Students’ Perception Of The Role Of School Counselors In The Choice Of A Career
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Students’ Perception Of The Role Of School Counselors In The Choice Of A Career
ABSTRACT
This study focusses on students’ perceptions of the function of school counsellors in job choice in the Esan West local government area of Edo state. The study focused on the various functions that counsellors play in secondary schools, the perceptions of students at the junior and senior secondary levels about counsellors’ roles, the value of career counselling in schools, and the demand for counsellors in secondary schools.
The findings reveal that children have a positive impression of the work of school counsellors. This demonstrates that secondary school students in Edo State’s Esan West Local Government Area have positive impressions of the role of school counsellors in job selection, highlighting the need for more professional counsellors in our public schools.
Some proposals were offered, such as establishing counselling units in secondary schools, recruiting more professional counsellors in schools, organising career days/weeks for students, and incorporating career advising into secondary school curriculum.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
School-based guidance and counselling services are intended to help pupils achieve career awareness inside the educational system. Over the years, the field has faced numerous obstacles, making it increasingly difficult to give students with solid career advise. Guidance professionals at many public schools are frequently handed heavy workloads.
According to the American School Counsellor Association (2010), the average student-to-counselor ratio in the United States is 479 to 1, however at some schools it can exceed 1000 to 1. This contrasts sharply with what is required to guarantee adequate student services.
The American School Counsellor Association recommends a student-to-counselor ratio of 250:1. In order to execute a comprehensive developmental school counselling program tailored to the needs of all kids. (American School Counsellor Association, 2010).
Further complicating these high ratios, guidance specialists are occasionally steered to assignments that do not fit or require their professional counselling skills.
Responsibilities may include running testing programs, registering students for classes, completing college applications, dealing with disciplinary issues, and monitoring student records. Some of these activities, such as coordinating and administering cognitive, aptitude, and achievement tests, have been declared inappropriate by the American School Counsellor Association
while others simply exceed the capabilities of any individual professional, leaving less time to focus on direct student services such as career counselling.
A poll of high school counsellors in Florida found that more than 30% claimed that “actual career counselling” took up relatively little of their time (Osborn, Debra, and Baggerly, 2004).
There is also a gap between what counsellors need to know about assisting students in making sound educational and professional decisions and what counsellors learn in their counsellor preparation programs. Many counsellor preparation programs emphasise mental health models above academic and career development models (Martin 2002).
Thus, some guidance professionals lack current and correct knowledge about career advising and developing job opportunities, and they may have outmoded ideas about postsecondary options, which influence the information they share with students (Mitkos et al. 2008).
The word “school counselling” refers to the process of satisfying students’ developmental needs in a variety of areas, including academics, careers, and personal relationships.
Experts believe that a professional school counselling program should be “comprehensive in scope, preventive in design, and developmental in nature”.
The name “Guidance” refers to a more specialised trajectory within the field of counselling, a method to assisting students in choosing a professional or career path. “Guidance is the processes of assisting people in making important decisions that affect their lives, such as selecting a preferred lifestyle.”
One difference between advising and counselling is that, whereas guidance focusses on helping individuals pick what they value most, counselling focusses on helping people implement changes.
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