Prof. Maria Lourdes Bruno Friday Class, 5:30pm-8:30pm
FACILITIES The counseling room should have a space for a
counselor’s table, a counselor’s chair, and a Physical facilities are essential component of counselee’s chair. Swivel chairs with arm rests are Guidance Programs. The outcomes of guidance helpful for free movement and slight postural work may be severely affected if the facilities are adjustments when discussions become emotionally not appropriate or sufficient for the services laden and when emotions subside. rendered. How, for instance, can test results be valid if the room where the test was taken was too dark Throw pillows or cushions are also helpful as some for the test-takers to read the items or too noisy for clients find comfort in putting these on their laps them to hear the oral instructions? And how can during the counseling session. At the same time, Group Guidance activities be effectively held if the some may feel the need to express their anger room is too crowded or too hot for the participants during the session. Hitting the throw pillow can to concentrate? What are the required facilities? help release the anger. Having tissue box on a corner table near the client is convenient when the Counselor’s Room/ Guidance Director’s Room tears come. If space is limited for instance; A mirror somewhere in the room will help clients The Guidance office occupies a single room that check their composure after an emotional session. space must definitely be devoted to counseling or The counseling room should also be able to include the counseling room. While some people accommodate a filing cabinet containing the like to talk while walking, or sit under a tree, or individual inventory records of students. Much discuss over a cup of coffee, there is nothing like depends on how these records are filed in folder and having a counseling room that is private. paper form, in CD-ROM or electronic files. The Enclosed from floor to ceiling, properly illuminated, important thing is that the individual records are soundproofed, free from distractions, and well kept confidential and that when the records are to be ventilated preferably air-conditioned discussed with the client, the contents are readily accessible to the parties concerned. A computer in The space should be one where the client would feel the counselor’s room would be convenient. free to cry and to express all kinds of feelings, provided the expression is non-destructive. The The counseling room, if located on an upper floor, feeling that other people can see or hear what is must have sealed windows or windows with bars. going on in the room should not inhibit the client. This is to prevent the depressed client from jumping out the window. For a similar reason, there should To keep conversations confidential, each counselor be no sharp objects or gadgets that could be used in should have a private counseling room. The suicide attempts. counselor’s name should be on the door to facilitate locating him/her. A tiny glass window on the door of the counseling room will help visitor or clients see if the counselor There are counseling centers with one small is occupied or other Guidance staff to signal a counseling room shared by several counselors. This counselor regarding an urgent situation, while means counseling sessions have to be scheduled and counseling in ongoing. The counselor can sit facing the room reserved as needed. this window, and the client can have his/her back to the window to avoid distraction. Signs that may be can concentrate on the work at hand and prepare hung on the door are “Do Not Disturb” “The accurate reports. It should be well-ventilated and Counselor Is In” “The Counselor will be back well-illuminated. at______.” The furniture should include a big enough to hold Psychometrician’s Room various materials, including work sheets. Cabinets with lock and key will keep data secure. A The psychometrician should have a private room computer with the necessary programs is a must. that is not easily accessible to others. This is because his/her room generally contains materials Consultant’s Room that should not be seen or touched by those who have no professional reason for doing so. These While most institutions refer clients to consultants materials include test booklets and answer sheets, from outside, some institutions invite the consultant filled answer sheets being processed, norm and to hold office within the premises. This arrangement interpretation booklets, test results, and test records. is convenient for the ones being referred and The room should also be free from distractions and ensures that they actually go to the consultant. interruptions so that the psychometrician does not The consultant would need a room similar to the commit errors in checking or interpreting tests. counselor’s. The room can be slightly smaller since The psychometrician needs a table big enough to there is no need for a computer or filing cabinets. hold what he/she is working on, especially if Data can be passed on by referring counselor who worksheets are necessary. There should be test keeps the files. The consultant may be asked to cabinets with lock and key where test materials, test come only once or twice a week. records and other information for processing can be Storage Area kept. If the psychometrician has