Guidance and Counseling and Current Trends and Issues in Guidance and Counseling

                                                               

                                                        

He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.”

Francis Bacon, Sr.

GUIDANCE SERVICES

 

OBJECTIVES:

• To organize a filly functional counseling and testing center that would cater to the students and other member of the institution.

• To promote the services of the Guidance Center to the students, faculty members and employees of the institution.

• To establish a “catharsis” where students, parents and faculty can pour their feelings in full confidentiality.

• To provide opportunities for the students to enrich their social lives through the development of skills in interpersonal relationships, with the end in view of helping facilitates the maximum utilization of their academic potentials.

Counseling Services

           This is considered the “heart and soul” of the guidance program. This service aim to assist students in gaining deeper self-understanding and awareness of one’s problems and the effective used of the decision process by formulating alternatives and projecting consequences of each that’s allow students to review critically what has taken place and makes provision for future meetings if they are needed.

           Different approaches, skills and theories are implemented by counselors because people and situations are different. Sometimes one or the other is best, and sometimes the combination of techniques produces the most benefit. These counseling services are the following.

• Individual Counseling

• Group Counseling

• Family Counseling

• Counseling Special Cases

Testing Services

          In many educational institutions as well as employment offices, test are the most widely used specialize techniques I guidance. Test will be useful as a guidance tool if combined with appropriate planning for individual development. Tests provide “information terms through quantitative description.”

These services cover the administration, scoring, interpreting and evaluating results of selected test such as:

• Admission Tests

• Intelligence Tests

• Individual Intelligence Tests

• Group Intelligence Tests

• Aptitude Tests

• Interest Tests

• Personality Tests

• Projective Tests

• Special Tests

Student Inventory Record

           This is a continuous process of accumulating recording and utilizing information on each student for guidance and counseling purposes and for obtaining a complete picture of the individual.

Training/ Seminar/ Forum

           These are programs design to help students discover their innate ability and talent as well as develop their emotional intelligence. Symposium and Forum are organize well as information program to tackle important life issues lie love, dating and marriage; Natural Family Planning; Abortion and Contraceptives Methods; gender issues and other relevant topics affecting the life of a person.

Placement and Career Services

           Graduating students are being prepared by the series of career talks by experts on the different field of occupational endeavors. They are coached on how to write an application letter, resume and the development of self confidence in facing interview by the prospective employer. Afterwards an annual “Job Fair” and In Campus Recruitment is organize where educational and medical institutions, industrial, commercial, and technical companies are invited to screen, evaluate, and accept the graduating students as job applicants.

Research Services

          Research capabilities of the guidance center are conducted in conjunction with relevant educational studies like students’ delinquency problems, teenage pregnancy, faculty-student relationship and others. Researches help bridge the gap that currently exist between theories and practice in counseling. Result of the findings in research will serve as guidepost for guidance and educational planning.

Career and Life Planning

Career development program is a package of activities design to develop skills in self-exploration, values clarification, career planning and decision-making, and life-goal setting.

Fresh Men Enhancement Program

           Fresh Men Enhancement Program is a package of activities for fresh men designed to facilitate adjustment into collage life, enhance self-awareness and understanding, and develop the basic skills in coping effectively with rigors in academic life. The component of this program include psychological testing and evaluation; study skills development; time management; stress management; and group growth session.

Orientation and Information

           Orientation and Information service consist of accumulation and dissemination of information about the different guidance activities, vocational opportunities, and educational information for better adjustment and personal growth.

Referral
           Special cases, which require service beyond the scope of guidance and counseling program, are referred to other agencies.

Linkages

           The guidance and counseling program also carry out collaborative activities with school and community-based organizations.


Extension Services

          Guidance staff functions and responsibilities go beyond the students. They extend themselves by helping others by training, seminars, or conduct research as they are often invited in occasions needing their skills and knowledge. In most instances, they rendered the services for free.

Peer facilitation
          Peer facilitators are trained to help the staff in the delivery of the guidance services, as well as extension services. On the other hand practicum the students are provided the opportunity for on-the-the-experience in the guidance field.

CURRENT TRENDS AND ISSUES IN GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING

Counselors try to understand what motivates each student as well as his or her skills and desires. “When you’re doing things right,” wrote one, “it’s like you’re another parent, except they trust you a little more.” Individuals who aspire to enter the field should be aware that emotional as well as intellectual demands come with the territory. As most guidance counselors spend over a third of their time in consultations with students and parents, prospective counselors should be comfortable with teenagers and have excellent communication skills. Another 25 percent of a guidance counselor’s day is spent administering and evaluating tests. Guidance counselors use the results to provide context for existing records of academic performance, teacher evaluations, and a better overall understanding of students’ needs. Some guidance counselors call the continuing education they receive from the students with whom they work the most interesting feature of the profession. “I learned more from them than from any class in college,” wrote one enthusiastic counselor. “I learned more in the first day.”Not all counselors are as positive as this, but the level of satisfaction guidance counselors recorded was one of the highest of any career in this book. Of course, people who don’t love the profession usually leave quickly; guidance counselors have one of the highest initial attrition rates of any profession in this book—a staggering 60 percent within the first two years. Careers that require this degree of emotional commitment can be rough on those individuals who are not prepared to make one on a regular basis.

