The goal of the Psychological Counseling and Guidance Unit is to guide students in their personal development towards emotional, social and intellectual growth, assist them in developing their core character traits to become self-realizing individuals, help them develop a perspective of themselves that will enable them to be at peace with themselves and their environment, and support them in finding solutions to their problems.
The unit embraces a solution- and process-oriented approach in the guidance it provides to students. Accordingly, it offers developmental, preventive and guiding activities in a holistic manner on individual, classroom and group scale, built on collaboration between students, parents and the school. Focus of the counseling activities shift towards career guidance in high school, which are based on professional development steps with a series of practices complementing the four-year high school education.
Vocational Guidance and Career Activities aim to:
• Enable students to gain new skills while developing their existing talents, interests and abilities.
• Provide students with information and insights into the rapidly evolving professional environment of the 21st century.
• Help students in acquiring the knowledge and expertise required they will need while planning their future careers.
• Offers students a holistic approach in their decisions and selections by learning about different cultures and opportunities.
Each student has a career/professional portfolio by the time they graduate from high school.
Services for Students
• Progress Tracking: The unit tracks the emotional, educational and social development of students via individual and group interviews and classroom guidance. In addition to these core interviews, each student is interviewed at least once during the academic term to assess their individual progress.
• Classroom Guidance: Classroom guidance activities aim to support the vocational, emotional and social development of students, and follow a consecutive series of annual guidance programs throughout K-12. This involves classroom activities focusing on goal setting, motivation, self-recognition, awareness of professional interests and skills, study skills, anger management, adolescence, exam anxiety, communication skills and decision-making skills among others. Furthermore, “Career Planning” classes are held once a week with pre-high school prep and 9th grade students.
• Orientation:Students moving from middle school to high school undergo a “School Orientation Program” to facilitate their emotional, social and educational readiness. This involves various classroom activities, information activities and group dynamic activities.
• Learning Styles: Individual learning styles of students are assessed at the 9th grade; the results are shared with students and teachers and inform the academic processes.
• Self-Recognition and Professional Awareness: Starting from pre high-school prep grade, students take place in various individual activities that focus on skills, interests and multiple intelligences to serve as a guide in their relations with professions and classes. Academic Comprehension Scale at pre-high school level, Occupational Orientation Inventory and Multiple Intelligence activities at 9th grade, Self-assessment Inventory at 10th grade as well as feedback from educators, parents and teachers, individual observations and academic assessments are utilized to create individual student profiles.
• Career Day: Career day events support students in making future plans and help them learn about different careers and professions. These events are based on an assessment of the career aspirations and interests of students at the 8th grade and high school. Each year in May, three professionals introduce their respective professions to students.
• University Introduction Trips: In order to help students gain more information about their future universities, the school organizes university visits beginning from the 9th grade.
• Sexual Health Education Program with TAPV: In collaboration with the Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation (TAPV), the school offers two hour sexual education classes at middle school and high school levels in order to support healthy emotional and physical development for students.
• University Admission and Exam Anxiety Seminars: Starting from the 9th grade, the school organizes seminars for students to provide information on the university admission system, as well as methods for dealing with exam anxiety.
• Profession Experience Program: From the 10th grade onwards, students participate in one-day school supervised shadow programs each year to learn more about two professions of their choosing.
• TED Alumni Panels: Every year, high school students join a panel with two TED graduate professionals from different vocations.
Parents
• Parents’ Symposium:Every two years, the school hosts a full-day parents’ symposium on a particular theme, with panels and workshops for parents and attendees from outside.
• Parents’ Seminars: Every academic year, the school hosts two parents’ seminars on a variety of topics, as well as other seminars based on needs and grades.
• Bulletins: The school sends regular e-mail bulletins every month to parents, covering a wide range of topics.
• Information for Parents: Each month, classroom counselors inform parents of the content and results of classroom counseling activities, alongside their observations.
• Moodle Content: Students and parents are provided with information on classroom counseling activities, and are shared film and book recommendations on a monthly basis.
Teachers
• Planning Classroom Counseling Activities: The school’s annual psychological counseling and guidance services plan is prepared in collaboration with students, school administration and the Psychological Counseling and Guidance Unit.
• Educator Orientation: In order to facilitate group dynamics between educators, each year the school organizes group activities and seminars during the seminar period in August. In addition, several in-service training and workshop events took place throughout the year.
• Student Progress Assessment: Students emotional, educational and social development in the class environment is monitored and assessed via individual weekly meetings with classroom counselors. In addition, additional activities are planned and implemented in collaboration with the administration and educators based on student needs.
• Student Information Meetings: All educators are informed of student progress via progress assessment meetings such as orientation and branch educators’ board.
• Candidate Student Meet-ups: Candidate students are observed and given feedback during the enrolment process in order to assess their social-emotional status and readiness for educational skills.
Psychological Counseling and Guidance Specialists
• Supervisor: All psychological counselors receive supervisor support from psychiatrists and psychoanalysts twice per academic term.
• Symposiums: The school is represented at least once at symposiums, congresses and other events.
