Groups in Schools: Preparing, Leading, and Responding » (New Edition)

Dr. Geroski is an Associate Professor and Counseling Program Coordinator at the University of Vermont. Her scholarship focuses on group work in schools and on Narrative Therapy. Dr. Kraus is a professor of Counseling at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. His scholarship and clinical practice focuses on counseling children and adolescents, and he is a Fellow in the Association for Specialists in Group Work. Drs. Geroski and Kraus are former teachers, school counselors, and clinicians, who have collaborated on numerous scholarly projects over the past two decades.

Finally, a textbook that teaches students how to effectively lead counseling and classroom groups in schools!

This practical, user-friendly book contains the most relevant information critical to working with students in both classroom psychoeducational and counseling group work in schools. Building upon students’ and practitioners’ generalist preparation to lead groups, Group Work in Schools: Preparing, Leading, Responding offers readers practical direction in planning and facilitating groups in the school setting. The ideas presented in the book are applicable to a variety of group venues and adaptable to multiple age levels. The ‘nuts and bolts’ approach in this book is complemented by a focus on how school counselors can use group work to address complex and nuanced issues (particularly those social issues frequently referred to as "diversity issues") in their school communities. In short, this book teaches school counselors to be intentional in their group work practice in schools.

Introduction

Group Planning and Organization

Goals

“Lesson Plans”

Physical Space

Group Activities

Activity Selection

Timing of Activities

Processing Questions

Planning for Evaluation

Questions

Outcome Study Design and Data Sources

Conclusions and Changes

Managing the Group: Establishing a Productive Learning Environment

Leader Positioning

Group Climate

Cohesiveness

Interpersonal Learning

Caring

Safety, Challenge, Risk and Anxiety

Leader Executive Function

Preparing Students for Learning

Rule and Norm-setting

Attention

Minimize Distractions

Clear Instructions

Withitness

Learning Map

Meaning-making

Spiral Learning

Mental Models

Personal Life Context

Managing Content and Process Focus

Intentionality

Using and Processing Activities

Flexibility

Interest

Processing

Assessing Learning Objectives

Responding to Problems in the Group

General Guidelines

Ignoring

Cueing, re-focusing, and Proximity Control

Dealing with Objects and Other Distractions

Humor

Hurdle Help

Feedback Exchange and Group Problem Solving

Restating the Rule

Working with Choices

Using Consequences

Natural Consequences

Logical Consequences

Reasonable Consequences

General Guidelines for Working with Consequences

Contracts

Drafting the Contract

Working with the Contract in the Group

Unhooking from Power Struggles

Using Time-Out

De-escalation