An Evaluation of Counselling Practices in Selected Schools in Goa

Introduction:
Counseling: 1. Counselling, according to Brammer and Shostrom is defined
as a way of relating and responding to another person so that he/she is helped
to explore his thoughts, feelings and behaviour to reach a clear self-
understanding. Also, the person is helped to find and use his/her strengths to
be able to cope more effectively with making appropriate decisions, or taking
appropriate action.

2. Makinde (1983) also looks at counselling and defines it as an integrative

process between a client, who is vulnerable and who needs assistance, and a
counsellor who is trained and educated to give this assistance. The goal of the
interaction is to help the client learn to deal more effectively with him/herself
and the reality of his environment.

Generally, “counseling” means giving advice that is specifically

tailored to the client’s needs or situation. It is “professional guidance of the
individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case
history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing
interests and aptitudes.” This is technically distinct from Psychotherapy,
which is often the assisting the client or patient who has a functional inability
to act or think in certain situations, so that whatever is psychologically
blocking the person can be encountered and hopefully removed.
Counselling in Schools will provide counsellors, educational psychologists,
teachers, teacher-trainers and other interested professionals with essential
insights into how counselling best works within a school.

Covering a wide range of problems encountered in schools, the contributors -

all experienced school counsellors show how the context, be it state or public,
primary or secondary, mainstream or special school, needs to be
acknowledged in order to support and foster the emotional and academic
welfare of the child.

Academic Counseling:

• Provide students with a comprehensive assessment, including academic

strengths and needs, to assist them with class selection.
• Help students clarify their academic goals, select a major, and develop
realistic academic work loads.
• Help students develop educational plans.
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 Career Counseling:
• Provide students with an assessment of skills, abilities, interests, work
values, and personality style.
• Provide information on current and future employment trends.

• Help students develop effective models for making career decisions and
setting goals.

Personal Counseling/Crisis Intervention:

• Provide short-term counseling and refer students to appropriate

community resources.
• Assist students with personal, family, and other issues that may affect
their educational progress.
• Offer support to students with a respect and understanding for their
backgrounds, cultural values, gender, communication styles, abilities,
and limitations.

School counselors work in either public or private school systems, from

elementary to post-secondary education levels. School counselors assist
children, teens and adult students with:

• Academic achievement
• Personal and social development
• Career planning

School counselors also work with academic boards to improve learning

conditions. These are some of the areas of concern for school counselors:

• Developing school counseling programs

• Improving parent / teacher relationships
• Improving school atmosphere
• Legislative advocacy

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Educational and vocational counselors also help adults with work, skill and
career issues:

• Learning new skills

• Changing careers
• Re-entering the workforce
• Achieving higher education
• Advancing their current careers

Counseling should provide an experience that will strengthen the children's

coping abilities to counter environmental stress and disadvantages with which
they have had to cope in growing up. And for this, it is important to discuss
emotions and feelings. In schools, it is intelligence that is given round
applause. Emotions are expected to be kept under control. This leads to an
unhealthy society.

Counseling will help to maintain programmes that will results in higher

school attendance rates, enhanced academic success, less school drop-out and
reduced criminal behavior, reduced drug use, alcohol consumption and
cigarette smoking in children and adolescents.

Children and young people spend a significant proportion of their time

at school. Outside of family life, school is the most important social setting in
which children and young people participate. It is not surprising then that
school-related issues are a major area of concern about which young people
frequently phone Kids Help Line. Whether the problem be specifically school-
related, such as study pressure, problems with school authority or discipline;
or social situations at school, such as peer relationships or bullying, there is no
doubt that the classroom and the playground are key forums in which children
and young people can learn to be responsible and effective members of
society.

Too often in education there is a split between those concerned with children's
personal and emotional wellbeing and those focusing on academic
achievement. At a time when counselling in schools is on the increase,
working towards an integration of the personal and the academic is
paramount.

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Review of Literature:
`Schools are neglecting counseling' The Indian Express.
Supervising School Counselors and Interns
Journal of Professional Counseling, Practice, Theory, & Research; October 1,
2004.

