The Guidance Office: it was a dreaded place in schools as students see it as a place where misbehaving students are kept that would mean holding a disciplinary record. It was synonymous to trouble. That was why in my primary school days, I was cautious when I was walking the corridor near the guidance office and made sure that I and my friends were not noisy, but right after we passed by it, we ran off.
This particular office held that reputation until high school. It was magnified by the presence of a strict and sour-faced guidance counselor who reproached students whenever she was outside her office. Aside from accommodating the troublemakers and their poor victims, the guidance office seemed to have no other function at all.
But I was wrong. Many years later I realized that the image of the guidance office was projected like that so as to discipline students or, perhaps, it came to have that image because there were a lot of students who needed to be disciplined. Either way, I learned as well that guidance offices do not only welcome the delinquent students and that there are actually other functions it performs. Here are some myths of the Guidance Office and guidance counselors that students should not believe:
1. Guidance counselors’ main job is to scare students. No. They are called guidance counselor to guide and counsel students. They are school professionals who help students understand themselves so they can develop into adults who are capable of living productive and fulfilling lives.
Students are just scared because usually the guidance counselor would call their parents and talk with them about problems that have occurred in the students’ lives that may have affected their behavior and performance in school.
A guidance counselor’s common task include individual or small group counseling, administering placement tests, involvement in implementing plans for encouraging positive behaviors and controlling negative behaviors. In elementary schools, guidance counselors work closely with parents, teachers, and school administrators at all times.
2. Guidance offices should be avoided because when you go there, it means you did wrong. Not all the time. This image of the guidance office may have resulted from unawareness on the services that the office can offer to students.
What students usually know about the guidance office is it only gives disciplinary actions to misconduct. However, the guidance office or the counselors deal with a vast array of student problems – personal, academic, social, and career issues. A student having difficulty should approach a counselor to assess the severity of the problem in order to provide appropriate support
3. Guidance office will be inoperative if all students are behaved. Not true. The guidance office has other functions that are of great essence.
At the high school level, guidance offices are focused on educational and career guidance while they are also concerned with the personal development of the students. They help students choose school courses and activities that relate to their interests which will prepare them for life after high school. They also help students decide on what college course they should take by assessing their talents, skills, interest while checking the market demand.
By: Denardo C. Cruz |
