As a practicing counselor, these are some of the activities I would consider putting in my guidance programme and further explain how I would execute them in my work. Before highlighting the activities to be undertaken in this programme, one needs to understand what is meant by Life Skills. According to the World Health Organisation in the ministry of Education Teachers??™ Curriculum Manual (2001: 28), Life Skills are defined as ??? Ability for adaptive and positive behaviour that enables individuals deal with the demands and challenges of everyday life???. Schools Guidance Services (1999: 2) added that ??? those skills needed by an individual to operate effectively in society in an active and constructive way.
In the traditional schools of different ethnic groups as highlighted above, life skills are still emphasized to help individuals understand themselves, function confidently and competently with other people and wider society ??“ the world around them. Ideally life skills like vocational, livelihood, practical and interactive skills to mention but a few, promote effective communication, good decision making, problem solving, self-awareness, creative thinking, coping with emotions and stress and interpersonal relationships. The guidance programme of the day therefore, should adopt activities that include life skills to enable individuals respond to the demands of the society and their own needs. Hayes et al (1992) noted that career activities are not concerned with helping the student to find a suitable job in which he is likely to be successful but also preparing an individual for his total adjustment to adult life and its problems. Specific concerns of clients such as poor study habits, poor performance, and lack of interest in school, drop-out and maladjustment are educational and academic matters that need a guidance attention. Also poor job satisfaction and motivation, low production, poor capacity for work are vocational while in ability to get aspirations, inability to get meet needs, fulfillment, excessive frustration and anxiety are personal and psychological problems. The above require attention and a comprehensive guidance programme that would help the victims and community to live effectively. In my guidance programme as a counselor, I will endeavor to highlight the under listed activities.
Project work will be one of the activities I will undertake in my guidance programme. Individuals or groups will be tasked to carry out the research on a particular concern seeking information about jobs, social issues or academic work. The group goes into research by collecting information, analyse and interpret the data. An example is where a group is assigned to draw a map of the locality showing the places of work/jobs entered by their fellow previous school learners. The group will be highly motivated to discover facts for themselves and directed to the sources of information by their leader.
The other interventions would be organization of public talks or meeting by inviting representatives of different firms, organisations and occupations to give social and educational lectures to students or the community on issues affecting them. The invited personnel may give a vivid information or picture of his or her day to day experiences, work, training undertaking and the inabilities which he feels are needed in a particular work, factual information about entry requirements and professional qualifications are given during the question and answer session, illustrations such as photographs, documents, pictures depicting social life situations can be presented in making the talk more vivid. In this case, ex-students or community models are invited back to school or community to discuss their work including the problems involved in transition from school to work. Included in this approach is that the speaker will give an outline of opportunities available in a particular field along with accurate job descriptions and preparing the school learners for the psychological and personal problems involved in becoming a community member or worker.
Galloway (1994) alluded that career education and pupils??™ understanding of the world of work, health and sex education, study skills and ability to make effective use of resources available in the school, awareness of their rights and responsibilities in the local communities and in the wider society, relationships within the school and outside it. This constitutes to the major areas contributing to personal and social education by which invited persons through meetings and public talks can address either to students or community members. Similarly, field trips or excursions can be undertaken as part of activities on a guidance programme. This maybe occupational or placement visit planned to give students or school leavers an idea of different sorts of work . Students will visit industries, firms and other organizations that are planned by guidance officers for the job that will benefit them. On the other hand, students too can visit places of work which they feel there is a real possibility of choosing that type of work as a career and observe closely the interpersonal relationships involved, the relationship between workers and managers.
Students acquire experiences of what the work place smell, feels, looks and sounds like. This creates awareness of how different sections of the public spend their working lives and also encourages development of an understanding of the working problems of people in the occupations with which students may have no future contacts. During such visits or trips, students cut across different social economic levels of labour such as unskilled, semi-skilled, managerial, supervisory with different classifications and work atmosphere thereby, giving them wider choices on the jobs to undertake in adult life. Such visits provide information to smoothen the transition from school to work from student status to adult status that occurs at some point in every child??™s life even when no opportunities exist. Work sampling is another activity to be mentioned. Clients (students) will be required to attend classes on different subjects like bricklaying, agriculture, carpentry, crafts and commercials which involve practical work. At the end of the day individuals choose which course they wish to undertake.
