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An Introduction on Educational Guidance and school Counseling*

Article · November 2016

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology ISSN: 2313-3759 Vol. 3 No. 10; October 2016

An Introduction on Educational Guidance and school Counseling*

Dr. Wasantha Subasinghe, Senior Lecturer, Dep. of Sociology, University of Kelaniya,
wasanthasubasinghe@kln.ac.lk

*This article is based on the literature review of the research on “ Impact of School Counseling Programs on
Student’s Educational Efficiency”, funded by the Research and Publication Unit, University of Kelaniya, Sri
Lanka. 2016.

Abstract:

Current school educationhas become an exchanging process between achievement of aptitude and the
competition. Problem faced by the student in the course of directing studious and non-studious factors
effective on educational productivity of the student is much complicated. Educational Guidance and School
Counseling unit is the school related unit aimed with the key objective of assisting in solving the students’
problems and strengthening the studiousness efficiency of students as well. In other hand, it is the educational
guidance and school counseling process. Objective of this article is to conduct discussions on identifying
anticipated objectives of counseling process, task achievement methodologies, role of a successful counselor
and discussing about a rewarding teacher-student relationship.

Keywords: Guidance, School Counseling, Educational Efficiency

The main socialization agencies are the family, school, peer groups and mass media. Conferring of the
culture takes place in transforming a natural creature as a social creature by introducing the acknowledged
behavior pattern of that particular society. This course of action includes the study of social values, merits,
judgments, art, rules and regulations, customs, convention and livelihood as well. Thoughts and attitudes of
the children were nurtured by the members of the traditional extended family that the family of procreation
and family of orientation including mother, farther, siblings, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, paternal
uncle and other relatives. The responsibility of security and nutrition of the children depended on the relations
in the extended family. But one of the consequences of the changes of the society in terms of modern
technology and ideology was the advent of the nuclear family. How the role of the traditional extended family
does takes place within the nuclear family? What are the substitutes that had taken place instead of them? Do
the children get the proper protection in a nuclear family with a successful socialization? A number of social
questions have arisen in the face of social changes.

“School” is playing an important role in nurturing the most significant phase of a child’s life as a
socialization agency and as talent fulfilling formal institute. A child associates the school for about a period of
13 years. He / She spend about seven hours a day along with the teachers and his or her fellow students.
History of the formal education connected with the Buddhist temple and Christian church has formalized
organizationally by the “school” at present. According to the Oxford dictionary of sociology (2005) school
defined as “School, schooling both and institution and a method of education. A process of learning and
management of socially approved knowledge, involving and approved curriculum and pedagogy, paid
professional educators, compulsory attendance of pupils, and school groupings (Scott, 2005, page
581).According to this definition school is the institution mainly concerned with education within a scope of
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accepted subject curriculum, teaching techniques, vocational and professional educationalists, compulsory
attendance with organizational teaching procedures.

School initiates the formal education with two main objectives as,

• Development of student’s personality

• Preparing the child for the membership of the society.

Personality could only be developed by fulfilling his/ her talent. The two main groups in emerging a talent
fulfilled process have two main groups as the student and the teacher. The role of the student and the role of
the teacher in school being more balanced and creating a more suitable environment for education becomes an
extreme background for fulfilling the objectives in education. Due to the emergence of complex social
relationships and the accelerating speed of changes, individual inter-relationship problems have arisen.
According to facts related to present day student problems; it could be conceived that experiences related to
domestic problems and complexities related to school environment, causes severe impacts on study
productivity. Although, social integration was treated as a solution for most of social problemsin rural society.
Due to the industrial revolution; urbanization process, modernization process not only that, inter-personal
relationships also are accelerated. There were persons who were elders, religious leaders, relations or socially
accepted learned and dignitaries’persons to solve any problematic situations for people in the conventional
society. There were opportunities for each and every one to mutually discuss and solve their own problems.
But in the present day society, due to disintegration of people, social relationships have drifted apart causing
stressful situations related to solitudeness.

