Role Expectations and Observed Performance of School Counsellors in Edo State of Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated school counsellors’ awareness of their cognate role expectations and the observed performance of these roles. Three research questions were raised as guide for the study. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select twenty public schools with professional counsellors in Edo State. From the selected schools, five students each from Senior Secondary School Two (SS2), who volunteered to participate in the study, were used for data collection. Two structured self-constructed questionnaire were personally administered by the researcher, one for counsellors and one for students. The data obtained were analysed using frequency counts and percentages, and mean ratings. The results obtained revealed that counsellors were aware of all their role expectations except in the area of appraisal service, counsellors role performances were unsatisfactory in the areas of orientation service, appraisal service, vocational and personal social services and information service. The counsellors however, performed satisfactorily in other five areas such as; individual and group counselling, educational counselling, follow up and referral counselling services and there were evidences of constraints to effective implementation of counselling services in the schools studied. Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations were made that school principals should be more supportive of the school counsellors’ work and also there should be regular workshop for training and retraining of school counsellors to enable them upgrade their knowledge and skills. It is hoped that the recommendations put forward in this paper, would go a long way in promoting counselling services in the schools, while further sustained research on this subject matter is required.

Keywords: Counsellors, cognate role, expectations, observed performance.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-36-12

Publication date: December 31^st 2021