EVALUATING TEACHING AND LEARNING OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION

The above objectives indicate that teaching in tertiary institutions, which deals with teacher education programme, is more than instructing; more widely and provides a framework in which students acquire potent knowledge about subject matter. Above all, the objectives require teacher development in solid self-understanding and effectiveness that depends on their professionalism, experience and commitment. In the same way, Shuaibu (1991) states the important role teacher education programme plays in our educational system as follows:

It preserves the system. A teacher education programme should be concerned the teacher on how to select what to teach and to identified group effectively.

It should be evaluative. A teacher education programme should be evaluative of not only what is learnt but what has been considered worth while and how these matters have been taught.

It should be generative. The programme should be able to predict the future and work out the skills and attitudes that would be required to stand the test of time.

It should serve as a maintenance system. The teacher education programme should make up the short fall resulting from expansion in the education system.

A research-based teacher education programme should identify obsolesce in knowledge and methodology and substitute for these in the school curriculum.

The implication of the above roles stated that, the products of teacher education programme are expected to personify the educated Nigerian, to be a nationalist and a patriot irrespective of the circumstances of the environment and personal deprivations.

Among the various courses in the colleges of Education is guidance and counselling. The philosophy of guidance and counselling programme in Colleges of Education as stipulated by the National Commission for colleges of Education (NCCE, 1996) is inspired by the desire to help students become potentially and intellectually informed in guidance and counselling skills for logical reasoning, ideas, understand their capability, and to make useful decisions in education.

The objectives of guidance and counselling programme among other things are as follows; according to National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE):

·  To find out and make individual aware of their basic personal pre­requisites, abilities, assests, liabilities and potentialities.

·  To provide usable information correctly or clarify misinformation

·  Assess an individuals chances to succeed in the labour market.

·  To create awareness of client in the available jobs and how to progress in them.

·  To make available opportunities for further training and advancement in occupation.

·  To suggest alternative careers and realization of priorities.

Assists individual to use appropriate tools and techniques necessary for self-direction, personal understanding, self-confidence and mental maturation for healthy growth adjustments.

To mobilize all the available resources of the school or home for satisfaction of vocational, academic and social-personal needs of the student.

In order to achieve these laudable objectives as well as to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the Colleges of Education, there is need to constantly evaluate the guidance and counselling programme of our schools for rapid changes in educational, vocational and socio-personal development. Some evaluation studies have been carried out in the Colleges of Education in Nigeria are as followed Dienye (2005) defines evaluation as a process of finding out how far the learning experiences in relation to the content that have been developed and organized, actually produce the desired results. The process of evaluation will also involve the identification of strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum plan.

Evaluation involves a systematic process, it is controlled observation of pupils change in behaviour. Agbaegbu, Ezendu and Agwagah (2000) defines evaluation as a process of ascertaining the functionality of education programme and practices in a systematic manner. The learners are exposed to some content before evaluating or determining the extent of learning or behavioural change that has take place.

Teaching is a common term we use in three distinct ways: as a profession/occupation, as a doctrine/body of knowledge, and as a formal school activity, Keziah and Lawrence (2003). Teaching as a formal school activity is the major one that concerns us because it is the process of getting a learner become educated. Teaching influencing the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of other admittedly, teaching is concerned with education or behaviour change, it is a system of activity by a formerly knowledge, working with one or more learners to achieve certain learning outcomes.

Attempts to explain the concept of teaching and learning has introduced the issue of selling and buying. There is no double to the fact that but concepts involves some sort of interaction. In other words, some level of interaction is necessary before there can be teaching-learning or selling buying. But where as the seller-buyer relationship has an action of giving something to someone in consideration for money as the most important predictable behaviour, teacher – learner relationship has no one major event. Rather, it involves series of actions like marking of papers, discussing and demonstration, explaining and illustration or writing of something on the chalkboard.

Experience is the knowledge and skill that is gained through something for a period of time Oxford Advanced Learners dictionary (2000). For instance a teacher with ten years teaching experience influence the way he/she thinks and behaves in a more acceptable way from accumulated knowledge gained through the skills he acquire from a particular job.

The use of instructional facilities enhances learning experience and leads to interaction within the learning environment. Consequently the interaction culminates in increased interest and acquisition of competences needed for the occupational world. In this age of educational technology, the process of learning requires systematic application of scientific knowledge to practical tasks, identifying and analyzing learning problems. Learning occurs at three levels Olumba (1996) mention as follows; (a) Direct experience level (b) iconic experience level and (c) symbolic experience.

Direct experience level deals with the real life experience involving the interaction of the student with his environment through seeing, learning, touching and manipulation of what is learned. The iconic level of learning has to do with teaching students by means of pictorial. This kind of learning leads to vicarious experience. The symbolic level of learning is merely learning in abstraction as in mathematics. Learning experience is interaction between the learner and his external conditions in their environments to which he can react (Olaitan and Ali 1997). Learning environment is the collective social and technical setting in which teachers and students interact with instructional objects for purposes of acquiring skills, knowledge and attitude which is known as experience.