The educational guidance and the school counseling Unit is a special unit established in schools to solve
study related and non-related problems of students. This unit helps the students to ease out the day to day
educational problems and take decisions to assist the students to increase the educational efficiency by
establishing required programs. As St.Julie Billart mentions; education is a psychological development and a
social integration process. When treating education as a psycho development process, it is necessary to pay
attention towards the two units namely, “individual person” and “society’.

When the student is treated as one single person, there are various factors related to his/ her strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well. School acts on the process of identifying the strengths of the
students and brighten them. It is an essential factor for a student to identify and provide guidance on his/her
cognitive skills, motor skills and attitudes or potential skills. Students are guided for their aesthetic
development, physical development, social development, concept development and linguistic development
and the curricular influenced by them. Similarly, identifying the weakness of students and providing solutions
for them are among the role of school activities. Students may face psycho-social problems owing to their
physical and mental defects attached not only with the maintaining of inter-personal relationships relates to
study environment, teachers, peer groups, administration but also their family background. Some issues which
are faced by the students can be listed as below,

• Forgetfulness about learnt lessons.

• Weakness in concentrations.

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• Dislike for studies.

• Sudden breakdowns in learning
• Laziness to learn and attending to the school
• Think to escape the school
• Low achievements or High achievements (Over achievement)
• Slow in studies or Backwardness
• Carelessness
• Forget to do homework
• Examination phobia and social phobia.

Solving of students’ problems was firstly started with the process of educational guidance. One of its
stages is providing guidance for the student to select the subject preferred for the profession. It helps to
students who are suffering from problems to lineup the life. It is a direction for building up the life
successfully. Professional guidance is the process is guiding the student for the most appropriate profession
after completing studies.Hence, assisting the student to select the most suitable profession within the school
curricular; Guidance will helps the student to select the proper profession according to his/ her qualifications
and the requirement of the job marketing of the country. There are two main functions in guidance service as
bellows.

1. Assist in the teacher to solve the educational problems

2. Assist in the student to solve education related problems.

Educational guidance service activates in two ways to solve educational problems.That is providing the
teacher with required methodological assistance for teaching and providing opportunities to strength the
teacher –pupil relationship. Building up of a required study environment for the teacher to teach with
productive results,supplying the necessary tools and promote awareness about teaching techniques are
accomplished by the students. Teachers’ role is very important to enable the student to remember the teachers’
lecturers properly. Emerging of a successful teacher is one of the objectives in the educational guidance
process. Idea of the educational guidance process is to build up a better interrelationship between the teacher
and the student.It enable to better understanding about the student which will result a successful and
productive teaching process.

Second objective of the educational guidance process is to solve the educational problems of the students.
When considering about the individual personality development level, schooling age is the critical stage. The
student regularly becomes a person enabling to hold social responsibilities. In view of the complicated social
relationships, the student has to face problematic situations of social and economic experiences. Only the
educational guidance process can protect the student from drug and liquor addiction, school leaving, sexual
experiences and unrest at young age. Development as whole in children between the age of six years and
sixteen years could be address as physical, mental, social, personal, moral and religious. Therefore,
educational guidance process could be used in pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels.
Hence, Educational guidance is a process that can influence the student’s life directly. It helps the student to
enable the educational experience more fruitful and efficient. Primary stage of the counseling process is the

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professional counseling. Objectives of guidance and engagement of teachers for the purpose are decided by
the administrative authority of the school.

Implementing school counseling has become an essential requirement at present. Advising, warning and
intervening to avoid problematic situation could be affected through counseling. But counseling is a scientific
process. “20/20 a vision for future counseling, an American group” established by 29 counseling groups
defines counseling as a professional relationship which empower the mental health, moral behavior and
professional objectives of a person, family or a group of a person (GunalankaraThero, 2015, page 19).
Counseling relationship is a professional relationship. Its objective is to empower psycho-social development
of a person.

Definition given on counseling through Theoretical and Practical Studies is as follows; “ Counseling is a
subject field provided for various social mental problems investigating from a psychological view enabling
people to overcome by educational guidance, knowledge, strengthen in the personality and through a course of
mental therapy (Hapuarachchi and Samarasinghe, 2012, page 20). Thus, counseling is a treatment course on a
psychological basis. Characteristics of person are identical and heterogeneous problems of clients are varied.
Therefore, behavior of a single individual is special. It is with a psychological basis.

