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Guidance and Counseling

Notes to the development of these. The school has to continue the work started at home. Attitudes and
behaviour such as sulking, temper tantrums, aggressiveness, withdrawal, lying and so on need to
be checked and corrected at home and school. In addition, the school will have a number of difficult
situations to deal with. There are differences in the developmental patterns of individual children.
Some may have reached the normal level of development, but a few may not have reached this
level. Giving all the children the same exercises and tasks may lead to adjustment problems. A
simple way in which the school can deal with most problems is through play. Children should be
encouraged to overcome many of their emotional inhibitions through play. As far as elementary
school is concerned, the classroom may be used for organizing different kinds of learning games.
Teachers and parents need to recognize that no amount of pushing can make the child do more than
what his capacities permit. Most parents, unfortunately, tend to believe that from the moment they
send their children to school, it is the responsibility of the school to take care of them. In reality,
parents should take as much interest in their children as they expect teachers to take. However, this
does not mean that they should overwork the child so much that he begins to develop negative
attitudes to learning.
Guidance in the elementary school can best be implemented if the developmental sequence of the
children is understood.
To state them simply, they are :
1. Children are both similar and different
2. Each individual child grows according to his own time schedule
3. Growth takes time, it can be encouraged but never forced
4. In the same individual child the growth may vary from time to time
When a child is slow, it may be his growth pattern and, therefore, he should not be forced. According
to Erickson, the danger in the early years lies in the possible development of a sense of inadequacy
and inferiority such that the child may despair of his skills and of his status. This is an unfortunate
situation and if allowed to develop, the child may become a maladjusted under-achiever. It should
be very easy and simple for the teacher to establish a good rapport with young children. Once
rapport is established, the teacher will have no difficulty in trying to understand and help each
individual child in the group. But when the pupil is unable to relate to the teacher, i.e., when no
rapport is established between them, the teacher must refer to a more competent person, like a
school counselor.

It is a common observation that children are happy and often ignorant about the problems of
adjustment. They are usually enthusiastic and can become interested in things easily, but their
interests do not last long. Besides the home, the school engages them for most part of their life. If the
experiences at school are unpleasant, it is unfortunate for the child. Guiding elementary-school
children involves helping them with their learning problems and making their experiences at school
enjoyable and engaging. The major aim of guidance at this level is the prevention of emotional
breakdowns. Children have problems of adjustment as they pass through a transitional stage of
being the centre of attention at home to being in a state of anonymity in class. This sense of loss of
importance may make them disappointed with school. There could also be problems of learning if
the curricular materials are not adjusted to the child’s abilities. There could be problems involving
other pupils and these may lead to bullying by a few and sulking by others. It is increasingly
recognized that many emotional problems experienced by people later in life can be traced to their
years of childhood. Early identification and alleviation, if not elimination, of emotional problems
will go a long way in ensuring the healthy development of children into useful citizens.
Guidance is an integral part of the total educational programme. To be effective, it must be a
continuous process from the child’s first contact with school. Guidance at the elementary-school
level is based on the concept of continuous development, emphasizing prevention of problems and
promotion of good mental hygiene. The chief goal of guidance at this stage is to help provide a
warm and friendly school-setting in which the pupils’ adjustment and learning are enhanced.

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