Responsibilities of the High-School Principal in the Guidance Program

Abstract

T HE development of workable guidance programs in our secondary schools demands a shift of thinking from subjects and subject materials to pupils-their needs and their problems. Many teachers are accustomed to think about education in terms of subject matter to be learned. Since their college courses emphasized mastery of facts, it is understandable that they should consider their function in the high school as primarily concerned with the teaching of facts. In answering the question, do you teach? many will say, I teach French, or mathematics, etc. They do not say, I teach boys and girls who have different needs, interests, and aptitudes. The guidance program, with its stress on individual differences, requires that teachers shift their thinking from how to adjust Johnny to the curriculum to how to adjust the curriculum to Johnny. Many teachers, then, require redirection of their thinking if the guidance program is to succeed in helping youngsters to solve their problems. The key person in redirecting the thinking of teachers must, of course, be the high-school principal. The counselor performs the activities involved in implementing the guidance services of a school, but he is not the central figure. The success of a guidance program depends on the principal's establishment of a framework which will insure the smooth operation of the program. What the principal does, or fails to do, will decide, more than any other factor, the effectiveness of the guidance services. The appreciation and support which teachers will give to a guidance program is conditioned by the appreciation and support which the principal gives to it. What, then, are the responsibilities of the principal in supporting the guidance program? For convenience in discussion, these responsibilities may be grouped under eight headings as follows: (i) procurement of facilities for counseling, (2) selection of counselors, (3) development of a sound public-relations program, (4) avoidance of overlapping between the functions of the principal and the counselor, (5) distribution of guidance services, (6) dissemination of occupational information, (7) assignment of time for guidance activities, and (8) arrangements for an efficient