What are guidance services?

    

guidance services
what are guidance services?
                   

Guidance is design to help each student adjust to his environment, develop the ability to set realistic goals for himself, realize his potentials in obtaining these goals, integrate these new experience with his concept of self and improve the total educational program. Guidance includes all those services guidance counselors can provide secondary school students.

 

These guidance services can be categorized into the following areas:

 

7 categorize of guidance services

 

1.    Counseling services:

 

This is essentially a dynamic interpersonal relationship generally between two people, a counselor and a client. In this relationship the counselor seeks to help the client in the following ways:

1.      To understand and accept himself as an individual with the knowledge of potentialities and his point of strength and weakness.

2.      To understand and that part of the world in which he lives and to develop the ability and desire to understand the changing world of the future and to make one’s own contribution to its value.

3.      To be increasingly self directive in making wise decisions and plans and to be willing to accept responsibilities for them

4.      To lay the basis for a well balanced life in all respects for example, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, ethically, and psychologically.

 

This is an important and inevitable service which is grossly lacking in the Nigerian school system. It is a service designed to cater for the effective /emotional needs of the students. A student may be more receptive to the curriculum if his emotional needs are met. This service is better provided by the school counselor who has been trained in these aspects. It can be provided to individuals or groups. It is developmental, preventive and curative approach to problems.

2.    Information service:

 

The major purpose of the information services is to provide the student with knowledge of educational, vocational and personal social opportunities that are available to the society. This service is expected to furnish information to the student needs.

 

1.      To aid the student to become familiar with the new school he is entering.

2.      To assist him in choosing curricular, subject matter advanced Colleges University or any other higher institution.

3.      To help him plan his career after school or college

4.      To develop his personality in relation to each individual ability and his growing awareness of relation with other people.

Information services promote the following activities: e.g.

 

1.      Orientation of pupils to a new grade or new school

2.      Educational planning of the child

3.      Help him learn how to cope with one’s personal social problem

The main kinds of information gathered through the information service and commonly recorded in usually form in the students cumulative folder are as follows:

1.      Date of birth

2.      Home background

3.      Health and physical development

4.      Academic history

5.      Social adjustment

6.      Educational plan

7.      Extracurricular activities

A well informed person is not ignorant of what is happening around him.

Students should not be left to grope in darkness. Many schools are academic disaster areas due to lack of information on the part of the student.

 

3.    The appraisal or invention service:

 

In the words of bujus (1988) appraisal service involves gathering, organizing and interpreting information or data about the student for the purpose of understanding himself. When a pupil understands himself, he can make reasonable choice from different alternatives at his disposal. Information about the child is usually collected through interviews and some anecdotal report from parents, teachers and the use of psychological test. It also includes a variety of objectives and subjective psychological data on each student. This service can also provide students and individual information with a greater knowledge of educational, vocational and personal – social opportunities so that they may make better informed choices and decisions in the increasingly complex society. As indicated above test and non test techniques are used.

 

Function of test includes:

 

a.      To serve as basis for grouping students

b.      To measure growth or progress in student matter

c.       To analyze the learning difficulties

d.      To predict individual students achievement

e.      To discover inadequacies in curriculum

f.        To provide information for grading, promoting and making ma]meaningful report to parents

g.      Test can be used by teachers to plan very well their instructions

h.      To ascertain social adjustment

 

4.    Orientation service:

 

This is a service that helps students to get used to their new environment and social surrounding including knowing their staff members and fellow students to understand better their role in the school according to napier (1972) the two important purpose of orientation services are:

1.      Help the student to adopt to the demands of the school

2.      The staff of become familiar with the individual students

Orientation activities are group approaches through which students are given assistance in making plans and adjustment to school. The purpose is to help students feel emotional secured and better adjusted in a new environment.

 

5.    Placement service:

 

This is the service which aims at making the student select and make use of opportunities within the environment so that the may enhance his development. It is very important to place each student in his appropriate place where he will be properly placed after his certificate examination into next stage of education. There is need to follow up the students who are placed in appropriate places.

 

In school, placement facilitates learning by taking an account of each individual student academic and mental development in all ramifications. Further still as it is important in school placement of the student. The placement service is therefore the total organized effort on the part of the guidance counselor to provide assistance for each student who is preparing for the next step in his personal educational and socio-development. In the words of bulus(1990). Placement service is considered as a systematic assistance given to students in developing goals and choices, obtaining the fitness or other wise of each student and to help each student take the right steps to achieve the goal by assigning the student to a position.

The guidance counselor role in placement activities includes:

a.      The development of social skill by providing him with opportunities to know which group or section him belongs to and where he can perform better.

b.      Giving the student encouragement and permission so that he works under other supervisors or teachers other than his immediate teacher alone.

c.       By providing students with chances of better adjustment in a school and other curricular experience.

d.      Providing curricular enrichment experience within the classroom and making opportunities for students to work with others in other group.

e.      Everyone works according to his own area of interest and joy

f.        Helps each person to live a happy life.

 

6.    Referral service:

 

There are circumstances, issues and situation that are problematic that cannot be successfully resolved to their logical conclusion or be objectively handled by the counselor which may be better handled by other agencies and institutions where some experts in such areas or disciplines can handled better. The referral service, therefore, means referring some cases to the appropriate agencies at the right time and place for further expert knowledge and specialized attention and consultation psychotherapy. According to bulus(1990) the counselor is not” MR KNOW ALL” like any other professionals his area of competence is limited. He is not competent. This is the true and natural thing to do and no counselor should pretend otherwise.

The referral service is all about transferring an individual with peculiar problem to a person or agency inside or outside the school who will provide better assistance. The counselor should maintain a follow up communication with the referral source. The various agencies for guidance referral service have been identified as follows:

1.      The home

2.      Medical center

3.      Hospital

4.      Police

5.      Psychiatry center for those with mental problems

6.      Psychological resource center

7.      Social welfare center

 

7. Follow up service:

 

This aspect of the guidance service benefits the student at two stages of his development:

1.      While being enrolled in school

2.      After leaving school

While the student is in school and when leaving the school, teachers and counselor should be informed of his progress, so as to take the necessary steps to try to help improve his welfare. The school can also benefit from follow up procedures such as:

1.      It may identify weakness or strength in the school instructional methods and materials

2.      It may show how to improve a course content or curriculum

3.      It will uncover points where the guidance services are needed

4.      It will provide information about the achievement and activities of former students

 

related search: 

how to organize a guidance service in schools 

 three component of guidance and canceling

 


 

 

 

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post