How can the systems approach and the related tools and techniques be used to improve the training of employment counselors? This article is intended to provide a tentative answer to that question. First, a conventional model for training counselors will be evaluated. Second, a systems-based model will be described. Finally, some advantages and limitations of the proposed model will be examined.
THE CURRENT SITUATfONTo place a systems approach to counselor education into its proper perspective, we can begin by briefly examining the dominant existing model for counselor training. As Blocher and Wolleat (1972) have pointed out, most counselor training programs are based upon the notion that exposure to a set of courses recommended by professional organizations and prescribed by governmental agencies will result in desirable counselor performance on the job. However, this hope has seldom been realized. While there are many reasons for this state of affairs, the most prominent ones appear to be that conventional programs are typically (a) unrealistic, (b) redundant, (c) incomplete, (d) inefficient, (e) imprecise, and (0 static. Let us consider each' of these characteristics in turn.First, the set of required courses included in counselor training programs is, in most cases, based upon the opinion of professors and certification officials, many of whom have long been out of firsthand contact with the changing needs of clients and the consequent demands placed upon counselors in their everyday work. Hence, it is little wonder that employment counselors may find themselves unprepared to meet the needs of contemporary clients.Second, there is a great deal of overlap among courses in many counselor education programs. Each professor typically has his own course (or courses) which he teaches term after term and in which he does his own thing, without
