Chapter 1 3

Saint Mary’s University
School of Graduate Studies
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Rationale
The guidance and counseling movement in the Philippines started in 1925 as the
Bureau of Education Manual mentions it. Siliman University was the first university to
have a full-time guidance counselor in 1959. Since then, several colleges and universities
in the Philippines followed it (Cervera, 2009). Before the outbreak of World War II, all
teachers, principals and supervisors were directed to practice guidance and counseling to
their students. During the year 1950-1965, the need for guidance and counseling
increased which lead to the establishment of the Philippine Guidance and Personnel
Association (PGPA) in the middle of 1960. Since then, there was a rapid growth of the
guidance and counseling profession in the Philippines. As a result, an organized guidance
and counseling program were in placed.
The turn of the 21st century saw the professionalization of Guidance and
Counseling in the Philippines with the passage of Republic Act 9258, otherwise known as
the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 and with the PGPA, now known as Philippine
Guidance and Counseling Association (PGCA), as the Accredited Professional
Organization (APO). Republic Act 9258 is a law that professionalizes the practice of
guidance and counseling, and issues professional license to those qualified guidance
counselors. This is by undertaking and instituting measures that will result in
professional, ethical, relevant, efficient, and effective guidance and counseling services
for the development and enrichment of individuals and group lives. Hence, the role of
1
guidance and counseling in nation building became very important. As the need of
guidance and counseling services arises as evidenced by the rising cases of criminality,
victims of abuses, violence, disaster, poverty, and others, especially in schools, the need
for a comprehensive guidance program is also a big challenge to every guidance
counselor in order to address the multifaceted crises the Filipino people are facing
nowadays.
During the years that passed in the international arena, Guidance and Counseling
has further become so specialized. A lot of literature and studies in various literate
quarters looked into the very nature of the discipline, its importance in the school setting
and the changing role of the guidance counselor as a change agent.
The ASCA national model calls for professional school counselors to be leaders
of systemic change in their schools (Dahir, Burnham, Stone, 2009). Many students’ lack
of success in schools are rooted in teacher-student conflicts that require skilled classroom
discipline and management strategies. Teachers identify skills in classroom discipline and
management as an area of great need (Marzano & Marzano, 2003).
Further, school counselors serve a vital role in maximizing student success
(Lapan, Gysbers, & Kayson, 2007; Stone & Dahir, 2006). Through leadership, advocacy
and collaboration, school counselors promote equity and access to rigorous educational
experiences for all students. School counselors support a safe learning environment and
work to safeguard the human rights of all members of the school community (Sandhu,
2000) and address the needs of all students through culturally relevant prevention and
2
intervention programs that are a part of a comprehensive school counseling program
(Lee, 2001).
To contextualize the guidance and counseling models in the Philippines in order
to address the needs of the multi-cultured Filipino citizens, there was a movement in
1970s to 1990s that focus primarily in indigenization of assessments, constructs, and
theories (Tuason, et.al, 2012) that are different from the counseling models learned from
the United States. It is in this goal of indigenization that this study is anchored.
The setting of the study is rural. The Capintalan High School is one of the
secondary schools in the Division of Nueva Ecija. It is in fact considered to be a school
for the indigenous students, the farthest school in the north where majority of the students
belong to the kalanguya, ibaloi, kankanaey ethnolinguistic groups. Consequently, the role
of the guidance and counseling office is very much needed in the context of indigenous
youth empowerment and development.
Like any other adolescents, the indigenous youth face a critical growth and
learning not only in terms of many physical, emotional, behavioral and social challenges
characterized by a period that is full of anxieties, excitement and fears compounded by
their sense of invulnerability, impulsiveness and their need to belong to a social group;
behaviorally, they are also exploring new ideas, new means of self-expression, testing out
their skills and limitations, acting out peer-approved behavior; exploring an emerging
sexuality; and socially, the scope and significance of their relationships are changing and
this is the source of both affirmation and tension. How could an outsider, like the
guidance counselor fit into the context of their experiences?
3
Thus, in the writing of this paper, several reasons are put forward: (a) some of the
myriad problems that the indigenous youth confront are: limited role in community life,
lack of formal and indigenous education, lesser opportunities in life, little interest in
education, marginalization, poverty and others. How could guidance and counseling as a
service program of the school become instrumental in changing their condition as well as
their perspectives relative to the dilemmas they confront; (b) about 85 percent of the
enrolees in the locale of this study are indigenous students, about 404 out of 475 Grade 7
to 11 students are indigenous students, who are mostly migrant kalanguya, ibaloi,
kankanaey, and few ilocano and tagalog-speaking students. How could the counselor and
the guidance office function well relative to the conditions of the indigenous youth?; and
(c) the researcher is an insider – a values education teacher, who is also a guidance
counselor – designate in the locale. His being an insider provides an emic perspective
inasmuch as most researches in the field are done by outsiders, thus the plan to propose
an action plan for the guidance and counseling program based on the impressions of these
high school students on guidance and counseling.
Statement of the Problem
The study specifically sought answers to the following problems:
1. What are the high school students’ impressions about guidance and counseling
given the setting of this study?
2. What services do the high school students’ want their school to provide?
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3. What action plan in guidance and counseling for high school students can be
proposed given the school setting?
Significance of the Study
The study will have immediate impact on the following groups of individuals in
the locale of the study:
The Guidance Counselor - Designate. Results in this study will become the
basis for the crafting of a robust action plan that specifically fits the indigenous students’
views and experiences and will guide the counselor in dealing more efficiently and
effectively in disposing his/her functions and responsibilities as the school guidance
counselor;
The High School Students. Results of this study will help students change their
negative impressions of the guidance office and the guidance and counseling services that
the school counselor will have to apply inasmuch as this will be based on their own needs
and experiences;
The Faculty Members. Through this study, they will become more informed
about their students’ needs and wants and will provide greater appreciation of
multicultural education. This material provides a new approach and perspective on how
to work with students with differing cultural backgrounds and to be sensitive enough in
their pedagogical approaches. It will also provide a clear understanding of the role of
guidance and counseling in molding the students for the betterment of their future;
5
The School Administrators. This research will become an avenue for the
administration to look into the importance and role of guidance and counseling in schools
and providing funds for the operation of a functional guidance and counseling office for
the implementation of its various services;
The Department of Education. Results in this study will provide information to
the agency about the need for full time guidance counselors in the school given the many
responsibilities of guidance counselors toward the improvement of the students in their
academic, socio-cultural competence, and values formation; and
Future Researchers and Writers. This study will provide baseline information
about high school students’ impressions on guidance and counseling, given the setting of
the school and what can the guidance office do in appropriating a dynamic program for
the students.
Scope and Delimitation
This study was limited to the determination of the high school students’
impressions about guidance and counseling and the services that they would want to be
provided of in the school in consideration of the school’s rural setting. As well, the
proposed action plan was crafted based on the information provided by the high school
students. The results of the study was also limited on the ideas and experiences of the 50
students given the school’s rural setting, chosen by purposive sampling who provided
information in the survey, the 15 FGD participants who validated and or strengthened the
6
information, and the time factor upon which this study was conducted during the second
quarter of calendar year 2017.
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
Counseling is the process that occurs when a client and counselor set aside time in
order to explore difficulties which may include the stressful or emotional feelings of the
client. It is the act of helping the client to see things more clearly, possibly from a
different view-point. This can enable the client to focus on feelings, experiences or
behavior, with a goal to facilitating positive change. Consequently, it is built on a
relationship of trust. Confidentiality is paramount to successful counseling. Professional
counselors will usually explain their policy on confidentiality, they may, however, be
required by law to disclose information if they believe that there is a risk to life (Janov,
2016).
The American Counseling Association (2007) defines a guidance counselor as an
indispensable part of any school administration in the elementary, middle school and high
school levels. They are advocates in the students' whole being because they administer
guidance of the students’ personal and school life. A counselor is usually licensed in their
respective states and has a Master's degree in Arts, Science or Education. They have
advance training in Psychology and Sociology to better assess the students' lives. They
study different counseling techniques to address different needs.
First and foremost the counselor is aware that no two people are alike. No two
people understand the same language in the same way; their understanding will always be
7
linked to their personal experience of the world. Therefore, during the counseling
process, it is important that the counselor does not try to fit clients into his/her idea of
what they should be and how they should act.
The role of the counselor is to enable the client to explore many aspects of their
life and feelings, by talking openly and freely. Talking in such a way it is rarely possible
with family or friends, who are likely to be emotionally involved and have opinions and
biases that may be detrimental to the success of the counseling. It is important that the
counselor is not emotionally involved with the client and does not become so during
counseling sessions. The counselor neither judges, nor offers advice. The counselor
gives the client an opportunity to express difficult feelings such as anger, resentment,
guilt and fear in a confidential environment.
Effective counseling reduces confusion, allowing the client to make effective
decisions leading to positive changes in their attitude and/or behavior. Effective
counseling is not advice-giving and is not acting on someone else's behalf (these are more
the roles of a life coach). The ultimate aim of counseling is to enable the client to make
their own choices, reach their own decisions and to act upon them accordingly.
Guidance Counselors make frequent assessments of the students' performance and
progress. This enables them to gauge their individual requirements. High school
counselors are often consulting with students regarding their future career path. So their
role is a vital part of shaping the individuality of the children. Job duties vary depending
on the education level they are in. Generally, they are student advocates.
8
A classic example is the study of Rose and Steen (2014) who explicated a group
counseling intervention used to develop and foster resiliency in middle school students by
implementing the Achieving Success Everyday (ASE) group counseling model. The
study aimed to discover what impact this group counseling intervention, which focused
on resiliency characteristics, would have on students’ academic and personal-social
success. The results showed that some students achieved an increase in their grade point
average (GPA) and personal-social functioning following the intervention. The study
presented implications for practice and ideas for future research, especially in the idea
that school counselors can use a research-supported group counseling model to improve
the academic and social functioning of middle school students.
The common problems school guidance counselors come across in high school
are more complex because this is the transition into adulthood. They are beginning to
search for their independence and peer pressure is very powerful in influencing their
decisions. Aside from creating a foreground to a students’ future career, a counselor is
their guide to making sound decisions in their academic, social and individual lives.
Carrell and Hoekstra (2014) examined the impact of school counselors on
academic achievement. Results suggest that counselors significantly improve boys’
academic achievement. The increases are equivalent to increasing teacher quality by 0.3
sd.The effects are large compared relative to hiring teachers to reduce class size. The
study exploited within-school variation in counselors and find that one additional
counselor reduces student misbehavior and increases boys’ academic achievement by
over one percentile point. These effects compare favorably with those of increased
9
teacher quality and smaller class sizes. This paper uses within-school variation in
elementary school to show that counselors cause an economically and statistically
significant increase in achievement, particularly for boys. Moreover, results indicate that
relative to other education inputs such as additional teachers to reduce class size,
counselors appear to be an effective way of improving academic achievement. This
suggests that hiring counselors may be an effective alternative to other education policies
aimed at increasing academic achievement.
A comprehensive, developmental approach to school counseling requires the
Professional School Counselor to be a support person for the entire educational process.
Influence on the school discipline program is an integral part of the school counselor’s
systemic focus and system’s change agenda in the educational process.
The ASCA National Model calls for professional school counselors to be leaders
discipline and management strategies. Teachers identify skill in classroom discipline and
management as an area of great need (Marzano & Marzano, 2003).
School counselors serve a vital role in maximizing student success (Lapan, Gys-
bers, & Kayson, 2007; Stone & Dahir, 2006). Through leadership, advocacy and
collaboration, school counselors promote equity and access to rigorous educational
10
(Lee, 2001).
In the Philippine context, guidance and counseling took its roots in the United
States wherein counseling models were based from American setting since the pioneers
of Guidance and Counseling here in the Philippines obtained trainings and degrees in the
United States (Tuason, et. al., 2012).
To contextualize the guidance and counseling models in the Philippines in order
to address the needs of the multi-cultured Filipino citizens, there was a movement in
1970s to 1990s that focus primarily in indigenization of assessments, constructs, and
theories (Tuason, et.al, 2012) that is different from the counseling models learned from
the United States. It is in this goal of indigenization that this study is anchored.
Up to 15 percent of the Philippine population - about ten million people - belong
to distinct indigenous communities and retain a close link with their traditions. They
avoided Hispanisation during Spain's 350-year colonization of the Philippines. In 1987, a
revised Philippine Constitution recognized the ancestral land rights of indigenous people,
and ten years later, in 1997, those rights finally became law in the Indigenous Peoples
Rights Act.
The indigenous peoples are spread out in more than 100 ethno-linguistic groups
located in 65 of the country’s provinces. About 61 % of indigenous peoples is found in
Mindanao, 33 % in Luzon, and 6 % in Visayas. The lumad peoples comprise the majority
among IP groups in the country followed by the Cordillera peoples. Other distinct IP
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groups include the Caraballo groups, the Mangyan, the Negrito or Aeta, the Palawan Hill
tribes, and some groups in the Visayas.
The indigenous students in the locale of this study who are mostly Kalanguya,
Kankanaey, and Ibaloi belong to the Cordillera peoples. Some of the indigenous youth’s
dilemmas are: to assimilate or not to assimilate; to leave or stay in one’s community; to
preserve or give up what aspects/features of culture; to revive or accept what has been
lost; to fight for their ancestral lands; to work within or outside the government/legal
framework; and to acquire formal, non-indigenous education at the risk of assimilating
and losing one’s indigenous knowledge and identity.
So how can the guidance counselor become more effective in dealing with the
indigenous youth? The following are suggested: (a) anyone assigned to indigenous
communities must have some adequate preparation. Otherwise, one might cause greater
damage instead of helping the indigenous youth; (b) in order to understand other cultures,
one must be immersed in their lives, be with them and invest time with them; (c) there is
no one way of working with the indigenous youth. One has to search for the right way
with them; (d) in order to be effective in one’s work with the youth, learning their
language is essential because language is the key to their culture; (e) respect and
appreciation of their culture is essential to working with them; (f) there is an indigenous
way of organizing them, which is different from the community organizing for the
lowland. What is crucial is to discover the locus of authority, the type of their groupings
(whether settled, semi- settled, intact communities) and whether they are more or less
related with one another within the same community or groups; (g) the main goal of
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working with IPs should be self- determination, empowerment, and total human
development; (h) and scientific structural / cultural analysis should proceed any plan. In
so doing one can arrive at valid and humanizing programs and technologies which they
really need. Without an understanding of their situation, which is actually initiatives find
expression in our support for their struggle for self- determination and self- reliance.
Considering the foregoing review of theories and empirical data on guidance and
counseling, the conceptual framework in this study is drawn:
Theories and Empirical Data on Guidance and

