Meaning, Definition and Need of Guidance and Counseling
Meaning of Guidance
Guidance is a general term which means helping people to make wise choices and solve their educational, vocational and personal problems. It is a process by which the individuals are assisted in making adequate adjustments to life's situations. It is an organised service which aims at helping the individuals understand themselves which means enabling them to know their abilities, aptitudes, interests, perceptions, needs, purposes, their assets and limitations. It is a service which also aims at providing the individuals relevant and necessary information about himself and also about the world around him.
Aiming the individuals with these two sets of information guidance process aims at developing maturity and desired level of integration which are required for bringing about a harmony between their inner and the outer world. Thus, guidance is a progress by which individuals are helped to make adequate adjustments in difficult situations of life.
Definitions of Guidance
1. According to Ruth Strang, "Guidance is a process of helping overy individual through his own efforts, to discover and develop his potentialities for his personal happiness and social usefulness."
2. According to Sherly Hamrin, "Helping John to see through himself in order that he may see himself through in Guidance."
3. According to Chishorlm, "Guidance seeks to help the individual discover his own talents in comparison to the opportunities of the world and help him prepare himself so that he can find or develop a place in which he can live a well-balanced life and contribute his part to the welfare of his fellow mean."
4. According to Hamrin and Erickson, "Guidance is that aspect of educational programme which is concerned especially with helping the pupil to become adjusted to his personal situation and to plan his future in line with his interests, abilities and social needs."
Characteristics of Guidance
- It is a process of gaining understanding of one's self.
- It is a process of gaining understanding of one's relationship to other people.
- It is a process of gaining understanding of solving personal problems.
- It is a process of gaining understanding of making decisions.
- It is a process of helping the individual in affecting changes in him.
- It helps the individual himself through his own efforts.
- It is helping the individual to establish harmonious relationships.
- It is assisting the individual to adjust himself in the society.
- Its programme is to organise the individual personality for the development.
- It is helping an individual to identify and develop his potentialities and his talents.
He considers process of guidance more important than the outcome of guidance and emphasizes that "learning how to understand himself and to arrive at certain decisions is more important an element of guidance than solving the problem. By giving the individual information or sources of information that he needs, by directing his attention to relevant facts in the past, to his future goals and to possible consequences of certain behaviour the counsellor may show him how to think through himself. Thus, he gradually acquires a method of process of guiding himself.
Consequently, when we talk of preparing an individual for the future we mean to prepare him for bearing his responsibilities able and sufficiently whether he be called upon to do so in the field of family relations, the economic sphere, the political field or any situation in life. For this every individual boy and girl should turn to a profession that conforms the education they have had so that they may be in positions for which they have been prepared and act with skill and confidence. They should decide upon the profession that they would like to adopt. They should have the capacity to face solve their own problems as well as the problems that are likely to arise in their relation with others. Guidance helps the individual in all these kind of efforts.
Role of Guidance at Adolescence
Guidance and counselling service are becoming more and more important as the society and its various institutions are growing in complexity. The society and all its institutions are built of bricks. Strength and solidarity of these individual units constitute the foundation of a strong nation. Hence, the optimum development of each of these units should be the most cherished goal of every nation. Guidance and counselling contributed to the achievement of this goal. Through guidance and counselling efforts are made to develop the potentialities of individuals to the maximum possible extent so that they may live and effective life themselves and may contribute their best to the progress of the society.
From this point of view guidance and counselling should be considered essential social services. Besides, there are several other considerations on the basis of which the need for guidance and counselling may be justified.
Needs of Guidance
- Proper choice of courses.
- Proper choice of careers and profession.
- Development of readiness for choices and changes to face new challenges.
- Minimising the mismatching between education and employment and help in the efficient use of manpower.
- Motivating the youth for self-employment.
- Helping freshers to establish proper identity.
- Helping the students in their period of turmoil and confusion.
- Identifying and helping students in need of special help.
- Need in developing economy.
- Quantitative and qualitative improvement of education.
Thus, there is need for guidance from the point of view of the society as well as of the individual. Society can make progress if its individuals find places in the occupational, civic and social order where they can contribute their best for the welfare of others.
Meaning of Counselling
Counselling is an act of assistance. When a person is in difficulty and seeks out someone in whom he has confidence for advice and guidance, a situation exists for counselling. It requires the special knowledge skill and competence of a counselor in order to understand the problem of the other' person in the perspective of the other person and then lead to the person through a process of discovery to a solution or alternative solutions, which are not only feasible but acceptable to the person. The art of counselling depends so much on specific knowledge, understanding, skill attitudes and values of the counselor that it has become a specialized job for which one requires professionalism.
Counselling is a relationship in which a counselor helps people with problems of behaviour, which are closely connected with their motivation and emotional experiences. The level of emotional maturity and integration is directly related with the ability of the individual to tackle these problems and is a function of the individual's life history. It is often believed that normal people do not need counselling. The present point of view, however fails to support this belief. On the contrary, it suggests that all people may gain from psychological counselling.
Definition of Counselling
1. According to Rogers, "A series of direct contacts with the individual which aims to offer him assistance in changing his attitudes and behaviouir."
2. According to Shostrom and Brammer, "A self-adjustive process, which helps the client become more self-directive and self-responsible."
Every well wisher of education today feels that educational institutions should take extra responsibility in providing guidance and counselling to improve the performance of students in different spheres, introduce an atmosphere conducive to intellectual excellence and minimize tensions.
Good teachers have always been interested in providing understanding assistance to students to over come problems of learning and adjustment so as to ensure optimum achievement and profitable placement.
The counselor does not make plans and decisions for the counselee. Neither does he solve his problems. He confines himself to help the client gain new perceptions and insights into his problems, change his behaviour patterns so that they are satisfying for him and acceptable to the group.
Adolescents should be allowed to grow according to their own interest. Adolescents want freedom and activities; they want to enter into spontaneous relationships with other persons. They want to be powerful and ambitious. If environment is not very congenial for the growth, they may develop dislikes for the things around them. They show a need for affection and attention. Rejected Adolescents are likely to encounter difficulties in many ways. They may not learn to bank on their own worth or feel confident about their own resources.
Counselling aims to help an individual with his problems, which may be educational, vocational or personal in nature. This kind of help is possible only when information regarding different aspects of the individual's life is available. To procure comprehensive and reliable information, the counselor uses certain professional techniques.