Group counseling for elementary school children

Includes bibliographical references (pages 11-12, last page)It has been at least thirty years and possibly more since educators first began to express the importance of mental health to learning and the need for schools to work on helping children not only with the academic aspect of their education but with the social and emotional as well. In 1952, Arthur T. Jersild commented," ???for many young people school is second only to the home as an institution that determines the growing individual's concept of himself and his attitudes of self-acceptance and self-rejection." Still, for many teachers today, teaching remains solely a process whereby the teacher attempts to instill knowledge into the recalcitrant student. Teachers express annoyance at the intrusions of emotion into their classrooms. "There I was with a beautiful lesson planned, all set to go, and there sat this group of girls, passing notes back and forth about 'Let's hate Mary! ', stated a fourth grade teacher. Of course, children who are churned up about a social crisis on the playground cannot become absorbed in Junipero Serra and the California missions. And what about Mary? She sits trembling at the rejection she has experienced from her peer group. She is feeling hurt, angry and vindictive. How can she possibly become involved in information gathering? Virginia Axline states, "You cannot divorce learning from life. The child is a dynamic, forceful being. He should not be placed in a groove. Give the child an opportunity to function as an individual. Give him freedom and responsibility and a feeling of success." Yet many teachers continue to express annoyance at the child who has difficulty learning because he is not meeting their criteria for success, fitting into their particular "groove" or meeting their definition. (See more in text.