Career conventions is yet another. This can be done in form of careers day or week activities where parents or community members are arranged to meet members of the careers team, potential employers in various firms scheduled either weekends or during the school day to create a situation in which parents or student meet the employers and discuss the opportunities they offer and on the other hand meet the guidance teacher (career officer) to exchange views. Another factor to consider as an activity in the guidance programme is the social wellbeing of people in the society. International Labour Organization (1979??¦71) states that ??? a wholesome environment, normal good health, satisfactory housing conditions, the right to organize ones work and be responsible for it, provides an opportunity to take part in the country??™s social economic life???. All these are factors contributing to good health and hygiene, high productivity and job satisfaction leading to self-supporting skills needed to be inculcated in individuals like the youth and society through health talks, awareness meetings, educational campaigns and community sensitisation. As an approach to effective addressing of issues affecting society well-being, I will conduct health programmes and educational campaigns in collaboration with stake holders to sensitise people on health issues, on how to look after their environment, hygiene and health practices, responsibilities on how to take care of their resources and jobs to contribute to the socio-economic life adding to the nation??™s basket and wealth.
International Labour Organisation (1979: 72), maintains that ??? a nourishing diet, the quality of housing, hygiene and family planning, the social services, human relations and administrative services are all factors that can contribute not only to an improvement of health and life in an environment but also showing down population drift???. In another development debates are subject to be included on the guidance programmes. Hayes etal (1972: 157), observed that ??? any subject concerning jobs, leisure activities, personal or social problems, can be explored in this way. The debtors should be encouraged and helped to do considerable research into their debating issues???. As highlighted, debtors are given a subject to debate or research on through a project work with groups doing the research or electing a spokesperson to represent the group. Also it can be done by asking students to consider a number of provocative questions and statement for example, a discussion with a class of girls on career pattern for women can be stimulating especially if girls spend time answering a questionnaire scaled to measure a traditional or progressive outlook in career work as well as awareness of the special problems associated with career striving for women. Also another activity on the guidance programme is the use of role play as cross cutting method to problem solving. Hayes etal (1972: 136) noted, ??? role playing and socio drama are often used synonymously and refer to any kind of dramatic educational method in which the participants portray and project their own feelings, behaviour and attitudes or those of others???.
Role play is used to enact a problem common to a group or community and deals with inter-personal problems. It is one of the techniques in guidance where students explore what it means to be grown up in an adult world. Participants will be given a topic to dialogue or discuss and enact real life drama from the topic. They play a role given or act as themselves in the situation. This enables the community identify their problems and propose possible solutions to their problems, outline their fears, needs and aspirations which is useful and unique medium of development.
Guidance activities also can be carried through the use of notice boards to increase awareness to students and community awareness of the services offered by the guidance department. It directly provides occupational information on local industries, relevant of school subject to employment in certain occupations, courses offered at local technical and other colleges and the influence of work on people??™s lives and the role of trade unions. It is used to stimulate interest in the career courses by featuring project work produced by members of the career class and provide a guide to sources of career information for instance, the local lending library, school library, television sets and radio programmes and relevant film showing local cinema. In so doing, students will become full participants in the notice board displays by making various collections of career work and other social issues that increase awareness to attract the community and fellow students.
Either by putting up a picture story display where students will make a picture story by featuring a person in his present job and work environment. In addition to notice boards, a survey of jobs in newspapers which offer a source of useful and up-to-date information on vacancies, social services like sports survey of jobs advertised in newspapers will be conducted as a way of increasing individual??™s awareness of variety of work available in the industry and the changing nature of the world of work especially from newspapers that existed over a long period of years ago. Also develop a career magazine for all jobs found in the community which can provide a wealth of valuable material about the local occupation scene. The use of audio-visual aids like films should not be left out in the guidance programme. Films provide introduction to the different kinds of work environment and psycho-social information pertaining to a particular job. I will therefore, make use of television sets, tape recorders and radio sets where students observe interviews, discussions and promotions of relevant issues, by using this equipment, students go out and collect materials for their own programme to record employer??™s views, students??™ and teachers??™ views.
The class as a whole can learn a great deal from a discussion of such recordings. In a nutshell, the activities highlighted in this discussion are some of the activities I would consider putting on my guidance programme and the approaches undertaken are the ones I would employ to execute my guidance work. BIBLIOGRAPHYGalloway, D. (1994) Pupil Welfare and Counseling: London; LongmanHayes, T. Hopson, B & Daws, P.
P. (1972) Career Guidance: The Role of the Student in Vocational Development, London; Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. International Labour Organisation (1979) Man in his Working Environment: A Workers??™ Education Manual, Geneva: ILO Ministry of Education (2001) Teachers??™ Curriculum Manual, Lusaka: CDC School Guidance Services (1999) Guidance NEWSLETTER, April, No. 4, P2
