Jae&duai4Ao& WxAo

L. D. HAERTrER

This article is contributed by Leonard D. Haertter, director of theJohn Burroughs School in Clayton, St. Louis County, Missouri.

EDUCATIONAL administrators arebecoming increasingly conscious of theneed for a well-developed program ofguidance so that each pupil may behelped to develop his potentialities fullyand to become an effective member of aricher and freer society. No longer isa program of studies, set up to be mast-ered, adequate to meet the needs ofchildren. Schools must assume that theyare educating whole persons and notminds alone. Attention must, therefore,be given to the emotional, social, moral,and physical development of childrenas well as to their intellectual growth.

Since any member of the staff mayfind himself counseling a pupil, guid-ance will be successful only if the at-titude of the whole faculty is one of.interest in the individual and his prob-lems. In too many instances, teachershave been so interested in teachingsubjects that they have had little timefor thought about the pupil and hisneeds. As a result, guidance has beenconfined to the so-called problem casesand has seldom gone beyond the"trouble shooter" stage.

General concern, however, is notenough. What is needed is an effectiveprogram of guidance for all children.This calls for a sufficient number ofwell-trained counselors, skilled in ob-serving children and in using what hasbeen observed for the discovery of

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needs and interests. Time must be pro-vided so that children can be observedunder normal circumstances and in avariety of situations. Potential diffi-culties should be noted when it isrelatively easy to deal with them. Thework of the good adviser parallelsclosely the work of the doctor of pre-ventative medicine. Such doctors areinterested in keeping their patients wellrather than in helping them recoverfrom an illness. So, too, should the ad-viser be concerned with helping boysand girls to remain healthy, happy,purposeful beings.

Teacher-Advisers Provide an Answer

Ideally, these advisers should bemembers of the general faculty. Theyshould be relieved of enough of theirteaching duties to carry out effectivelytheir guidance duties. This means, ofcourse, that the faculty must be en-larged to provide the staff which sucha program requires.

The classroom teacher as a pupiladviser is a very logical choice. Goodteachers have the qualities of goodadvisers. They are concerned with thegrowth of the whole child and usetheir particular field of learning topromote such growth. They arefamiliar with and in sympathy withthe general purposes of the school.Their personality, character, scholar-

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ship, teaching ability, knowledge of thepsychology of learning, and day-by-day association with children undermany varied circumstances qualifiesthem to deal in an understanding waywith children. They are trained to ob-serve accurately, to analyze findingscarefully, and to act constructively onthe basis of facts at hand.

Such teachers can readily be trainedto undertake the specific duties of anadviser. Moreover, they will be betterteachers because of this further ex-perience. The greatest benefit comesfrom the fact that these advisers carryover to their teaching an interest inthe individual pupil which improvestheir teaching and their pupil relation-ships generally.

A Secondary School Program

Such is the philosophy on whichthe guidance program at the John Bur-roughs School is based. This secondarySchool is a co-educational, private,-ountry day school. It includes gradesseven through twelve; and its enroll-ment, limited to three hundred twenty-four pupils, is equally divided betweenboys and girls.

The faculty of the John BurroughsSchool numbers twenty-eight full-timeteachers and six part-time teachers.Twenty-six teachers are directly con-nected with the guidance program.There is a chairman of guidance, aschool psychologist, and twenty-fourprincipal and assistant advisers-allclassroom teachers.

Each adviser devotes about one houra day to guidance work, sponsors aschool activity, and teaches sixteen fifty-minute periods each week with anaverage total load of eighty-five pupils.

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Over a period of years the number ofclasses for teachers has been reducedfrom five to four, the meeting time ofclasses from five to four times a week,and the total pupil load of a teacherfrom about one hundred five to eighty-five pupils. In this way teachers havebeen freed from some of their teachingduties to make them available for ad-visory work. During this period ofyears the school staff has been increasedfrom twenty-two full-time teachers andfour part-time teachers to its presentsize, while the enrollment remaineddeliberately constant.

Individual Roles Define the Program

The responsibilities of the variousteachers connected with this guidanceprogram indicate its nature.

The chairman of guidance works

in close cooperation with the directorof the school in coordinating the entireprogram. He calls and presides at meet-ings of the advisory staff and has certainspecific duties. He is responsible forplanning vocational meetings for pupilsand for assisting the school librarian ingathering suitable materials about voca-tions and vocational opportunities. Hegives general direction to the program,but does not confer directly withpupils.

The school psychologist administersthe various reading, aptitude, and voca-tional preference tests and makes theresults available to the advisers. Oneof her chief duties is to assist advisersin the study of pupils with major diffi-culties. In such cases the pupil isbrought to the attention of the psycho-logist by the adviser, a complete studyis worked out, and recommendations

Educational Leadership

for action are made. In anticipation ofsuch work the psychologist regularlyvisits classes, activities, and advisorygroups in order to become familiar withthe nature of pupil experiences, pupiland teacher relationships, and pupilproblems.

