Unit 1: concept of guidance

• Guidance: meaning, nature, scope

• Need and importance of guidance in
education
• Types of guidance
• Role of teacher in guidance
 Meaning of guidance
• Guidance is the assistance made available by qualified
and trained persons to an individual of any age to
help him to manage his own life activities, develop his
own points of view, make his own decisions and carry
on his own burdens. In the educational context,
guidance means assisting students to select courses
of study appropriate to their needs and interests,
achieve academic excellence to the best possible
extent, derive maximum benefit of the institutional
resources and facilities, inculcate proper study habits,
satisfactorily participate in curricular and extra
curricular activities.
• Crow and Crow define, "Guidance is the
assistance made available by competent
counsellors to an individual of any age to help him
direct his own life, develop his own point of view,
make his own decisions, carry his own burdens".
• According to Hamrin and Erickson, guidance is
"that aspect of educational programme which is
concerned especially with helping the pupil to
become adjusted to his present situation and to
plan his future in line with his interests, abilities
and social.needs".
• According to Jones, "Guidance involves personal help
given by some one; it is designed to assist a person to
decide where he wants to go, what he wants to do or
how he can best accomplish his purpose; it assists him
to solve problems that arise in his life".
• According to Hollis and Hollis, guidance programme is
based on eight principles:
• The dignity of the individual is supreme.
• Individuals differ.
• The primary concern of guidance is the individual in his
social setting.
• The attitudes and personal perceptions of the
individual are the bases on which he acts
• Individual generally acts to enhance his perceived self.
• The individual has the innate ability to learn and can
be helped to make choice that will lead to self
direction consistent with social improvement
• The individual needs a continuous guidance process
from early childhood through adulthood.
• Each individual may at times need the information and
personal assistance best given by competent
professional person.
 Nature of guidance:
• Guidance is a process which helps every individual
to help himself, to recognise and use his own inner
potentials, to set goals, to work out his own
problems of development.
• It is a continuous process needed from childhood
to old age.
• Guidance is not separate from education but is an
essential part of the total educational programme.
• It is broader than counselling and includes
counselling as one of its services.
 Nature of guidance:
• Guidance is an assistance to the individual in the
process of development rather than a direction of that
development.
• Guidance service is meant for all and not only for
awkward situations and backward students.
• Guidance is both generalised and specialised service.
Generalised because everyone– teachers, tutors,
advisers, parents play a part in the programme.
Specialised because specially qualified personnel as
counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists join hands to
help the individual solve his problem.
 Scope of guidance:
• The scope of guidance is too wide. In the words of Crow and Crow,
“Guidance touches every aspect of an individual’s personality-
physical, mental, emotional and social. It is concerned with all
aspects of an individual’s attitudes and behaviour patterns. It seeks
to help the individual to integrate all of his activities in terms of his
basic potentialities and environmental opportunities.”
• Any needy person can be guided. This can include the persons of
different age, different interests, various characteristics and
persons of different nature. Hence, we cannot draw boundaries
around the process of guidance.
• The scope of guidance is bound to be vast as it has a broader
meaning and wider connotation. The scope of guidance therefore
implies the extent, length, breadth, range, comprehensiveness and
variety of helping an individual to solve his problems. So the scope
of guidance covers functionally all aspects of life.
• Hence the scope of guidance covers:
• Types of Guidance, viz. personal guidance,
educational guidance and vocational
guidance.
• Guidance for adjustment of individual through
socialized, curricular, co-curricular activities,
community resources, vocational
opportunities, group life, group contacts etc.
• Individual Guidance Service.
• Group Guidance Service.
• Devices for collection of data through testing and
non-testing devices like achievement test, aptitude
test, personality test, creativity test, intelligence test,
attitude scale, interest inventory, interview schedule.
Cumulative Record Card, observation, check list,
rating scale and socio-metric techniques etc.
• Organisation of guidance services.
• Counselling services or techniques.
• Role of different personnel involved in guidance and
counselling service.
• Follow-up service in guidance.
Need and importance of guidance in education:
• Need of Guidance:
• Guidance is needed in helping total development of the pupils:
• Guidance is needed to enable students to proper choices of
their educational career at different stages:
• Guidance is needed to help students in choosing, preparing for,
entering into a better career:
• Guidance is needed for the vocational development of the
students:
• Guidance is needed to help students for better school
adjustment:
•  Guidance is needed to help students for better home
adjustments:
•  Guidance is needed to supplement the efforts of family:
• Guidance is needed to reduce the mismatching be­tween
education and employment and to help for best use of man
power:
• Guidance is needed to help students from weaker section of
society for their school and social adjustments:
•  Guidance is needed to help students in need of spe­cial help:
•  Guidance is needed to help students to make best possible
use of extra times besides school hours:
• Guidance is needed to check wastage and stagna­tion:
• Guidance is needed to attach more importance to the school
to attract the students:
• Guidance is needed to organize secondary and higher
secondary education systematically and successfully:
• Guidance is needed to check indiscipline of the students:
Types of guidance:
Role of teacher in guidance:
• The teacher should:
– Help students to develop self understanding:
strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes, interests etc.
– Help to establish satisfactory adjustment to school,
teachers, fellow students
– Try to diagnose learning difficulties, individual
needs and potentialities
– Help to decide goals on the basis of interest and
abilities
– Help to select appropriate courses and career
– Provide information on vocational opportunities
and trends
– Help students to develop personal qualities
– Try to identify, prevent and provide remedy for
learning difficulties
– Refer students to experts if necessary
– Plan for the total development of the students
– Assist students to make wise selection of co-
curricular activities
– help students to develop capacity for self
direction, self guidance and self understanding