Valuable for b.ed students.

1. Forms of Guidance
(informal , formal, incidental)
Dr.Rahila Nizami

2. Forms of Guidance and Counselling
• Much of the work that a teacher does in relation to
his/her colleagues and students can be characterized
and described as counselling. The starting point for
such conversations can be academic problems and
challenges, or linked to more social and personal
conditions where a student requires help and which
are directly or indirectly linked to teaching and
learning.
• Three Forms are; Formal, Informal and incidental
guidance and counselling
• Informal counseling is any situation where one person
goes to another for advice and help.
• Any helping relationship by a responsible person who
may have little or no training for work

3. Informal Guidance and Counselling
• Informal counseling---------- is defined in different ways.
• It consists of nothing more entering into conversation and listening to
someone, such as being available or pulling someone aside for a quiet
word about some problem they're having.
• However, in a work situation, for example, as a supervisor might
engage in informal counsel on the spur of the moment about
something that happened only a second ago.
• In fact, this is probably the best use of this type of counseling,

4. Informal Guidance and Counselling
• The important thing to remember about informal counseling is to use
the Golden Rule of Counseling - praise in public, reprimand in private.
• Don't, for example, ever bite a big piece off of someone in front of
everybody. All that does is embarrass the person unnecessarily and
can destroy their self-esteem. It will also make you seem like a
complete tyrant. No one wants to work for someone or be in
relationship with someone who, if something goes wrong, will make
her or him feel stupid in public.
• Talk, chat, discussion, confidential conversation, warning, scolding /
dispute debate

5. Informal Guidance and Counselling
• Informal guidance and counselling is a discontinuous process
• This process occur unexpectedly
• It is not forced and continuously planned
• It take place within established relationship as well as occur between those
people who do not know each other
• It is constituted through an invitation can you….. Would you…. Can I talk to
you about…..
• In this form role of a counsellor develop as a result of the case, situation
and the person who initiate the counselling
• In a school context, this can be seen in relationships between teaching
colleagues and between teachers and the head teacher. In the teacher-
student relationship, however, the clarification will be more pre-
determined, in that the role of counsellor is usually taken by the teacher

6. Informal Guidance and Counselling
• The informal guidance and counselling has elements of what Scho¨n
(1983) describes as ‘‘reflection-in-action’’. The actual situation or
event where guidance and counselling is desired, requires limits and
focus.
• It contributes towards constructing and framing the situation so that
‘‘an unclear and undecided situation becomes a decided and limited
situation which one can then adhere to’’(Lauva˚s & Handal, 2000, p.
101).
• The context is altered and with that the content becomes clearer, the
matter takes shape and becomes the ‘‘figure’’ against the background
of the situation (Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman, 1973).

7. Informal Guidance and Counselling
• Quite diverse
• Not organized and systematic
• No curricula
• No obligations
• No control over the performed activities
• It supplement formal guidance program
• Has in all places and levels
• Teachers always provide understanding assistance to students to help
them to overcome the problems of speedy learning and optimum
adjustment
• Advising, ordering and prescribing

8. Informal Guidance and Counselling
• Typically less expensive
• Counsellor does not possess qualifications required to interpret a formal
assessment
• It can offer greater cultural sensitivity
• Wording can be adjusted for individuals who may have lower literacy levels
or where English is a second language
• Sometimes informal can be more fun, creative and flexible
• Age group – norms of formal assessments are not appropriate
• More effective when a client’s level of self awareness is low
• Informal counselling assessment can be used to augment formal
counselling assessments in situations where there are conflicting or invalid
results, or in cases where a client needs to increase their self awareness

9. Informal Guidance
• Advising, prescriptive, directive
• It can be forced or threatening
• Receiver is passive
• We may all have at different times counselling or counselled
by someone from family, friend or colleague
• Voluntary
• No structure
• Personal
• Comparatively small depends on members
• No official leader

11. Formal or professional Guidance and
Counselling
• Place, time, situation and relationship are thus vital elements in, and
pre-conditions for the formal guidance. These elements will also be
decisive for the form, content and not least the exchange and effect of
the conversations. The close and direct connection to the participants’
experiences and events create a formal guidance and counselling
situation (Lave, 1988)
• The context will directly and indirectly express itself in the
conversation. There is an interactive relationship between context and
conversation. The context is often initiating or liberating for the
conversation. It can be a specific experience, something which has
happened, which is happening or will happen, a conflict, a success or
maybe a fiasco.

12. Formal or professional Guidance and
Counselling
• Formal counseling consists of a master's and above, trained counselor.
• Counseling sessions are scheduled in an office setting most of the time but
can be scheduled for in home visits and last for 50 minutes.
• The counselor provides objectively and tools to the client in order to reach
goals agreed upon by the counselor and client.
• The relationship is collaborative but the counselor does not give advice or
tell the client what to do. It is up to the client to use coping skills and tools
to reach their goals with the assistance of the counselor.
• Some situations where formal counseling is used: ∙ Mental illness ∙
Marriage and Family therapy ∙ Couples therapy ∙ Child therapy in schools or
in society
• It is helping another person with decisions and life plans whether personal
or educational or vocational by person especially trained for this

13. Formal or professional Guidance and
Counselling
• In professional or formal guidance and counseling, we tend to avoid giving advice for
several reasons:
Advice fosters dependency. If I tell you what to do with your life all of the time, then
how are you going to work it out for yourself when I'm not around and can't tell you
what to do? Professional counselors give you the tools you need to fix your own life
problems. Professional counselors make sure that you can handle issues when they arise,
and not call them every time your life falls apart. A word to the wise: if a PC is giving you
advice, run away from them as if you were on fire.
• Advice is simplistic, paternalistic and doesn't address the whole problem. Advice tells
you what I would do with a problem, and my solution might not be relevant to you
culturally, physically, medically, or practically speaking. Sure, we can review your options,
and we should in a professional setting, but ultimately, you carry the burden of making a
decision. I don't have to live with the consequences of my advice. You do.
• Hardly anyone listens to advice, anyway. You know why? Because most often, it doesn't
apply to their situation, it's too difficult to follow. A PC has a limited amount of time to
spend with their clients. Advice is a waste of that time. Rather, a PC should be directing
you to developing the tools and life skills you need in order to solve your own problems.

14. Formal Counselling
• Formal process by any counsellor in the school and by professionals in
community like psychologists or counsellors
• Formal procedures are followed like structured interviews with
opening and closing, strict ethical principles, include confidentiality,
professional boundaries and taking notes and keeping records etc
• Includes self understanding, self acceptance, self directions
• It is tension free, warm and friendly
• Receiver is active and motivated to think
• Defined structure, professional, large, deliberately and official leader

15. Incidental Guidance and counselling
• Any helping relationship by a responsible person who may have little or no
training for the work
• It is unintentional, additional, sudden, unexpected, unstructured and unplanned
• Their aim is to promote well being within the educational environment
• Takes place in variety of environments
• Confidentiality is also compromised as any incidental conversations can be
interrupted by an unexpected visitor
• There is a variety of roles that include the learner on one side and an educator,
mentor, teacher, teaching assistant, coach on the other side
•

16. Thankyou