Department Of Psychology

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Guidance and Counseling

Psychology Assignment Work

Submitted by: Shah Ali Faisal

B.A Hons. English
Psychology (Subsidiary)
Sem VI

Submitted to: Dr. Fatima Shanawaz,

Department of Psychology, JMI
 FOURTH ASSIGNMENT WORK
Ques. Make an assignment on first unit of your syllabus.

Ans. UNIT 1 – UNDERSTANDING GUIDANCE

Guidance:
Guidance involves personal help given by someone; 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. It does not solve problems for the individual but helps him to solve them.

Example-

According to Ruth Strang -  “Guidance is a process of helping every individual, through his own efforts, to
discover and develop his potentialities for his personal happiness and social usefulness.”

According to A.J. Jones - “Guidance involves personal help given by a competent person; it is designed to
assist a person in deciding where he wants to go, what he wants to do, or how he can best accomplish
his purposes; it assists him in solving problems that arise in his life. It does not solve problems for the
individual, but helps him to solve them. The focus of guidance is the individual and not the problem; its
purpose is to promote the growth of the individual in self-direction.”

According to Knapps - “Learning about the individual student, helping him to understand himself,
effecting changes in him and in his environment which will help him to grow and develop as much as
possible – these are the elements of guidance.”

According to Secondary Education Commission, 1952 -  “Guidance involves the difficult art of helping
boys and girls to plan their own future wisely in the full light of all the factors that can be mastered
about themselves and about the world in which they are to live and work.”

According to Crow and Crow - “Guidance is assistance made available by personally and adequately
trained men or women to an individual of any age to help him manage his own life activities, develop his
own points of view, make his own decisions and carry his own burdens.”

According to John Brewer - “Guidance is a process through which an individual is able to solve his
problems and pursue a path suited to his abilities and aspirations.”

According to Woodworth - “Guidance helps an individual to develop his personality and enables him to
serve the society to the best of his capabilities and talents.”

According to Kitson - “Guidance is ‘individualized education’. Each student is to be helped to develop

himself to the maximum possible degree in all respects.”

V.M. Proctor. “Guidance is a process through which an individual or groups of individuals are helped to
make necessary adjustment to the environment – inside or outside the school.”
Need of Guidance

1. Different stages of development. The bringing up of the human beings can be divided into the
stages of infant, childhood, pre-adolescent, adolescence and manhood. One needs different
types of help to adjust with every stage. The maximum problems are faced at the time of
adolescence, when there are problems due to physical development, mental development,
emotional development and social development.

2. Differences among persons. Psychology reveals that no two persons are alike and no two
people get similar opportunities in life. Hence, every individual needs the help of guidance
service, in order to know the particular kind of profession for which he is most suited.

3. Changing conditions of work. Gone are the days when a child was supposed to take up the
profession of his father for earning his livelihood. Now-a-days professions or occupations have
become so varied and so complex that everyone has at first to get general education and then
to undergo a long training for the profession to be adopted. He has also to get a special
education pertaining to that profession.

4. Educational growth. Guidance is needed for development of abilities and skills facilitating

learning and achievement, and habits and skills for lifelong learning.

5. Career Maturity. Guidance is required for the development of healthy and positive attitudes,
habits, values, etc. towards work through broadening aware of the world of work, planning and
preparing for one’s career.

6. Psycho-social development. Guidance is required for assistance for understanding and

developing a positive self-image and development of social skills for learning an effective and
satisfying personal-social life.

7. Guidance for good family life. It includes working with parents and children for understanding
of family relationship, attitudes towards home and role of family for healthy growth.

8. Guidance for good citizenship. Guidance creates an understanding of socio-cultural values and

awareness of social issues, concerns and problems, overcoming prejudices, developing right
attitudes and values of co-operation, tolerance, righteousness and social justice for peace and
equality. Promoting ideas and values of democratic and secular constitution and promoting
unity and national integration.

9. Guidance for channelization of manpower requirements. Efforts at development and

channelization of individual potential with a view to meeting manpower and social requirements
for national growth and betterment of society.

