Home work Week 2: Cognitive Maps Assignment

1. Vocational Guidance and Counselling

1.1. Psychologists in the field of vocational guidance and counseling share the view that individuals have certain interests, abilities and personality traits and other characteristic peculiar to them. It is also believed that if these personal attributes of the individuals are known the individual may be channeled into a job where the individual is likely to be happier, perform better and be more useful to the society. Bojuwaye (1986) shared this view when he stated that “knowing oneself and knowing the opportunities existing in one’s environment and, in particular, knowing what one can do that employers would be willing to pay for can help an individual make a good vocational adjustment. After all self-knowledge and occupational knowledge are very important means of ensuring accurate and adequate occupational choice”. Many scholars have attempted the definition of vocational guidance and some of them will be stated here so as to help in the understanding of the topic. According to Vaughan (1970) vocational guidance in its simplest expression means “helping people to choose work in which they will be reasonably contented, and successful within the limits of their abilities.” Walton (1966) considered vocational guidance as the process of helping a person match his personal attributes and his background with suitable jobs and employment opportunities. In 1962, Super and Crites came up with a more comprehensive definition of vocational guidance when they stated that: “It is the process of helping the individual to ascertain, accept understand and apply the relevant facts about the occupational world which are ascertained through incidental and planned explanatory activities”.

1.2. The word ’vocational’ is synonymous with ‘career’ ‘occupation’, and ‘profession’. They can be used interchangeably. According to Norris et al (1979) career is used to describe the total composite of one’s activities throughout life. In the same vein, Olayinka (1982) defines career “as the sequence of occupations, jobs and positions occupied during a person’s working life. This may be extended to include both the pre-vocational and post vocational positions. It comes through a process of career development understanding self, understanding the current and future environment and bringing about maximum compatibility between the two elements”. It would not be wrong, therefore, to say that one’s career in his life and that the process by which it involves is the process of career development.

1.3. We should note that vocational choice is a developmental process. This is a result of the fact that it spreads over several years rather than being seen as a decision taken at a particular time. Vocational development continues from the stage of fantasy to reality. Vocational guidance is primarily concerned with vocational development and needs early guidance so that proper choice could be made. This view was supported by Vaughan (1970) when he stated that “one reason why early guidance is important is that many children do not look upon their first job as the start of a career, but as something much less important.” Carter (1966) has suggested that possibly one half of the children in our secondary modern schools came from families where both education and work are thought of with apathy, and where parents’ knowledge of both is very limited. Vaughan (1970) stated a reason for early guidance of pupils. According to him by the time a child is of adolescent age, he is already limited in his choice of jobs by what he has already learned, especially when his secondary education has involved specialisation in certain subjects for any length of time. For example, a boy who has O’Level in English, History, Geography, French and Arts, and who then decided that he wished to become a doctor, would be at an immediate disadvantage through his ignorance of scientific subjects.” This points to the fact that vocational guidance should be concerned with individual choice of specialist subjects at an early stage of the secondary school course, as well as with the later stage of transition from school to work. Rastogi (1978) while supporting the above view stated that “there are a number of basic assumptions underlying all work of vocational guidance. It believes that a job is more than a job-it is a life style; something which not only helps to earn, but also decides our personal and social life and brings a sense of fulfillment. It also suggests that many vocational avenues should be open to the developing individual for as long as possible, and no attempt should be made for academic over-specialisation at a premature stage.”

2. Basic Principles of Guidance and Counselling

2.1. Counselling is the process of assisting individuals to cope with life situations. It is defined as a person-to-person, face-to-face encounter between the counsellor and the client. It is a relationship of trust whereby the counsellor who is capable of being regarded as a special kind of teacher assists an individual to evaluate himself and his opportunities, make a feasible choice in the light of his unique characteristics and opportunities, accept responsibility for his choice and initiate a course of action that is appropriate with his choice. 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 Nigeria.

2.2. The ten principles are as follows: Guidance services are fro all people; Guidance services are voluntary and not by force or coercion; guidance services are for all school levels; guidance services are aimed primarily at preventing problems than solving them; guidance services do not provide solution to all human problems; guidance services must ensure the security and confidentiality of client’s information; guidance services should be rendered on a continuous basis; guidance services should recognise the worth and dignity of client; guidance services are based on all round total development and lastly guidance services may manipulate the environment to help the client.

2.3. 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. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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 counselor is to prevent major problems from occurring. In life situations, however, problems still occur which the school should deal with to assist his clients. 5. 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. 6. Guidance services must ensure the security and confidentiality of a personal information revealed either directly by the client during the counseling 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 counsellee has in him. 7. 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. 8. 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 changed through adequate learning process. 9. 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. 10.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.

