It is understandable that school principals and school administrator are too busy that they cannot attend to erring students. So, there is a need for schools, private or public, to employ guidance counselors who will address the problems confronting the students.
Truly, indeed, that teachers are in direct contact with their students so teachers are the ones in a position to see what the students need. They are the most affected by students’maladaptive behavior , demotivation, underachievement and similar problems. Because their training is mainly in the subject areas they are teaching, they may not know how to handle certain patterns exhibited by their students.
The counselor’s expertise in human behavior and development combined with the teacher’s expertise in instructional methods and materials can create an excellent foundation for a team effort in planning and providing a productive learning environment.
Counselors can help academic teachers through consultation in many ways. The following are some of the ways where counselors can help teachers.
- Counselor can help the teachers understand their students better by giving them a profile of the intellectual capacities, personalities, needs, values, study habits, learning styles of their students.
- Counselors can help teachers in identifying and interviewing in deficiencies in academic or personal development of a student.
- Counselors can help teachers understand the environmental factors that dynamically influence the teaching-learning experience like home conditions, current inclinations that preoccupy them.
- Counselors can help teachers identify out-of-school resources and experiences relevant to students’ learning needs.
- Counselors can help teachers verify or validate observations as to whether some students are in need of special education.
It is therefore, necessary that guidance counselors and teachers should have a better teamwork to address the students’ needs in the school.
By: Nancy A. Sabado | T-III | J.C. Payumo Jr. Memorial High School
