Peer Counseling
Course Description:
Helping people achieve their goals is one of the most rewarding of human experiences. Peer counselors help individuals reach their goals by offering them support, encouragement, and resource information. This course explains the role of a peer counselor, teaches the observation, listening, and emphatic communication skills that counselors need, and provides basic training in conflict resolution, and group leadership. Not only will this course prepare you for working as a peer counselor, but the skills taught will enhance your ability to communicate effectively in your personal and work relationships.
Course Details:
| Course Title (District): |
Peer Counseling |
| Course Title (NCES SCED) : |
Health Support Services |
| Course Provider : |
Genesee ISD |
| Content Provided By : |
eDynamic Learning |
| Online Instructor Provided By : |
Genesee School District |
| Standards Addressed : |
None |
| Academic Terms : |
Semester, Open Entry / Open Exit |
| NCES SCED Code : 14202 |
| Subject Area : |
Health Care Sciences |
| Course Identifier : |
Health Support Services |
| Course Level : |
High School (Secondary) |
| Available Credit : |
0.5 |
| Sequence : |
1 of 1 |
|
How To Enroll:
Students and Parents: It is important to work closely with your local school counselor or
registrar to follow the school's enrollment procedures. By clicking the "Start Registration
Request" button below, you will be able to notify the school of your interest in registering for
the online course. However, it is the responsibility of the district or school to review the
registration request and approve or deny the request. Please make a note to follow up with
your school after submitting a registration request.
Start Registration Request
Additional Course Information:
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 810-591-4401
Additional Cost: $0.0
Additional Cost Description: None
Unit 1: Peer Counseling Basics
- Provide information or resources.
- Make referrals to other types of services.
- Assist with problem solving.
- Help people explore their options.
- Assist with conflict resolution.
- Provide constructive feedback.
Unit 2: Communicating Needs and Feelings
- Describe the benefits of having emotions.
- Explain what emotional intelligence is and why it is important.
- Describe seven basic emotions, what triggers them, and how to recognize them.
- Recognize signs that reveal which basic needs are not being met.
- Describe what it means to take responsibility for your own emotions and feelings.
- Demonstrate how to communicate feelings and needs effectively.
Unit 3: Needs, Feelings and Human Behavior
- Discuss the many ways our earliest caregivers influence our mental and emotional development.
- Discuss the role of temperament and early environmental influences on our mental and emotional development.
- Explain the connection between our earliest influences and the development of our individual habits of thought and behavior.
- Explain how the behavior habits acquired in childhood affect our adolescent and adult choices.
- Explain why humans have developed and use defensive behaviors.
- Begin recognizing defensive behaviors in yourself and others.
Unit 4: Listening, Questioning, Paraphrasing and Reflecting
- Explain what it means to listen attentively, or actively, and the benefits of having this skill.
- Describe or demonstrate how counselors show their attentiveness to peers.
- Explain the purpose of facilitative questioning.
- Understand and demonstrate the use of closed- and open-ended questions.
- Define or demonstrate the counseling skill of paraphrasing.
- Define or demonstrate the counseling skill of reflecting.
Unit 5: Feedback, Body Language, Summarizing and Assessing
- Define feedback and explain why it is used.
- Demonstrate using feedback.
- Explain how to use a peer’s body language as a therapy tool.
- Define summarizing and demonstrate its use.
- Define assessing and explain what it is used for.
- Explain what a non-judgmental attitude is and demonstrate how to practice it.
Unit 6: Conflict Resolution
- Explain how conflict is more than a disagreement, and discuss the factors that make conflict resolution difficult.
- Define and discuss the conflict styles of competing, avoiding, accommodating, and compromise.
- Define collaboration and explain what makes it an ideal style of negotiation and what makes it difficult to use.
- Understand and explain how your personal biases and past conflict experiences affect you as you negotiate with others.
- Follow ground rules and guidelines, and utilize counseling skills to practice the art of conflict resolution.
- Exercise options for managing an impasse (stalemate) in the resolution process.
Unit 7: Leadership and Teamwork
- Identify basic styles of leadership and discuss each style’s strengths.
- Describe your own natural leadership style, with its strengths and weaknesses.
- Discuss the basics of collaborative leadership.
- Explain the benefits of working in teams and what the primary building blocks of successful teams are.
- Explain how a team leader encourages and facilitates effective teamwork.
- Explain the four stages teams go through as they mature.
Unit 8: Group Leadership
- Educate others regarding the benefits of participating in counseling groups.
- Describe three types of peer counseling groups and the primary focus of each type.
- Provide a general job description of a group facilitator.
- Name three group stages of development and discuss the expected behaviors of group members during each of the stages.
- Define group cohesion, and name two or more ways to facilitate group cohesion during each stage of group development.
- Identify six problems that may arise during group sessions and suggest one or two ways of addressing each one.
iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses
| Academic Content Standards and Assessments |
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Comments |
| The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are measurable in multiple ways. |
Fully Met
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| The course content and assignments are aligned with the state’s content standards, Common Core curriculum, or other accepted content standards set for Advanced Placement® courses, technology, computer science, or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards. |
Fully Met
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| The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and breadth to teach the standards being addressed. |
Fully Met
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| Information literacy and communication skills are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the curriculum. |
Fully Met
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| Multiple learning resources and materials to increase student success are available to students before the course begins. |
Fully Met
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| Course Overview and Introduction |
Rating
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Comments |
| Clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course. |
Fully Met
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| Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
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| Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to communicate with the online instructor and course provider. |
Fully Met
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| Legal and Acceptable Use Policies |
Rating
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Comments |
| The course reflects multi-cultural education, and the content is accurate, current and free of bias or advertising. |
Fully Met
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| Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions, and e-mail communications are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
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| Privacy policies are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
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| Instructor Resources |
Rating
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Comments |
| Online instructor resources and notes are included. |
Fully Met
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| Assessment and assignment answers and explanations are included. |
Fully Met
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| Accessing Course Effectiveness |
Rating
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Comments |
| The course provider uses multiple ways of assessing course effectiveness. |
Fully Met
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| The course is evaluated using a continuous improvement cycle for effectiveness and the findings used as a basis for improvement. |
Fully Met
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| Course Updates |
Rating
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Comments |
| The course is updated periodically to ensure that the content is current. |
Fully Met
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| Certification |
Rating
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Comments |
| Course instructors, whether faceto-face or virtual, are certificated and “highly qualified.” The online course teacher possesses a teaching credential from a state-licensing agency and is “highly qualified” as defined under ESEA. |
Fully Met
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| Instructor and Student Support |
Rating
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Comments |
| Professional development about the online course delivery system is offered by the provider to assure effective use of the courseware and various instructional media available. |
Fully Met
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| The course provider offers technical support and course management assistance to students, the course instructor, and the school coordinator. |
Fully Met
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| Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, have been provided professional development in the behavioral, social, and when necessary, emotional, aspects of the learning environment. |
Fully Met
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| Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, receive instructor professional development, which includes the support and use of a variety of communication modes to stimulate student engagement online. |
Fully Met
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| The provider assures that course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, are provided support, as needed, to ensure their effectiveness and success in meeting the needs of online students. |
Fully Met
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| Students are offered an orientation for taking an online course before starting the coursework. |
Fully Met
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| Instructional and Audience Analysis |
Rating
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Comments |
| Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students’ needs and incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum. |
Fully Met
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| Course, Unit and Lesson Design |
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Comments |
| The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives, activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content. |
Fully Met
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| Instructional Strategies and Activities |
Rating
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Comments |
| The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active learning. |
Fully Met
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| The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways. |
Fully Met
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| The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex ways. |
Fully Met
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| The course provides options for the instructor to adapt learning activities to accommodate students’ needs. |
Fully Met
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| Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level expectations. |
Fully Met
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| Communication and Interaction |
Rating
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Comments |
| The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about student progress. |
Fully Met
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| The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before and during the first week of the course) that confirms whether students are engaged and are progressing through the course. The instructor will follow program guidelines to address non-responsive students. |
Fully Met
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| The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material. |
Fully Met
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| Resources and Materials |
Rating
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Comments |
| Students have access to resources that enrich the course content. |
Fully Met
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| Evaluation Strategies |
Rating
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Comments |
| Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
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| The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and procedures to assess students’ mastery of content. |
Fully Met
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| Feedback |
Rating
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Comments |
| Ongoing, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the course to inform instruction. |
Fully Met
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| Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his/her progress in class and mastery of the content. |
Fully Met
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| Assessment Resources and Materials |
Rating
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Comments |
| Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess students in a variety of ways. |
Fully Met
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| Grading rubrics are provided to the instructor and may be shared with students. |
Fully Met
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| The grading policy and practices are easy to understand. |
Fully Met
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| Course Architecture |
Rating
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Comments |
| The course architecture permits the online instructor to add content, activities and assessments to extend learning opportunities. |
Fully Met
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| The course accommodates multiple school calendars; e.g., block, 4X4 and traditional schedules. |
Fully Met
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| User Interface |
Rating
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Comments |
| Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course. |
Fully Met
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| Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in order to address diverse student needs. |
Fully Met
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| Technology Requirements and Interoperability |
Rating
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Comments |
| All technology requirements (including hardware, browser, software, etc...) are specified. |
Fully Met
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| Prerequisite skills in the use of technology are identified. |
Fully Met
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| The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately. |
Fully Met
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| The course is designed to meet internationally recognized interoperability standards. |
Fully Met
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| Copyright and licensing status, including permission to share where applicable, is clearly stated and easily found. |
Fully Met
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| Accessibility |
Rating
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Comments |
| Course materials and activities are designed to provide appropriate access to all students. The course, developed with universal design principles in mind, conforms to the U.S. Section 504 and Section 508 provisions for electronic and information technology as well as the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAg 2.0). |
Fully Met
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| Data Security |
Rating
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Comments |
| Student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). |
Fully Met
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Review Conducted By: eDynamic Learning
Date of Review:
07/22/2018
1. Peer Counseling Basics
2. Communicating Needs and Feelings
3. Needs, Feelings and Human Behavior
4. Listening, Questioning, Paraphrasing and Reflecting
5. Feedback, Body Language, Summarizing and Assessing
6. Conflict Resolution
7. Leadership and Teamwork
8. Group Leadership
| Term Type |
Enrollment Opens |
Enrollment Ends |
Random Draw Date |
Enrollment Drop Date |
Course Starts |
Course Ends |
# of Seats |
Course Fee |
Potential Additional Costs |
|
Open Entry / Open Exit |
08/01/2024 |
07/31/2025 |
|
|
|
|
100 |
$275 |
$0 |
| Drop Policy |
Completion Policy |
Term Type |
Enrollment Opens |
Enrollment Ends |
| Full refund when withdrawn within 14 days of enrollment. |
EdisonLearning Instructional Support Staff provide instructional feedback on all teacher-graded assignments. Grades are submitted upon course part completion or upon request from the student’s Advisor. |
Open Entry / Open Exit |
08/01/2024 |
07/31/2025 |
Flexible; online facilitator, blended, or traditional classroom