Counseling Movement
High School Students’ Impressions on Types of Guidance and Counseling

Guidance and Counseling Services they want
Proposed Action Plan on Guidance

and Counseling
Figure 1. Research Paradigm
It is assumed in this study that an effective guidance and counseling program
should be suited according to the context of its clients to be able to bring empowerment
and change in perspectives. Thus, a multi-cultural counseling approach is necessary. This
is true because there are factors that affect the counseling processes especially to some
cultures. Sandhu (1994) stated that counseling continues to be stigmatized in many
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cultures. This shows that it is relevant to determine the impressions of student-clients
about guidance and counseling to be able to draw a meaningful plan for high school
students in Capintalan High School given the rural setting of the school.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined both theoretically and operationally for better
understanding of the study:
Guidance and counseling is the process that occurs when a client and counselor
set aside time in order to explore difficulties which may include the stressful or emotional
feelings of the client. It is the act of helping the client to see things more clearly, possibly
from a different view-point. This can enable the client to focus on feelings, experiences
or behavior, with a goal to facilitating positive change. Consequently, it is built on a
relationship of trust (Janov 2016);
Impressions on Guidance and counseling are alternative conceptions,
preconceptions, alternative frameworks, differing frameworks, initial framework theories
or naive theories, which could be negative or positive, consistent or inconsistent to the
generally acceptable principles by the community of guidance counselors. In this study, it
refers to the ideas or opinions held by the high school students about what a guidance and
counseling is that is usually drawn from personal or socio-cultural constructs;
Types of Guidance and Counseling Services theoretically refer to a set of
planned services that are designed to aid students towards self-direction and development
and utilize their full potentials (Ryan and Zeran, 1972). These are designed to promote
14
students achievement that should be comprehensive in scope, preventive in design and
developmental in nature (ASCA 2012). In this study, they refer to the forms of services
or assistance that are drawn from the indigenous students’ personal and socio-cultural
constructs of guidance and counseling that they would want their school to extend to
them without necessarily contrasting the generally acceptable services of the guidance
office; Action Plan theoretically speaking, is a guidance program plan that refers to a set
of activities, services and programs ordered by the Department of Education to be offered
to every students for the whole school year. In this study refers to the contextualized
proposal for activities that suit the indigenous students that highlights the types of
services they would want to receive in the school without necessarily contrasting the
mandate of Department of Education relative to guidance and counseling; and
Rural Setting in this study pertains to the characteristic of the locale of the study,
its location and types of students, that is, Capintalan High School is located at the
northernmost part of the Division of Nueva Ecija with majority of students belonging to
indigenous peoples’ groups. Indigenous Students in this study pertain to the youth or
children of indigenous cultural communities that are currently residing within the locale
of this study and who are currently enrolled at Capintalan High School. These indigenous
students are affiliated to any ethnic groups in the Cordillera highlands such as
Kalanguya-speaking Ifugao, Kankanaey, and Ibaloi.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Nature of Guidance and Counseling
Janov (2016) explained that many people will, at some point in their lives, find
themselves in the role of a counselor without having a true understanding of the concept
of counseling or what the role of the professional counselor entails. There is a big
difference between a professional counselor and a person who uses some counseling
skills as part of their role, for example their role as a friend or colleague. A professional
counselor is a highly trained individual who is able to use a different range of counseling
approaches with their clients. Thus, from a formal standpoint, one has to familiarize
himself with what exactly is the nature of Guidance and Counseling.
Guidance and Counseling is the process that occurs when a client and counselor
set aside time in order to explore difficulties which may include the stressful or emotional
feelings of the client. As a consequence of this act, counseling is translated into the act of
helping the client to see things more clearly, possibly from a different view-point. This
can enable the client to focus on feelings, experiences or behavior, with a goal to
facilitating positive change, thus, the associated word, guidance. Socially speaking,
Guidance and Counseling is built on a relationship of trust and confidence. Therefore,
confidentiality is paramount to successful counseling. Professional counselors will
usually explain their policy on confidentiality, they may, however, be required by law to
disclose information if they believe that there is a risk to life.
16
However, some counselors tend to go beyond what is expected – the tendency to
exert a strong and great influence on a client is a big No to guidance and counseling.
Accordingly, Janov (2016) enumerated what a counseling is Not: it is not about giving
advice, become judgmental or attempt to sort out the problems of the client. It is not
expecting or encouraging a client to behave in a way in which the counselor may have
behaved when confronted with a similar problem in their own life or getting emotionally
involved with the client. It is also not about looking at a client's problems from one’s own
perspective, or based on the counselor’s own value system.
Counseling Approaches
Janov (2016) mentioned that both ‘psychotherapy’ and ‘counseling’ are terms that
are used to describe the same process. Both terms relate to overcoming personal
difficulties and working towards positive changes. Counseling is a helping approach that
highlights the emotional and intellectual experience of a client, how a client is feeling and
what they think about the problem they have sought help for.
Psychotherapy, however, is based in the psychodynamic approach to counseling - it
encourages the client to go back to their earlier experiences and explore how these
experiences effect their current ‘problem’.
A psychotherapist, therefore, helps the client to become conscious of experiences
which they were previously unaware of. Counselors, however, are less likely to be
concerned with the past experiences of the client and are generally trained in a humanistic
approach, using techniques from client-centered therapy.
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In contrast to the psychodynamic approach to counseling, childhood events and
difficulties are not given the same importance in the humanistic counseling
process. Humanistic counseling recognizes the uniqueness of every individual.
Humanistic counseling assumes that everyone has an innate capacity to grow emotionally
and psychologically towards the goals of self-actualization and personal fulfillment.
Humanistic counselors work with the belief that it is not life events that cause
problems, but how the individual experiences life events. How we experience life events
will in turn relate to how we feel about ourselves, influencing self-esteem and
confidence. The humanistic approach to counseling encourages the client to learn to
understand how negative responses to life events can lead to psychological
discomfort. The approach aims for acceptance of both the negative and positive aspects
of oneself.
Humanistic counselors aim to help clients to explore their own thoughts and
feelings and to work out their own solutions to their problems. The American
psychologist, Carl Rogers (1902-1987) developed one of the most commonly used
humanistic therapies, Client-Centered Counseling, which encourages the client to
concentrate on how they feel at the present moment.
Client-Centered Counseling
The central theme of client-centered counseling is the belief that we all have
inherent resources that enable us to deal with whatever life brings. Client-centered
therapy focuses on the belief that the client - and not the counselor - is the best expert on
their own thoughts, feelings, experiences and problems. It is therefore the client who is
18
most capable of finding the most appropriate solutions. The counselor does not suggest
any course of action, make recommendations, ask probing questions or try to interpret
anything the client says. The responsibility for working out problems rests wholly with
the client. When the counselor does respond, their aim is to reflect and clarify what the
client has been saying.
A trained client-centered counselor aims to show empathy, warmth and
genuineness, which they believe will enable the client's self-understanding and
psychological growth: empathy involves being able to understand the client’s issues from
their own frame of reference. The counselor should be able to accurately reflect this
understanding back to the client; warmth is to show the client that they are valued,
regardless of anything that happens during the counseling session. The counselor must
be non-judgmental, accepting whatever the client says or does, without imposing
evaluations; and genuineness (sometimes termed congruence) refers to the counselor's
ability to be open and honest and not to act in a superior manner or hide behind a
'professional' facade.
Behavioral Approach to Counseling
The Behavioral Approach to Counseling focuses on the assumption that the
environment determines an individual's Behavior. How an individual responds to a given
situation is due to Behavior that has been reinforced as a child. For example, someone
who suffers from arachnophobia will probably run away screaming (response) at the sight
of a spider (stimulus). Behavioral therapies evolved from psychological research and
19
theories of learning concerned with observable Behavior, i.e. Behavior that can be
objectively viewed and measured.
Behaviorists believe that that Behavior is 'learned' and, therefore, it can be
unlearned. This is in contrast to the psychodynamic approach, which emphasizes that
Behavior is determined by instinctual drives.
Behavior therapy focuses on the Behavior of the individual and aims to help
him/her to modify unwanted Behaviors. According to this approach unwanted Behavior
is an undesired response to something or someone in a person's environment. Using this
approach a counselor would identify the unwanted Behavior with a client and together
they would work to change or adapt the Behavior. For example, a client who feels
anxious around dogs would learn a more appropriate response to these animals.
Problems which respond well to this type of therapy include phobias, anxiety attacks and
eating disorders. Behavioral counselors or therapists use a range of Behavior
modification techniques.
Once the unwanted behavior is identified, the client and counselor might continue
the process by drawing up an action plan of realistic, attainable goals. The aim would be
that the unwanted Behavior stops altogether or is changed in such a way that it is no
longer a problem.
Clients might be taught skills to help them manage their lives more effectively.
For example, they may be taught how to relax in situations that produce an anxiety
response and rewarded or positively reinforced when desirable Behavior occurs. Another
method used involves learning desirable Behavior by watching and copying others who
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already behave in the desired way. In general, the Behavioral approach is concerned with
the outcome rather than the process of change.
The Behavioral counselor uses the skills of listening, reflection and clarification,
but rather than use them as a process of revealing and clarifying the client's thoughts and
feelings, the skills would be used to enable the counselor to make an assessment of all the
factors relating to the undesirable Behavior.
Guidance and Counseling in Schools
What is a Guidance Counselor? A guidance counselor is an indispensable part of
any school administration in the elementary, middle school and high school levels. They
are advocates in the students' whole being because they administer guidance of both their
personal and school life.
A counselor is usually licensed in their respective states and has a Master's degree
in Arts, Science or Education. They have advance training in Psychology and Sociology
to better assess the students' lives. They study different counseling techniques to address
different needs.
School counselors are certified/licensed educators with a minimum of a master’s
degree in school counseling, making them uniquely qualified to address all students’
academic, career and social/emotional development needs by designing, implementing,
