Abstract

This study examined secondary school students’ perception of the roles of guidance counselors in schools in Buea Municipality. The sample consisted of 180 respondents and the instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire consisting of 18 items.

The following research questions guided the study: what is the degree of awareness of secondary school students of the roles of guidance counselors in school? How does self-perception influence the roles of guidance counselors in schools? What is the impact of guidance and counseling on students’ academic achievement? And what is the role of gender on students’ guidance and counseling in school?

The findings from this research revealed that guidance counselors in schools play the following roles: educational development role, career development role, and personal/social developmental role and referral Also, guidance and counseling services in schools help students to improve their academic performance.

It was equally realized that students’ self-perception and gender of the school counselor have a minimal impact on guidance and counseling. Thus every secondary school should endeavour to have at least a school guidance counselor who will provide the students with guidance and counseling services.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

This chapter introduces the research work. This chapter will consist of the background of the study, statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, research questions, and justification of the study, the significance of the study, the scope of the study, and operational definition of terms.

Background of the study

The study of school counseling formally began at the turn of the 20th century. Some of the skills and techniques of modern-day counselors had been practiced by the catholic priests in the middle ages. Teachers used to give in some few minutes of their day to provide vocational guidance to students (Browers & Hatch, 2002).

Factors that led to the development of guidance and counseling began in the 1890s with the Social Reform Movement in the United State and Industrial Revolution in Europe. The difficulties of people living in urban slums and widespread use of child labor lead to the Compulsory Education Movement.

As a result, a large number of different types of students were enrolled in school which initiated the development of the School Guidance Movement. Guidance and Counseling in their early form were vocational in nature. At this period the roles of guidance counselors were to avoid behavioral problems, guide people into the workforce to become productive members of society, and equally, were responsible for character development.

As a result of the advancement of the profession, other personal issues were included as part of the school counselor’s agenda. In 1913, the National Guidance Association was formed which legitimized and increase the number of guidance counselors.

Guidance counselors at this point were often teachers appointed to assume the extra duty in addition to their regular teaching responsibilities. Between the the1920s and 1930s, the roles of guidance counselors were expanded to include social, personal, vocational, and educational aspects of the student’s life. In 1938, counselors began to receive support for their work following the George Dean Act which provided funds for counseling purposes.

Between the 1940s and 1950s, a directive counseling approach was a popular model of school guidance. This approach was developed by E.G Williamson and Albert Ellis. They emphasized that man is capable of rational thinking, being self-directed, and self-actualization and possesses good and bad qualities. To the man is capable of resolving his own problems but if allowed total freedom he can develop his bad qualities at the expense of the society at large. To avoid this, man needs to be given instructions, guided, and directed.

Also, in the 1960s, American Psychologist Carl Rogers developed a non-directive approach to focus on the relationship between the counselor and the client (Muro & Kottman, 1995). Rogers’s theory is essentially built around the concept of self and environmental experiences.

The practice of guidance and counseling services in Cameroon started as a vocational and orientation service that was responsible for selecting personnel for specific jobs in factories and industries. This was in 1945 when a Polytechnique service was created in Douala, in 1963 it was changed to a professional orientation service and psychological study unit, charged with carrying out psycho technique testing and testing for the ministry of National Education, which eventually generated to guidance and counseling service in schools as time went by.

A section for training guidance counselors was created in 1982 at the Higher Teacher’s Training College Yaounde and in 1989 counselors were sent to Universities from the Ministry of Higher Education. In 2008 and 2011, a section for training guidance counselors was created in E.N.S Maroua and Bambili respectively. Most of the secondary schools today in the country both public and private are filled with the presence of guidance counselors.

Today, school counselors perform the role of leaders, effective team members, and an integral part of student’s education. They address the needs of students through group and individual counseling, large group guidance, consultation, and coordination (ASCA, 1999). Guidance counselors equally help students to resolve and cope with developmental issues. School counselors have ‘switched their emphases from service-centered for some of the students to program-centered for every student’ (Browers& Hatch, 2002).

However, counselors’ work differentiates according to the developmental stages of their students. Counselors in schools are the only ones with formal training in both mental and health education (ASCA). School counselors’ act as team players and they understand the importance of sharing responsibilities within the school system.

School counselors are also responsible for carrying out tests. At some point school, counselor’s role can be altered. For instance in the case of testing, and when asked to assist the school administration, since he is solely responsible for coordinating the test, he becomes too busy to assist his students.

Also, when the school counselor takes the office of the principal in his absence, students can alter their perception of the counselor’s role; they may see him as a disciplinarian rather than somebody who is out to provide support service. In addition, school counselors are often in charge of registration and scheduling.

School counselors help students to choose their classes in order to ensure that the student’s classes coincide with their abilities and interest. From the 1960s school counselors have been taught the three ‘C’ as a measure to defining their role in the school setting. The three Cs are Counseling, Consultation, and Coordination that enables the school counselors to provide a comprehensive guidance program (Gysber& Henderson, 1944). Apart from the three Cs, Gysber and Henderson introduced the roles of guidance, assessment, program management, and professionalism.

Statement of the Problem

It has been observed that there is an enormous increase in the number of guidance counselors in schools today. School guidance counselors in association with the school administration, teachers and parents help to make learning a positive experience for students and to see into it that student’s individual needs are attained.

School guidance counselors have a great influence on student’s academic life and their lives after school. However, it has been observed that most students pass through secondary school without knowing who their school guidance counselor is. Also, some students are not aware of the kinds of issues and problems that they can take to the school guidance counselor for guidance and counseling.

In addition, student’s self-perception equally influences the ways in which they see and relate with the school guidance counselor. Student’s perceptions can also be influenced by the gender of the school counselor.

For example, if the school guidance counselor is a male, female students may find it difficult and embarrassing to take some of their problems to him for counseling. It is against this background that research of this nature is proposed to find out how students’ perception of the roles of guidance counselors in school influences their achievement in the teaching and learning process.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of the roles of guidance counselors in schools.

Objectives of the study

1. To investigate the degree of awareness of secondary school students of the role of guidance counselors in school
2. To find out the influence of self-perception on students’ perception of the role of guidance counselors in school
3. To determine the impact of guidance and counseling on students’ academic achievement.
4. To determine the role of gender on students’ perception of guidance counselors in schools.