Guidance and Counselling
Guidance and Counselling are very important tools to educate children and the schools have a tremendous responsibility of effectively bringing out the best in them. The need of guidance and counselling can be stated in simple terms to assist and help individuals adjust to their personal, emotional, educational and occupational environment. Many a time, working parents are not able to give quality time to their children or pin point the root cause of their alienated behaviour. The role of guidance counsellors comes to the forefront in these situations. Guidance counsellors helps them to react to situations by developing new strategies and dealing with them in an efficacious manner. Counsellors render a professional service to the individuals who are facing some problem and needs help to overcome it. Guidance and counselling is oriented to help students understand themselves, become self-sufficient in making realistic and positive selections and grow in human relationships and concerns. Counselling sessions are a gradual process to mould and redirect children towards a brighter career. It also gives wings to the dreams of children through different vocational and career oriented guidance.
In the one-to-one counselling sessions, it's imperative that the child should feel safe and secure in the company of the counsellor and know that he/she is not being judged. The counsellor can ask questions but should not probe the child's privacy to an unacceptable level. Children are more comfortable in sharing their ideas with someone who is more objective and not biased about them.
Responsibilities of a counsellor-
- Facilitating the students in becoming more productive and dynamic members of the society
- Providing emotional security and comfort
- Helping in promoting insight
- Leading to self awareness
- Encouraging confidence
- Ensuring confidentiality
- Developing a positive self image
- Building rapport
A counsellor must show responsible and trustworthy behaviour with a positive and constructive problem solving approach. Their tone of voice should express interest and concern. Their body language, facial expressions, gestures and comments should be very structured and thoughtful. At no given point, should the child feel that they are being judged.
As far as guidance is concerned, young minds need it to polish their personality. Guidance sessions advise the children about selection of courses and different career opportunities, enabling them to make proper and informed choices for their future. It's important to prepare children for life after school and what to expect in the different fields they might opt for. Professional guidance helps the students to achieve their goals in the best possible manner. It not only helps them to take decisions pertaining to their career, but it also makes them confident and mentally prepares them for the challenges. They acquire knowledge, attitude and inter-personal skills to set their own goals and take their own decisions to achieve those goals. Along with their academic and career development, their social and personal development is also taken care of. Guidance and counselling makes students better informed individuals.
All over the world children are under extreme stress and anxiety due to performance issues. In India, the education system focusses more on quantitative learning with long school hours, heavy school bags and rote learning which leads to lesser creativity and innovation in the teaching and learning process. Now-a-days some educational institutions have come up with more technology based teaching, but there is a long way to go. Let us join hands to bring more quality to the education system with structured guidance and counselling to all the three stake holders of the education system, i.e. students, parents and teachers.