evaluating and enhancing a comprehensive school counseling program that promotes and
enhances student success. School counselors are employed in elementary, middle/junior
high and high schools; in district supervisory positions; and counselor education
positions.
21
School counselors serve a vital role in maximizing student success (Lapan, Gys-
bers, & Kayson, 2007; Stone & Dahir, 2006). Through leadership, advocacy and
collaboration, school counselors promote equity and access to rigorous educational
(Lee, 2001).
Guidance Counselors make frequent assessments of the students' performance and
progress. This enables them to gauge their individual requirements. High school
counselors are often consulting with students regarding their future career path. So their
role is a vital part of shaping the individuality of the children. Job duties vary depending
on the education level they are in. Generally, they are student advocates.
What are the common problems school guidance counselors come across? It can
sometimes be frustrating for counselors to do their job. The job requires exceptional
communication skills to be able to communicate with even the most difficult students and
their parents. If a counselor does it right, they can serve as a secondary parent whom
students can trust and confide in.
An elementary school pupil is fun and challenging to work with. They are in the
time of their lives that they start to become imaginative, self-reliant and free spirited.
Disciplining them becomes a challenge because this is when they have new experiences
and opportunities.
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Behaving socially is relatively new to children in elementary level. One of the
common problems school guidance counselors come across in elementary is bullying.
Elementary level is where kids explore new grounds and meet new people with different
characteristics. Research shows nine out of ten elementary students have experienced
being bullied by their classmates and peers. Six out of ten showed that they have
participated on some bullying themselves. A guidance counselor plays a big role in these
matters. If someone is being bullied, a counselor will help the child cope with it by giving
strategies and ideas. It will make the child feel less alone and eradicate the fear of going
to school. The counselor will also converse with the one bullying and assess the reason
for the child's behavior.
The common problems school guidance counselors come across in High School
are more complex because this is the transition into adulthood. They are beginning to
search for their independence and peer pressure is very powerful in influencing their
decisions. Aside from creating a foreground to a student's future career, a counselor is
their guide to making sound decisions in their academic, social and individual lives.
A classic example of an issue is the prevalence of mental health issues and
suicidal thoughts and actions among school-aged children and adolescents, which is a
serious issue. Erickson and abel 92013) examined the scope of the problem nationwide
and provided a brief overview of the literature regarding the effectiveness of school-wide
screening programs for depression and suicide risk. Erickson and Abel (2013) described a
suicide prevention program that has been implemented by the first author (a high school
counselor in Minnesota) that combines classroom guidance, screening, and referrals for
23
outside mental health services. This study included recommendations for school
counselors interested in implementing a school-wide screening and prevention program.
The results affirmed the idea that school counselors can provide leadership in the early
identification and prevention of high school students with depression and suicidal
thoughts.
Further, home issues are common problems of High school students that
counselors regularly address. The student may be undergoing the divorce of parents or
the lack of time they spend with them. More often than not, their stress come from their
time spent at home than in school. Some teens also have a hard time talking to their
parents regarding personal matters like peer pressure and sex, so they need an unbiased
opinion of an adult from time to time.
A study in relation to home issues was conducted in 2010. This was about a
multiple family discussion group program which was implemented and evaluated by
school counselors working with families of young children referred by their teachers for
aggression and attention problems. The logic guiding construction of the program and the
program’s unique aspects are described. Outcome data revealed that the program was
effective in reducing the children’s hyperactive, defiant, and aggressive behavior and
improving the parents’ management skills. The advantages of school counselors
conducting this program are discussed. Amatea, Thompson, Rankin-Clemons and
Ettinger (2010) have proven that family focused group intervention can be implemented
by school counselors to decrease school behavior problems among young children.
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As peer pressure is most powerful during High School, it is also a common
problem that adolescents are pressured into drinking alcohol or trying drugs in order to
get their peers' approval. A counselor is an advocate in raising awareness of these abusive
substances to the students. They develop programs to educate students on the risks and
health hazards of substance abuse.
In relation to peer pressure, Cross and Peisner (2009) studied changes in rumor
spreading and perceptions of peers’ rumor spreading among students at one public junior
high school following a social norms marketing campaign. Results of the study show that
perceptions of peer rumor spreading fell following the campaign, but self-reports of
rumor spreading did not decrease. Results suggest that a social norms marketing
campaign conducted by a professional school counselor and delivered to students in a
junior high can reduce misperceptions of negative social behaviors. The data gathered in
this study affirmed that through intentional efforts, school counselors can positively
influence the social norms that fuel destructive rumor spreading by junior high students.
Another study on peer pressure brought by diversity in ethnic affiliation is the
study of Malott, Paone, Humphreys, and Martinez (2010) who provided qualitative
outcomes from a group counseling intervention whose goal was to facilitate the ethnic
identity development of Mexican-origin youth. Outcomes revealed that participants
perceived group participation as meaningful. Themes that emerged from the data
included the importance of the relationship to engender change, growth in several aspects
of ethnic identity (knowledge of culture, traits, and ethnic pride), and increased relational
skills. This study explained that school counselors can assist students of varied
25
multicultural groups in building relationships in school and becoming more comfortable
with their ethnic identity.
Lastly, a high school counselor will give ideas and prospect for secondary school
students regarding their decisions after high school. This is a common problem for this
level. Some individuals are unsure of what they want to do with their lives after
graduating. A counselor can give details and information about their individual skills and
academic performances which can guide students to take the courses they feel and
experience as their strong points.
Guidance and Counseling in the Philippines
Tuazon and Fernandez (2012) have summurized the essentials of the Guidance
and Counseling Act of 2004, which has been described as the most significant
development in Philippine counseling through the Republic Act No. 9258. The Act was
intended to professionalize the practice of guidance and counseling and to create the
Professional Regulatory Board of Guidance and Counseling, which is under the
administrative control and supervision of the Professional Regulatory Commission. Prior
to 2004, mental health workers did not need a license to practice nor was there a
regulatory board to ensure adequate training and ethical practice. Guidance counselors
pioneered regulation for counseling, and psychologists are following suit through the
Philippine Psychology Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 10029), which will regulate
psychology and create a professional regulatory board for licensing psychologists
(Kabiling, 2010).
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Although mental health providers have the same mission, hierarchy dictates that a
doctoral-level counselor or psychologist has the highest rank, followed by the master’s-
level counselor. Other levels within this hierarchy are determined by where the individual
earned her or his degree: A U.S.-trained counselor has more credibility than a
Philippines-trained practitioner, although this view is slowly changing (Republic Act No.
10029, Foreign Reciprocity). According to the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004,
counseling in the Philippines, similar to how it is defined in the United States, is a
“profession that involves the use of an integrated approach to the development of a well-
functioning individual primarily by helping him/her to utilize his/her potentials to the
fullest and plan his/her present and future in accordance with his/her abilities, interests,
and needs” (2004). The functions of a guidance counselor enumerated in this law are
counseling, psychological testing, learning and study orientation, research, placement,
referral and group processes, and teaching guidance and counseling courses. Counseling
will continue to develop through increased professionalization. As evidenced by the
Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 and the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009, the
Psychological Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Guidance and Counseling
Association, and other related agencies and institutions collaborated to create guidelines
and policies that not only regulate the profession of counseling but also pave the way for
the distinction between counselors and psychologists. Licensing and certification will
also help maintain the level of expertise within the profession through laws that require
continuing education and research. The aforementioned legislation makes it possible for
the counseling profession to become more visible and accessible to Filipinos. The laws
27
and the boards they created demonstrate that Philippine society recognizes the relevance
of the coun seling profession and that the counselor has power, status, and responsibility
in Philippine society. Counseling organizations will become more institutionalized,
gaining recognition not only from constituents but also from the public and the
government, and they will be more accessible and responsive to the issues in Philippine
society. Oversight boards ensure that the profession will be more regulated and that only
licensed practitioners will provide services, thus making the profession more credible.
With appropriate advocacy, communication, and collaboration with allied professionals
and the general public, using counseling services will become less stigmatized.
Moreover, continued research studies on the efficacy of counseling will provide the
public with evidence that counseling is indeed needed for nation-building and healing.
Accordingly, the counseling field will continue to develop services for the poor
primarily as nongovernment entities but will also pave the way for counseling services to
be provided for street children, the sexually abused, the impoverished, and victims of
unsolved crimes and human and natural disasters. Although these services are already
available, the future holds hope for more services to be offered to more people,
particularly through the venue of funded research. In the future, counseling services will
be provided in conjunction with advocacy to alleviate poverty, primarily through
prevention; we are hopeful that these services will be made available with participation
from government agencies and affluent professionals and support from outside sources,
such as UNICEF or other countries. Much of the future focus in counseling needs to be
on healing the nation. Because of the deep conflicts perpetrated by long-standing graft
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and corruption, bribery, and injustices toward the citizens, the protracted conflict between
Christians and Muslims (Ebal, 2006), exacerbated by intractable poverty, counseling
practices and research, training, and supervision of future counselors will need to focus
on restructuring societal systems to be more reliable and just. At the individual level,
counselors will need to focus on redefining themselves within the context of the system
to be empowered and create changes within their spheres of influence.
Counseling models and theories will develop that are indigenous and more
applicable to the field as counseling applications become more far-reaching. The
indigenization of theories that started with Filipino psychology by Enriquez (1977) and
phenomena of religion, consciousness, and culture by Bulatao (1992) will continue in the
