Solution-Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC) refers to a method of addressing students’ emotional and behavioral disorders and learning disabilities and at-risk students. According to Fearrington and Skinner (2011), SFBC was not developed to target students’ academic or learning deficits, but rather to focus on “the desired characteristics of procedures designed to address academic performance problems” (62). SFBC, as its name suggests, entails several short sessions during which an instructor meets with a student to coach him or her through problem-solving strategies. Additionally, these sessions are used to foster a sense of self-efficacy and confidence in students that did not exhibit these skills prior to intervention. SFBC sessions are intended to help students develop a sense of responsibility for and pride in their work, which will hopefully lead to increased academic achievement. In this specific experiment, the dependent variable was work completion; students’ work was checked for accuracy, but SFBC sessions focused more exclusively on work completion.
There are several stages of SFBC. In the initial stage, students are asked to identify and rate the severity of a given problem. They are also asked to describe what they would need to do to perform upon their own prior performances on the given task or similar tasks. Next, students are asked a “miracle question.” They are told to imagine that the problem was solved by a miracle and then to envision how the problem was resolved. This teaches the student to develop and envision concrete solutions to seemingly difficult problems, thereby motivating the student to pursue success and to problem solve. The third step of SFBC involves encouraging the student and providing him or her with positive feedback and what researchers call “positive blame.” Positive blame is a method by which one takes the blame for a positive experience, reinforcing the belief that one is capable of performing favorably and obtaining positive outcomes. In the fourth stage, students are asked to identify potential obstacles to their correctly solving a problem and to generate solutions to these obstacles. Finally, students receive positive feedback and advice in the form of a written note.
SFBC is applicable in all content areas. All content areas lend themselves to individualized lessons with students. Additionally, self-efficacy does not develop within any particular content area. Rather, a sense of self-efficacy should bolster one’s sense of ability across all content areas. This experiment specifically focused on completion of math assignments, but the organizational structure of SFBC lends itself to implementation in all content areas.
In addition to being relevant to all content areas, SFBC is relevant to all types of learners. Typically developing students and students with mild or moderate disabilities, and even severe disabilities, benefit from SFBC. Students in general education classrooms may benefit from SFBC in small groups, or in the form of weekly sessions in reading skills. Students with mild or moderate disabilities, or even severe ones, may also benefit from SFBC simply because it fosters self-efficacy, confidence and problem solving without directly addressing or focusing on students’ deficits. Students benefit from individualized instruction and exercises in problem solving and building self-efficacy.
SFBC would be particularly successful with M.W., who responds well to praise but shies away from criticism. SFBC does not incorporate criticism and so would be an effective framework for addressing M.W.’s math skills. SFBC sessions in multiplication would significantly build M.W.’s confidence in her own academic abilities and render her more likely to attempt “difficult” math problems in the classroom. The written note, in particular, would bolster M.W.’s confidence. Additionally, the benefit of individualized attention from an instructor, on a weekly basis for approximately 30 minutes, would further cater to M.W.’s desire to be a focal point of adults’ attention.
References
Fearrington, J. Y., McCallum, R. S., and Skinner, C. H. (2011). Increasing math assignment completion using solution-focused brief counseling. Education and Treatment of Children 34(1), 61-80.
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