AN ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ON STUDENTS COUNSELING NEEDS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The foundation of school counseling did not occur until the beginning of the 20th century. In its earlier beginnings, school counseling constituted a service offered to students largely for vocational guidance reasons, such as preparing students for job after school and exploring prospective occupations.  Frank Parsons, regarded as the Father of Vocational Guidance, started the integration of career guidance at the high school level with the notion of assigning dedicated counselor roles inside the school to give vocational guidance (Schmidt, 2003).   Therefore, school counseling was formed out of delivering career assistance to pupils. As the 20th century proceeded on, academic guidance grew increasingly interwoven with the vocational counselor’s tasks (Gysbers, 2001), hence the necessity for counseling in schools.  Guidance professionals like John Brewer and G.E. Meyers started stressing the instructional role that counselors may play inside schools. By the mid 1930's and into the 1940’s, counselors started giving personal therapy to students as well. Therefore, in addition to giving academic and vocational guidance, counselors started delivering mental health services to students.

The age range of secondary school students runs from 14 to 19, which is in the later teenage phase. Adolescence is considered the most chaotic age of life. Hall (1976) aptly stated that adolescence is a time of stress and strain, a storm and rigidity. The lives of contemporary industrial nations is so complicated that the nuances of the adolescence era are more perilous. Secondary school pupils in contemporary times exhibit heightened emotional instability, a period of unrealism, hero worship, moral problem, rapid changes in the physical and biological systems, temporary imbalances of the whole endocrine system, a proclivity for anti-social behavior, drug and sex abuse, and a variety of other distinct traits.  It is commonly understood that teenagers require counseling help when they experience personal, social, family, and educational challenges.

Counselling needs are the demands of a student that are necessary to address his/her difficulties that he/she meets in day-to-day life circumstances and also to enhance his/her personal growth.  Counselling requirements appear to be expanding in schools. For instance, secondary schools have suffered frequent clashes and boycotts of classes. Unfortunately, with the collapse of African customs and a busy economic world, parents have entrusted the counseling of children to the schools. On the other hand, instructors are under pressure to show outcomes academically (Nasibi, 2003). Therefore, insufficient emphasis is paid to the area of behaviour modification, which leads to a scenario where pupils are not imparted with life skills. As a consequence, girls and boys confront significant obstacles in dealing with adolescent changes, making educational choices, dealing with competing cultural messages and values, regulating their sexuality in a social climate that favors delay of maturity, living with changes in family structures, and, in essence, leaving counselors with no option but to take on the task of assisting the  Hence, in light of this, the research is planned to investigate into teachers’ and students’ perspectives of counselling requirements of secondary school students.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Guidance and counseling services are well acknowledged to be effective in developing the thinking and decision-making capacities of both students and even adults at work settings.  It is crucial to have such services in locations where youngsters are developing without understanding what is expected of them, such as in the case of secondary schools, which are being impacted by high numbers of dropouts.  As a consequence, we might presume that there are little or no signs of counseling services in secondary schools in Bayelsa state, which should be a prerequisite for secondary school students.  Incidences of youngsters growing up without any guidance and making unfortunate decisions are pretty ubiquitous. For example, numerous young individuals opt to embrace early marriage while others pick subjects that do not have the right mix, notably for attending A Level. Presently, the attitudes of teachers and students are unknown and little or no research has been undertaken in Bayelsa State in regard to the perceptions of teachers and students about the necessity for counseling to be delivered in secondary schools. 

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to examine the perception of teachers and students on the counseling needs of secondary schools students in Bayelsa, State  Below are the specific objectives;

i.          Determine whether students needs counseling to build their thinking and decision making capabilities.

ii.        Determine whether students needs counseling for getting awareness of career opportunities

iii.      Ascertain whether students needs counseling for appropriate and satisfaction of personal and educational choices.

iv.      Identify the factors militating against the effectiveness of guidance and counselling secondary schools in Bayelsa state.