The definition given by the Counseling Service Association is as follows; “The role of counseling is to
pave the way to reveal the possibility of identifying the life style of each person according to their behavior”
(Athukorala, 2008,page 16). This makes that there is a vast difference between advice and counseling.
Counseling is a process of assisting a client who seeks a solution for a problem.

According to the Webster Dictionary “counseling is a process of a consultation. Mutual exchanges of

opinions a mutual deliberation”(Bhaskaracharyullu, 2010, page 28). Counseling is a discussion;it is an
amicable exchange of friendly criticism. Counseling is a process of building up personality characteristics
enabling the client to get rid of his confused state of mind.

According to Burks and Stapher; counseling is a professional relationship between a trained advisor and
client. It is a relationship between two persons but it can be sometimes be more than two persons. This is
conducted to gain knowledge about the lifetime experiences of the client and in order to settle his problems
relevant to emotion and interrelationships (Kariyawasam, 2002, page 02). Counseling has to be conducted by
trained professionals. The process of solving problems includes, gaining a proper understanding about the
problem, assess it, evaluate it and find solutions with regular follow-up an action.

A clear analysis has been given on guidance and counseling in the book title “Counseling psychology:
history, theory and concepts” (2012) Guidance and counseling these both processes have psychological base
and psychological perspectives. It takes a long period of time to activate these two processes, and it includes a
follow-up action too. Significance difference between guidance and counseling is summarized as follows,

• Guidance directs the person with problems as he/she desires, recommends to follow the required
the activities. Counselor presence the required solutions while the client follows his own
alternatives. Counselor does not recommend solutions for the solutions. He only allows the client
to find his own solution.
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• Guidance is adviser- centered process and counseling is a client-centered process.

• Guider doesn’t possess knowledge in management of mental problems and defects as in the case of
a counseling (Hapuarachchi and Samarasinghe, 2012, page 23-24).

The above makes a clearpoint that guidance and counseling are not similar processes. Educational
guidance is a process of accomplishing student targets, identifying future personality development processes
and selection of professional desires in school. Counseling is a significant personal accomplishing process.
Student counselor is the person who bares the responsibility of preparing guidance programmes in school and
implementing them. Students with mental complexities, psychological advice is obtained from counselors.
Therefore; the student counselor in school plays the roles of adviser as well as of the counselor. It could be
seems in the present day school system that teacher plays both roles as adviser and counselor. Although in
Western countries, advisors and counselors are professionals but such situations cannot be seen in Asian
countries. Counseling field has to face many inconveniences and problems due to lack of capital, negative
social attitudes, lack of awareness which stands against its development. In our country, as professional
advisors and counselors are not available. Teachers are trained for the purpose in schools.

A separate location should be assigned to perform guidance and counseling activities in schools. The
teacher engages in advising and counseling activities should be well trained. His responsibilities bring up the
most backward students to the highest level in school. Teachers with a degree in psychology may be selected
as counselor in school in order to acquire best results. The teacher will instruct the student to select his own
curriculum to go forward as a professional. Instead of selecting the most famous subjects in schools such as
biology, mathematics, arts and commerce stream, student should be aware of benefits in selecting
technological subjects agricultural and home management subjects for professional talents.

School counselor in a school has a significant role. He organizes the required background for development
apart from the school curriculum. Following are some of the programs which are generally arrange in schools
by guidance unit commonly for all students.

• Development of productive educational practices.

• Solving problems in getting less marks at examinations, teaching problems, memory and hand writing
problems.
• Finding solutions for behavioral addictions such as stealing, making sarcastically remarks, avoiding
school or absenteeism, late attendance, aggressive behavior related problems.
• Fear for subjects in students, fear for examinations/exam phobia,
• Collecting information from students about their problems.
• Coordinating of programs parallel with subject curricular activities.
• Organizing group guidance programs
• Promoting awareness about conducting family relationship and with the entire society with successful
interrelations.
• Discussing about students’ problems at least once a month
• Organizing parents meetings
• Assisting in evaluation of students’ values

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• Organizing programs to develop the capability of decision making in students

• Proving the required knowledge about child abuse and methods of protection.
• Organizing programs for successful behavior of students
• Acting as asocial worker in a school
• Assisting in solving problems related to moral feelings and educational values of the staff and students
(Edi: Yerroyu and Syamatluri, 2010, page 53 and 39).