future, specifically identifying, labeling, and using counseling models borne in Philippine
society (e.g., Ramos, 2010; Tanalega, 2004). Counseling models that acknowledge the
changing identity of the Filipino living with both Western and traditional influences
(Carandang & Lee-Chua, 2008) and the growing diversity of Filipino family types
(Tarroja, 2010) will also be helpful. Additionally, the counseling field will benefit from a
more structured and intentional avenue for supervision through field training and
curricula, guiding counselors’ professional and personal growth. Although the field of
counseling began in the Philippines by drawing from the U.S. model as a guide, it will
come into its own, respecting the depth of its context and problems, using the resources
that are intrinsic to the Filipino soul, and having an impact on the Filipinos who need
counseling services the most.
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The Professional School Counselor’s Role as Change Agent in School
The National Center for School Counseling Outcome Research (CSCOR) at the
University of Massachusetts-Amherst studied exemplary practices of 18 high schools that
received recognition for college preparation and placement in 2004 and 2005. Through
interviews with key personnel at each of the high schools, Militello, Carey, Dimmitt,
Lee, and Schweid (2009) generated a set of ten domains that characterize the work of the
school counselor that seem to be related to improved student enrollment in post-
secondary institutions. The study affirmed the idea that school counselors play an
important leadership role in high schools with excellent college preparation and
placement records.
School counselor roles and responsibilities have evolved since the start of the
guidance movement at the beginning of the 20th century with pioneers such as Dr. Eli
Weaver, Jesse B. Davis and Fran Parsons (Studer, 2005). Even in the 21st century, with
the development of the American School Counselor Association National Model (ASCA,
2005), appropriate and inappropriate roles of the professional school counselor (PSC)
have not always been clearly delineated. In a discussion regarding PSCs and school
discipline, Baker (2008) noted that many students become anxious when they are called
to a professional school counselor’s (PSC) office because they are concerned about being
in trouble. He explained that some PSCs have responsibilities concerning school
discipline and that others do not.
Typically, student discipline is the function of administration in K–12 schools.
When counselors function as disciplinarians, their ability to establish encouraging
30
counseling relationships with students could be compromised. The ASCA Position
(2007) promoted “the use of the school counselor as a resource person with expertise in
the area of discipline plans”, but affirms that “the professional school counselor is not a
disciplinarian” (p. 1). Lieberman (2004) attested that when school counselors are
assigned by school leaders as school disciplinarians, it decreases their effectiveness and
impact upon the school. Therefore, professional school counselors should not be
disciplinarians. However, school counselors could play a vital role in the discipline plan
in schools (Gysbers & Henderson, 2012). PSCs are in a unique position to help teachers
create a paradigm shift in discipline toward approaches that promote student self-
responsibility and a productive learning environment that promotes academic success for
all students. Classroom management and discipline are the school factors that have the
largest impact upon academic achievement (Marzano & Marzano, 2003). Clark and
Amatea (2004) indicated that a great deal of teacher energy is dissipated through dealing
with discipline problems. Teachers and students benefit from the support offered by
school counselors in this area.
School-wide positive behavioral support (SWPBS) programs are becoming an
increasingly popular and effective way to reduce behavioral disruptions in schools.
Results from a 4-year study examining the effects of an SWPBS program in a public
elementary school indicated significant reductions in percentages of behavioral referrals,
suspensions, and instructional days lost, but the effect sizes were small. Implications for
school counselors and future research are discussed. This study of Curtis, Van Horne,
Robertson and Karvonen (2010) supported the value of school-wide positive behavioral
31
support programs in improving the behavior of students; school counselors can play an
important role in the success of these programs.
The ASCA National Model calls for professional school counselors to be leaders
discipline and management strategies. Teachers identify skill in classroom discipline and
management as an area of great need (Marzano & Marzano, 2003). PSCs who develop
skills in student behavior management and discipline can assist teachers and other school
personnel with challenging student behavior and can also facilitate systemic change in the
school. In 2007, ASCA adopted the position that “disruptive student behavior is one of
the most serious, ongoing problems confronting school systems today” and that it is the
role of the PCSs “to help create effective behavior change focused on positive healthy
behaviors” (p.1). Furthermore, Eschenauer and Chen-Hayes (2005) asserted that PSCs
need to be involved in helping students to learn new behaviors.
The comprehensive, developmental approach as articulated by Gysbers and
Henderson (2012) and the ASCA National Model (2005) that was built on that
foundation further address the important role of school counselors in school discipline.
Gysbers and Henderson stressed the heavy reliance on guidance content in effective
school discipline programs. Brigman and Campbell (2003) discovered that PSCs’
activities of leading groups and conducting classroom guidance had a positive impact on
both student behaviors and on academic achievement. The ASCA Model has created
several avenues in which the school counselor can serve as a catalyst towards a discipline
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paradigm shift using tools that are very familiar to professional school counselors:
consultation, professional development, classroom guidance activities and individual
student planning. Furthermore, implementing a data-driven counseling program in
concert with these defined roles strengthens the credibility of the program and of the
school counselor’s critical role in transforming discipline practices in schools. Counselors
can advocate for discipline practices that are proactive, respectful, and meet the needs of
all students.
A comprehensive, developmental approach to school counseling requires the
professional school counselor (PSC) to be a support person for the entire educational
process. Influence on the school discipline program is an integral part of the school
counselor’s systemic focus and system’s change agenda in the educational process.
Perrusse, Goodnough, Donegan and Jones (2004) stressed that PSCs need to move
towards being change agents in the educational process. Beale (2004) noted that PSCs
who are implementing the ASCA Model in their schools are an important part of the
movement toward school improvement. Teachers most frequently come to school
counselors with a question such as, “What do I do with this student who is acting up?
Help me!” PSCs can insure that their training equips them with practical strategies to help
teachers and a process for implementing the strategies as part of an effective, systematic
approach to discipline. PSCs can also impact the school-wide discipline approach in
providing professional development activities. PSCs can provide professional
development trainings to disseminate practical strategies that are aligned with counseling
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goals. PSCs can also utilize those strategies during future consultation interactions with
the teachers.
The foregoing ideas are supported by recent empirical research which has found
that children’s non-cognitive skills play a critical role in their own success, young
children’s behavioral and psychological disorders can severely harm their future
outcomes, and disruptive students harm the behavior and learning of their classmates. Yet
relatively little is known about widescale interventions designed to improve children’s
behavior and mental health. This is the first nationally representative study of the
provision, financing, and impact of school-site mental health services for young children.
Elementary school counselors are school employees who provide mental health services
to all types of students, typically meeting with students one-on-one or in small groups.
Given counselors’ nonrandom assignment to schools, it is particularly challenging to
estimate the impact of these counselors on student outcomes. First, cross-state differences
in policies provide descriptive evidence that students in states with more aggressive
elementary counseling policies make greater test score gains and are less likely to report
internalizing or externalizing problem behaviors compared to students with similar
observed characteristics in similar schools in other states. Next, difference in - differences
estimates exploiting both the timing and the targeted grade levels of states’ counseling
policy changes provide evidence that elementary counselors substantially influence
teachers’ perceptions of school climate. The adoption of state funded counselor subsidies
or minimum counselor–student ratios reduces the fraction of teachers reporting that their
instruction suffers due to student misbehavior and reduces the fractions reporting
34
problems with students physically fighting each other, cutting class, stealing, or using
drugs. The findings of Reback (2010) implied that there may be substantial public and
private benefits derived from providing additional elementary school counselors. Results
in this study have affirmed that multiple sources of evidence indicate that expanding
school counseling services in elementary schools is associated with improvements in
student learning, behavior, and mental health.
Importance of Guidance and counseling in Schools: Empirical Data Examples
Hurwitz and Howell (2013) explained that an important duty of high school
counselors is to complement the work of teachers by promoting college and career
aspirations and to help students navigate the college process. In practice, the
responsibilities of high school teachers are well defined and relatively consistent across
schools. Teachers are generally responsible for transferring subject-specific knowledge to
their students and enhancing the abilities of their students to think critically. By contrast,
the actual role played by high school counselors varies greatly across schools and even
within schools (Paisley & McMahon, 2001; Bridgeland & Bruce, 2011). Effective
counselors possess a nimbleness and an ability to work with students on an extremely
wide range of issues, including college and financial aid application completion,
academic planning, and the resolution of behavioral and personal problems. Recent
budget cuts have led to mass layoffs of counselors across many districts, particularly in
California (Po, 2012). When financial resources are strained, difficult decisions must be
made regarding dismissing school-level staff. Lacking evidence on the causal impact of
35
counselors on student outcomes, it is possible that counselors are seen as more
dispensable than other school staff.
Given the laser-like focus on teachers in the educational research arena, the dearth
of rigorous empirical studies on the extent to which school counselors influence student
outcomes is not surprising. In this brief, we highlight the first causal evidence on the
impact of an additional school counselor on four-year college-going rates among students
in the high school, as well as the small body of evidence on how counselors impact other
student outcomes of interest. The statistical approach we describe serves as a useful
model for future studies of the causal impact of school counselors on student outcomes.
The data in this study point to strong evidence that an additional high school
counselor favorably impacts four-year college-going rates. However, the results do not
shed light on the mechanism behind this result. In contrast to teacher labor force
expansion, which is generally perceived to improve student outcomes through class size
reduction, there is far less clarity surrounding the mechanism of impact by which
additional counselors contribute to such improvements. It is certainly plausible that the
staffing ratio argument emphasized in teacher impact studies is applicable to counselors
as well. The addition of counselors to a high school should provide greater time for
counselors to work with more students, or for counselors to allocate more time for
students. If the student demand for counselors has already been met, an additional
counselor can generate more demand by proactively targeting students who might not
otherwise have thought about college.
36
Additionally, having more counselors in a school translates into greater
opportunities for a student to be matched with a counselor who can ably address that
student’s specific needs. Counselors wear many hats and are expected to nimbly resolve a
