Unit V - II Semester

UNIT V

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

Definition

Guidance is a process of helping every individual, through his own efforts, to discover and develop his potentialities for his personal happiness and social usefulness

                                                                                                                          – Ruth Strong.

Nature of Guidance

It is promotion of the growth of the individual in self-direction

It is process of helping the individual in affecting changes in him

It helps the individual himself through his own efforts

It assists an individual to establish himself in the society

It is helping the individual to make appropriate educational, vocational and personal choices

It assists an individual to find his place in the society

Need of Guidance

§  To help in the total development of the student

§  To help in the proper choices of courses, careers

§  To help the students in vocational development

§  To motivate the youth for self employment

§  To identify and motivate the students from weaker sections of society.

§   To help the students in their period of  confusion

§  To help in checking wastage and stagnation

§  To identify and help students in need of special help.

§  To ensure the proper utilization of time spent outside the classrooms.

§  To help in tackling problems arising out of students population explosion

§  To make up for the deficiencies of home.

§  To minimize the incidence of indiscipline.

EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE

Educational Guidance is concerned with assistance given to pupils in their choices and adjustments with relation to schools, curriculum, courses and school.

Objectives

§  To help the student secure information concerning the possibility and desirability of further schooling

§  To help the student to find the purpose and functions of different types of schools

§  To help the students secure information regarding the offering of the school

§  To help him to know the requirement for entrance into the school of his choice.

§  To help him to adjust himself to the curriculum and school

§  To help him find out his tastes, aptitude and interest

§  To guide him in securing information on competitive examination

Vocational Guidance

Meaning

Guidance in which students are assisted to choose a better career and to solve their vocational problems is called vocational guidance.It involves complete and comprehensive knowledge of each pupil, nature of jobs, psychological characteristics needed for success, achievement and job satisfaction, relevant data about vocational opportunities, type of training needed, opportunities of advancing in the field etc.

Definition

Vocational guidance is the process of helping a person to develop and accept an integrated and adequate picture of himself and of his role in the world of work, to test this concept against reality and to convert it in to a reality with satisfaction to himself and benefit to society.   -Super (1957)

Objectives

•      To know Individual and social importance of various vocation

•      To develop the capability and ability of analysing the information related to vocations in the pupils.

•      To introduce the pupils with various vocational training centers

•      To meet out the needs of poor students by providing them vocational information

•      To introduce the pupils with the fact that what type of persons are required for some vocations, and what type of vocation suits a particular type of personality

•      To provide assistance to a person to develop proper conditions after selecting a vocation

•      To provide facilities to observe different vocations

•      To create such belief among the persons that the work done with honesty is always the best

•      To provide various opportunities to the pupils in order to make their interests comprehensive

•      To explain the pupils how they can render social service through vocations

•      To tell the pupils how they can acquire self satisfaction.

Personal Guidance

Personal Guidance is that which is rendered to a person for solving his personal problems

Definition

The purpose of personal guidance is to help the individual in his physical, emotional, social, moral and spiritual developments and adjustment

Objectives

•     To assist the pupils to realize that it is natural to experience periods of confusion.

•     To assist him to enter into mental activity with renewed interest and energy as he attains   

    maturity.

•     To help him to overcome the uncomfortable years of physical development.

•     To encourage him to continue the health, safety and physical education activities.

•     To help him to move gradually from dependence on others to independence of judgment

     and action.

•     To help him to work to the limit of his capacity with full knowledge that he may not be as

    capable as other pupils.

•     To help him to develop a control over his emotions.

COUNSELLING

Counselling means a relationship between two personsin which one person providesspecial assistance to the other.- Myers

Nature of Counselling

•  A mutual relationship between two persons is necessary

•  There can be various means of consultation between the counsellor and the client.

•  Every counsellor performs his function with complete knowledge

•  The nature of counselling also changes according to the client’s feeling

•  Each counselling is interview based.

