1.

INTRODUCTION
Arbuckle (1966), Petecs and Farewell (1967) have drawn attention to the

implicit distinctions in the usage of the term guidance. Guidance and counselling are
both a process. The process of guidance helps individuals towards a better
understanding of themselves and their potential. In lay mans term, guidance is a
process to help individuals understand themselves and the world around them in
order to be maximize their ability and existing talent to the fullest. Counselling on the
other hand is more than just guidance. It is a journey to help a person, or better
known as a client, to understand themselves better by looking at the problem in a
different perspective. When a person understand his or herself better, thus he or she
will be able to take suitable measures for their personal growth.
Pupils in school may face many issues pertaining emotions, personal or even
learning. Sometimes, pupils are unable to have a voice in their homes thus they seek
for help when they come to school. One of the vital areas of education for a teacher
is to acquire considerable importance about guidance and counselling. This is to
enable helpless children to be identified and guided by the guidance teacher as well
as the school counsellor. Every teacher is a guidance teacher. In line with that,
teachers ought to detect, understand and help these pupils in overcoming their
issues faced. This will eventually reduce discipline problems such as bully cases
which can be caused by being neglected at home. Present day teachers have to
acquire some specialized knowledge regarding guidance and counselling in order to
guide the students tactfully in this highly competitive world.
Teachers should always be alert that not all pupils are similar. All students are
different from one another, having their very own talents and traits. We should never
degrade or belittle their talent. Teachers should know that pupils come from various
backgrounds. Therefore, it is important for teachers to know the students well,
perhaps by allocating some time during her lesson to know more about the teacher.
By doing this, the pupils will build the trust with the teacher and this could provide
positive outcomes on lessons during the interaction hours.

2.0

CLIENTS INFORMATION AND CASE BACKGROUND

As an educator in the making and even in the future, I treat my pupils equally.

Every child is give equal attention, love, care and help. I do not practise favouritism
in my class at any time. In my opinion, if I would to give different treatments to my
pupils, according to their ability, then I am consider a bias teacher. Quoting Larrivee
(2009), she stated that a teacher ought to possess a great amount of power to have
that far-reaching influence on their students. Adding on, a teacher can either be a
source of humiliation or inspiration, hurt or heal and destroy or build.
During my first week of teaching a Year 4 class, through to my observation
during my classroom interaction, I detected and realised a pupil to be very timid and
often puts her head and eyes down during the teaching and learning process.
Noticing the signals that people send out with their body language is a very useful
social skill. Looking down is also a sign that one is hiding their past or being insecure
about something. I name her pupil Y. She is a passive student during my lessons.
Scotland's University of Stirling found that, in a question-and-answer study among
children, those who maintained eye contact were less likely to come up with the
correct answer to a question than those who looked away to consider their response.
I proved this study wrong as when a question is posted to her, she stutters and gives
a late response to the question asked. However, most of the time her answer is
irrelevant to the question. According to Glasser (1986) in Charles (2011) explains
that all human behaviour is purposeful. Ones behaviour is never aimless or
accidental. The curious feeling was building up in me as I has some activities with
them but she did not response much. I did not want to be quick in my judgement,
thus I gave it a week before I asked my teacher supervisor. This step was taken to
hinder me from jumping into conclusions. While I reflected back, I presumed that
pupils may have trust issues with a new teacher like me.
On Monday morning, during assembly, I noticed pupil Y constantly looking
down. Even when the national anthem and the state song was sung, she did not look
up front. Upon entering class, there was no behaviour change in pupil Y. My curiosity
was building up. After class, I had a short discussion with my teacher supervisor. She
told me that pupil Y is a new student in the school. The other teachers complained
about the ability in terms of education competency. From that moment, I was

confident that the behaviour of pupil Y was because she has not made friends with
her classmates yet. Also, I knew she had some issues with her studies. During my
next teaching and learning session, I sat eye level and had a short chat with pupil Y.
She told me she comes from a broken family. She currently lives with her aunt with
her other two siblings. Her parents are split and they do not make it a point to meet
her and her siblings. At the end of our short talk as I did not want to pressure her
much, tears were rolling out her eyes. She told me she misses her mother.

3.0

IDENTIFIED PROBLEM
Both in and out of the classroom, pupils continually try to meet strongly felt

needs of security, love, care, belongingness, power and so on. According to Bob
Poston (2009), when an individual does not have enough of something, he or she
has a deficit, ultimately creating what Maslow has termed deficit needs. When any
of these needs is not being satisfied, pupil, in this context pupil Y, becomes
unsettled, distracted and is most likely to behave inappropriately. Pupil Y is lack of
love from her parents. Eventually, this has affected her so much that she is not
performing well in the studies. She was from a better school before she shifted here.
Due to her dwindled academic performance, she had to change her school. Pupil Y
may lack of love and is a below average student in terms of academic. However,
though my observation, pupils Y is very active in extra co-curricular activities. She is
an athlete.