variety of issues. If the additional counselor’s skill set is different from what already
exists among the counseling staff, then an increased breadth and depth of counseling
skills resulting from additional staff could be at least partially responsible for a jump in
positive student outcomes. This study represents a stepping-stone from which future
empirical research investigating school counselors can springboard. Hurwitz and Howell
(in press) is the first study broaching this topic, and we hope and anticipate that it will not
be the last. Perhaps most importantly, we provide a foundation for states to track the
progress of student outcomes with the addition of high school counselors. Variation in
high-school-level counselor counts over time that results from exogenous state-level
policies is ideally suited for developing a clearer and more precise understanding of
counselors’ true impact on student outcomes. A narrowing of plausible estimates in this
paper and an examination of the differential impacts by student race, socioeconomic
status, and gender means that policymakers and school administrators will have a clearer
understanding of whether augmented counselor staffing is prudent and financially
advisable, given the school’s broader goals.
Finally, this research has powerful implications in terms of affirming the
perception that counselors are unable to allocate an adequate amount of time toward
developing a college-going culture at their high schools. Results from the College
Board’s 2012 National Survey of School Counselors and Administrators revealed that
37
more than half of high school counselors believe that school counselors should spend “a
little more” or “a lot more” time on building a college-going culture (Hart Research
Associates, 2012). If these sentiments represent the reality of the school counseling
landscape, one might expect that additional counselor staffing would provide more time
for counselors to effectively shape their high school’s college-going culture. The findings
suggested that not only are counselors’ perceptions correct, but increases in counselor
staffing achieve powerful results in bolstering college attendance. Counselors as well as
administrators can leverage this evidence by defending claims that current counselor
staffing levels are suboptimal and that students are being penalized as a result.
This was affirmed by Carrell and Hoekstra (2014) who exploited within-school
variation in counselors and found out that one additional counselor reduces student
misbehavior and increases boys’ academic achievement by over one percentile point.
These effects compare favorably with those of increased teacher quality and smaller class
sizes. Results in this study explicated that stronger presence of school counselors in
elementary schools reduces misbehavior and significantly improves boys’ academic
achievement.
Studies on Improving Student Conditions through Guidance and Counseling
Research on School Counseling Effectiveness (2007) described that school
counselors provide counseling programs in three critical areas: academic, personal/social,
and career. Their services and programs help students resolve emotional, social or
behavioral problems and help them develop a clearer focus or sense of direction.
38
Effective counseling programs are important to the school climate and a crucial element
in improving student achievement. School counselors, like all educational professionals,
are increasingly being required to demonstrate evidence of effective practice. The
following studies have affirmed the foregoing ideas:
A growing body of research indicates comprehensive, data-driven school
counseling programs improve a range of student learning and behavioral outcomes. Carey
and Dimmitt (2012) presented a summary of six studies featured in this special issue of
Professional School Counseling. The six statewide research studies presented in this l
issue used a variety of designs, instrumentation, and measures. Nevertheless, they can be
integrated at the level of results to shed light on some important questions related to
effective practice in the field of school counseling. These six studies provided valuable
evidence of the relationship between positive student educational outcomes and school
counseling program organization, student-to-school-counselor ratios, counselor time use,
and specific school counseling activities. Several of these research studies focused on
whether student outcomes are influenced by how the school counseling program is
organized. These studies clearly indicated that certain school counseling activities create
specific and measurable results and that all school counseling activities are not equally
impactful for students and for critical school-wide outcomes such as attendance and
discipline. With this knowledge comes both a professional imperative and an ethical
obligation to increase those activities that best support student success.
Moreover, school counseling programs have significant influence on discipline
problems. Baker and Gerler (2001) reported that students who participated in a school
39
counseling program had significantly less inappropriate behaviors and more positive
attitudes toward school than those students who did not participate in the program.
Another study reported that group counseling provided by school counselor’s
significantly decreased participants' aggressive and hostile behaviors.
Jones (2001) qualitatively argued that school counselors have proven effective in
preventing students from committing suicide. The most effective prevention programs
start with younger students and portray suicide as a mental health problem, not a dramatic
way of ending a life. It is essential that counselors involve the parents of troubled
students in the counseling process.
Schlossberg, Morris, and Lieberman (2001) explicated that a counselor - led
developmental guidance units presented in ninth grade classrooms have the potential to
improve students' expressed behavior and general school attitudes, while addressing their
developmental needs. The effectiveness of this intervention was consistent across the
different levels of student achievement and attitudes about school. A proactive approach
to program development, such as inviting input from teachers, students, counselors, and
administrators through periodic needs assessments, may maximize existing resources and
services offered to non-college and college-bound students. The literature suggests that
such guidance programming, based on the developmental, preventive guidance model,
may help to overcome the fragmented, impersonal, and confusing manner in which
services are often delivered to high school students and teachers.
Lapan, Gysbers and Petroski (2001) conducted a study about implementing
comprehensive school counseling programs as consistently associated with important
40
indicators of student safety and success. The study found out that school counselors who
were more fully engaged in providing students with a unique network of emotional and
instructional support services were more likely to exert a positive impact than counselors
who did not implement such activities. After researchers controlled for differences
between schools due to socioeconomic status and enrollment size, students attending
middle schools with more fully implemented comprehensive programs reported (a)
feeling safer attending their schools, (b) having better relationships with their teachers,
(c) believing that their education was more relevant and important to their futures, (d)
being more satisfied with the quality of education available to them in their schools, (e)
having fewer problems related to the physical and interpersonal milieu in their schools,
and (f) earning higher grades.
Further, Lapan, Gysbers, Bragg, and Pierce (2012) conducted a study which
proved that students who have greater access to school counselors and comprehensive
school counseling programs are more likely to succeed academically and behaviorally in
school; this is particular true for students in high-poverty schools. Results of the study
linked lower student-to-school-counselor ratios to better graduation rates and lower
disciplinary incidents across Missouri high schools. An interaction favorable for
promoting student success in school was found between increasing percentages of
students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and smaller student-to-school-counselor
ratios. In high-poverty schools, those schools that met the ASCA criteria of having at
least one professional school counselor for every 250 students had better graduation and
school attendance rates, and lower disciplinary incidents.
41
Berger (2013) evaluated the impact of a small group counseling intervention
designed for students who underachieve. The results of the study demonstrated
significant improvement for ninth- and tenth-grade underachieving students in the areas
of organizational skills, time management, and motivation. The study discussed
implications and recommendations for school counselors working with underachieving
students. The study explicated that school counselors can effectively assist
underachieving students using a small group intervention technique.
Another study was meant to describe a large-scale psycho-educational study skills
group for ninth-grade students whose academic performance is in the bottom 50 percent
of their class. The ASCA National Model (American School Counselor Association,
2005) was used as a framework for development, delivery, and evaluation. Kayler and
Sherman’s (2009) study found that a small-group counseling intervention strengthened
studying behaviors as measured by pretest-posttest design. Additional results included
promoting school counselor visibility and increasing and improving school counselor
relationships with students, parents, and other stakeholders. This study can prove that
targeted efforts by school counselors can improve students’ learning behaviors, including
study skills, time usage, and persistence.
Villares, Lemberger and Webb (2011) looked into the impact of the Student
Success Skills program in enhancing the reading and math skills of students. Results of
the study found substantial student gains in reading and math; school counselors can use
this evidence-based program to improve students’ achievement. The Student Success
Skills program is an evidence based, counselor - led intervention founded on a variety of
42
humanistic principles. Five studies and a recent meta-analysis provided evidence that
integrating human potential practices into the school by teaching students foundational
learning skills strengthens the link between school counseling interventions and student
achievement.
Results in the study of Lapan, Whitcomb and Aleman (2012) connected the
implementation of the college and career counseling components of a comprehensive
school counseling program and lower student-to-school-counselor ratios to a reduction in
suspension rates and disciplinary incidents for Connecticut high school students.
Principal ratings of college and career counseling services provided in their school
extended benefits for students to include better attendance and graduation rates, as well as
lower disciplinary incidents and suspension rates. This study highlighted the importance
of schooling and career counseling services and smaller ratios for promoting student
success. The results provided empirical data on the idea that high school students who
have more access to school counselors (i.e., lower student-school counselor ratios) and
related college and career counseling services are more likely to graduate and less likely
to have behavioral problems.
Pham and Keenan (2011) examined a unique angle of the relationship between
high school counseling and college matriculation by investigating the association
between the availability of counseling services to first-generation students and the odds
of a highly qualified student not enrolling in a four year college (referred to as a
mismatch between qualifications and college attended). A sample of 1,305 highly
qualified students from a large urban district in the United States was analyzed. The study
43
found that the student-counselor ratio does not predict the odds of a highly qualified
student not going to a four year college, but the firstgeneration student-counselor ratio
does. A one percent decrease in the first-generation student-counselor ratio was
associated with a 0.4 percent decrease in the odds that a highly qualified student missed
the opportunity to attend a four year college. This study could help districts and
administrators target the limited counseling services available currently in many urban
school districts to first-generation students in order to increase the college-going rate of
these students. Results in this study can prove that highly qualified first-generation
students are more likely to enroll in four year colleges if they have greater access to high
school counselors (i.e., lower student-school counselor ratios).
Guidance and Counseling inMulti-cultural Education
Gordon (2011) enunciated that counseling is a concept that has existed for a long
time. We have sought through theages to understand ourselves, offer counsel and develop
