TEACHER AS A COUNSELLOR

The teachers occupy a pivotal role in the school guidance and counselling programme. The class teachers have the maximum contact with their students. They know their needs, interests, abilities and problems. They observe students inside the class-room and outside of the class situations and watch for ‘danger signals’ in the pupil’s normal developmental maturation and will be able to aid the school guidance committee and the counsellor.

1. Collaboration with the Counsellor 1. Collaboration with the Counsellor. Successful implementation of counselling service in schools depends upon the collaboration of psychologist, guidance counsellor, medical officer, the class teacher, the occupational information officer and the administrative personnel. Thus the teacher’s main role is to collaborate with the counsellor and guidance committee of the school.

2. Referral Agent. The teacher’s main job is to teach 2. Referral Agent. The teacher’s main job is to teach. In addition to his teaching, a teacher may also advise their students regularly on matters of concern to them. This is a natural function of a class teacher. But when teachers notice cases of severity which warrant the assistance of technical personnel they should immediately refer such cases to the guidance counsellor or the guidance committee.

3. Understanding Behaviour of Students 3. Understanding Behaviour of Students. Children who receive treatment from specialists remain in the same class-room. Hence, the teacher is in a better position to understand his/her behaviour. Of course his effectiveness in this role will depend upon his training and experience, his flexibility, his willingness to try to understand the behaviour of children, and the amount and kind of help he gets from the guidance staff.

4. Regular Advice. The class teacher is in a better position to understand the abilities, interests and weakness of his students in relation to the subject of study. Consequently he can advise students in choosing subjects or help the counsellor in the guidance/counselling process.

5. He is a Link. The class teacher can successfully act as a link between parents and community members on the one side and school guidance committee on the other. He can make parents aware of the services available in the school and encourage them to take advantage of these services for the benefit of their children.

6. Follow-up. The class teacher or the subject teacher is the right person to conduct follow-up activities after students receive guidance or counselling, choose a course of action, leave the school, join their institution of higher learning or an occupation, and solve a problem. He may report about his observation to the guidance counsellor and this will facilitate the assessment of the success of guidance activities of the school.

Conclusion In conclusion we can say that a teacher helps: To analyse the strengths and weaknesses of students To formulate the guidance situation in which the student needs help like educational, vocational, personal etc. To devise certain action plans that can actualise the potential of the student to the fullest measure under the most favourable conditions.

THANK YOU!