However, there are inadequate number of non-academic staff, no Mathematic workshop, no departmental library and lecture method is popularly used by the lecturers against discovering, demonstration and problem solving methods. Studies above revealed that most of the programmes introduced by Colleges of Education in Nigeria were inadequate to meet the need of the learners and society. Since guidance and counselling is part of the programme in Colleges of Education, the aims and objectives need to be attainable to ensure that they are consistently being achieved. For effective teaching to occur there is need for the teachers to posses the skills, the knowledge of the subject matter as well as the ability to select appropriate methods for delivery instructions to students. Certain facilities need to be provided to ensure the smooth running of the programme. Such facilities are classroom blocks, staff offices, provision of adequate staff personnel, counselling laboratory, seminar, sensitization campaigns, workshop etc. Akale (1991) observed that in some Colleges of Education, some of these facilities are grossly inadequate. Against this background, this work is geared towards evaluating guidance and counselling programme in Colleges of Education in Cross River State with a view to determining its strengths and weaknesses and proffering solution to the identified problems.

Statement of the ProblemDespite programmes mounted by Colleges of Education in Nigeria to meet the needs of the learners and society both human and material resources are inadequate. Since guidance and counselling is part of the programme in Colleges of education, it become imperative to evaluate the guidance and counselling teacher education in the Colleges of Education in order to determine its effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the needs of learner and society. An evaluation of guidance and counselling programme should not only be on1 Rstudent’s performance but also on all theEfacilities both❑physical and human resources that are necessary for a successful implementation of any education programme. Programme evaluation of this nature is useful for programme improvement, decision-making, personnel, accountability and availability of facilities. Therefore knowledge of guidance and counselling programme is critical in the improvement of teaching and learning of guidance and counselling, improvement of the personnel and taking useful and worthwhile decision concerning the development of Colleges of Education.

Since the inception of guidance and counselling in colleges of education evaluation research work has been carried out in biology, Introductory Technology, Business Education, Integrated Science, Physic, Social Studies etc. But no effort has been made to evaluate guidance and counselling inspite of it imperative impact to ascertain the achievement of its aims and objectives in the school system. The problem of this study is that teaching and learning of guidance and counselling have not been evaluated since the inception of the course in school. Therefore these study evaluate guidance and counselling programme in Colleges of Education and to determine the extent of which the objectives of the course have been achieved in Cross River State.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate guidance and counselling programme in colleges of education in Cross River State. Specifically the purpose of the study were to find out:

(1)  To what extent are the aims of guidance and counselling being achieved.

(2)  Lecturers’ instructional approaches adopted inteaching guidance and counselling.

(3)  The adequacy and availability of instructional materials and other facilities for effective teaching of the course content.

(4)  The problem encountered by lecturers in teaching guidance and counselling

Significance of the StudyThe study will enable the curriculum planners to also effect the necessary change be ensuring that adequate and qualified teachers are employed to teach guidance and counselling as to take care of students vocational, academic and social/personal problem which is the turning point of its objectives in line with the content of the course.

The result will provide administrators with useful information and an insight of the impact of guidance and counselling on students academic achievement and their future career. To parent, it will enable them to identify their weaknesses on part of failure their responsibility to provide for their wards necessary materials needed for a successful school work and learning.

Lecturers will know the damaging effect of guidance and counselling on students’ academic achievement. Hence they will look for ways of manipulating the school environment to provide conducive learning situation that will discourage poor performance among the students. They would exploit instructional approaches in teaching guidance in counselling with the necessary needed facilities to enhance effective teaching and learning.

This study was carried out in Cross River State be limited to Colleges of Education. The study was restricted specifically to evaluation of guidance and counselling programme in Colleges of Education. The CIPP (Context, input, process, product) model of evaluation is used with particular emphasis on the context, input, process and product (CIPP) aspect of model.

The programme is evaluated in terms of the extent of the achievement of the objectives of guidance and counselling contexts, availability and utilization of instructional materials and facilities. The adequacy of teaching methods employed by the lecturers and the problem encountered by the teachers in teaching guidance and counselling.

Research Questions

The following research questions were used to guide the study.

1.  How suitable are the course contents in achieving the aims of guidance and counselling programme?

2.  What are the instructional methods adopted for effective teaching and learning of guidance and counselling programme?

3.  How adequate are the facilities, counselling laboratory and materials for effective teaching and learning of guidance and counselling?

4.  What are the problems encountered by lecturers in teaching guidance and counselling?

Hypothesis

The following null hypotheses were formulated for this study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho1:  The opinion on the teaching methods utilized for teaching guidance and counselling is significantly independent of years of experiences of teachers.

Ho2:  The opinion on the problem encountered in teaching guidance and counselling is significantly independent of years of experience of teachers.