ORGANIZATIONS OF GUIDANCE PROGRAMME AT SECONDARY LEVEL

 

ORGANIZATIONS OF GUIDANCE PROGRAMME AT SECONDARY LEVEL

       When the guidance services are to be recognized in secondary schools, it becomes essential that all the members of the staff properly understand that it is team work and it can only be organized if all of them actively participate in it. First of all, the senior officers of the school administration need to be provided with complete knowledge of this service and their interests cultivated in it. They need to be made acquainted with these services established in developed nations, researches carried out its uses in human resources development, its uses in the progress of development, new developments in this field and expenditure made by such nations in it, need to be further made clear to them.

ORGANIZATION OF FACULTY

(i) Faculty Guidance Committees: At the time of organizing guidance service in school first of all a permanent faculty committee be organized with Headmaster as the President, counsellor as the Secretary and all those teachers who have had some training as its member. This committee should frame the policy fix its targets, acquaint all the staff members, parents and students with the benefits of its services, to get the expert advice for the organization of guidance services and to act upon it and to evaluate guidance service and to bring requisite changes in it. It will be better if the council is made them in charge of the programme and it should involve all the teachers in it. In order to give proper representation on the committee.

(ii) Headmaster of the School: The Headmaster should have full faith in the guidance services and his philosophy of education be clear about its relationship with guidance. He must call the meeting of the guidance committee maintain its record and have democratic discussion. He should introduce cumulative records and train class teachers about mode of filing proper information in it and maintain it. He should work as Public Relations Officer and maintain good relations with students, teachers, social workers, employment officers, district level officers and Principals of colleges etc. All this will not only help him to cultivate his real interest in it, but make him, the leader of the team for providing guidance facilities to the students.

(iii) Counsellors and Career Master: The work of counsellor can be done by a teacher who has undergone at least one years special training of counsellor. He is to perform all the services including counselling, administrating of psychological list, research and to suggest changes in the light of research finding. The career master is capable of performing only a few of these services even when he understands all these services. As a rule when the guidance services are established in a high school at first a career makers is appointed in it.

(iv) Teacher: The counsellors in high school environments are to concentrate on the following four tasks

(a) Organizing and making available to students’ comprehensive information systems necessary for educational and vocational planning and decision-making.

(b) Organising and presenting classroom curricula that focus development of adolescents.

(c) Helping students to assess the personal characteristics.

(d) Providing remedial interventions for students needing special help. Even when guidance services are not established in a school, the teacher does provide certain aspects of guidance services. It has been well said that all guidance is education, but all education is not guidance. Teacher is a friend guide and leader of the students. While teaching his own subject, the teacher can provide occupational information to them. He needs to be well acquainted with the different types of information, which affects his studies such as intelligence level, social interaction level, health and economic problems etc. While teaching his own subject, the teacher should provide occupational information to the students by correlating it with his subjects as and when these are an occasion for it. He is supposed to provide full co-operation to the counsellors about the students.

(v) School Psychologist: The school counsellor is to be busy with so many multipurpose activities, so at times in each school, or in a group of schools a psychologist is appointed who conducts the needed psychological test and interpret them. The work being of highly technical native only a qualified person is appointed on it. He is always to be of great help to the counsellors.

(vi) Health Department of School: As a rule, every large school should have a full-time doctor, a dentist, a psycholinguist and nurse. However, till this stage is not ripe the Government must ensure that doctors appointed in hospital visit the schools and provide needed medical aid to the students.

(vii) Librarian: The librarian can be helpful to the extent that he collects the books, journal and pamphlets on guidance, occupational information and provide necessary help to students for their use.

(viii) Co-operation of Parents: The social conditions in our country are such that parents need to be enlightened that children should be allowed to make their own decisions about their problems. It is better to prepare a checklist of the needed information such as what parents expect of their wards, the numbers of his brothers and sisters and his relationship with the types of educational facilities available at home. The parents should be encouraged to express their views in a free and frank manner. They should be dealt with psychologically.

(ix) Co-operation of Other Organizations: In order to establish guidance services on firm footing it is essential to get the cooperation of guidance clinics, employment exchange, teachers’ parent associations, organizations of industrialists, doctors, students unions, religious and labour organizations etc.