10. Proper use of leisure time. Today many individuals waste their precious time with a lot of
unhealthy activities. People need to be guided to use their leisure time profitably. Proper
balancing of work and family is also important. Many youngsters roam around the streets with
nothing to do, having no purpose in life, waste away their health and time through drugs,
 alcohol, gambling etc. Guidance will help them to make use of their leisure time to achieve
happiness, to enhance their education and career advancement.

11. Lack of Instructions at home. There is a lack of guidance for the young ones at home. In the
past, home acted as the most important agency of informal education. The children followed
the instructions given by parents and elders. Today, many parents are failed in this
responsibility. They are too busy in their work and transfer this responsibility to the teachers
who are also not in a position to guide them with their own responsibilities. So there is a need
for guidance cell in schools.

12. Improvement in the status of women. Due to the influx of women in almost all spheres
including active defense services, more and more women are taking up jobs. Because of the
double responsibility of home and office, women are facing all kinds of trauma, anxiety and
stress. They need guidance to adjust to this changing scenario, especially in a male dominated
society.

Educational Guidance:
1. In the words of Brewer, “Educational guidance is a Conscious effort to assist in the intellectual
growth of an individual.”

2. Arthur A. Jones defined Educational Guidance “as the assistance given to pupils in their choices
and adjustment with relation to schools, curriculum, courses and school life.”

3. Ruth Strang regards Educational Guidance “as something intended to aid the individual in
choosing an appropriate program and in making progress in it.”

4. According to Myers, “Educational Guidance is a process concerned with bringing about between
a pupil with his distinctive characteristics on the one hand, and different opportunities and
requirements on the other, a favourable setting for the pupil’s development or education.”

5. For Dunsmoor and Miller, “Educational Guidance is primarily concerned with the student’s
success in his educational career. It relates to the student’s adjustment to school and to the
preparation and carrying out of suitable educational plans in keeping with his educational needs,
abilities and career interests.”

Need of Educational Guidance

The need of educational guidance can be properly discussed in the light of above discussion. However,
we can summarize the reasons for the justification of such guidance at the present juncture in the
following way:
1. Individual Differences. Had there been no individual differences among the students, the need
of guidance services would have never arisen. Guidance is needed because of individuals differ
in intellectual abilities, interests, motivation and also in their levels of aspirations. To cater to
the needs of individual students, educational guidance is needed to be imparted in schools.

2. Need of Checking the Wastage and Stagnation in Education: We find that there is a huge
wastage and stagnation in education. Many students fail repeatedly and remain in the same
class for a number of years. They feel difficulty in learning or acquiring some or the other piece
of knowledge and skill. It leads to the wastage of human as well as national resources. Such
wastage and stagnation can only be checked through a suitable program of educational
guidance.

3. The Need of Making Right Educational Choices: Almost every system of education is based on
two assumptions. The first is that every student should strive for maximum self-development
and the other is that every student should make his place in the society as its useful member.
These two assumptions imply that the school and community activities of a child should be
based on some definite pattern. Educational guidance services must assist the child to achieve
this end by way of making correct choices. The students, while taking education, are, often,
confronted with the problem of making selection or choice. There are diversified courses where
they have to make selection of the subjects or activities. The wrong choice of a subject or
activity may doom their career and future. Therefore, they should be helped by guidance in
making right choice with regard to subjects or courses of study, co-curricular activities, methods
of learning style of speaking, writing and reading and books and other literature for study etc.

4. The Need of Proper Educational Adjustment: Adjustment to prevailing educational

environment is essential for the proper educational growth and well being of children. The child
enters the school directly from his home environment. Here he finds a formal environment of
education and gets experiences that are quite novel and strange to him. He needs to be
adjusted to these educational situations and environmental conditions. He has to read, write,
speak and participate in the learning process-Drill work and home assignments have to be
completed. Participation in co-curricular activities is required. Regularity and punctuality in
educational process is to be observed. Sometimes he has to derive benefit from the new
techniques and devices of teaching. He has to prepare himself for the desired tests and
evaluation. In this way the child faces so many adjustment problems with regard to his
educational environment and therefore needs proper educational guidance.

