Introduction
From research by scholars, guidance and counseling are defined as helping various individuals develop and discover their vocational, educational, and psychological personalities hence getting a preview of how to achieve an optimal level of personal usefulness and social happiness. On the one hand, guidance is advice or any relevant piece of information that a superior individual can provide to help solve a problem or overcome any form of difficulty. On the other hand, counseling is the professional advice given to an individual by a counselor to enable them to overcome their psychological or social problems. In a learning curriculum, guidance and counseling are important aspects that should be put in hand to ensure that the learners can easily achieve their goals (Baik, Wendy, and Abi 680). This paper specifically aims to discuss ways in which a teacher can be educated on the emotional needs of students, the budget that counseling and guidance counselors in a school can use, and how to get more counselors for the learners in a school. Also, the paper briefly analyses where the schools can make room for more budget towards the counseling process and how equitable access to counseling and life skills can aid and benefit the learners. Including guidance and counseling in the educational learning curriculum is beneficial for students as it prepares them for their futures, helps them in their personal development, and they gain an understanding of the changing world. They have social development, and additionally, it allows the students to be curious about different career paths and advocates for the student’s individuality.
Educating teachers on students’ emotional needs
Teachers are the main stakeholders that can be used as counselors in a school. From research, various methods exist for teachers to be educated about the emotional needs of their learners. Firstly, the teachers can be educated through in cooperation of emotional intelligence training through educational programs. Alongside learning, other extra curriculum activities also take place in the school. According to research, the teacher’s education programs may include courses on emotional intelligence and socio-emotional learning, which will outline basic areas like how to support the emotional needs of the learners (Chikwature and Oyedele 29). Another important technique that can be used to provide guidance and counseling knowledge to teachers is the provision of ongoing professional development opportunities.
Through this process, the teachers can be offered professional development opportunities that mainly focus on mental health and SEL development, which aid in developing their strategies for dealing with the learners. Additionally, the teachers can be taught emotional intelligence through evidence-based practice. The latter can be applied by providing all the teachers with the necessary evidence-based practice materials to help promote positive mental and emotional health in their lives. Examples of mental and emotional health improvements include positive psychology, mindfulness, and various cognitive behavioral techniques. Promoting self-care for teachers is another important technique that can be in-cooperated into teaching them about their emotional intelligence. Encouraging the teachers to care for their emotional needs through various self-care practices like therapy, meditation, and exercise will enable them to have a great mentality to deal with all the issues that arise in counseling sessions with their learners (Baik, Wendy, and Abi 687). When a teacher is emotionally and mentally healthy, they can easily deal with difficult situations that may arise in a counseling session. Creating a supportive culture is another substantial technique that can improve the emotional intelligence of a teacher. Under this method, fostering a supportive school culture where mental health issues are prioritized. It may include the creation of an inclusive and welcoming environment by providing mental health services and resources through the promotion of open communication. The latter will improve the cooperation between the teacher counselor and the students.
Cooperating counseling into the teaching curriculum will enable the learners to have equitable access to learners and advocate for individual students. In understanding this point, discussing the budget allocation for guidance and counseling in a school is important. From research, the budget allocated for guidance and counseling activities in any school varies depending on the location and schedule of the school under study. Conceptually, various schools allocate a portion of their overall budget for student support services to foster enough capabilities to tackle any issues surrounding their goals and achievements. According to research, most schools use local and national counselors, and their budget has to cater to them (Oluremi 31). Under the counseling budget, the teacher in the school may receive training on how to become the best counselors, which requires funds. Still, supporting counseling initiatives and programs requires some capital which can be assumed under the counseling and guidance budget. According to a report by the American School Counsellor Association, the average population of the student to school counselor ratio in most public schools in the US is 430 to 1 as of the 2019-2020 academic year. However, the ratio varies with an individual’s state and school district.
Contextually, including guiding and counseling into the learning curriculum will enable learners to create connections, preparing them for their future. The learners will be able to explore various careers as led by their teacher counselors, hence understanding the best profession that fits them. Through counseling, the learners can get information about job trends, search strategies, and required skills, securing a better opportunity. The future of any learner lies in the profession they qualify for after their academic completion. For better counseling in schools, the learners require more counselors. This implies that a counselor will access at least a single learner. As a result, the ways of getting more counselors in a school must be articulated (Wong and Mantak 17). Some of the common outstanding ways include conducting needs assessments, developing proposals, partnering with community organizations, and collaborating. The needs assessment in a school will enable the management to note the areas that require counselors. Advocating for funding from the school district is another important way to get more counselors in a school. This technique will outlay the benefits of having more counselors in any institution. Collaboration mainly involves coordinating with other schools to establish more counselors. Through this method, all the costs will be regulated to ensure that all learners can access the required counseling services.
