Selection and Training of School and College Personnel Workers

Abstract

This writer is suggesting that at present neither selection nor training is well defined. Very little basic research has been reported in the literature for this area since 1951 when a similar review was made (16). Much of the literature reported in the present review consists of opinions of individuals or presentation of programs. This suggests an absence of need or an absence of awareness of the importance of research for selecting and training school and college personnel workers at the level of the graduate program. There may be several reasons for this. In the first place, this area is still relatively new, having approached maturity only in the last two decades. Second, the role of the student-personnel worker needs clarification. The central setting for counselors, for example, is in educational institutions, but there are also counselors in business, industry, penal institutions, and youth organizations. Third, nomenclature needs to be classified and standardized (9, 12, 16). Saddlemire (32), for example, found 61 different titles for 323 personnel administrators in four-year liberal arts colleges. Fourth, some jobs, such as that of counselor, need to be defined carefully. At conferences held at Boulder in 1949 and at Ann Arbor (5) in 1949 and 1950, attempts were made to differentiate between clinical counseling and student-personnel counseling. Selection The selection of students for graduate training in school and college personnel work is as important as the training program itself. There is no argument about this, but the surprising point is that so little research has been done to establish adequate criteria for selection. It does seem that without careful selection, the burden of proof would indeed be a heavy one for the training program. Psychologically speaking, it is not possible to change a person's scholastic aptitude, motivations, attitude, and experiences in a short period of time, no matter how excellent the training program may be. Selection is also important because of the limited time and resources available for training. 121