Professional school counselors' approaches to technology.

Professional School Counseling; February 1, 2006 ; Carlson, Laurie
A.Portman,

A survey of assessment and evaluation activities of school counselors.

Professional School Counseling; October 1, 2004 ; Ekstrom, Ruth B. Elmore,
Patricia B. Schafer, William D. Trotter, Thomas V. Webster, Barbara;

Trends in school counseling journals: the first fifty years

Professional School Counseling, Dec, 2003 by Sheri Bauman, Jason

Siegel, Lia Falco, Gerald Szymanski, April Davis, Karen Seabolt

Web sites:
www.google.com ; www.yahoo.com www.indiatimes.com

Objectives of the study:

1. To know about the availability of Counseling in School.
2. To study the Importance of Counseling in School.
3. To study the problems faced by the students.
4. To study the problems faced by teachers while dealing with the
students.
Hypotheses:
1. Most of the schools don’t have professional Counselors.
2. There is extreme need of counseling in Schools.
3. Most of the teachers are lacking in counseling Skills.

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Scope of the Study:
Children with emotional disturbances may fail academically, be socially
rejected and have a poor self image. They may also have difficulties in
relating to peers or adults and may have little respect for the laws of their
society. Academic failure and social rejection often have lasting consequences
because the failure to learn in school limits a person's chances to succeed in
the future. Such children are more likely to drift from mainstream society and
become targets for unemployment, homelessness or other symptoms of social
dysfunction, keeping in mind all the above facts there is an extreme need of
Counseling in high School.

School counseling is an established intervention that involves the systematic

use of methods by a trained counselor to bring about improvements in the
student’s ability to perform nearer to optimal levels at school. The counselor
uses play-based interventions to...

• communicate with students, help students build a wide range of skills,

improve students’ adjustment to classroom and other school environments,
improve peer relationships, prevent bullying, school violence, and other
serious problems, address the needs of at-risk students, remove emotional and
behavioral obstacles to learning.

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Universe of the Study:
The research aims at An Evaluation of Counselling Practices in Selected
Schools in Goa.
1. There are 10 schools in the Bicholim Taluka where in
counselling is practicing.

2. Hence the Students, Teachers and Parents of selected schools will

be the universe of the study.
10 Schools – Students

a. 10 Schools (where counselling is provided)

i. Govt. High Schools

ii. Private High Schools

b. 10 Counsellors : 1 Per School

c. 10-12 Teachers per School i.e. 10 X 2 = 20 Teachers

d. Students (Case Studies):

2 Boys per School = 20 Boys

2 Girls per School = 20 Girls

e. Parents of the 40 Students = 40 Parents.

Sample Design:

i) Stratified Sampling:

i) 1Counsellor per Schools = 10 Counsellors – Purposive Sampling

ii) Simple Random Sampling:

i) 10 Schools X 2 Teachers = 20 Teachers
ii) 2 Boys per School 2X10 = 20 Boys
iii) 2 Girls per School 2X10 = 20 Girls
iv) Parents of 40 Students – Purposive Sampling

Total Sample: 110

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Sources of Data Collection:

• Primary Sources: The researcher will collect the data from primary
source who will be students, teachers and parents from the selected
schools.

• Secondary Sources: Community, friends, different libraries,

websites, published journals, periodicals and newspapers.

Method and Tools of Data Collection:

The researcher plans to take interview of the students, teachers and

parents as it is here most suitable method of data collection.

Besides interview schedule, the researcher will also follow different

tools like observation, informal discussion with the respondents.

Analysis and Interpretation:

The researcher plans to collect the data from the respondents & it would
be edited properly & will be then gone through proper computer applications
along with tabulation plans to analyze & interpret according to the tools.

Tentative Chapterisation:

Chapter I Introduction

Chapter II Review of Literature

Chapter III Research Methodology

Chapter IV Analysis & Interpretation of data

Chapter V Findings, Conclusions & Recommendations

Appendix

Operational definitions

Bibliography