1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study will be guided by the following questions;

i.          Does students need counseling to build their thinking and decision making capabilities?

ii.        Does students need counseling for getting awareness of career opportunities

iii.      Does students need counseling for appropriate and satisfaction of personal and educational choices.

iv.      What are the factors militating against the effectiveness of guidance and counselling secondary schools in Bayelsa state?

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

This  research  is  expected  to  be  significant  to  different  groups  of  people. To a greater extent, it is expected to be significant to the students, teachers and school management. However, other groups of people are expected to feel the impact of the findings of this research as well.

The findings could be useful  to  politicians  and  parent. Students  are  expected  to benefit  in  the  sense  that  most  of  them  are  currently  affected  by  the  teenage  pregnancies, absentees and drop-outs making them not focused. The results of this research could enable counseling services to be started in secondary schools since the need for counselling is noted,  hence  enable  students  to  reshape  their  lives  and  become  responsible  citizen of the country and the local government itself.

Through  the  establishment  of  counseling  services  in  schools,  there  would  be  an assurance that students would be trained to make sensible decisions and hence reduce failure rates by choosing what they like most and work hard towards achieving it. Additionally, with the  perception of teachers and students to be considered, the spreading of counseling  services to  schools becomes easy,  the  future  generation  will be assured  to  be  more productive by being more focused than the way they are now. Parents too stand to benefit in the sense that they may have less trouble looking after children. Children are expected to be shaped by counselors in conjunction with the religious leaders of  the  different  religions.  In the process,  the  students  are  expected  to  be  more productive compared to the way they are now because the study could change their perceptive toward counselling needs. By being more productive, it is expected that they  would  impress  their  parents  and  or  guardians  who  would  be  willing  to  involve  them (children) in most of their activities to boost the level of their productivity.

There is likelihood that the counselors may reap big in the process. This study could inform  policy  makers  on  the  need to implement  counseling  services  in  schools  which  may create  huge  employment  opportunity  for  those  people  in  the  profession  of counseling.  This would be good economically since it would uplift the standards of living of councilors and in a way it may increase spending levels of citizens bringing about increase in National Income Levels.

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is focused on the perception of teachers and students on the counseling needs of secondary schools students in Bayelsa, State . The study covers the benefits of guidance and counselling to secondary school students and the factors affecting the effectiveness of guidance and counselling secondary schools in Bayelsa state.The study will be delimited to some selected secondary schools in Beyelsa State.

1.7. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents.

In addition, there was the element of researcher bias. Here, the researcher possessed some biases that may have been reflected in the way the data was collected, the type of people interviewed or sampled, and how the data gathered was interpreted thereafter. The potential for all this to influence the findings and conclusions could not be downplayed. 

More so, the findings of this study are limited to the sample population in the study area, hence they may not be suitable for use in comparison to other schools, local governments, states, and other countries in the world.

1.8    DEFINITION OF TERMS

Perception:  Perception is defined in  Merriam-Webster's  Online  Dictionary  as an "attitude or understanding based on what is observed or thought." A teacher's perception, like anyone else's, is ultimately a product of his or her belief system.

Counseling  services:  It  is  the  interaction  that  comes  as  a  result  of  the  vocational relationship  between a  specialized  counselor  and  his  student  where  the  counselor  assists  the student  to  understand  himself  and  his  abilities  and  talents  to  achieve  self  and  environmental compatibility  in  order  to  attain  the  appropriate  degree  of  mental  health  in  light  of  the techniques and specialized skills of the guidance process.

Guidance:  Guidance  is  a  group  of  planned  services  that  include  counseling,  it  provides  the trainee  with  miscellaneous  information  to  upgrade  his  feeling  of  responsibility,  understand himself and know his abilities and provide guidance services to trainees.

Teachers: is a person who provide education for students.

Students: a person formally engaged in learnin

Get this material NGN 5,000

Message Us on WhatsApp  »