Introducing guidance and counseling into the learning curriculum will aid the learner’s personal development. From research, counseling develops the interpersonal and personal skills of learners. Students can develop self-awareness, confidence, and self-esteem through guidance and counseling. Self-awareness enables the learner to understand their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. This will enable the learner to understand better their weaknesses and strengths, their beliefs and values, and how the latter affect their decision-making process. Concerning the aspect of self-esteem, the students will improve the value that they place on themselves. Through guidance, a student can identify and challenge negative thoughts in their minds. According to research, an individual’s confidence is determined by how they assess the comments people make about them (Chikwature and Oyedele 29). Through counseling, a learner’s abilities to take any challenges that come their way are improved. When assessing their compliments, counseling enables the learners to identify their weaknesses and strengths. It enables learners to be more confident about themselves and face the challenges that come their way confidently. Currently, most consider counseling an essential subject in cooperating it into their curriculum. They make room for more budget towards counseling by taking funds from other extracurricular activities like games, sports, and music.
Consequently, including counseling in the learning curriculum will increase learners’ curiosity in getting a new and better understanding of the new world. For instance, they will improve their academic performance. Guidance and counseling can improve learners’ performance by helping them develop time management strategies and studying skills. By learning the new time management strategies, the learner will better understand the contemporary world and work towards cooperating with the world. This can be through setting new academic goals and developing plans to achieve them to align with the new world (Chikwature and Oyedele 32). Contextually, the new learning skills enable the learner to develop critical thinking skills to evaluate information, make informed decisions, and identify biases in the new world. Also, the learners develop cultural awareness and sensitivity in appreciating the diverse perspectives and experiences of individuals from various cultures. Still, counseling promotes emotional intelligence in learners enabling them to recognize, manage and understand their emotions increasing their interconnectedness with the new world.
According to research, the social development of the learner is an important reason why guidance and counseling should be included in the learning curriculum (Oluremi 31). Learners’ relationships are important when it comes to learning. Some learning methods, like group discussions, require effective communication and efficient coordination between the learners. Through counseling, the learners are taught how to relate with one another hence appreciating the necessity for diversity. Learners will develop social skills and build positive relationships with one another, developing respect across their relationships. Generally, the overall development of a learner depends on the effectiveness of their cooperation during a counseling session. This implies that learners must be active during a counseling session to benefit accordingly.
Conclusion
Conclusively, guidance and counseling should be in cooperated into the learning curriculum. From the discussion, the major outstanding points of why cooperation is necessary include personal development, curiosity about the future, social development, and better academic performance. By providing a learner with counseling services, they will better understand themselves. For instance, they will improve their self-esteem by appreciating their value. They will also have positive relationships with their peers and focus on lowering controversial issues.
Additionally, the learners will develop their emotional skills, which will benefit them throughout their lives. Through the in-cooperation of counseling into the learning curriculum, schools will create ultimate supportive environments that will promote both personal and academic growth among the learners. Finally, counseling and guidance should be regarded as important aspects and utilized according to the needs of the learners. The teacher counselors should be ready to counsel the learners without conditions because it will determine their future.
Works Cited
Baik, Chi, Wendy Larcombe, and Abi Brooker. “How universities can enhance student mental wellbeing: The student perspective.” Higher Education Research & Development 38.4 2019: 674–687. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2019.1576596
Chikwature, W., and V. Oyedele. “The Effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling in Teaching Learning Process at Gomorefu High School in Mutare District.” International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education 3.5 (2016): 26-33. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Victoria-Oyedele/publication/330102675
Oluremi, Fareo Dorcas. “FUNCTIONAL GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING CENTRE IN TERTIARY INSTITUTION.” Journal of International Social Research 7.31 (2014). https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=13079581&AN=95733250&h=nZ0nf%2F6lUTIzsM0TozZFklE0yhOI%2BgLz9uZhJBYDEMgCmhXAAL90QOFNa%2BDmiZ2ckhxvGg7%2BXb9IF3yeK4paTg%3D%3D&crl=c
Wong, Lawrence PW, and Mantak Yuen. “Career guidance and counselling in secondary schools in Hong Kong: A historical overview.” Journal of Asia Pacific Counseling 9.1 (2019): 1-19. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lawrence-Wong-12/publication/332223394_Career_Guidance_and_Counseling_in_Secondary_Schools_in_Hong_Kong_A_Historical_Overview/links/5ca7672f92851c64bd52fcaf/Career-Guidance-and-Counseling-in-Secondary-Schools-in-Hong-Kong-A-Historical-Overview.pdf
write