Counseling is psychological. In solving personal problems, personality inspections, intelligence tests are
carried out to identify the mental problems of students. It doesn’t emphasize that students do have mental
(psychiatric) problems but it denotes the ability of the teacher’s psychological knowledge in dealing with such
cases. Student counselors encourage the students to solve their own problems by themselves but if the problem
is acute, the student will be referred to a counseling programme further. There are several problems with
students which can be solved by counseling and psychotherapy. Some of them are,

• Problems arising from inter-relationship

• Sexual problems
• Problems about parents
• Feeling of stress
• Conditions arisen from separation and losses.
• Feelings arisen from jealousy and enmity
• Problems related to deaths and separations
• Feelings of confusion state
• Inability to decision making
• Emotional and sexual abuse
• Anger management
• Anxiety and sorrow
• Mental depression (Ravi, 2008,page 56-57).

Students don’t have an idea about the time and situation that they have to meet the counselor. In here it can
be summarized some issues that students feelings as below,

• Feelings of disappointment
• Feelings of helplessness
• Feelings of sorrow
• Feelings of laziness, ignorance and sorrow
• Feelings of committing suicide
• Feelings of anger
• Difficulties in decision making
• Feelings of incapability in controlling own life.
• Emergence of sorrowful feelings

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology ISSN: 2313-3759 Vol. 3 No. 10; October 2016

• Personal reasons i.e. insomnia, food etiquettes, concentration matters, educational efficiency, acting
obstructing social relationships (Ravi, 2008,page 49)

Student counselors apply various strategies to identify the students relevant to psychiatric defects.
Students’ problems are identified by the counselor through, discussing with the class teacher, subject teacher,
prefects, students and keeping a box for taking suggestions and problems. Student counselor is always on the
alert about students’ behavior. He treats the client as a special person and assists to solve his or her problems.
He applies a well-organized set of activities. A successful counselor will encourage the client to spend a happy
life.

Student counselor initiates the counseling process after identifying the client. Every client is special case
to him. Therefore separate program have to be introduced for each and every client. Both the counselor and
the client should work hard to acquire successful results of the counseling. Attention should be paid about the
important facts to obtain successful results of the counseling. There should be a well-planned counseling
program for individuals and client and the counselor both responsible for work to achieve the targets. There
may be some new behavioral patterns can be introduced by the counselor to the client to practice. Counselor
always evaluates and re arranges the pragrame when it needs some changes.

Once, Francis Bacon (English author, courtier, & philosopher 1561 – 1626)presented an idea on education
as ‘Knowledge is power”(1597). It reveals that developing the knowledge in a way to lead a happy and
prosperous life as well as it develops the standard of living. These are the aims of education. Generating a
group of pupils with moral values through the improvement of educational efficiency are the seeds of the
development of a certain country. To complete this valuable task that, understanding the problems of the
student and spreading educational guidance and school counseling in a maximum level in a schoolby school
counselors is a compulsory fact.

References:

Ravi. M. 2008, Counseling; What, Why and How, VIVA Books, New Delhi

Vishala, SND. 2012, Guidance and counseling, S CHAND Publication, New Delhi

Yerrou, B.andAtluri, S. (Ed). 2010,Guidance and Counseling,The article on “Guidance and counseling –As a
need service in school system”, by Padma Kumari, and PrasadaRao and the article on “Student counseling and
career guidance of student teachers” by Nageswara Rao, Mouni Suvarna Raju and Sharon Raju”, APH
Publications, New Delhi
Neukrug. E. 2003, The world of the Counselor,Tomson Books, USA

Scott, J. & Marshall, G. 2005, Oxford dictionary of sociology, Oxford university press, London

අෙ පාල.ආ ., 2015. අ යාපනෙ මෙන යා මක පදනම,සාර රකාශන, ෙක ටාව

අෙ පාල .ආ .,2007, ළමා ය සංව ධනය හා අ යාපනය, සාර රකාශන, ෙක ටාව

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