(a) Student Welfare Services: Organizations like Teacher Parent Associations, Lion’s club, Rotary clubs etc. organize different types of services for the students such as medical aid, economic help etc. There can be of immense help to the school and associated to solve their problems of many students.

(b) Accommodations: In every school a guidance corner with extensive information about occupations, shortage occupations, surplus occupations, training facilities, professional loans, etc. is a must to be established.

NEED OF ORGANIZING GUIDANCE SERVICES:

(i) It helps the teachers to take note of potentialities of each student in different degree in different direction.

(ii) It helps the students and their parents to make right and appropriate career plans for future.

(iii) It helps to understand the physical, social, emotional and intellectual characteristics and the need of pupils.

(iv) It promotes efficiency in providing essential reliable and scientific data on pupils.

(v) It provides knowledge to children in making satisfactory adjustment in the school and the community.

(vi) A well-organized guidance programme saves time, money and effort.

(vii) It helps students to find a suitable occupation or vocation.

(viii) It helps teachers to understand the individual differences of children in various spheres.

(ix) It can properly utilize skill, training, knowledge, potentialities and interest of staff members of the school.

(x) It co-ordinates the work of all persons engaged in the guidance programme.

(xi) It utilizes community resources properly for ensuring smooth organization of guidance programme.

(xii) It helps the students in achieving self-development, self-direction and self-realization.

(xiii) It considers the activities and functions of the personnel engaged in school guidance services.

(xiv) It helps in developing good human relationships.

PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZING GUIDANCE SERVICES:

The principles of organizing the guidance services in schools are as follows:

(i) The guidance services should be meant for all the categories of students.

(ii) Organization of guidance programme of any type—educational, vocational and personal should be done in accordance with the interests, needs and purpose of the pupils.

(iii) The guidance service should consider the total environment of the child while organizing guidance programme for them.

(iv) The guidance programme may be different in an industrial school from that of an agricultural school.

(v) The guidance services should treat the pupil in its entirety.

(vi) It should also meet the specific needs and problems of the pupil.

(vii) Adequate information regarding occupational and educational requirements and opportunities should be stored.

(viii) The guidance services should co-operate with all the agencies of education and provide for leadership.

(ix)Problems of pupils should be dealt with before they become serious.

(x)It should be directed towards improving pupils self-knowledge and self-direction.

(xi) Adequate provision should be made in guidance services for testing tools to be used in it.

(xii) The interest and effort of every member of the staff should be given top most priority in the organization of guidance services.

(xiii) It should be as simple as possible.

LIMITATIONS OF ORGANIZING GUIDANCE SERVICES:

1. For organization of any guidance services and programmes in school there is a need of psychologists, counselors and career masters. But in fact most schools don’t have such personnel. As a result there arises the possibility of failure of the guidance programme in its organization.

2. Guidance service programme requires a lot of infrastructure facilities like suitable accommodation, equipment, sitting arrangement etc. which are considered quite essential for carrying out guidance programme in a school.

3. Government policy relating to organization of guidance programme in secondary schools is not specific, favourable and definite. As a result of this, it becomes difficult on the part of the school administration to carry out guidance programme for the betterment of the students.

4. Majority of our secondary schools don’t have any organized programme of guidance.

5. For organization of school guidance services, psychological tests like—personality tests interest inventories, aptitude tests, attitude scales etc. and standardized achievement tests suitable for the students are rarely available in most of the schools. Besides, there are schools where these psychological tests and records aren’t at all available.

6. The teachers on whom the success of school guidance service depends don’t possess adequate knowledge, efficiency and competency to offer proper guidance to pupils.

7. In most schools teachers aren’t trained in guidance and counselling programme.

8. Guidance service or programme doesn’t come under the scope of evaluation or examination of pupils. In other words, it has been said that as it isn’t an examinable subject, naturally teachers aren’t interested to carry out such work without any reward.

9. The teachers in our secondary schools are over-burdened with their instructional work as a result of which they don’t give proper time for the said purpose.