QUALITIES OF A COUNSELLOR

4.1  COUNSELLOR:  AN  INTRODUCTION

            Counselor occupies an important part along with the teacher in the growth and development of the students in schools.  Counsellor is an inspirational guide to the students.  Counsellor gathers educational and occupational informations and uses them appropriately for the sake of the students, especially the school leaving Secondary (10^th Std) and Higher Secondary (12^th Std) students.  He concerns for the welfare of the students and leads them to bright future from the dark part of life.

            The counsellor is like a gardener who prepares the soil and does everthing he can to help each plant grow in its own best way.

4.2  COUNSELLOR:  QUALITIES / CHARACTERISTICS

            The counsellor  has to possess some specific qualities to make him eccentric from others and they are:

1.      Sensitivity

2.      Ethical Behaviour

3.      Flexibility

4.      Intellectual Competence

5.      Acceptance

6.      Understanding

7.      Professional Dedication

8.      Wholesome Philosophy of Life

9.      Leadership

10.    Health and Personal Appearance

11.    Intellectual Potentialities

12.    Adjusted Personality

13.    Happy Interpersonal Relationship

1.      Sensitivity:  

A counsellor should be as sensitive as possible towards the needs of his client.

2.      Ethical Behaviour:

The counsellor should possess integrity and ethical principles because there may be too confidential matters expressed by the clients and he should not divulge it to any others except with the permission of the client.

3.      Flexibility:

The counsellor should never be rigid.  For example, he varies his behavior remark by remark during the interview.  He is alive to the change occurring in the attitude of the client and changes his behavior accordingly.

4.      Intellectual Competence:

Intellectual competence is a must for any counsellor.  He can relate human behavior and present events in his training and past experience.

5.      Acceptance:

The client turns to the counsellor for advice.  He has come to seek counsellor’s help.  Therefore the counsellor should not reject statements but he has to accept all.

6.      Understanding:

The counsellor understands the client at both cognitive and affective level.

7.      Professional Dedication:

A counsellor must be a dedicated worker and work without any form of lag.  He has loyalty and enthusiasm for the cause of education and a sense of mission.  He has professional attitude.

8.      Wholesome Philosophy of Life:

He has an acceptable value system, important spirutual and religious convictions, interests and appreciations and faith in human nature.

9.      Leadership:

The counsellor should be an able leader and possess the leadership traits to stimulate and prompt others.

10.  Health and Personal Appearance:

A counsellor has a sound health and pleasing voice, a good personal, appearance, vitality and endurance.

11.  Intellectual Potentialities:

A counsellor should have good practical judgement, respect for facts and common sense.  He has to have a wide interest and knowledge and should be intelligent.

12.  Adjusted Personality:

He should also have the knowledge and idea about himself.  His strengths and weaknesses should be known to him.  He has an ability to take criticism and profit from mistakes.  He has self-respect, self-reliance and confidence.

13.  Happy Interpersonal Relationship:

There should be an interrelationship between a counsellor and people who contact him.  He has an interest in people and in working with them.  He has respect for others’ deeds, feelings and attitudes.  He has tolerance for the view-points of others than his own.  He accepts and understands people.  These characteristics make his interpersonal relations happy with others.

These characteristics mentioned above comprise together to form a counsellor an ideal man.

4.3. COUNSELLOR:   FUNCTIONS / DUTIES

            Counselling is the main function of a counsellor in addition to the other functions described by Shartle which are listed below:

1.      Psychological Testing

2.      Organising Dissemination of Information

3.      Conducting Interviews

4.      Providing Educational and Vocational Guidance

5.      Conducting Placement Services

6.      Conducting Research

7.      Conducting Group Guidance

8.      Undergoing Training

9.      Utilising Experience

1.      Psychological Testing: 

The counsellor performs Psychological testing in order to administer them on students.  He then calculates them and interprets findings.

2.      Organising Dissemination of Information: 

He collects information about vocational and educational aspects from various sources and disseminates them.  He organizes conferences with other counselors and teachers.

3.      Conducting Interviews:

In order to give effective counsels, the counsellor conducts interviews, case conferences and interprets findings.

4.      Providing Educational and Vocational Guidance:

He provides free educational and vocational counselling to applicants at a social centre or community supported agency, refers cases to appropriate community agencies, plans future programmes.

5.      Conducting Placement Services:

In getting jobs, the counsellor helps a lot.  He gives lead to them in placement and he sends cases to employment agencies.