5. Decision of Further Education: Students in the present system of education rush to colleges or

universities for high education irrespective of their aptitude for higher studies. Many of them do
so because they do not have appropriate knowledge of other professional courses or trainings.
There is a great need to provide proper guidance with regards to the suitability of the individual
to pursue higher education.

6. Making the Grade. Another important area where educational guidance is needed is the area of
giving students help to progress satisfactorily in the course chosen. In our country, a large
number of student fail in schools, colleges and universities because of lack of educational
guidance.
 7. Education of Exceptional Children. Generally in our schools, the teacher proceeds with the
average student in mind with the result that gifted, slow learner, deaf and mentally and
physically handicapped, are not benefitted by classroom teaching. Educational guidance is most
essential for different categories of exceptional children, if we are interested in the welfare of
the individual and society.

How to Impart Educational Guidance to Pupils

The guidance worker by means of the various tests, personal interviews etc., tries to find out the
students mental capacities, interests aptitudes, etc., and thus suggest courses that he or she is capable
of pursuing. The process of educational guidance, like the general pattern of guidance process, involves
three important phases:

a) Collecting Information or Data: In the first phase it is required to collect the full information or
data regarding the people. The information like the following can be collected for this purpose:

 Details concerning his health and physique

 His intelligence and other cognitive abilities
 Details concerning his scholastic attainments
 His interests, aptitudes, attitudes and other personality characteristics
 Family history and background
 Details regarding his social and emotional development
 Details regarding the previous school attended.
 Details regarding his company and friendships.

Various techniques like personality tests, achievement tests, intelligence tests, aptitude tests, attitude
scales, interviews, questionnaires, rating scales, inventories, observations etc. can be employed for
collecting these information or data.

b) Rendering Guidance: The next phase concerns with the work of actual guidance imparted to the
needed one. It is rather a difficult task. It requires the complete analysis of the information
gathered about an individual. On these bases certain conclusions are derived about his
personality makeup and adjustment. These conclusions further provide a base for making
decisions about the nature of guidance to be given to the individual in question. For example he
is guided to select a course on a method of learning or a mode of study that suits his
individuality as well as his peculiar environment.

c) Follow up Program: The work of guidance worker does not stop with the rendering of guidance
but it requires some more efforts on his part in the form of some follow-up program. Under this
program the progress made by the child is evaluated. On this basis, required steps if necessary
are taken for giving him any further guidance or necessary changes are introduced in the
previous guidance program. Under every situation, it is to be seen that the child becomes able
to solve his educational problem-development or adjustment. It happens, then and only then
we can think about the success of a guidance program.
 Vocational Guidance:

National Vocational Guidance Association (USA): According to the definition accepted by this
organisation in 1954, “vocational guidance is the process of assisting the individual to choose an
occupation, prepare for it, enter upon and progress in it.”

Conference of International Labour Organisation(1954): “Vocational guidance is an assistance given to

an individual in solving of problems related to occupational choice and progress with due regard for the
individual’s characteristics and their relation to occupational opportunity.”

G.E. Myers: “Vocational Guidance is fundamentally an effort to conserve the priceless native capacities
of youth and the costly training provided for youth in the schools. It seeks to conserve these richest of all
human resources by aiding the individual to invest and use them where they will bring greatest
satisfaction and success to himself and greatest benefit to society. ”

Super: Vocational Guidance is the process of helping a person to develop and accept an integrated and
adequate picture of himself and of his role in the world of work, to test this concept against reality and
to convert it into reality with satisfaction to himself and benefit to society.”

In this way the vocational guidance is a kind of guidance that is concerned with the vocational needs and
problems of the individuals. In strict psychological and educational sense, we can define it as a process
of helping a pupil to get adequate information regarding the world of work around him, make a proper
choice for his future vocation and achieve maximum success and satisfaction in it.

Importance, Significance and Scope of Vocational Guidance:

1. Looking forward to a better future. Young people need to be better educated and
trained for adult life. They must have a wide range of opportunities in education and
training. And they must have information and guidance to allow them to make sound
choices as they go through school and beyond.

