11 Principles of Guidance and Counselling

In this post , you will learn the Principles of Guidance and Counselling, that is, the principles that guide the practice of guidance and counselling in the school setting and also, the reasons why it is required in the school. The knowledge from this article will help justify the reasons for introducing this important service in Zambian Schools.

Guidance and counselling as a ‘helping’ profession is based on certain principles to facilitate its effectiveness. There are about ten of the principles and they relate to the practice of guidance and counselling in Zambia.

Basic Principles of Guidance and Counselling

The basic principles of guidance and counselling as accepted by most authorities in the field of guidance and counselling are described as follows:

1. Guidance services are for all people. A programme of guidance services is potentially intended for all people and not only those who have problems. Students, staff, the community and other agencies may benefit directly from a programme of guidance services. Even if an individual is not experiencing educational, vocational or personal-social problems, such a person may need some help or to be motivated to plan his life more meaningfully.
2. In a real-life situation, each individual often experiences one type of problem or the other although he may not be aware of or even admit he needs help. For example, students who perform creditably in academic subjects may need motivation to be achievement-oriented. A clever boy or girl may become an under-achiever if he or she is not working to his/her full potentiality. Every student is welcome to seek guidance although some students may need it more than others.
3. Guidance services are voluntary and not by force or coercion. The students may be persuaded but not forced to participate in a counselling encounter. Shy and reluctant clients may be referred to the counsellor by their parents, teachers, friends or other significant persons, but the counselor has no right to force a client to come for counselling.
4. Guidance services are for all school levels. Appropriate types of counselling techniques should be fashioned to suit the needs of counselling at primary school, junior secondary school and post secondary institutions of our educational system. Counsellors should realize that the type of problems and concerns of the clients differ from one age to the other. But each stage of life cycle needs guidance and counselling. For example, young pupils need developmental guidance designed for a healthy academics, vocational, moral and social adjustment. The adolescent students have their peculiar developmental guidance needs for preparation to adult roles in the work, sex and marriage. Adults, too need counselling to cope with adult life problems.
5. Guidance services are aimed primarily at preventing problems than solving them. The popular saying “prevention is better than cure” is a good slogan for counsellors. The primary goal of a counsellor is to prevent major problems from occurring. In life situations, however, problems still occur which the school should deal with to assist his clients.
6. Guidance services do not provide solution to all human problems. Unresolved problems can be referred to more competent agencies for possible solution; guidance is not a cure for all problems. The counsellor should recognise his limitations and promptly refer clients to other agencies whose services will better meet the needs of the clients which the counsellor has identified.
7. Guidance services must ensure the security and confidentiality of a personal information revealed either directly by the client during the counselling interview or through data collection process. Confidential information should only be shared with others with the consent of the client or if to do so will serve the interest of the client and the law of the land. If a client confides in the counsellor that he or she committed one type of crime, the counsellor should strongly persuade him/her to stop such a criminal act he should not report the confidential information to the police or even to the principal. A counsellor should not betray trust and confidentiality which the counselee has in him.
8. Guidance services should be rendered on a continuous basis. As a person grows up, his needs, interest, goals, aspirations and plans may also change. Guidance services should not be a once and for all affairs but should follow up the developmental pattern of an individual as much as it is feasible.
9. Guidance services should recognise the worth and dignity of an individual client. Counsellors should accept their clients with empathy, understanding, congruence and unconditional positive regard as postulated by Carl Rogers. Other school personnel, such as members of the school disciplinary committee, may be inclined to summarily dismiss a student due to his short comings or violation of schools’ regulations, guidance services focus on the reformation of the offender and the need to plan for alternative behaviour for the client to adopt. Thus, the counsellor holds a positive and patient view that most individuals with maladaptive behaviours could change through adequate learning process.
10. Guidance services are based on the total development of mental vocational, emotional and personal social aspect of an individual intellectual development alone is limiting. The cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of the individuals are all important and should emphasized.
11. Guidance services may manipulate the environment to help the client consideration for employment opportunities. The counsellor may intervene on behalf of his client, to seek for scholarship or prevent other persons from frustrating him.

Purposes of Guidance and Counselling

The guidance and counselling purposes include: assisting individual students, teachers, adults and the society in general to:

1. find out and make individuals aware of their basic personal prerequisites, abilities, assets, liabilities and potentialities,
2. provide usable information on vocation and to correct or clarify misinformation,
3. assess an individual’s chances to succeed in the labour market,
4. create awareness of clients in the availability of jobs and how to progress in it,
5. make available opportunities for further training and advancement in occupations,
6. suggest alternative careers and realisation of priorities summarized the objectives in schools thus,
7. assist students in making appropriate and satisfying personal, vocational and educational choices;
8. assist student acquire a positive image of self through self- understanding the needs and problems of each person,
9. assist teachers and school personnel in understanding the needs and problems of each student,
10. assist school authorities / administrators in improving educational objectives and programmes of interpersonal relationships; contribute to educational planning;
11. mobilize all the available resources of the school or home for satisfaction of the vocational, educational and socio-personal needs of the students; supplement school instructional and administrative input into the learner;
12. help students develop proper attitude towards themselves, others, school, values, interests, morals, beliefs and discipline;
13. help students develop to optimize and utilize their skills and correct the sources of their weaknesses and to improve the standard of education; help learners live within the framework of an institution; help people achieve independence with a minimum of conflict with institutional values;
14. promote in pupils good sense of awareness, ability to acquire a good knowledge of the world of work, possibility of continuing education and ability to make realistic decisions;
15. guard individual’s mental health; and promote human effectiveness.

Importance of guidance and counselling

Guidance and counselling in schools is very important because it helps the learners to understand themselves and respect other people. Pupils undergo a lot of problems and stress, hence the need for the provision of guidance and counselling.

• Counselling in schools help pupils to meet therapeutic needs by helping them make decisions or plan for any form of change. The purpose of guidance and counselling is not to solve all the pupils’ problems but to help reduce the pupils’ problems in order to create a conducive environment for learning.
• The other importance of guidance and counselling in schools is that it provides the learners with an opportunity to talk about their problems in a non-judgmental setting.
• Guidance and counselling services are important to pupils because they help pupils to adapt to school environment and society at large.
• Guidance and counselling helps pupils or learners to manage their problems and improve in their performance.
• Guidance and counselling can help in the number of ways such as emotional, functional relationship management and identify solutions by promoting effective action.
• Guidance and counselling is important because it helps the new coming learners in school to settle well. When new learners come in school they need to be counselled.
• Counselling services help a large number novice students at the start of the course or school. The new students suffer from euphoria of having left home therefore they become home sick every time they are in school. There is need to be counselled by the school counsellor.
• Another importance of guidance and counselling to the learners is to provide an opportunity for them to work towards achieving their full potential in school. The learners through career guidance are helped to identify their career. Pupils are helped to explore their skills and solve their own problems in life. Effective guidance and counselling in basic schools help the learners to interact well with other learners in order to perform well.

Guidance and counselling for learners in schools will only succeed if all teachers get involved and help the learners to acquire skills to sustain themselves in school.