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Students’ Perception Of The Role Of School Counselors In The Choice Of A Career
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The
field of school based guidance and counseling programs have been
designed to help students gain career awareness within the educational
system. Over the years the field has been confronted with great
challenges that make it more difficult to provide students with strong
career guidance. Guidance professional in many public schools are often
assigned large work loads. The average US students\counselor ratio is
479 to 1and it grows to more than 1000 to 1 in some schools (American
school counselor association, 2010). This contrasts greatly with what is
necessary to ensure adequate students services. The American school
counselor association recommends a student\ counselor ratio of 250 to 1.
In order to implement comprehensive developmental school counseling
program designed to meet the needs of all students. (American School
Counseling Association, 2010).
Further complicating these high
ratios, guidance professionals are at times redirected to assignments
that do not match or need their professional counseling skills.
Responsibilities may include such diverse activities as conducting
testing programs, registering students for courses, filling out college
application, handling disciplinary issues and monitoring student’s
records. Some of these activities such as coordinating and administering
cognitive, aptitude and achievement tests have been declared
inappropriate by the American School Counselor Association, while others
merely stretch the limit of any individual professional, leaving less
time to focus on direct student services such as career guidance. A
survey of high schools counselor in Florida found that more than 30%
reported that “actual career counseling†occupied very little of their
time (Osborn, Debra and Baggerly, 2004)
There is also a dichotomy
between what counselor need to know about helping students make good
educational and career decision and what counselors learn in their
counselor preparatory programs. Many counselor preparatory programs
focus predominantly on mental health models rather than academic and
career development models (Martin 2002). Thus some guidance
professionals lack current and accurate knowledge concerning career
guidance and emerging career opportunities and may have outdated
perceptions about post secondary options that impact the information
they share with students (Mitkos, et. al. 2008).
The term “school
counseling†broadly refers to the process of meeting the needs of
students in several areas of development, such as academic career and
personal. Experts agree that professional school counseling program
should be “comprehensive in scope, preventive in design and
developmental in natureâ€.
The term “Guidance†refers to a more
specific trajectory within the field of counseling a pathway to helping
students choose a vocational or career path “guidance is the processes
of helping people make important choices that affect their lives such as
choosing a preferred life style.†One distinction between guidance and
counseling is that while guidance focuses on helping individual choose
what they value most, counseling focuses on helping them make changes
Several
changes have taken place in the evolution of counseling and guidance
program in schools around the world. Counseling and guidance appeared to
have moved from a single vocational counselor in schools to an
organized program that focuses on;
(a) content (core competencies that all students can acquire)
(b)
Organizational framework (structural component and program component)
and resources (human and political). Gysbers and Henderson, 2000.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This research work is based on students’ perception of the role of school counselor in the choice of a career using Esan West local Government Area of Edo state. The study concentrated on the different roles counselor plays in secondary schools, perceptions of students at the junior and senior secondary levels on the role of counselors, importance of career counseling in schools as well as the need for counselors in secondary schools.The findings show that the perception of students of th ... Continue reading---
