Towards a Conceptual Basis for Understanding Developmental Guidance and Counselling Model.

Abstract

The fundamental objective of any educational institution is to facilitate the total, wholesome, and fullest development of each student, in terms of enriching his/her intellectual, vocational, emotional, personal-social and psychomotor resources. The efforts of the schools towards achieving these objectives in practice, had, in the past been limited to the activities of the instructional programmes of the schools with the classroom teacher as leader. Interests and attentions were then centred on subject-matter studies as the sole avenue for influencing the educational gain of the student. But, because the subject-matter approach tends to play major and in some cases exclusive attention to the intellectual upliftment of the student, it was soon realized that if other aspects of the students' resources and life tasks are to be enriched by formal educational provisions, then the educational experiences of the school must have to go beyond what happens within the regular classroom environment. One way of achieving the above goals is through comprehensive guidance and counselling (Aluede, 2006). Comprehensive guidance and counselling programme is a 21st century school counselling delivery system that emphasizes school guidance curriculum, individual student planning, responsive counselling services and system support (American School Counseling Association, 2003). The keystone of a comprehensive guidance and counselling programme (CGCP) is emphasis on programme success. In this approach, counsellors engage the entire staff (whole school approach) in making sure that students at risk are not lost in the system. The programme is outcome based (focusing on competences acquired by students) rather than process-based (focusing on activities performed by the staff (MacDonald & Sink, 1999; Hui 2000). This approach is developmental as opposed to the typical problem-oriented medical model that addresses the developmental needs of all students and also puts this into practice. It also includes a system for collecting credible evidence that the objectives appropriate for each student have been attained Comprehensive guidance approach demands that: [a] subject teachers be involved in offering guidance and reorganizes the academic curriculum to allow time for developmental guidance; [b] adapt guidance into their teaching pedagogy;[c] need the conviction of the school administrators about the importance of effective education as an educational goal, since educational system has largely been geared towards academic excellence and success in examination (Aluede, 2006). Social structures, and social and personal values continue to change and become more diverse. Emerging social groups are challenging established groups, asking for equality. People are on the move too, from rural to urban areas and vice versa, and from one region of the country to another in search of economic, social, and psychological security. All of these changes are creating complex challenges for students as they anticipate the future. A rapidly changing world of work and labour force, violence in homes, schools, and communities, divorce, teenage suicide; substance abuse, and sexual experimentation are just few examples of the complex challenges students face today. They are not abstract aberrations, rather they are all and will continue to have substantial impact on the personal/social, career, and academic development of students (Gysbers & Henderson 2000). Counselling literature indicates that schools with more fully implemented comprehensive guidance and counselling programmes had students who reported (a) feeling safer attending their schools; (b) having better relationship with their teachers; (c) earned higher grades; (d) believing that their education was more relevant and important to their futures; (e) being more satisfied with the qualify of life (QOL) and education available to them in their schools; and (f) having fewer problems related to the physical and interpersonal milieu in their schools. …