GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICE | WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? LEARN NOW

          Guidance is an umbrella term covering many services provided to the individual(s) to help him deal effectively with his needs and problems of life. The guidance services therefore are the formalized actions taken by the school or other agencies to make guidance operational and available to students and other needing guidance.

          In most of our schools, guidance services are organized to help student to understand themselves, that is for students to have a better knowledge of themselves, know their likes, dislikes, abilities, inability. The aim is to help them become more capable in making and executing informed and wise decisions with regards to their educational, vocational and personal social needs.   
          One of the major reasons for this guidance services is due to the problem of transition from education to employment. Therefore it is important to understand whether and how guidance services are able to guarantee support to students, providing a range of guidance services instrumental in the construction of pathway and effective choices.
          Guidance is made up of many services, these include:
a.       orientation service
b.       counseling service
c.       information service
d.       appraisal services
e.       follow-up service
f.       personal social guidance service
h.       educational guidance service
i.        planning and replacement
j.        referral service
          It is good to note that these services do compliment one another
Orientation service 
          This orientation service is a tool for lifelong learning, supporting the person in the act of building his or her own life project, a project that can be developed despite many difficulties, but at the same time can be continuously disputed by the new opportunities that life presents.
          It is to acquaint new student teachers, youth corpers and any new employees to their new environment. This service helps individuals to adjust well in their new environment.
          It provides skills, rules, regulations, norms and values guiding the establishments it also helps for the emotional balance and stability of the individual in his new place, especially if it is provided during the transition period from one school to another, one class to another or from school to work place to another.
          A tour of the new environment is necessary in orientation to familiarize the new entrants with important and strategic features in the new environment.
          In schools or industries for instance, the heads of different departments could give short but concise talks about their departments.
         
Information service                     
          Information service is designed to provide students and individuals who need guidance service with a greater knowledge of educational, vocational and social opportunities in the locality or beyond so that they may make better informed choices and decision in an increasing complex society.
          Zerran and Riccio (1962) see information service as the assistance given to a student to understand, accept and utilize his abilities, aptitude, interests and attitudinal patterns in relation to his aspiration.
          Information given to students should cover the following areas. Occupational, educational and personal social information .
          An effective counselor should obtain and give out information that will help students in thinking through important personal issues with which they are confronted. Help the students become self-regulatory.

Counseling service
          Counseling is a service by which one individual rendered to another to grow into integrated harmonious personalities.
          It is often regarded as the bed rock of any guidance programme. It helps the client or the trouble individual to overcome obstacles to his growth and helps him in achieving maximum development of his personal resource through a special interaction with counselor.
          The ultimate goal of counseling is to help the individual resolve personal conflicts and become more self directive.
          The three counseling services to consider are;
v Vocational counseling
v Academic counseling and
v Personal counseling      
          Appraisal service is designed to collect, analyze, and use and variety of objective and subjective personal, psychological and social data about each pupil for the purpose of better understanding of pupils as well as assisting them to understand themselves.
          When the pupils understand themselves in terms of their potentialities weaknesses, strengths they can make rational decision and choices.
          The data needed for the appraisal (evaluation) of the student cover his family background, mental abilities, interests, and social skills.
          This information is housed or stored in the student’s cumulative folders or pupils inventory.
Referral Service
          Referral service is the act of directing or sending and counselee to another person (professional) who can help resolve his difficulty condition better.
          This is done when the counselee’s problem is beyond the competence of the counselor. These kinds of referral could be made to counselors, Nurse, Doctors Dentists, Police, Opticians and Parents.
 
Planning and replacement Service
          These are services provided by the counselor or teacher counselor in facilitating the development of the students by assisting them in selecting and making use of all available opportunities within their environment.
          In placement service, students are informed through vocational guidance about jobs and job opportunities in their environment. In the school placement, the students are assisted in solving their educational vocational and personal-social problems by sleeting appropriate curricular and core curricular activities.
Follow-up Service
          It is the responsibility of the counselor or teachers to follow up these students who had counseling relationship with him to know how they are faring or coping in the school or after school life. Follow-up service offers the opportunity of monitoring individuals. This will help to obtain regular progress reports on their performance and how well adjusted or not they are in their place of work or in academics.
          Follow-up service also will help to discover areas of deficiencies on the part of the client.
          Follow up service is therefore a necessary part of the counseling process which the counselor must engage in the purpose of population education is to enable students to explore personal values, attitude and beliefs as well as develop their abilities to choose freely from a rational course of action.

          Personal-Social Guidance Service  
Personal-social guidance service is concerns with the kinds of help given to individual to get along or maintain cordial interpersonal relationships with others. The task of the school counselor is to furnish the individual with such information that would help him in his personal adjustment and interpersonal relationships through personal-social guidance. Such personal-social information may deal with such conditions and factors as:
·        Achieving self-insight and understanding
·        Achieving mature relationship with the same and the opposite sex.
·        Understanding masculine and feminine roles
·        Developing healthy personalities
·        Understanding one’s behaviour and characteristics
·        Understanding how one differs from others and in which ways one is like others
·        Adjusting, accepting and, understanding home conditions, family members and parental expectations.
·        Knowledge of courtship, sex information, marriage responsibilities           

SUMMARY
          In most of our schools, guidance services are organized to help student to understand themselves, that is for students to have a better knowledge of themselves, know their likes, dislikes, abilities, inability. The aim is to help them become more capable in making and executing informed and wise decisions with regards to their educational, vocational and personal social needs
·        Orientation services which are designed to assist pupils to adjust adaptively when found in new school environments.
·        Appraisal services, which involves the collecting, administration, interpretation and clinical usage of variety of, test devices in order to provide effective counseling services to students.
·        Information services: This service is designed to provide students with data about educational, social and vocational opportunities in their environment.
·        Placement service: The goal of this service to ensure that students achieve effective placement either on programme of study, a career, work-study or even a medical treatment programme. All placements must be based on appropriate information on students seeking placement.
·        Follow – up, research or evaluation services: The goal to provide periodic feedback on the effectiveness of school guidance through research into the concrete outcomes of school guidance.

REFERENCES
Shertzer, B. and Stone S. C. (1976), Fundamentals of Guidance      Boston Houghton Miftlin Company  
Zeran, F. r. and Riccio, A. C (1962) Organization and Administration Guidance, Chicago Rard MCNally  
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