What do you do when teachers try to offer university counselling?

They say it takes a village to send a student to college, and it does. I believe that university counsellors do not, cannot and should not work alone. In the international school context, the support of teachers is essential to university counsellors’ jobs.

In my counselling career, I have experienced a lot of situations where teachers thought that they were well placed to counsel students, and tried to do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Unfortunately, more often than not, the very kind and generous action of teachers brings them into conflict with university counsellors.

I have heard of teachers giving advice to a student without informing the counsellors. I have even witnessed a teacher giving out advice that was completely contrary to the advice the counsellor had given earlier – confusing the student.

All of these can make the counsellor’s role more challenging, undermine the counselling department and damage the reputation of the school.

The following are a few strategies that can help university counsellors enhance their working relationship with teacher colleagues.

1. Share information

It is natural for teachers to feel curious about what courses and which universities the students they teach are applying to. Just like university counsellors, they want to have a full picture of a student.

Counsellors should make teachers feel included by sharing the information with them. In my school, the university counselling department gives sixth-form teachers and department heads access to the applicants administration tracker (including information such as destination, major and status of application).

We also welcome any ideas from teachers. At the same time, we ask other departments to grant us access to their academic data and reports throughout students’ senior years, so that we can keep track of students’ performance, and thus make more informed decisions.

Counsellors can also actively seek information they think beneficial to students’ applications from form tutors as well as subject teachers, both formally (for example, during meetings) and informally (such as during chats at lunchtime).

You may need to check your school’s confidentiality policy and seek your students’ consent before sharing their application information internally.

2. Request support where it would be helpful

Let teachers know where their support is appreciated. For example, you might value their recommending wider reading lists, sharing personal university experience, proofreading application essays or coaching students’ interviews.

Such a whole-team approach can comprehensively enhance students’ university applications and contribute to building a strong team culture among staff.

3. Don’t take things personally

Your pride may be hurt when a student shares something about the progress of their university application with a teacher before informing you – or not even informing you at all. It can be difficult at times, but try to respond positively, and with empathy.

Students can experience all kinds of ups and downs during the application process, and sometimes all they want is to hear from and be heard by the people they are close to. In some cases, it could be their friends; in other cases, it could be their teachers. But believe me, in the rest of the cases, it is you.

Instead of discouraging teachers and students from discussing colleges, simply ask them to loop you into their conversations.

To begin with, get more time in front of teachers and educate them about the importance of good, solid, coordinated guidance and the benefit for the students. In particular, you may want to hold training sessions for teachers to guide them on what to do if students come to them for university and career advice.

If necessary, work with sixth-form managers to build a specific behaviour policy. With students, you may want to highlight what you are able to offer that teachers cannot, as a way to emphasise the importance of consistent communication with university counsellors.

4. Tackle conflict calmly

Teachers may not have the skills and techniques necessary to counsel students on their university applications and their future – not to mention providing counselling for students in challenging situations involving various stakeholders.

Thus, when teachers give out advice to students, there is a high chance that their advice may not be consistent with – and may even be contrary to – what university counsellors would advise.

In these situations, it is important to approach the conflict with professionalism and collaboration, to avoid hurting the students.

First, as the counsellor, approach the situation calmly and make sure you have grasped the key points before bringing up the conflict with the teacher. While discussing the issue, it is important that you try to work with (not against) the teacher to find common ground and determine the student’s best interest.

When explaining the conflict in guidance to the student, share with teachers the reasoning behind each piece of advice as well as potential outcomes for the student.

If the situation is particularly complex or significant, involving the student’s parents can be a good move, as once parents are aware of the differing advice, they can support their child in making a decision.