Student need of counseling

•  The students who have a consistent second of under achievement

•  The students whose achievements fall suddenly

•  the students who find difficult to pace with the classroom teaching

•  The students who find it difficult to adjust in the school

•  The student who suddenly decided to drop out of school

•  The students who have behaviour problem

•  The students who find it difficult to study certain subjects

•  The students who suffer from examination fever

•  The students who find it difficult to adjust with family

TYPES OF COUNSELLING

DIRECTIVE COUNSELLING

Williamson was a great profounder of this kind of approach as he stated that this approach is good to address the problems relating to educational and vocational adjustment. In this type of approach the counselor plays an important role. A major goal is to replace the emotional behavior of the individual with deliberately rationale behavior .Although he avoids dictatorial advice .This approach is also known as counselor-centered. Under this process the counselor plans the counseling process, his work is to analyze the problem, identify the triggers identify the exact nature of the problem and provide various options.
Steps of Directive counseling
Williamson has given six steps Directive counseling:
1)Analysis :It includes collection of information about the individual which can be collected through structured interviews, psychological case history methods, Interaction with family members, friends, etc.
2) Synthesis: After collection of lot data the information is organized in the logical manner to analyse the individual in terms of his qualifications, assets, potentials, liability adjustment, cultural background, habits etc.
3) Diagnosis :The diagnosis consists of the interpretation of the data in relation to the nature and problem, the causes of problems.
4)Prognosis: Under this step a prediction is made about the future development of the problem.
5)Counseling : The counseling here is to bring about adjustment and re-adjustment to the individual in relation to his problem. Attitudes and interest of the individual are considered during the counseling. It emphasis the individual to develop life cycle where an effort in the positive direction could lead to success and success in turn could lead to further efforts and motivations.
6)Follow -up :The sixth step in directive counseling is follow up which is extremely important. An individual may be able to solve immediate problems through counseling but new problems may occur or the original problem may re-occur. Follow-up with the client is extremely necessary. The role of counselor is important as he has to make the individual understand and accept his strength and also his weakness and faults.
Advantages of Directive counseling
1) This method is economical in time.

2) In this type of counseling, there is more focus on the problem and the person.
3) The counselor can look the client directly.
4) Counseling focuses more on the intellectual aspects of the person than emotional aspect of the personality.
5) In this process, the counselor becomes readily available to help which makes the client very happy.
Limitations of Directive counseling
1) In this process the client is more dependent. He is also less able to solve new problems of adjustment.
2) As the client is never independent of the counselor, it is not an efficient best guidance.
3) Unless and until a person does not develop some attitude through experiences, he cannot make any decision himself.
4) The counselor fails in serving the client to commit the mistakes in future
NON- DIRECTIVE COUNSELLING

In this type of counselling the counselee or client plays an active role and this type of counselling is a growing process. In this counselling the goal is the independence and integration of the client rather than the solution of the problem. In this counselling process the counsellee comes to the counsellor with a problem. The counsellor establishes rapport with the counsellee based on mutual trust, acceptance and understanding.

The counsellee provides all information about his problems. The counsellor assists him to analyze and synthesize, diagnose his difficulties, predict the future development of his problems, take a decision about the solution of his problems; and analyse the strengths and consequences of his solutions before taking a final decision. Since the counsellee is given full freedom to talk about his problems and work out a solution, this technique is also called the “permissive” counselling.

Steps in Non-Directive Counselling:

Carl Rogers has given the following steps of this non-directive counselling

Defining the problematic situation: First of all the counsellor should define the problematic situation.

Free expression of feelings: The client is made aware of the fact that he can express his feelings freely and the counsellor approves his behaviour.

Classification of positive and negative feelings: The counsellor identifies the positive and negative feelings of the client and classifies them.

Development of insight: The counsellor goes on thinking regarding the client’s new feeling s along with the development of client’s insight and he goes on classifying all those new feelings.

Termination of counselling situation: The counsellor looks for a point where he can terminate the counselling situation after all the above steps. Here the client or counsellor can suggest for such termination of counselling situation.

Merits

·         Development of problem solving ability of the client

·         Being client-centred activity, other unwanted activities and tests can be avoided.

·         It helps the client to shift from his unconscious state to conscious state of mind and releases tension.

·         This type of counselling leaves its impression for a longer period.

Demerits

·         It is a time consuming process

·         All the problems cannot be solved orally or verbally or by talks only

·         Sometimes, due to the counsellor’s passiveness, the client hesitates in expression of his feelings.

