What is the Nature, Type and Basic Assumption of Guidance given to students?

To understand guidance it is better to ‘contrast it with what is not guidance.

According to Crow and Crow “Guidance is not giving direction, it is not the imposition of one person’s point of view upon another person. It is not making decision for an individual which he should make for himself. It is not carrying the burden of another life.

Crow and Crow observes that guidance is an assistance made available by a qualified and adequately trained person to another person to help him to manage his own activities, develop his own point of view, and make his own decision.

Whenever a person aided directly or indirectly by a qualified person in knowledge, emotional fitness, mental activity, social and civic adjustment, guidance increases individual’s ability to think and act independently or follow his own initiatives.

There are many expressions used to mean guidance e.g. to lead, to steer or to direct. But in all these terms we find compulsion, indoctrination and direction.

To guide implies help that is more of personal nature than either to steer, to direct, to regulate, or to conduct. The focus of guidance is on the individual and not on the problem; its purpose is to promote the growth of an individual for self-direction.

Emery Stoops holds that guidance is a continuous process of helping the individual to develop on the maximum of his capacity in the direction most beneficial to himself and to society.

An analysis of this definition indicates that the concept of guidance includes several significant characteristics.

Characteristics:

Some important characteristics are as under:

1. Guidance is a continuous process.

2. It leads to self development and self direction

3. It leads to discovery of needs assets, plans of action and adjustment of emotional blocking.

4. It focuses attention on individual.

5. It is an assistance rather than direction imposition or compulsion.

6. It is given by technically and professionally trained persons.

Nature and Types and Guidance:

The ways in which the guidance practitioners help students are as under:

1. Professionals help students to seek the information needed to make decisions and choose the best alternative out of various choices.

2. Assisting them to secure adequate information and develop techniques that will enable them to develop desirable information as and when they need it.

3. Assisting in choosing an appropriate vocation.

4. They provide tryout and exploratory experience.

5. Assisting them to develop desirable attitude, interest and ideals.

6. In carrying students to follow a balanced programme of physical activities.

7. Assisting students in making effective use of their study time.

8. Helping students in developing leadership qualities.

9. Assisting them in becoming progressively responsible for their own development.

10. Assisting students in attaining emotional stability.

Basic Assumptions of Guidance:

Guidance and counseling programme community represent a wide range of approaches for delivering services. The development and implementation of guidance services is based on certain underlying assumptions and basic principles.

Author J. Jones discussed seven basic assumptions as under:

1. Race, colour and sex have little as no relation to aptitude and abilities.

2. Many crises cannot be successfully met by student without assistance.

3. The school is in a strategic position to give the assistance needed.

4. Guidance is not prescriptive instead at progressive ability for self guidance.

5. Variations within the individual are significant.

6. Abilities already existing in individual are not usually specialized.