our potential, become aware of opportunities and, in general, help ourselves in ways
associated with formal guidance practice. In most communities, there has been, and there
still is, a deeply embedded conviction that, under proper conditions, people can help
others with their problems. Some people help others find ways of dealing with, solving,
or transcending problems.
In schools, if the collaboration between teachers and students is good, students
learn in a practical way. Young people develop degrees of freedom in their lives as they
become aware of options and take advantage of them. At its best, helping should enable
people to throw off chains and manage life situations effectively. Unprecedented
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economic and social changes have, over the years, changed the ways in which we manage
our lives. Consequently, not all the lessons of the past can effectively deal with the
challenges of modern times. Effective counseling, especially in institutions of learning
has now become important. Boys and girls, and young men and women, need to be
guided in the relationships between health and the environment, earning skills,
knowledge, and attitudes that lead to success and failure in life. The need for counseling
has become paramount in order to promote the well-being of the child. Effective
counseling should help to improve the self-image of young people and facilitate
achievement in life tasks. Counseling should empower girls and boys to participate fully
in, and benefit from, the economic and social development of the nation.
Counseling, in different forms and with different interpretations, has existed in
societies for a long time. Counseling has now become institutionalized. Schools, for
example, have to a large extent taken over the task of providing psychological support to
boys and girls. The differences and contradictions in present-day counseling have their
origin in the social and historical forces that have shaped modern culture. People in all
societies, and at all times, have experienced emotional or psychological distress and
behavioural problems. In each culture, there have been well established ways and
methods of helping individuals with their problems
Gordon (2011) explicated that in traditional African societies, counsel was given
in various forms, the most common of which were giving advice and sharing wisdom: (1)
Giving Advice - Giving advice has been a common way of providing help for other
people. The advice offered was frequently instrumental in helping people to consider
45
their future. In many instances, the extended family was the main source of advice for
girls and boys. There was usually no shortage of people willing to share their wisdom
with others. Giving advice often promoted the dependence of the young person on the
advice given. In most cases, it was largely subjective and did not promote the personal
development of young people; and (2) Sharing Wisdom - Wisdom generally refers to
experience and knowledge about life and using them judiciously. In African societies, it
was considered the responsibility of elders to provide wisdom or counsel to young boys
and girls. The wisdom provided by elderly men and women was part of the counseling
function of the family or society for boys and girls. Another aspect of wisdom is sharing
proverbs or folk stories. A well-known African proverb is, ‘When elephants fight, the
grass suffers.’ Folk stories about the ‘hare’ are told in many parts of Africa.
The ever growing complexity of society, coupled with social problems like
HIV/AIDS and the rapid development of science and technology, place heavy demands
on education. The school, as an important social institution, is required to adapt quickly
to changing patterns, and help prepare citizens for tomorrow's challenges. Counseling in
the educational system should help boys and girls alike, to develop their capacities to the
full. These include intellectual, social, physical and moral capacities.
Disparities in gender, social and cultural practices, beliefs and perceptions, are
widespread in many societies. Unless there are systematic interventions to remove the
gender gaps in education, half of the human resources in most countries will be
underutilized. Socio-cultural beliefs and practices in schools often discourage girls from
learning and subsequently lower their aspirations. The provision of effective counseling
46
should help to improve the self-image of girls and boys, and broaden their educational
and occupational ambitions.
In a school, boys and girls face many difficulties and problems which may be
expressed in the following ways: withdrawal, unhappiness, annoyance, anger, inability to
meet needs, lack of knowledge, partial or total failure, inability to realize aspirations,
anxiety and hyperactivity. Added to these is the problem of HIV/AIDS for which a great
deal of psychological support may be required for boys and girls, particularly those
already infected, or who are orphans as a result of this disease.
Young boys and girls are a large segment of the population. It, therefore, makes
strategic sense to target them through guidance and counseling. Counseling is important
at this stage, because this is when boys and girls develop positive sexual attitudes and
practices. It is when students begin to understand who they are, and how they can
contribute to healthy relationships. They start to develop attitudes of respect toward
members of the opposite sex, and see how each community member can contribute to
development. Personal and social counseling should also assist in awakening students to
educational and vocational opportunities. The image of a girl in most African
communities is that of a passive, submissive person, who remains in the background.
Generally these girls have a negative self image and a feeling of inferiority. This is
increased by the attitudes of parents, teachers and society. Personal counseling empowers
girls, and teaches them to develop positive attitudes towards themselves, and is marked
by an ability to acknowledge areas of expertise and to be free to make positive choices.
47
People have provided help to one another from time immemorial. Much of this
help has been in the form of giving advice or wisdom. In school, counseling helps boys
and girls learn to deal with the problems they encounter in their daily lives and equips
them to become adults. Counseling aims to give students an opportunity to explore,
discover, and clarify, ways of living that are more satisfying and resourceful. People's
concerns or difficulties are mainly social and personal. It is here that men and women,
boys and girls, require counseling.
In the Philippine context, as Tuazon and Fernandez (2011) argued, in the future,
counseling models and theories will develop and which will consider those that are
indigenous and more applicable to the field as counseling applications become more far-
reaching. The indigenization of theories had started with Enriquez, the Filipino
psychologist, taking cognizant of and phenomena of religion, consciousness, and culture
by Bulatao will continue in the future, specifically identifying, labeling, and using
counseling models borne in Philippine society. Counseling models that acknowledge the
changing identity of the Filipino living with both Western and traditional influences and
the growing diversity of Filipino family types will enrich Philippine counseling. Though
originally patterned from the American model, it will later come down into its own,
respecting the depth of its context and problems, using the resources that are intrinsic to
the Filipino experiences, and having an impact on the Filipinos who need counseling
services the most.
48
Synthesis
The review of related literature and studies in this Chapter has magnified the
importance of guidance and counseling in schools. The review has somehow provided
greater theoretical foundation into the current study in that: (a) it discussed
comprehensively the nature of guidance and counseling as explicated by Janov, 2016,
describing fully the most common counseling approaches such as the client-centered
counseling, humanistic and the behavioral approaches; (b) it also expounded the
essentials of guidance and counseling in schools as affirmed by the studies of Lapan,
Gysbers, and Kayson, 2007; Stone and Dahir, 2006 and Lee, 2001; (c) the review also
examined guidance and counseling in the Philippines as described by Tuazon and
Fernandez, 2012; (d) it also postulated on the Professional School Counselor’s role as
change agent in the school as explained by Militello, Carey, Dimmitt, Lee, and Schweid,
2009, and the ASCA Position of 2007, which promoted the school counselor as a
resource person with expertise in the area of discipline plans; (e) the review also delved
into the importance of guidance and counseling in schools, with some empirical data
examples as seen from the numerous studies of Hurwitz and Howell, 2013; Paisley and
McMahon, 2001; Bridgeland and Bruce, 2011; (f) the review shared examples of studies
on improving student conditions through guidance and counseling as proven by the
studies of Carey and Dimmitt, 2012; Baker and Gerler andJones, 2001; Schlossberg,
Morris, and Lieberman, 2001; and Lapan, Gysbers and Petroski, 2001; and (g) the review
ultimately highlighted guidance and counseling in the context of Indigenous Peoples’
49
Education as shared by Gordon, 2011; and the Filipino context as expounded by Tuazon
and Fernandez, 2012.
However, the present study is unique in that: (a) it underscores the high school
students’ impressions on guidance and counseling from the context of the locale; (b) it
surfaces the services they would want to be provided of given their personal views and
experiences; and (c) it crafts an action plan suited to the indigenous students in
consideration of their personal views and experiences.
50
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The study utilized combination of quantitative and qualitative research
approaches using the technique of open – ended questions and focus group discussion to
gather information on the high school students’ impressions about guidance and
counseling and the services which they would want to be provided of given the setting of
the school. A proactive end product of this impressions is the crafting of an action plan in
guidance and counseling for the students in the locale of the study.
Research Locale
The study was conducted in Capintalan High School of Barangay Capintalan,
Carranglan, Nueva Ecija. Carranglan is a first class municipality in the province of Nueva
Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 37,124 people. It
is the province's largest municipality in terms of land area, located in the northernmost
part of Nueva Ecija, which is home to the Pantabangan – Carranglan Watershed Forest
Reserve. Carranglan is politically subdivided into 17 barangays. One of which is
Barangay Capintalan. Capintalan is the northernmost barangay of the northernmost town
of Nueva Ecija. Capintalan comprises a mix of hetero-ethnolinguistic groups who are
mostly migrants from the place. These are: kalanguya-speaking Ifugao, ibaloi,
kankanaey, ilocano and tagalogs. Throughout the years, the increase in population
51
necessitated the creation of a high school in Capintalan to cater to the needs of the
growing rate of high schoolers in the place.
Figure 2. Location Map and a partial view of Capintalan High School
Research Respondents, FGD Participants and Sampling
About 85 percent of the enrolees in Capintalan High School are indigenous
students distributed from Grade 7 to Grade 11. The total population of Capintalan high
school is 475 students based from the 2016 enrolment list of the school. About 404 of
these students are indigenous students, mostly kalanguya, ibaloi, kankanaey, and the
mainstream groups of ilocano and tagalog-speaking students. By purposive sampling of
50 students, 10 each from Grades 7 to 11 were targeted as respondents of this study. An
additional 15 student - participants for the focus group discussion were tapped as
informants to validate the results of the individual survey.
Table 1 shows some additional profile of the respondents. In terms of age, about
4% of the respondents are 12 years old, 20% are 13 years old, 22% are 14 years old, 4%
are 15 years old, 22% are 16 years old, 16% are 17 years old, 2% are 18 years old, 6% are
52
19 years old, and 4% are 20 years old; the youngest is 12 years old and the oldest is 20
years old. The mean age is 15.3.
In terms of sex, 32% are male and 68% are female respondents. In terms of home
address, 32% are from barangay Minuli, 58% are from Capintalan, 6% are from Putlan,
2% each are from Binbin and Tactac. In terms of year level, a balanced distribution of
20% each are from Grades 7 to 11. Lastly, in terms of ethnic affiliation, 4% are igorots,
64% are Kalanguya-speaking Ifugaos, 24% are Ibalois and 8% are kankanaeys.
It is evident that in this study, majority of the respondents are 13, 14, 16 and 17
years old while there are few 12 years old respondents. The female respondents dominate
the group and majority are from barangays Minuli and Capintalan. In this study, the
Kalanguya students dominate the group.
Table 1. Additional Information on Respondents’ Profile
Profile Frequency Percent Profile Frequency Percent