3. Eclectic Counselling:.

Eclectic counseling is defined as the synthesis and combination of directive and non-directive counseling. It represents a middle status between the two extremes represented by the ‘non-directive’ technique on one hand and the ‘directive’ technique on the other. In eclectic counseling, the counselor is neither too active as in the directive counseling nor too passive as in the non-directive counseling. He just follows the middle path between these two.
The chief advocate of this type of counseling is Thorne. In eclectic counseling, the needs of a person and his personality are studied by the counselor. After this the counselor selects those techniques, which will be useful for the person. In eclectic counseling the counselor first takes into consideration the personality and need of the counselee. He selects the directive or non-directive technique that seems to serve the purpose best. The counselor may start with the directive technique. When the situation demands, he may switch over to the non-directive counseling and vice-versa. An attempt is made to adjust the technique to the requirements of the situation and the individual.

Procedure

The following steps used in eclectic counselling

1.      Study of the needs and personality characteristics of the client: The counsellor investigates the client’s needs initially. In this step too he gathers information regarding the characteristics of a person’s personality.

2.      Selection of techniques: In this step, need based techniques are selected and these are used in accordance with the needs of the person.

3.      Application of techniques: The selected techniques are applied in specific situations only. The utility of the selected technique is observed in the context of the client.

4.      Evaluation of effectiveness- In this step, the evaluation of effectiveness is done through various methods

5.      Preparation for counselling: Here, preparation is done for guidance and counselling

6.      Seeking the opinion of the client and other related people: Opinion of the client and other related people are sought regarding the programme concerning counselling, other objectives and subjects.

Merits

1.      Both counsellor and counsellee are active

2.      Counsellor has the freedom to select any type of counselling according to the problem.

Demerits
1) Some people are of the view that eclectic counseling is vague, opportunistic and superficial.
2) Both directive and non-directive counseling cannot be mixed together.
3) In this, the question arises how much freedom should be given to the client? For this there is non-definite rule.
4) The problem with an eclectic orientation is that counselors often do more harm than good if they have little or no understanding about what is helping the client.

.IDENTIFICATION OF CHILDREN WITH COUNSELING NEEDS

Disadvantaged background

  Generally students who need help are from disadvantaged background: they may be a member of broken family, deserted by any one of the parents, or by both the parents. They may be the victim of sex-preference of their parents i.e., they would have joined the family by birth as a girl against the parental wise for a boy.

Underachievers

  It happens sometimes, with some student, when their intelligent score describes them as above average; their academic scores will be far less than those with average or below average intelligence score. The regular help from teachers would fail to improve the condition. They may be overtly aggressive, indulge in attention-seeking behavior, and some may show indifference to the regular classroom regulation.

Overachievers                     

     The overachievers are those whose intelligence score describes them as below average, their academic scores are far better than those with average or above average intelligence score. These children always find themselves in heightened stressful condition and overcome by a sense of impotency. They fail to get relief from their achievements.

Traumatic experience

     The survivors of war, nature calamities, family, feuds, accidents, separation, fatal illness, humiliation by family members or others, homelessness and such other worst experiences are the potential candidate for counseling.

Differently abled

Children with physical disability, mental disability, social disability, emotional disability need counselling from the teachers

Disadvantaged home and school environment

   Research studies indicate that denial of mother’s love and care and emotional stress at home may result in discernible growth lag during childhood. Many pupils who have been thought to be hopeless learners show marked change in home conditions, begun gradually to show learning ability.

Low mental ability

    Pupils having low mental ability fail to develop learning ability even under the most favorable conditions.  Slow-Learning pupils have the same rights as others- the right to enjoy living, the right to self-realization, the right to becoming contributing citizens.

The gifted and talented

Often gifted children have unusual learning styles, and even though they are very intelligent, they may also have learning disorders. These children will benefit from extra support, encouragement and love.

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING

Individual counseling is a one-on-one discussion between the counselor and the client. The two form an alliance, relationship or bond that enables trust and personal growth.

GROUP COUNSELING

Group counseling is counseling with multiple individuals facing a similar concern. The strength in group counseling is that if you have 3, 5 or 10 people together all facing the same or similar issues, then they can work together.

TECHNIQUES OF COUNSELLING : INDIVIDUAL & GROUP TECHNIQUES

       Helping professionals-counselors, psychologist, social workers, and psychiatrists-functioning in different context use a number of techniques depending on their training and needs. They are either likely to specialize in a particular technique, or they may adopt an eclectic version of the different techniques which has evolved out of their personal experience. To name three popular techniques: the psychotherapies, behavior therapies, and biomedical therapies.