to record and summarize results or do a research on them a An institution that takes care of the Testing Program computer is needed too. needs a room for storing test booklets and answer sheet. Some tests are thick and the population will Researcher’s Room dictate how many of them should be made Like the psychometrician, the researcher should available. have a private room that is not easily accessible to Old Test papers are stored for about five years – a others since his/her office also contains materials practice that may come in handy when questions on that should not be seen or touched by those who test results, especially of applicants, arise or for have no professional reason doing so. Data future research on concerns like item analysis. collected from the clientele, though not necessarily Cumulative folders are stored for some time after with names may be in hand for collating, graduation or departure, just in case references are summarizing or study. These may include test solicited about graduates or dropouts. These results, accomplished surveys and questionnaires. In materials fill up over the years, and will eventually some cases, the guidance researcher is in charge of be too bulky. Since the materials are confidential teacher evaluation. The sensitivity of the but must be accessible, it is important that the information the researcher handles is such that only storage area is within the Guidance Office, under those with professional concern over the materials lock and key, and properly protected from dust, should have access to them. insects or rodents. The researcher’s room should also be free from Other office supplies can be kept in the storage area distractions and interruptions so that the researcher to prevent overcrowding in the respective offices. Location Office and make it less accessible to the clients. To remedy this, some institutions provide centralized Numerous studies in the past, here and abroad, have facilities but deploy the counselors near the building consistently shown that guidance Counselors are frequented by the students they serve. Counseling among the last people that help- seeking people rooms are located in these areas. In some cases, one would go to for their concerns and problems. On a counseling room is made available and the positive note, this may mean that there are counselors take turns using it on a scheduled basis. significant others around who are willing and able Some institutions bring the Guidance Program to help them –friends, family members, relatives, closer to the students by having a Guidance corner etc.: or that they have enough personal resources to in the more traversed paths, running Guidance handle their difficulties themselves. On the activities in the classroom, and having counselors downside, it could mean that the help-seekers do make themselves visible during lunch, snack or not know that there are counselors they can turn to arrival and dismissal time. for help; have the perception that counseling is not for normal people: do not believe that the The Guidance Office must, however, not be too counselors can help them; do not know or do not close to the Faculty Room, Discipline Office, ot the trust the counselors enough; forget that there is a Administrator’s Room. This is to prevent the Guidance Counselors; or will not go of their way to clientele from confusing Guidance work with the see the counselor, according to Gibson and Mitchell work performed by the faculty, discipline officer (1999), countless studies reveal that when and superiors. Also clients who value their privacy counseling centers are located far from the may become reluctant to approach the Guidance populations for whom they are intended, clients do Office if it is too close to these other Offices. not show up. Appearance The location of Guidance Office can help minimize the obstacles. Situating it in an accessible place, The appearance of the Guidance Office is the within a frequently traversed area, can help window through which prospective clients can contribute to the prospective clients’ awareness of assess the Program and the people running it. The the Program and the counselors. And since the office should look comfortable and homey, to office is within reach, dropping in becomes a reflect the warmth and welcoming attitude of the natural thing. If they pass the area regularly, they Guidance Personnel. It should be inviting so that the can see the counselors more frequently and become prospective clients feel less threatened – the interior more familiar with them. This way pre- counseling must be soothing to the eyes, the decoration Is relationships that lead to trust in the counselor can enlivening, and the furniture comfortable. be established. Each Guidance Counselor or staff member should The Centralized Guidance Program in some also be given enough flexibility to express his/her educational institutions can have a special facility or unique taste and preferences. However, the room building that houses the entire Guidance Office for arrangement, furniture, décor and other contents all academic levels or courses. Such an arrangement must be suited to the age level of the clientele. allows for sharing space, reading materials, bulletin BUDGET boards, and furniture and is thus economical; Moreover, having a place dedicated to Guidance The