THE EFFECT OF GUIDANCE ON STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND
Guidance can be said to have begun as a global movement at the beginning of the twentieth century as a reaction to the process of change in an industrialized society. Guidance services were established within the Department of Education in September 1968, after a consultant named Louis made recommendations and was dispatched to Nigeria by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Summit, 1997).
Globally, guidance as a major service is an essential component in any society’s management of discipline among its people. It may be difficult for any society to function properly if discipline is not maintained.
School guidance programs have thus been introduced to assist students in overcoming the numerous challenges they face at home and at school in order to produce positive results in their academic achievement and performances. According to Nziramasanga (1999), because of the many environmental pressures placed on the family, parents tend to spend little time with their children to provide them with the necessary guidance, which may have a negative impact on their academic performance.
However, the parents expect the school to provide solutions to their children’s indiscipline as a result of their negligence (UNESCO, 2002). Adults in Nigeria have become more concerned with making money and less concerned with traditional practices that used to contribute to the upbringing of children.
The need for guidance and counseling in schools was recognized in Nigeria when a survey was conducted on 20 school counselors chosen from different states of the federation and the main problems were examined. It was observed that there is a critical need for a clear rationale and guidelines for Guidance and Counseling programs, as well as Guidance Counselors (Taylor and Francis, 1998).
The primary goal is to assist the counselee in learning to deal more effectively with himself/herself whenever he/she is in trouble, as well as the reality of his/her environment, in order to improve the counselee’s academic performance.
Allis and Kame (1999) conducted a survey on indiscipline among 2170 preparatory and secondary school students attending mainstream governmental schools in Alexandria, Egypt. Indiscipline among school students and its predictors were investigated in this study.
Few cases of indiscipline were related to family background, but the majority were related to the children themselves, and according to the research, this has a significant impact on the academic performance of these students. Schools are social organizations with a variety of goals and a role in guiding students in shaping their academic performance.
Guidance is a basic ingredient that plays an important role in the school system and insists on students’ social and moral values being upheld. Its purpose is to suppress, control, and redirect behavior. Before disciplinary action can be administered in a school system, all students must be aware of the rules that have been laid down through thorough guidance, which has been a key factor in improving academic performance in students. Franken (1998)
The concept of relating discipline and guidance aids in determining the value of G&C to students in schools in terms of academic performance.
Schools and parents share the responsibility of promoting values and standards that we believe will assist young people in developing not only sound academic performance but also sound behavioral codes for their lives; thus, parents and schools should ensure that good discipline is maintained among students at all times.
However, the Ministry of Education should make a greater effort to provide competent Guidance and counseling teachers not only to help students perform well in their academics but also to develop an understanding of oneself and others, assisting students in dealing with their personal-social, academic, and career-related concerns.
Guidance also aids in the development of effective study habits, motivation, identifying learning or subject-related problems, assisting students in seeing the relevance of their school years in life and for the future, developing skills, the right attitude, and interests to aid in career choice.
Guidance and counseling thus promotes each student’s holistic development. This demonstrates the importance of every teacher becoming a ‘guidance minded’ teacher in the course of carrying out his or her duties with the goal of making a difference in the lives of the students.
The career choice that adolescents make while in senior secondary school is a significant turning point in their lives. This decision, however, plays a significant role in establishing youth on a career path that opens and closes opportunities depending on the strength of guidance they are subjected to.
Because of their unique characteristics, adolescents with special needs, such as those with severe mental retardation, may not even complete secondary school education; however, proper guidance will assist these adolescents in their career development as early as possible. Guidance exposes students to a variety of career development activities in order to assist them in selecting occupations, preparing for, and successfully entering them.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is a source of great concern for stakeholders that students continue to perform poorly in their academics despite the numerous ways in which they are guided either by their teachers or their parents, which appears to be caused by the students’ inability to follow the laid down rules and regulations.
Despite the availability of guidance and counseling programs in both homes and schools, there is still a high level of indiscipline among students, which has an impact on their academic performance. The researcher intended to investigate the impact of guidance on students’ academic performance.
1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES
The following are the study’s objectives:
1. To ascertain the impact of guidance on students’ academic performance.
2. To investigate the relationship between discipline and student academic performance.
3. To identify the factors that influence students’ academic performance.
1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
1. What effect does guidance have on students’ academic performance?
2. What is the relationship between discipline and academic performance in students?
3. What factors influence students’ academic performance?
HYPOTHESIS 1.5
HO: There is no significant relationship between guidance and academic performance in students.
HA: There is a significant relationship between academic performance and guidance.
1.6 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
1. The findings of this study will aid in the education of students while also serving as a guide for parents and schools on the impact of guidance on academic performance.
2. This research will also serve as a resource base for other scholars and researchers interested in conducting additional research in this field in the future, and if applied, will go so far as to provide new explanations for the topic.
3.1 STUDY SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
Students and teachers from selected secondary schools in Ekiti State will be involved in the study of the influence of guidance on academic performance of students.
Financial constraint- Inadequate funding tends to impede the researcher’s efficiency in locating relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as in the data collection process (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will conduct this study alongside other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.
3.2 TERMS
Academic: someone who is thought to be scholarly
Performance is the completion of a given task as measured against known preset standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed.
A student is a person who is formally engaged in learning, particularly one who is enrolled in a school or college.
The act or function of guiding, leadership, or direction.
Influence: the ability to have a significant impact on someone or something.
REFERNCES
Allis, M.S., and M.I. Kamel. (1999). Children Experiencing Violence, II: The Relevance and Determinants of Corporal Punishment in Schools, Child Abuse, and Articles (Internet source).
Volume 26, Issue 2 of the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling. RSSCited Contests Malta’s Publishers Enterprises (PEG).
R. E. Franken (1998) Human Motivation (4th edition) Pacific Grove, Brooks and Sole. Malawi Secondary Schools Neglect Guidance and Counselling Program.
C.T. Nziramasanga (1999). The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Paris’s Report: iac.
J.M. Sammut (1997). Career Education and Guidance in Malta-Problems and Solutions M. Taylor and H. Francis (Online) (1998) Perceptions of School Counsellors on Education and Training Government Printers, Harare.
UNESCO (2002). New Guidance and Counselling Roles and Challenges
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