Counseling Techniques

1.         Psycho Therapies

2.         Behavior Therapies

3.         Biomedical Therapies

PSYCHOTHERAPY

    Psychotherapy also called as insight therapy is a process in which a trained professional enters a relationship with a client for the purpose of helping the client with symptoms of mental illness, behavioral problems or personal growth. The process involves the client and therapist sitting in a room talking, which is why it is often called “talk-therapy”. It was Dr. Josef Breuer in the early 1880’s who recorded the first instance of psychotherapy. Later Sigmund Freud began employing the “talking-cure” on his own patients, which led to the development of psychoanalysis.

BEHAVIOR THERAPIES

   Behavior therapies focus on changing the behavior patterns. Behavior therapists will often use some principle of learning, such as providing punishments for bad behavior and rewards for good behavior. This type of therapy may be used to change compulsive behavior, to help with learning problems, or to modify avoidance behaviors. With this type of therapy it is assumed that the  behaviors  are a product of learning in terms of what can and cannot be learned. Of the various techniques of counseling, it is behavior techniques which are largely adopted in school context by the teachers as these techniques are relatively easy to understand and try.

BIOMEDICAL THERAPIES

  This involves the use of drugs to help to manage mental health difficulties. Drugs may be used to treat anxiety, psychosis or depression. A psychologist or a counselor cannot try this: only trained psychiatrists or doctors can apply this therapy. However, in the process of counseling a counselor may come across a compulsory situation, to refer their client to the psychiatrist, qualified to give a pharmacological intervention

Gifted Children

 Definition

Prem Pasricha (1964)

            The gifted child is the one who exhibits superiority in general intelligence or the one who is in possession of special abilities of a high order in the fields which are not necessarily associated with a high intelligence quotient.

The Identification of Gifted Children

            The following list of identifying characteristics prepared by De Haan and Kough (Dutt, 1974, p. 201) can be of great help in the identification of intellectually gifted or academically talented students:

1.    Learns rapidly and easily.

2.    Uses a great deal of common sense and practical knowledge.

3.    Reasons things out.

4.    Has more memory power

5.    Has a large vocabulary, which he uses easily and accurately.

6.    Can read books that are one or two years in advance of the rest of the class.

7.    Performs difficult mental tasks.

8.    Asks many questions, has a wide range of interests.

9.    Does some academic work one or two years in advance of the rest of the class.

The Education of the Gifted Children

The following plans have been put forward by different thinkers for this:

Separate schools

It is often suggested that there should be separate schools for gifted children and adequate facilities should be provided in these schools to help them in developing their specific abilities and potentialities. Such segregation is often criticized and labeled as undemocratic.

Ability grouping or separate classes

Segregation of gifted children into a separate section within the same school also involves the same danger. This plan is known as ability grouping. Here, a given grade is divided into different section on the basis of ability, the range of ability within each section being relatively narrow.

Acceleration or double promotion

Another concept in the education of gifted children is ‘acceleration’, usually known as double promotion. He is either promoted to the next higher grade in midsession or is permitted to skip a grade or class at the end of the term. The children who get early promotion to the advanced grade usually find it hard to adjust among children who are senior to them in age.

Enrichment programmes

Another proposal for the education of gifted children is what is technically known as ‘enrichment’. For example, it may include, (a) special assignment (within or outside the syllabus), (b) work on independent projects, (c) preparation of reports and participation in panel discussions, (d) independent library reading, (e) visits to the sites to obtain first-hand information, (f) construction of models, aid material and improvised apparatus etc., (g) participation in the organization of co-curricular activities, and (h) experimentation and independent research.

GUIDANCE FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Definition

A heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction.

Essential aspects

·         Learning disability is not indicative of intelligence level.

·         The disorder affects the brains ability to receive and process information.

·         A learning disability cannot be cured or fixed.

·         Individuals with learning disability have trouble performing specific types of skills or completing tasks if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.

Types of learning difficulties

Reading disability (Dyslexia)

Writing disability (Dysgraphia)

Numerical Disability (dyscalculia)

Sensory integration disorder (Dyspraxia

DYSLEXIA

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, dyslexia is a learning disability that can hinder a person's ability to read, write, spell, and sometimes speak. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children and persists throughout life.