12 years old 2 4.0 Sex Male 16 32.0
13 years old 10 20.0 Female 34 68.0
Age
Cluster 14 years old 11 22.0 Total 50 100.0
15 years old 2 4.0 Minuli 16 32.0
16 years old 11 22.0 Home Capintalan 29 58.0
Address
17 years old 8 16.0 Putlan 3 6.0
18 years old 1 2.0 Binbin 1 2.0
19 years old 3 6.0 Tactac 1 2.0
20 years old 2 4.0 Total 50 100.0
Total 50 100.0 Igorot 2 4.0
Youngest – 12; Oldest - 20; Kalanguya 32 64.0
Mean Age – 15.3; SD – 2.09226 Ethnic
Affiliation
Grade 7 10 20.0 Ibaloi 12 24.0
Grade 8 10 20.0 Kankanaey 4 8.0
Year Level
Grade 9 10 20.0 Total 50 100.0
Grade 10 10 20.0
Grade 11 10 20.0
Total 50 100.0
53
Research Instruments
The open – ended technique gathered some personal information from the
respondents such as name, age, sex, year level, address and ethnic affiliation. It also
gathered the indigenous students’ impressions about guidance and counseling. To suit the
context of the locale, the researcher personally made the instrument which was validated
by content specialists. The open-ended questions comprised queries about what are the
students understanding of the guidance office to be, why do students go there, what keeps
them from going there, what do they get from the office, how do they view the guidance
counselor, how are they oriented, what do they know about career guidance, and what are
their ideas about what guidance and what counseling is all about.
The same set of FGD guide question was floated to a select group of 15 students
who became the FGD participants. The results of the FGD validated the individual
impressions of the respondents.
Data Gathering Procedures
In gathering the needed data, the following procedures were undertaken: (a) the
research tool was finalized based on the suggestions of the members of the examining
panel and integration of additional suggestions were done; (b) the researcher asked
permission from the head teacher to conduct the survey to 50 IP high school students at
the Capintalan High School; (c) thereafter, guided survey sessions were done per grade
level to guide the students in answering the tool; (d) retrieval of the survey ensued; (e)
another session was set for the FGD participants consisting of another group of IP
54
students representing grades 7 to 11. This was meant to gather additional information and
to validate the individual responses of the survey respondents; (f) in conducting the FGD,
the researcher asked some inputs from an FGD expert about the conduct of the FGD; (g)
the researcher proceeded with the FGD session following the recommendations such as:
checking of attendance; researcher’s introduction of himself; doing a salutation of the
participants to the FGD; providing a brief introduction about the study; explaining why
the FGD participants were chosen; discussing the purpose of the focus group discussion;
explaining the processes that the participants will undertake; explaining the presence and
purpose of the recording equipment and the documentor; outlining general ground rules
and discussion guidelines, such as the importance of everyone speaking up; talking one at
a time; and being prepared for the facilitators to interrupt, to assure that all the important
topics are covered. Thereafter, the researcher proceeded with the focus group discussion.
Throughout the process, the documentor documented the proceedings In the end, the
researcher had expressed his gratitude to the FGD participants, followed by reading of a
summary to the FGD participants to clear any ambiguous, vague or questionable
preliminary entries; (h) thereafter, the survey were coded and tabulated, while the FGD
responses were transcribed and later, thematically clustered.
Treatment of Data
In treating the gathered data, the following techniques were done:
1. The survey data through the open-ended question technique were subjected to
open coding and later by thematic clustering to surface common or similar
55
attributes (impressions). Thereafter, computation of frequencies, percentages and
ranking was done to determine the general impressions of the high school students
about guidance and counseling. Moreover, sample qualitative data on individual
experiences were used to enhance the quantitative results;
2. The FGD results were used to validate common lived experiences about guidance
and counseling in the school; the results were used to further affirm or negate the
students’ experiences in guidance and counseling; and
3. Using the inductive reasoning technique of writing, the questions posed in
Chapter I of this study was resolutely resolved.
56

