Guidance Counselors&#039; Constructs of their Role Performance in Interventions Nurturing Academe-Community-Workplace Interface

Frederick  F. Rodrigo,; Irene  L. Flores,

Guidance Counselors' Constructs of their Role Performance in Interventions Nurturing Academe-Community-Workplace Interface

Discipline: Education

Abstract:

This qualitative inquiry explored guidance counselors’ constructs of their roles in interventions that nurture academe-community-workplace interface. These interventions were spearheaded by the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) and Northwestern University (NU) in Ilocos Norte from January 2007 to December 2009. Data sets were gathered via in-depth interviews with six MMSU and ten NU guidance counselors. The explored constructs of their roles were grouped into themes and sub-themes. Three major groups of interventions that nurture academe-community-workplace interface were identified. The most commonly-mentioned included those under academic development, followed by those under career development, and the least, those under personal-social development. All the interventions involved at least two groups of individuals like students and guidance counselors or concerned university personnel, while almost all involved members of the community (such as parents, guardians, and relatives) and workplaces (employers and staff), as well as those of the academe (both teaching and non-teaching personnel and students or even peer counselors). Moreover, the roles identified were grouped as follows: administrative, communicative, technical, coordinative, instructional, leadership, and facilitative. All of which were evident in the roles performed by the counselor-informants when they engaged themselves in academic development interventions. Across the interventions, which were grouped into three, the counselor-informants construed the roles they played in terms of their purposes. These intentions were found to be directed toward the academic growth and welfare of students, the visibility of the concerned academic institutions, the effectiveness and relevance of the guidance and counseling program, the involvement of parents and prospective employers of graduates, and the sustainability of relationships between and among partners in the academe, community, and workplaces. Aside from viewing the roles played by the counselor-informants based on their purpose, they were also interpreted in terms of their nature, importance, justification/rationale, strategies employed, and outcomes. When taken together, all these findings serve as anchor in ensuring a more comprehensive yet practical training—either formal or non-formal—for guidance counselors regardless of whether they are serving in a public or private institution of higher learning. Such training is needed in enabling guidance counselors to manage opportunities that nurture and maximize interfacing interventions.

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