6.      Conducting Research:

The counsellor in touch with fellow worker organizes programme for the improvement of guidance services.

7.      Conducting Group Guidance:

Regarding problems of vocational adjustment, the counsellor conducts group guidance for youths.

8.      Undergoing Training:  

Unless and until the counsellor is completely trained, he cannot perform the functions and duties well.  The core areas of training are:

1.      The counseling process,

2.      Understanding the individual,

3.      Educational and vocational information,

4.      Administrative relationships of the guidance programme,

5.      Research and evaluation procedures for counsellors.

9.      Utilising Experience:  

At least two years of experience is a must for a practicing counsellor.  He must have been under intership for three to six months of supervised counseling and must have some experience of volunteer work in the community.

4.4. COUNSELLOR:  PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

            In the book, ‘The School Counsellor’ E.C. Roeber had listed some ethical principles which govern counsellor’s activities and they are:

(i)                The counsellor must be loyal to the school as he is mainly responsible to the school.

(ii)             A counsellor is responsible to the counsellee in varity of ways since his main function is to help the counsellee in achieving adjustment.

a)     He should not reveal information regarding the counsellee to any other person or agency such as parent, employer, family physician or social agency without seeking the counsellee’s permission.

b)     He may report a condition to the appropriate school authority if the condition is sure to harm others for whose welfare the school has responsibility.  But the identity of the counsellee should not be revealed.

c)     The records and ntoes of counseling and personal memoranda for the counsellors’s use should not be forwarded to school authorities for they do not form a part of school record.

(iii)           The counsellor can get help and has a right to consult with any other professionally competent person about his client.  These consultations should be held only in professional settings and those too, in the event of urgency.

(iv)           The counsellor should use his discretion and good judgement while giving information about his counsellee to other professional workers and keep the information secret.

(v)              With their parent’s consent, the client can be referred to any other fully qualified persons or agencies by the counsellor, if necessary.

(vi)           The counsellor may decline or terminate the counselling relationship if he feels himself incompetent or has personal limitations on the matters.

(vii)         No counsellor is expected to criticize any other counsellor, institution or organizations engaged in counselling work.

An ideal counsellor is a man of integrity and moral values. He is responsible to the school and so he does nothing to blur the mage of the school or damage its reputation.  He is mature person and has faith in the philosophy underlying counselling.  He should observe and set in practice, the ethical principles in the process of counselling.

4.5   DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COUNSELLOR AND TEACHER:

1.      Teacher needs to know the pupil in terms of attainment of educational objectives and normal growth.

Counsellor needs to know the pupil in terms of specific problems, frustration and plans for the future.

2.      Subject matter – (Objectives) are known by the teacher.

The subject matter (Interview) is unknown to the counsellor and sometimes unknown to the counsellee.

3.      Teacher has the responsibility for the welfare of the culture.

Counsellor has the responsibility for the welfare of the counsellee.

4.      Teaching starts with a group relationship.

Counselling starts with an individual relationship.

5.      Teacher is responsible for the welfare of many children at one time.

The counsellor is responsible for only one person at one time.

6.      Teacher carries on most of his work directly with children.

Counsellor works with and thro’ many people.  Ex. Reformal resources & techniques.

7.      Interview skill is one of the techniques.

Interview is the basic technique.

8.      Teacher uses records and inventories to assist educational process.

Counsellor tests, records and inventories to discover factors relating to problem.

9.      Teacher is concerned with day to day growth.

Counsellor is concerned with counsellee’s immediate problems and choices.

10. Teacher deals with children whose adjustments are happy and satisfying.

Counsellors and clients are disturbed by frustration.

	KEY  POINTS

 

Ø  There are certain characteristic qualities for the counsellors.  They are :

1.Sensibility, 2. Discipline, 3. Sympathy,  4.Intelligence,  5.Acceptance,   6. Understanding,   7. Dedication,   8. Ideal life,  9. Leadership traits,  10. Healthy physique and personality, 11. Deep knowledge, 12. Friendly authority,   13. Cardial relationship with others.

Ø  Duties and activities of the counsellor:

1. Conducting psychological test,  2. Organising to spread information,  3. Interviewing,  4. Giving educational and vocational guidances,  5.Employing persons for service,  6. Doing research activities,  7. Conducting group guidance,  8. Participating in training,  9. Utilising the experience.

Ø  There are certain ethics in the work of the counsellor.

Ø  There are similarities as well as differences between counsellors and the teachers.