university provider but does provide students with training in several core areas: mental health, university advising, etc.

I hope this brief research might be of help to someone else here in the future.

If anyone knows of other similar programs, please do share!

 

Adjacent subjects:

Mental Health Practices in Schools, University of Missouri MEd, EdS

Academic Advising or College Advising, e.g., Kansas State University GC, MS, EdD

Or Social Emotional Learning or Educational Psychology, many options.

 

The International School Counselor Association lists several programs on their website (https://iscainfo.com/Becoming) reproduced here:

• Masters of Arts in Counseling: The College of New Jersey in Lisbon, Portugal (they appear to have an International School Counselor sequence: https://offsitegrad.tcnj.edu/programs/intl-school-counseling/intl-counseling-program-sequence/)
• Master of International Counseling (M.Ed): Lehigh University or their domestic Counseling Program with includes Pennsylvania Certification: Lehigh University: https://ed.lehigh.edu/academics/degrees/masters/international-school-counseling-online
• Certificate in International School Counseling (you already noted this one above)
• Summer Institute for International Counselors (College Counseling): https://professionals.collegeboard.org/prof-dev/college-board-summer-institute-international-counselors-nyu
• Ed.M. in School Counseling and New York Certification (Certificate of Advanced Study in School Counseling): https://ed.buffalo.edu/counseling/academics/masters/school-counseling.html Not sure why they are listed. They appear to have no specialization or specific expertise in this, but maybe they went through some sort of accreditation or registration with ISCA

 

Thanks for the pointers and links!

Speaking of adjacent subjects, my initial search also pointed me towards an American endorsement called a Student Assistance Coordinator Program, such as this one:

https://counselored.tcnj.edu/programs/student-assistance-coordinator/

Some American states seem to have this as a stand-alone program, while others have this as a top-up in addition to a counselling degree.

 

That is surprising but I had the same experience when I searched several country-specific search engines. This article provides some insight into school counseling around the world: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342123122_School_Counseling_A_Comparative_Study_in_12_Countries

Seems like each country does things very differently.

 

Oops! I decided to edit out that bit so as not to derail the conversation too much, but you beat me to it. Sorry about that!

Thanks for the link though. I'll check out the study as soon as possible.

--
But since we've already started the convo about non-US programs, I tried mixing together some of the terms Jonathan Whatley provided along with 'guidance', 'student support', etc. There were a good number of courses that popped up in the UAE, Ireland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and even India.

Unfortunately, I ended up running into some EIU partners. I don't want to put the direct links, but you can find two (of many) examples here:

• counselling courses for teachers DOT com
  
• east bridge college DOT com

These guys are everywhere.

 

For future reference, Hypatia Education is offering a propio degree in this field. It is offered in conjunction with Vitoria-Gasteiz University and is called a Master of Permanent Training in Psychoeducational and Social Intervention:

https://www.hypatiaeducation.com/es/profesores-de-orientacion-educativa/masters-online/master-de-formacion-permanente-en-intervencion-psicoeducativa-y-social

Per the site above, the possible professional outcomes are:

• Social Worker: Address social and emotional problems in communities, connecting people with necessary resources and services.
• Educational Advisor: Offer academic guidance and emotional support to students in educational institutions.
• Social Programs Coordinator: Manage and supervise social programs aimed at communities in vulnerable situations.
• Community Psychologist: Collaborate with organizations and communities to address psychosocial issues and promote well-being.
• School Counselor: Provide guidance and emotional support to students in school settings.

If you live outside of the US, Canada, or other nations that heavily regulate these and related professions (as was the case in the OP), this might be worth a go. It doesn't appear to require a thesis at this time either.