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Saint Mary’s University

School of Graduate Studies

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

guidance and counseling profession in the Philippines. As a result, an organized guidance

and counseling program were in placed.

Guidance and Counseling Association (PGCA), as the Accredited Professional

counselors. This is by undertaking and instituting measures that will result in

for a comprehensive guidance program is also a big challenge to every guidance

and the changing role of the guidance counselor as a change agent.

management as an area of great need (Marzano & Marzano, 2003).

Further, school counselors serve a vital role in maximizing student success

intervention programs that are a part of a comprehensive school counseling program

To contextualize the guidance and counseling models in the Philippines in order

1970s to 1990s that focus primarily in indigenization of assessments, constructs, and

secondary schools in the Division of Nueva Ecija. It is in fact considered to be a school

youth empowerment and development.

characterized by a period that is full of anxieties, excitement and fears compounded by

guidance counselor fit into the context of their experiences?

high school students on guidance and counseling.

Statement of the Problem

The study specifically sought answers to the following problems:

given the setting of this study?

proposed given the school setting?

Significance of the Study

the locale of the study:

effectively in disposing his/her functions and responsibilities as the school guidance

the implementation of its various services;

The Department of Education. Results in this study will provide information to

responsibilities of guidance counselors toward the improvement of the students in their

academic, socio-cultural competence, and values formation; and

Scope and Delimitation

quarter of calendar year 2017.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

behavior, with a goal to facilitating positive change. Consequently, it is built on a

relationship of trust. Confidentiality is paramount to successful counseling. Professional

The American Counseling Association (2007) defines a guidance counselor as an

study different counseling techniques to address different needs.

linked to their personal experience of the world. Therefore, during the counseling

what they should be and how they should act.

guilt and fear in a confidential environment.

Effective counseling reduces confusion, allowing the client to make effective

decisions leading to positive changes in their attitude and/or behavior. Effective

Guidance Counselors make frequent assessments of the students' performance and

on resiliency characteristics, would have on students’ academic and personal-social

the academic and social functioning of middle school students.

decisions. Aside from creating a foreground to a students’ future career, a counselor is

Carrell and Hoekstra (2014) examined the impact of school counselors on

academic achievement. Results suggest that counselors significantly improve boys’

counselor reduces student misbehavior and increases boys’ academic achievement by

elementary school to show that counselors cause an economically and statistically

counselors appear to be an effective way of improving academic achievement. This

aimed at increasing academic achievement.

A comprehensive, developmental approach to school counseling requires the

systemic focus and system’s change agenda in the educational process.

management as an area of great need (Marzano & Marzano, 2003).

collaboration, school counselors promote equity and access to rigorous educational

intervention programs that are a part of a comprehensive school counseling program

United States (Tuason, et. al., 2012).

To contextualize the guidance and counseling models in the Philippines in order

1970s to 1990s that focus primarily in indigenization of assessments, constructs, and

Up to 15 percent of the Philippine population - about ten million people - belong

avoided Hispanisation during Spain's 350-year colonization of the Philippines. In 1987, a