Professional Title

The title itself needs a wide understanding of its role and the tasks assigned to an individual as guidance counselor. Surrogate is a term we can possibly associate because we are care givers in own field Mediator because we use to interfere in the lives of our students in the given situation.

Prevention VS. Remediation

G.C. not simple decide for the cliental / student but he / she can possibly guide and some up with a good wise decision. There are lots of student longing for someone to talk and bring out the burdens they had. Listening is an art possess by a good guidance counselor. It requires a quality time not the quantity of time for us to save and help student redirect their lives in the right path.

Gangs

In most cases students would look for people who would accept them the way they are and who they are. Gangs are easy to be with, fan and somehow very challenging. People involved in the gang maybe good but not their behavior. Therefore positive behavior intervention support is much needed. Involve parents in a behavior support team.

Dropouts

In the public schools, dropouts are the common problem we encountered. Identified stressors are the reason why there was an increase in number for dropout students. Family conflicts, separated parents, financially unstable and the like are stressor in the part of the students that brings about a bad decision to stop from schooling. How can a G.C. find ways to help?

Teen Pregnancy

Love, courting and marriage (LCM) may be of help so that teenagers would aware of the pros and cons of getting pregnant at a very young age.

Multicultural Counseling

It is good to know that multicultural counseling was realized that would give a better understanding of human behavior and its explanation. Student information sheet (SIS) could be of great help. It will provide all variables needed from the student in order to understand human behavior. Variables such as age, religious affiliation ethic group etc.

4 Dimension of Culture

1. Power Distance – intellect matters in any field. A person can acquire power measured them the intellectual ability. The higher the intellectual / mental ability have the higher power a person could have.

2. Uncertainly Avoidance – members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain situations like illness or disasters.

3. Individualism – Some people would love to think about themselves, nobody else but himself. We call this kind of people ego centric.

4. Masculinity / Feminity – Traditional belief man is superior to woman.

Organizer                           

The effective counselor is one who can adopt the counseling models, theories, or techniques to the unique individual needs of each client. The skills requires that the counselor be able to see the client as both an individual and as a member of cultural group.

Self – Awareness

Self – Awareness is defined as an awareness of one’s own personality or individuality. Awareness is referred to having or showing realization, participation, commitment and knowledge of one’s values development Self – understanding is a necessary condition before one begins the process of understanding others.

Substance Abuse

As a scape goat, students indulge themselves in illegal drugs. The guidance counselor perhaps needs to provide a seminar and testimonies from the people who had bad experiences with respect to the abuse of illegal drugs. The government agencies such as DSWD and center for rehabilitations for youths are of great help.

School Violence

As educators we’ve been experiencing a lot of misbehaviors from our students with problems. Some of our students are attention seekers. Bullying, fighting, vandalism, disruption of class and loitering are just some of the problems in the campus which sometimes lead to school violence. There must be a positive behavior intervention support from the school administrators, teachers and staff.

Diversity

In the school atmosphere there must be “unity amidst diversity”. We have different beliefs, religious affiliation, sexual orientation and all. But for us to have a school friendly atmosphere we must respect one another.

Child Abuse

There are students in our community susceptible to abuse by others especial those in authority like teachers, parents and staff. It is inevitable for them to suffer and experience pain. Emotionally they are fragile and mentally they are weak. Because of such abuse the school performance is also unacceptable.

Terrorism

This cause the delay of the students to finish their studies. In the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao Filipinos suffers a lot. It’s hard to find liglet amidst the shadow.

Awareness of one’s own culture

Perhaps, there is a need for us to be aware our own culture for us to have a clear idea and understanding of our value system, belief system and even our collective behavior.

Awareness of Racism, Sexism, Poverty

These 3 aspects of culture discrimination somehow was the common issue experience by the students especially the foreigners in a certain country. They are longing for equality is terms of freedom and human rights yet in one way or the other they are denied.

There are some affiliations religious or political organizations / institutions exclusively for men or women, therefore discrimination is again realized. Sexism is a social problem we had in our society.

Poverty may not be eradicated yet it could be of help if we look into the solutions to minimize such problem.

Awareness of Individual Difference

Everyone was made to believe that we differ from one another yet when you belong to a certain group of people with the same system in belief and value we, them turn out to be the same as they are.

Awareness of other culture

One must understand that we have different culture, practices and traditions. We may come across with different languages and ideas these will also give us an understanding of who we are, what we are and we will be.

Awareness of Diversity

People have a variety of human societies or cultures. Even if they live the same country or place there is always a difference in the beliefs and also languages.

      

Prepared by: April Gigante Bungque
BSEd IV- PEHM