Teaching is a lot like being a superhero. You're expected to have all the answers, solve problems on the go, and always show strength. But even superheroes need a sidekick! They need their support to navigate through the ups and downs of their job. Just like a superhero has a sidekick, teachers can benefit from having Teacher Counselling sessions with a mentor!
A mentor acts as a support system, helps teachers develop skills, overcome challenges, and become better educators. In this blog we’ll explore the benefits of teacher counselling and look at its impact on the lives of teachers. It’s time to unleash your inner superhero and take your teaching to new heights with teacher counselling.
We will begin by understanding some key benefits that teacher counselling offers:
Enhanced Job Satisfaction
You can discuss your concerns with your mentor and develop new strategies for managing work better. This will help you feel more in control of your work and better prepared to handle challenges. Feeling supported and empowered makes you more likely to enjoy what you do. In this case, Teaching!
Increased Self-awareness
Talking to a mentor helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, which can lead to self-awareness. This can help you chart a realistic path for your goals and start working on it.
Career Growth
Teacher counselling can provide the tools and strategies to take your career to the next level. Your mentor can help you with job searching, resume writing, interviewing, and even pursuing courses for professional development. This can enhance your value as an educator and ensure you’ve rapid career growth.
Teacher counselling is a means for you to get clarity about your teaching career. Armed with this newfound clarity, you will be better prepared to navigate your teaching journey.
Fun Fact: Teacher counselling is also helpful for your future recruitment.
Let us understand how that happens:
When it comes to teacher recruitment, what's the first question a potential recruiter would have in their mind?
It will be something like, “What does this teacher bring to the table?”
This answer could vary from skills to experience to even personality, for that matter. But whatever your answer would be, it definitely would focus on how much value you add to the prospective school.
So ask yourself, will a school prefer a teacher who completed some degrees, started their career and has been at it? Or will the school look for someone who has made an effort to invest in upskilling and learn the latest pedagogical skills?
You are well aware that education is a dynamic industry, prone to constant change. As a result, schools will seek teachers willing to learn and develop in such situations.
And, the right teacher counselling will help to score better teaching opportunities in the future. This happens because of:
- Your increased self-awareness: Once you start working with a mentor, there is a sharp clarity of thought regarding your teaching style and process. You become more confident and self-aware. Hence, making you a great hire!
- Your investment in professional development: Your mentor guides you to pursue professional development courses depending on your growth plans and areas of improvement. This ensures you are updated with 21st-century pedagogical skills, giving you a competitive edge over other applicants.
- Your consistent effort towards career growth: Working with a mentor makes you a forward-thinking and ambitious teacher with long-term plans. And that’s exactly what schools seek today.
You’ve already understood the impact of having a mentor by your side. This brings us to the next part of this blog. Here we will understand how to access the support of a mentor. We’ve listed different types of counselling available for 21st-century teachers. Let’s go through them in detail:
1. Individual Teacher Counselling
Individual teacher counselling is a one-on-one session between a teacher and a counsellor. This type of counselling is tailored to your specific needs and provides an opportunity to discuss personal and professional concerns in a safe and confidential environment.
Individual teacher counselling is an effective way for you to work through specific issues and develop a plan to overcome them. This type of counselling can be attended in both online and offline formats. Mostly, the sessions go on from about half an hour to an hour.
2. Group Teacher Counselling
In this format, you are asked to join a small group of teachers and discuss your concerns and experiences with them. This type of counselling helps you meet like-minded individuals and provides you a supportive environment to discuss your challenges. You can learn from your peers, build relationships, and develop a sense of community. This type of counselling is available in both formats, offline as well as online. And mostly these sessions go on from about half an hour to an hour.
Want to give group teacher counselling sessions a try? If your answer’s a yes, then click on the button below:
In conclusion, today there are multiple options available if you want to go for guidance and counselling. However, nowadays, majority of teachers opt for individual counselling via online medium.
This is because it provides a flexible and convenient way to access counselling services from anywhere, anytime you want. Additionally, these sessions can be conducted through video conferencing, phone calls or chatting platforms. This type of counselling is especially beneficial if you have limited access to offline counselling services in your locality.
Let’s understand in detail why online teacher counselling is one of the most preferred types of counselling today:
As a teacher, you know how helpful and convenient it is to use online tools for teaching and supporting your students. So, if you need guidance for yourself, wouldn't you choose to do it online?
To help you with your decision, let’s first understand some of the advantages that online teacher counselling provides you in detail:
1. Accessible Anywhere
With online teacher counselling, you no longer need to worry about travelling long distances to attend counselling sessions. This is especially beneficial if you stay in remote or rural areas and may need access to counselling services.
2. Flexible Timings
Online counselling allows you to choose various time slots as per your schedule. This will allow you to balance your work and personal life.
3. Cost-effective
Online teacher counselling is a cost-effective way for you to try counselling. You can save up on your travel expenses, and secondly, it is usually much more affordable than the in-person sessions.
Ready to give online counselling a try? Check out Suraasa!
It is India’s leading career growth platform for teachers. Their team offers career guidance exclusively to teachers via online teacher counselling sessions. In fact, they have already mentored 81972+ teachers from across the world.
Book your first counselling session with Team Suraasa by clicking on the button below:
In this blog, we covered what teacher counselling is and how it can work wonders for you. Remember, that just like you offer guidance and support to all your students, you too need it.
Talking to a mentor will help you nail down your career goals. It will help you take concrete action steps to achieve your goals and become the best version of yourself. So, take the first step and seek guidance from a mentor today. Book a 20-minute online teacher counselling session with a Suraasa mentor and get started!