Guidance budget is crucial to the Services and Personnel projects the Program as an implementation of all Guidance Programs. One important component of the institution. However, cannot have a well-delivered Program without such an arrangement could isolate the Guidance sufficient funds for salaries, activities and materials. In many institutions, management and Some Schools that do not employ external administration grudgingly provide what is needed testing agencies also charge a separate because the Guidance Office is not seen as Testing Fee. contributing to the Institution’s finances. If the help that guidance offers is seen in the context of OPERATIONAL EXPENSES “Healthy Affect = Healthy Mind = Healthy Body = 1. Salaries – In some schools the salaries of the Maximum Productivity and Effectiveness” faculty and the Guidance Counselors are at (something for evaluation and research to prove), par with one another. In other schools, the financial resources may be provided more willingly. salaries of counselors are slightly lower. Psychometrician and researchers usually SOURCES OF REVENUE receive a slightly lower salary than The School Guidance Program derives its revenues counselors. Secretaries are generally paid primarily through Guidance and Testing Fees. according to the Plantilla for office personnel. Guidance Fees – Most schools charge a 2. Testing Activities – Test materials are very Guidance Fee as part of the miscellaneous expensive, especially for the lower grade fees of the students. Because of the levels, as responses are placed in the test regulation on tuition fee increases, many booklets themselves, thus rendering tests schools are not able to adjust their fees, non-reusable. In most cases, a set of 25 salaries, and other items on the budget in booklets, answer and profile sheets, with accordance with the requirements of scoring stencil, manual of administration inflation. and interpretation and information on test Application Fees – Some schools collect development and norming, will cost at least Application Fees from prospective enrollees. PhP30,000.00. Since tests are not supposed Since personnel, testing materials and to be reproduced without the publisher’s supplies, and time are used in screening permission, the original copies have to be applicants for admission, a percentage of the made available for all test takers. application fee is remitted to the Guidance 3. Honoraria – for resource persons. budget. 4. Professional Development Activities – for Testing Fees – Some academic institutions conventions, workshops, seminars. have veered away from directly testing their 5. Production and reproduction of handouts or students by employing the services of testing announcements centers like the Center for Educational 6. Individual Inventory forms and folders Measurement and the Asian Psychological 7. Books, pamphlets, magazines, brochures Services and Assessment Corporation. and other printed materials Those schools charge their students a 8. Films and audio materials for seminars, separate testing fee or draw from the workshops or Classroom or Homeroom Guidance Fee. Since both testing agencies Guidance administer, correct, summarize, and interpret 9. Materials for research tests and conduct related research on them, 10. Office Supplies – paper, ball pens, markers, savings are made on Guidance resources and pencils, chalk, crayons, paper clips and the school does not accumulate test staple wires, etc. materials over the years. 11. Provisions for internet access 12. Computer software and licenses, discs, and printer cartridge 13. Communication expenses for mailed 1. Electricity and water materials 2. Janitorial services 14. Transportation expenses for home visits and purchase of materials Since it is Guidance Director who knows what 15. Snacks and lunch for resource persons is needed, it is important that he/she knows how 16. Decorations, curtains/blinds much money is allocated for Guidance Program 17. Repair and maintenance of equipment operations. In this way, he/she can apportion the 18. Miscellaneous expenses money in coordination with the Guidance Staff. Priorities should be set. Should the funds be too Capital Expenditures meager even for the essentials, the Guidance Director should make representations to the 1. Computers and printers – Computer units management or administration for a bigger and printers budget. The rationale for the request must be 2. Cabinets, shelves, drawers, tables and presented convincingly, and must be chairs, bulletin boards accompanied by evidence of Guidance Program 3. Filing cabinets usefulness. 4. Overhead projector, video and audio player, and preferably, multimedia player for If internal funds are not available, the Guidance workshops and seminars Personnel can work with the Parents 5. Air-conditioning units and/or electric fans Association, or coordinate with socio-civic organizations for funding or providing needed Utilities resource speakers and materials. Economizing These are contributions to be made to the school’s on materials – e.g., by recycling – is always an indirect expenses. option
Experiences On The Use and Misuse of The Shopee Application Towards Purchasing Behavior Among Selected Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Senior High School Students
International Journal of Academic and Practical Research