• Professional Development: All psychological counselors attend seminars, symposiums, congresses, conferences or trainings at least twice a year to further their professional development.
The unit embraces a solution- and process-oriented approach in the guidance it provides to students. Accordingly, it offers developmental, preventive and guiding activities in a holistic manner on individual, classroom and group scale, built on collaboration between students, parents and the school. Focus of the counseling activities shift towards career guidance in high school, which are based on professional development steps with a series of practices complementing the four-year high school education.
Vocational Guidance and Career Activities aim to:
• Enable students to gain new skills while developing their existing talents, interests and abilities.
• Provide students with information and insights into the rapidly evolving professional environment of the 21st century.
• Help students in acquiring the knowledge and expertise required they will need while planning their future careers.
• Offers students a holistic approach in their decisions and selections by learning about different cultures and opportunities.
Each student has a career/professional portfolio by the time they graduate from high school.
Services for Students
• Progress Tracking: The unit tracks the emotional, educational and social development of students via individual and group interviews and classroom guidance. In addition to these core interviews, each student is interviewed at least once during the academic term to assess their individual progress.
• Classroom Guidance: Classroom guidance activities aim to support the vocational, emotional and social development of students, and follow a consecutive series of annual guidance programs throughout K-12. This involves classroom activities focusing on goal setting, motivation, self-recognition, awareness of professional interests and skills, study skills, anger management, adolescence, exam anxiety, communication skills and decision-making skills among others. Furthermore, “Career Planning” classes are held once a week with pre-high school prep and 9th grade students.
• Orientation:Students moving from middle school to high school undergo a “School Orientation Program” to facilitate their emotional, social and educational readiness. This involves various classroom activities, information activities and group dynamic activities.
• Learning Styles: Individual learning styles of students are assessed at the 9th grade; the results are shared with students and teachers and inform the academic processes.
• Self-Recognition and Professional Awareness: Starting from pre high-school prep grade, students take place in various individual activities that focus on skills, interests and multiple intelligences to serve as a guide in their relations with professions and classes. Academic Comprehension Scale at pre-high school level, Occupational Orientation Inventory and Multiple Intelligence activities at 9th grade, Self-assessment Inventory at 10th grade as well as feedback from educators, parents and teachers, individual observations and academic assessments are utilized to create individual student profiles.
• Career Day: Career day events support students in making future plans and help them learn about different careers and professions. These events are based on an assessment of the career aspirations and interests of students at the 8th grade and high school. Each year in May, three professionals introduce their respective professions to students.
• University Introduction Trips: In order to help students gain more information about their future universities, the school organizes university visits beginning from the 9th grade.
• Sexual Health Education Program with TAPV: In collaboration with the Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation (TAPV), the school offers two hour sexual education classes at middle school and high school levels in order to support healthy emotional and physical development for students.
• University Admission and Exam Anxiety Seminars: Starting from the 9th grade, the school organizes seminars for students to provide information on the university admission system, as well as methods for dealing with exam anxiety.
• Profession Experience Program: From the 10th grade onwards, students participate in one-day school supervised shadow programs each year to learn more about two professions of their choosing.
• TED Alumni Panels: Every year, high school students join a panel with two TED graduate professionals from different vocations.
Parents
• Parents’ Symposium:Every two years, the school hosts a full-day parents’ symposium on a particular theme, with panels and workshops for parents and attendees from outside.
• Parents’ Seminars: Every academic year, the school hosts two parents’ seminars on a variety of topics, as well as other seminars based on needs and grades.
• Bulletins: The school sends regular e-mail bulletins every month to parents, covering a wide range of topics.
• Information for Parents: Each month, classroom counselors inform parents of the content and results of classroom counseling activities, alongside their observations.
• Moodle Content: Students and parents are provided with information on classroom counseling activities, and are shared film and book recommendations on a monthly basis.
Teachers
• Planning Classroom Counseling Activities: The school’s annual psychological counseling and guidance services plan is prepared in collaboration with students, school administration and the Psychological Counseling and Guidance Unit.
• Educator Orientation: In order to facilitate group dynamics between educators, each year the school organizes group activities and seminars during the seminar period in August. In addition, several in-service training and workshop events took place throughout the year.
• Student Progress Assessment: Students emotional, educational and social development in the class environment is monitored and assessed via individual weekly meetings with classroom counselors. In addition, additional activities are planned and implemented in collaboration with the administration and educators based on student needs.
• Student Information Meetings: All educators are informed of student progress via progress assessment meetings such as orientation and branch educators’ board.
• Candidate Student Meet-ups: Candidate students are observed and given feedback during the enrolment process in order to assess their social-emotional status and readiness for educational skills.
Psychological Counseling and Guidance Specialists
• Supervisor: All psychological counselors receive supervisor support from psychiatrists and psychoanalysts twice per academic term.
• Symposiums: The school is represented at least once at symposiums, congresses and other events.
• Professional Development: All psychological counselors attend seminars, symposiums, congresses, conferences or trainings at least twice a year to further their professional development.