462 The Professional Counselor | Volume 10, Issue 4 helps to ensure that faculty members have the necessary resources, which in turn ensures a quality experience. As another participant stated, “I think that capacity and resources are key.” Development of a Counselor Educator Identity The next theme to emerge was the importance of doctoral students developing a strong identity as counselor educators. As one participant said, the mission of a high-quality program is to prepare students “to step into a role as an educator.” Some participants therefore equated high-quality programs with those that intentionally prepared counselor educators. Participants described a variety of curricular and extracurricular experiences within the program that assisted doctoral students to develop a strong professional identity as counselor educators. Curricular Experiences Several participants emphasized the importance of having formal curricular experiences in all three areas of teaching, research, and service as part of the doctoral degree program. As one participant stated, “I think you define your program by how well prepared your students are as evidenced by their success in these areas . . . of faculty activities, which [are] teaching, scholarship, and service.” A sole focus on one of these areas was considered inadequate by several participants. For example, even participants working at research-intensive institutions suggested that a sole focus and overemphasis on research at the expense of teaching and service (i.e., leadership and advocacy) may not assist students to develop broad knowledge and skills as counselor educators. In addition to training students broadly, some participants thought that curricular experiences needed to be rigorous. As one participant stated, “I assume that any high-quality doctoral program is rigorous— that you’re not letting students just do personal growth.” Some participants also associated the program’s accreditation status (i.e., CACREP accreditation) with assisting students to develop their professional identity. One participant listed CACREP’s five core doctoral standards (i.e., counseling, leadership and advocacy, research, supervision, and teaching) as each being an essential part of the formal doctoral curriculum in counselor education: “I really believe in those five doctoral standards. I believe that those are the areas in which I expect to see scholar leaders at very high levels of competence.” Extracurricular Experiences Participants reported providing a range of extracurricular experiences to engage students in professional identity development. Participants reported assisting students in attending conferences, sharing in publications, co-teaching classes, and providing opportunities for service. One participant stated that “doctoral study also involves writing with faculty. It involves presenting and publishing your own work. It involves being involved in program governance.” Graduate assistantships are also important when they help students to “gain practical experience and meaningful experience.” These experiences were often part of the “informal curriculum” of the program and were conceptualized by participants as exceeding minimum standards and requirements. Within this theme, it was also recognized that CACREP accreditation standards should be considered the minimum standards and that students need to have experiences beyond the minimum requirements. One participant said that high-quality programs provide experiences beyond “the cookie-cutter bare minimum that CACREP requires” and gave students training that created “pathways towards something that makes you unique in this field, so that you can contribute above and beyond when you get in the classroom.” Another participant said that “it’s going beyond just the course work,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1