4.0

THEORY CHOSEN
According to Jean Piaget in Charles (2014), children at age nine to 11, pupils

ethnically show some awareness of honesty and its importance in relationships.

Pupil Y is aware of the loss of her relationship with her parents. She is in desire need
of love and care from her very own parents. In the theory of client centred, Roger
believed that in order for a healthy self to develop, a person needs to be showered
with unconditional love, care, understanding respect and acceptance. Supporting this
detail is the Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Pupil Y lacks of the need of love and
belonging which falls into the third category. The first three categories are stated as
deficiency needs. (Woolfolk, 2010) In my opinion, if these needs are not fulfilled,
pupil will not be able to move towards the higher-level of needs.
I chose the client centred or person centred theory developed by Carl Rogers.
In the Rogerians theory, the client is made as the life wire of the interaction. The
active learner is to take an active role. During a therapy session, the clients decided
the path of the session while the therapist clarifies the client's responses to promote
self-understanding. Relating to pupil Y, I managed to build a quality relationship
between her and me. At first, she was very shy. But as I spoke to her, slowly, she
opened up to me as she had built her trust during the first week and the mid second
week of our classroom interaction. This, to me, was the first step of my session with
her. I did not force her to speak nor was I harsh with her. I used very simple
language as pupil Y is a low proficiency level student. My tone was also very subtle.
At times, her mother tongue was our interaction tool so that she feels more
comfortable when putting forward her ideas. I did not want to strain or demanded her
with too many questions at one go. I gave all importance to her as she is my client.
On the other hand, I used some non-verbal language to express myself.
Rogers, in Boeree (2006), emphasized the importance of the individual in
seeking assistance, controlling their destiny and overcoming their difficulties. Selfdirection plays a vital part of client-centred therapy. After the first day of interaction, I
fell into deep thoughts in finding ways to help and nurture this innocent soul. The
next day, as I was walking towards the teachers room, someone called Teacher!
The voice was very familiar to me. When I turned around, it was pupil Y who wanted

to greet me Good morning teacher. It touched my heart knowing that I have earned
her trust. From a girl who does not want to look up what more speak in class, this is
a great achievement for me.
Besides the dread need of love and care, pupil Y is also weak in terms of
education. She is considered a below average student. Therefore, during my
classroom interaction time, I put her with other few remedial pupils on a separate
table. Upon giving input to my pupils on the whole, I sit at the level of my remedial
students and give them my time. I have some simpler activities for them to solve. I,
as a teacher and facilitator, I use verbal and non-verbal gestured to help my clients
shall feel more wanted although they are grouped in the remedial group. I always
encourage them and call this group the Smarties of the Class. This is because
these pupils are not only intelligent but are also vibrant in the class. By using this
way, I have indirectly guided them to create their ideal self. Through this, they are
aware that can make a difference anywhere they step their foot.

5.0

METHOD USED IN PROBLEM SOLVING

Some of the methods put forward by Carl Roger in his theory is empathy,

respect or positive regard and congruency. I adapted and practised all three ways in
order to make pupil Y a better being or the school and the nation. I also used the
seven connecting habits which includes caring, listening, supporting, contributing,
encouraging, trusting and befriending suggested by Dreikurs.
Congruence is the most vital attribute in counselling. A person enters person
centred therapy in a state of incongruence. (McLeod, 2008) It is the role of the
therapists, in this case the teacher to reverse this situation. Rogers (1959) called his
therapeutic approach client-centred or person-centred therapy because of the focus
on the persons subjective view of the world. Relating it to my experience, I made
pupil Y the center of attention or also known as the most important person during our
conversation. I was very calm and relaxed while speaking to her. I sat close to her as
I sat on the same level with her. I made her very comfortable and made my first
session with her a quick one as I know she is yet to build her trust with me. After the
first session, I did not immediately bug her by asking pupil Y more questions. Instead
I reversed to the giving of positive regards.
During my teaching and learning lesson, I prepared a Star Chart. This
ensures pupils take part in the classroom sessions as they shall obtain a star at the
end of the lesson based on their performance. I involved pupil Y as well. Many at
times, I call her out to participate in the classroom activities. I wanted her to feel
loved and accepted by me and friends. Once, during a Pop-Quiz session, pupils
worked in teams. Knowing that the other pupils may discriminate pupil Y, I decided to
allocate the groups myself. In this quiz session, every child gets a chance to answer
a question posted. When it came to the group of pupil Y, she volunteered to answer
the question. She is slightly more confident these days when it comes to answering
questions in the classroom. Whenever I post a question, pupil Y will try her best to
answer the question. Perhaps, no one has told her her self-worth as the other
teacher may shun her during their interaction time. However, I can see a lot of
difference in terms of confidence from the day I knew pupil Y. The other day, as I was
clearing up after my lesson, pupil Y walked up to me and she said Saya gembira.
Saya suka cikgu. (I am happy. I like you teacher). I was overwhelmed with her

