Issue 28(1)
Toward
Successful School Crisis Intervention: Nine Key Issues. (2007).
Charles M. Jaksec III, Corwin Press (SAGE Publications). 128 pp.,
$22.95 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-4129-4888-3.
Review
by: Lianna
L. Scull
Academic Advising
Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (New York)
Today many
campuses define academic advising so that the advisor’s role encompasses
that of mentor or teacher (Miller and Alberts, 1994; Ryan, 1992).
It is essential that we craft multi-facetted definitions of academic
advising so that advisors can assist in preparing students for
the inevitable crises they face each day simply as human beings
living in this world. Whether academic, personal, professional,
environmental, or societal, crises impact our students in a multitude
of ways. Strategies suggested in Toward Successful School
Crisis Intervention: Nine Key Issues can guide the first
steps advisors take to assist students facing these inevitable
crises. The information provided in this text can be utilized
in developing advisors as student mentors and simultaneously as
key players in the support system upon which students rely when
facing the inevitable.
Section
one touches upon the importance of responding to crises in ways
that best serve the student population while still maintaining
a clear position of legal responsibility. Section three effectively
highlights the importance of often evasive interoffice communications,
particularly when reacting to crisis on campus. Non-school-based
crisis intervention teams, discussed in section six, are a valuable
resource which many college communities may not utilize effectively.
Section nine encourages school staff to work with students in
productive anticipation of crises. This section is particularly
informative for advisors wishing to utilize their counseling skills
beyond students’ educational and professional lives and thus help
in developing students’ general sense of well-being, security
and their ability to grow from challenges.
For
academic advisors, one fault of this book is its failure to address
the role of advisor to the extent that it discusses the roll of
the teacher in crises situations. Additionally, as the title suggest,
this book more thoroughly addresses crises in primary and secondary
school settings than crises in institutions of higher education.
Regardless, I would classify this book as an invaluable tool for
staff and faculty members who make up institutional crisis committees
as well as those who are the first-line defense against the crises
that are a reality in our schools. After all, crises, from illness
to far reaching, life-altering tragedies, arise at all levels
of education. From primary to post-secondary levels, crises are
a certainty in today’s campuses and classrooms.
I
would recommend this text for guidance counselors, college and
university counseling personnel, and members of student life offices,
e.g., resident directors, as well as academic advisors
interested in being involved in the improvement of their institution’s
emergency procedures. This is an especially important read for
those named as support staff to the designated administrator of
emergency protocol.
Ultimately,
this book supports the tried and true saying; “the best offense
is a good defense.” As true mentors and responsible administrators
it is our duty to look to the future and plan ahead. In that respect,
this book is a detailed discussion and an action-oriented tool
for the “front-line of defense” educational administrator.
Miller,
M. A., & Alberts, B. (1994). Developmental advising: Where
teaching and learning intersect. National Academic Advising
Association Journal, 14, 43-45.
Ryan,
C. C. (1992). Advising as teaching. National Academic Advising
Association Journal, 12, 4-8.