2. Beginning at Home. The process starts in the home. Families and friends have a crucial
role to play in shaping people’s expectations and aspirations. This should be properly
 recognized in school. Parents should be involved to the fullest extent in what their
children are doing and the choices they are making.

3. Continuation of Schools. Schools play a vital part in developing expectations and

capabilities from the earliest age. Good school encourage self-awareness, the ability to
work with others, and a sense of initiative and enterprise qualities which are every bit as
valuable in adult life as examination certificates. A broad and balanced curriculum
makes the most of each pupil’s potential in every area- regardless of sex, ethnic origin or
disability.

4. Vocational Success. From the primary years onwards much can be done to give children
insights into the world of work and a preparation for the decisions ahead which will
affect the future directions of their lives. Full and reliable information and sensitive
guidance must be available at the right time for all if these decisions are to be properly
informed.

5. Choice of Subjects. When choice of options for further study first have to made –
around 13+ it is essential that the right decisions are taken in each case – the crucial
stage for which pupils must be fully prepared.

6. Information for Choice. At 16+ and 17+, important choices have to be made between
staying on at school or going on to college, vocational training or employment. These
choices must be properly informed.

7. Choice among Options. Those children on the point of leaving school or college need a
realistic appreciation of all the choices open to them. At subsequent stages too,
students must have access to relevant, reliable and complete information and skilled
guidance about options.

8. Adverse effect on Health. Wrong choice of occupations adversely affects the health of
workers. A delicate eye-sight in injured by work which greatly affects the eye-sight.
Nervous system is shattered by making efforts to maintain a speed of production
beyond one’s capacity and so on. Therefore, vocational guidance is very much needed.

9. Utilization of Human Potentialities. The society loses much through its failure to
discover potential genius. A great deal of genius remains undiscovered in every
generation in absence of vocational guidance.
 10. Individual Differences. The fundamental reason why guidance is needed is that there are
differences among individual and differences among courses of action open to them.

How to Impart Vocational Guidance to the Pupils

Vocational guidance work, like Educational guidance can be accomplished in three phases; namely:

1) Collecting of information or data

2) Rendering guidance on the bases of this information and
3) Follow-up programme.

(1) Collecting of information or data regarding the nature of the child like his abilities, interests,
aptitudes, personality characteristics and circumstances of life has to be obtained carefully. On
the other side, the guidance worker also tries to get all the adequate and relevant information
regarding the world of work and job opportunities. He makes himself well informed by having
living contacts with all the current literature and publications. He has contacts with the
employment bureau, state and central Bureaus of Guidance and counselling and is well
acquainted with the current trends of employment market and the demand and supply position.

(2) Rendering guidance on the bases of this information. Here the pupils are informed about the
world of work and Job opportunities through lecture, display of literature and pamphlet or
library readings. They are now helped to match their individual characteristics with the
requirement of different Jobs or occupations and thus helped to make adequate vocational
choices. Further, they are helped to select courses and activities related to their vocational
choices. Many times, they are helped to join special courses and vocational training for the
necessary pre-preparation vocational guidance worker, also shares the responsibility of helping
the pupils in entering into the vocations of their choice by rendering adequate information
about the employment opportunities and having an intimate contact with the employment
agencies. In some case vocational guidance helps in seeking self-employment. All this sort of
work comes within the area of active vocational guidance or follow-up programme.

(3) Follow-up programme. The evaluation of the process of such guidance is also essential not only
for evaluating the merits and demerits of administered guidance but also for the benefit of the
individual concerned. One may be further helped in this proper adjustment to his vocation
through such follow-up programme.

In this way we see that the task of rendering vocational guidance to the pupils is quite extensive and
laborious. It cannot be left only in the hands of career masters or a separate guidance worker appointed
in the school. The parents, teachers and head of the institution should also play their dues roles in
rendering vocational guidance to the pupils. The guidance services in the school should be properly
established and the co-operation of all the essential forces should be secured to draw maximum benefit
from these services.