Education

Special teaching techniques: These can include helping a child learn through multisensory experiences and by providing immediate feedback to strengthen a child's ability to recognize words.

Classroom modifications: For example, teachers can give students with dyslexia extra time to finish tasks and provide taped tests that allow the child to hear the questions instead of reading them.

Use of technology: Children with dyslexia may benefit from listening to books on tape or using word-processing programs with spell-check features.

DYSCALCULIA

Dyscalculia (or maths disability) is a specific learning disability involving innate difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic.

It is similar to dyslexia and includes difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, learning maths facts, and a number of other related symptoms

Education

Visual techniques. For example, teachers can draw pictures of word problems and show the student how to use colored pencils to differentiate parts of problems.

Use of memory aids. Rhymes and music are among the techniques that can be used to help a child remember math concepts.

Use of computers. A child with dyscalculia can use a computer for drills and practice

DYSGRAPHIA

Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects written expression. Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that generally appears when children are first learning to write.

Education

Special tools: Teachers can offer oral exams, provide a note-taker, and/or allow the child to videotape reports instead of writing them.

Use of technology. A child with dysgraphia can be taught to use word-processing programs or an audio recorder instead of writing by hand.

Other ways of reducing the need for writing. Teachers can provide notes, outlines, and preprinted study sheets.

DYSPRAXIA

Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder that impacts an individual's ability to plan and process motor tasks.

Dyspraxia can affect a child’s ability to do a wide range of everyday physical tasks. These can include things like jumping, speaking clearly and gripping a pencil.

Education

Quiet learning environment: To help a child deal with sensitivity to noise and distractions, educators can provide the youngster with a quiet place for tests, silent reading, and other tasks that require concentration.

Alerting the child in advance: For example, a child who is sensitive to noise may benefit from knowing in advance about such events as fire drills and assemblies.

Occupational therapy: Exercises that focus on the tasks of daily living can help a child with poor coordination.

UNDERACHIEVERS

Underachiever commonly refers to anyone, child or adult, who performs below his or her potential, psychologists typically use the term to refer to a student whose performance in academic studies falls significantly below his scores on standardized tests of aptitude or ability.

A student may also be considered to be underachieving based on the educator's evaluation of her learning potential in relation to the quality of the work she does on class assignments.

Types

Coasting Underachievers

Coasting underachievers are believed to emerge at about 9-10 years. They exhibit general satisfaction with themselves and life, easily distracted from school work and seem unconcerned about the future.

Anxious underachievers

Anxious underachievers may have problems at any age and tend to show performance deficit of 10-20%.  They tend to be tense and unable to relax, avoid school, excessively worry and are unrealistic about their competence and mistakes, and may even become school-phobic.

Defiant underachievers

Defiant underachievers are more often boys than girls before adolescence.  They lose their temper easily, argue with authority figures and disobey them, irritate others and blame others for their own actions or mistakes.

Wheeler-dealer underachievers

Wheeler-dealer underachievers may be spontaneous, charming, manipulative and self-seeking and aim on instant gratification (Mandel and Marcus 1988).

They tend to live for the moment and for immediate rewards, lie, cheat or steal, manipulate others, and may even talk about becoming rich and famous.

Identity search underachievers

Identity search underachievers are so wrapped up in trying to work out who they are that they become distracted from their work (Mandel and Marcus 1988).

They search for the meaning of life, are intense about everything, opinionated, and determined to be independent.

Sad or depressed underachievers

Sad or depressed underachievers are depressed, have low self-esteem, find it difficult to make decisions and lack the energy needed to concentrate on school work (Mandel and Marcus 1988).

They appear indifferent, have trouble concentrating and may feel hopeless and pessimistic.

Guidance

¨  Help students organize their time and materials so they are better able to concentrate on the business of learning.

¨   Employ cooperative learning groups that are dependent upon group interdependence and individual accountability.

¨   Set specific learning goals—not performance goals—for your students; and have students create their own learning goals with a focus on mastery.

¨  Provide students with choices in what they will learn and how they will demonstrate their understanding.

¨  Expect the same amount of effort from each student, not the same performance. Do not compromise your expectations because of students’ attitudes, cultures, or socioeconomic backgrounds.

¨  Praise specific accomplishments.

¨  Model motivation.