3. Educational Guidance and Counselling

3.1. Educational guidance involves amongst other things course planning and solution of numerous problems that students would come across during the course of their studies. According to Denga (1982) it aims at maximizing the intellectual potential of the student so that they may live up to all their abilities as persons as well as learners of subject matter”. It implies that in the schools there are a lot of problems facing the child and these include the choice of subjects, how to study anxiety on whetrh to pass or fail examinations, choice of schools to attend, how to combine subject so as to pursue any area of study, disillusionment with chosen subjects, problem of coping with a course of study, lack of interest and lack of motivation.

3.2. Educational guidance has been defined by Peters and Farewell (1967) as “the assistance given to pupils individually and through group techniques to help them function more effectively in their school programme”. They explained further that “it includes assistance given to the pupil in adjusting to the school setting, curriculum and extra-curricular offerings of the school, and planning preparing and carrying through an appropriate educational plan of development. In the process of education, the home/family, the community and the school (the society as a whole) can be said to be involved in the moulding of the individual by subjecting him to certain selected and controlled situations to help him in the attainment of social competence and optimum individual development. Most people, however, view education in terms of schooling in the academic environment and going by the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) (1967)’s definition of guidance as “an organised effort of a school to help the individual child develop his maximum potentials”, the students would need Educational guidance to make the best use of the available opportunities.

3.3. The secondary school is an important one and during this period the students need a lot of care because any foot that is wrongly placed may be dangerous. The counselor through educational guidance will help the students to solve most of the educational problems they will encounter.

4. Personal Social Guidance and Counselling

4.1. This is the third major component of any guidance programme in the school but it is the most neglected of the three. Students in different institutions are faced with such problems as interpersonal relationships with members of their peer group, teachers, parents, significant figures and even the transition from one school to another present some problem of adjustment. These problems can present painful and difficult experiences. Which requires personal or social guidance and counselling.

4.2. The counsellor should try as much as possible to be current with contemporary social values, attitudes, trends and issues. While it is true that to solve the individual’s social problems the individuals has to be helped to modify, change or adjust his behavioural pattern in conformity with the societal norms there are times that the circumstance needs to be changed for the individuals to be able to function effectively. It is important to recognise the right of the individual to live as a human being with dignity and self-esteem. Personal-social counselling is not limited to the school system alone, it encompasses other areas of Guidance and Counselling such as marital counselling, peer counselling and pastoral counselling. At the school level, the school counsellor is faced with clients with diverse personal problems which may at times have their roots in family background of such clients. Students in the secondary school and tertiary institutions who have fled the security of home environment only to find themselves among strange faces from different homes and with diverse behavioural patterns may develop psychological problems. According to Olayinka (1993), socially, these students may become maladjusted, they may experience interpersonal adjustment problems with their roommates, classmates, school mates and even their teachers or lecturers. They may eventually lose confidence in themselves and their personalities, underrate their personal values, become tensed up, introverted and become emotionally disturbed. Some students are worried about their family situations (poverty, quarrel between the parents, father/child, siblings/neighbours/misunderstandings, many of them are adolescents with a mirage of developmental problems, sexual problems and loss of friendship). All these are detrimental to good academic performance. The counsellor can employ any or a combination of counselling theories to deal with the students’ problems whether individual or in group depending on the nature of the problem. Most personal-social problems however, call for individual counselling.

4.3. The problem of loneliness, unsatisfactory relationship, lethargy, purposeless existence, value confusion, disenchantment with parents and many other personal inadequacies require utmost attention and help. Some people may improve or adjust their behaviour if they get a listening ear; others require help in releasing their tension. This point to the need of a guidance counsellor who will guide, direct, advise and counsel the individual; the counsellor will have to elicit the subject’s personal-social information. According to Norris Zeran and Hatch (1960) cited in Ipaye (1983) “social information is valid and usable data about the opportunities and influences of the human beings which will help a student to understand himself better and to improve his relations with others and also include information that has to do with understanding oneself and getting along with others as well as such specific areas like boys-girls relationship, manners and etiquette, leisure time activities, personal appearances, social skills, home and family relationships, financial planning and healthy living.

5. Guidance Services in Schools

5.1. In all counseling endeavour, the counsellor aims at bringing about change in behaviour. Counselling services in the school system help to eliminate indiscipline on the part of students, teachers and other schools personnel. These services also embrace the provision of educational, vocational and socio- personal counseling. All these help in no small way to put the students on a good footing academically and vis-à-vis help to brighten the image of the school and good academic attainment and achievement of the students.

5.2. In an ideal school situation, a counselor should neither be an administrator nor a teacher but he should be devoted to his proper functions. In offering comprehensive guidance service to students, therefore, the counsellors should provide the following services. The major Guidance service s in school include; orientation, appraisal, information, counseling, planning, placement, follow up, referral and consultancy services.

5.3. Students with wide range of abilities, different parental an social background and academic and emotional problems will definitely surface in our schools, problems that centre on how to improve their academic performances, selecting courses that suit their abilities, interests and aspirations, deciding on a future career or dealing with their other issues or anxieties over their general psychological needs for security, self-esteem and personal fulfillment will be prevalent. The counselor takes steps by giving appropriate services to give prompt professional touch to the students.