statement. I gave her a lose side hug and told her Jangan risau. Kamu sangat
pandai. (Dont worry. You are a smart girl.) Pupil Y is aware that I understand her
situation and I am ready to help her in any circumstances. Also, I appreciate her
involvement during the teaching and learning process.
Little do we know that our little actions can make a huge impact on pupils as
they feel valued regardless of the situation they face. Sometimes, we just need to
give extra attention to these pupils to boost their confidence. After that, we just have
to watch them fly and let them paint the sky with colourful colour that will leave you in
awe with their credibility. I am waiting to see what more had pupil Y in store for me. I
plan to implement art therapy one day with her to see her development.

6.0

CLOSURE
Since I am a freshman in this career, I should never hesitate to continuously

seek advice from more experienced teachers and mentor. Their advice will further
enhance my self-development as a teacher. Along with this, I can also seek for their
advice in helping pupils with problem so that I will be able to being out the best in
them. In real life situation, I may not fully adopt and adapt the theories I have learnt
in college when dealing with my pupils. However, along the way, there will be
connections to the various theories learnt during my teaching and learning process.
In addition, I also believe that children are our future. As a teacher, it is my
duty to teach them well and let them lead the way. All students are different from one
another, having their very own talents and traits. If some students fail to ace in my
subject, I should never label them as being weak and detriment their confidence
level. Instead, I should try to find out their strengths and show them all the beauty
they possess inside themselves and help them polish up their talents so that they
can grow up to become who they want to be in future. I shall guide them whenever
possible in their studies as well as advise them in other matters that will bring their
best out. It is important that students feel good about themselves before they can
further improve themselves in future. As my case study has touched on pupil Y, I did
not discriminate her in my class. Instead, I knew her problem and helped her rather
than ditch her aside.
I do acknowledge the process that I am going to advocate is somewhat
tedious, but I strongly feel that pupil Y sees herself as a failure. She will only improve
if she has the ongoing supportive involvement with successful people such as
teachers who is able to provide positive influence. If I ignore pupil Y, they will grow up
with no care and tender. Therefore, as long as I am in my practicum phase, I shall
not neglect pupil Y although I may be dealing with other students in my class. To me,
as an educator, it is my rights to help a child obtain the maximum input in the
classroom. In not, in the end, pupil Y may just be a weed with no sense of direction
in life instead of a tree that is able to stand firm on the ground. What I can do now is
at least to provide a sense of belonging in pupil Y, guide her through the right path
and boost her confidence level in the society. Relationships are always based on
trust and respect.

As Carl Jung said, One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers,
but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so
much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant
and for the soul of the child.

REFERENCES
Books
Charles, C. M. (2011). Building Classroom Discipline. (11th ed.). Pearson Education,
Inc. United States of America.

Larrivee, B. (2009). Authentic Classroom Management: Creating a learning

Community and Building Reflective Practice. (3rd ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
United States of America.

Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology. (11th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

United States of America.

Journal
Carl, R. (1957). The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality
Change. Journal of Consulting Psychology. Vol 21(2). (pp 95-103). Retrieved
from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0045357

Carl, R. (1959). A Theory of Therapy, Personality, and Interpersonal Relationships,

as
Developed in the Client-Centered Framework. Vol 3. (pp 184 256).
McGraw

Hill.

Retrieved

from

http://bibliotecaparalapersona-

epimeleia.com/greenstone/collect/ecritos2/archives/HASH0171/74dad6ff.dir/d
oc.pdf

Internet sources
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Person Centered Therapy. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/client-centred-therapy.html

Boeree, C. G. (2006) Carl Rogers: 1902-1987. Retrieved from

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/rogers.html

Article
Drab, K. J. (2010). The Top Ten Basic Counselling Skills. Unpublished. Retrieved
from
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~krhall/resources/cnslskills.pdf