The psychologist also helps the ad-viser in interpreting the results of testsand in conferring with pupils aboutthem, assists the librarian in gatheringmaterials about vocations, and helpswith the in-service training of advisers.

The adviser has direct responsibilityfor the day-by-day work of counselingpupils. There is one adviser and one as-sistant adviser for each group of twenty-seven pupils, called the advisory group.There are two advisory groups in eachgrade, one for boys and one for girls,forming a total of twelve such groupsin the school.

Data Comes from Varied Sources

Advisers and their assistants obtaininformation about pupils from a num-ber of sources. Test records, group con-tacts, and conferences with boys andgirls are included in these.

The adviser has 'full access to theschool files, which reveal past academicachievement (together with the com-ments of teachers about the pupil), hisrecord on reading and aptitude tests,his participation in school activities andathletics, information about his health,his special interests, and his work ex-perience.

Each adviser and assistant meet dailywith the members of their group for aperiod of thirty minutes. Here thechildren are observed and informationis gathered about them as they discussmatters, plan parties, and develop as-

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sembly programs. When no discussiontakes place the group studies, and workhabits are noted.

A private conference is held witheach pupil about twice a year. Theseconferences vary in length ar! dealwith a variety of matters such Is theacademic record, participation in schoolactivities, use of leisure time, personalproblems, study habits, friends, volun-teer summer work, choice of college,and vocational interests.

The adviser arranges a conferenceabout twice each year with parents ofeach pupil. The parent receives a fullreport of the pupil's experience in theschool and adds to the informationwhich the adviser has. Study habits,hobbies, relationship with members ofthe family, social activities, family inter-ests, personal and summer experiencesare discussed.

A variety of other sources provideinformation which is useful. Often theadviser will have members of the ad-visory group in class. The adviser maybe the sponsor of a school activity inwhich members of this advisory groupparticipate, the coach of a school team,or a member of a luncheon group. Allsuch situations are excellent for observ-ing children in a variety of circum-stances.

Total Growth Is the EmphasisAdvisers assume direct responsibility

for various aspects of pupil growth.Observation of and acquaintance withthe total range of a youngster's learn-ing experience make for more effectiveguidance.

Academic experience

The adviser plans the best possibleprogram of studies for and with each

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member of his group. These programsare decided upon in the spring for thefollowing school year. They are a re-flection of such things as pupil interestsand needs, past and present academicexperience, native and reading ability,vocational interest, and college prefer-ence.

The adviser is kept fully informed ofthe progress of the pupil's work and re-ceives a formal report every four weeksfrom the teachers of each pupil. Thesereports indicate the quality of workbeing done and comment upon studyhabits, contribution to class discussion,appearance of written work, and workdone beyond course requirements.

These reports are used in pupil andparent conferences, in arranging pupil-teacher conferences, and in planningfor extra teacher assistance. They mayindicate the desirability of a change ofprogram or they may indicate that someadditional school activity should be en-couraged.

Social development

The adviser is prepared to help eachmember of his group achieve a happyschool experience. This means that thepupil should have friends, be secure,have a feeling of belonging to the group,and be respected by his schoolmates.To help achieve these ends the adviseris on the alert to help the pupil makefriends, to give him security throughachievement, to give him a feeling ofbelonging by giving him responsibilityand experience in working with others,and to help him become a respectedmember of the group through the de-velopment of his particular abilities.

Effort is made to divide responsi-bility for various activities among all

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the members of the group and to keepany one pupil from being involved intoo many things. The advisory periodis a clearing house, a place to reportwhat is being done, to establish goodpersonal relationships and respect foreach other, and to use the entire re-sources of the school for the develop-ment of the potentialities of each child.

The advisers of a given grade alsoplan two or three social parties eachschool year with the members of thegrade. In the lower grades these partiesare held in the late afternoon, and inthe upper grades in the early evening.The advisers attend these parties andassist boys and girls in having a happyand valuable social experience. Op-portunity is given for observing chil-dren under normal conditions and oflearning the social development eachneeds most.

Participation in activities

One period of each school day is setaside for participation in such activi-ties as glee club, orchestra, dramatics,publications, fine arts, practical arts,photography, rifle practice, Junior RedCross, and Junior Academy of Science.The adviser encourages and assists eachmember of his group to elect one ac-tivity each day. Later, if an activityis to be changed, the adviser is consultedand approval is secured for any con-templated change.

Citizenship development

The advisory group is the town coun-cil, the training ground for goodcitizens. The school is organized togive pupils a share in the responsibilityfor operating the school for the bestinterests of pupils and teachers.

Educational Leadership

These responsibilities are discussedand agreed upon in the legislative as-sembly, the student council, the stu-dent court, and the advisory group.The advisory group then initiates legis-lation and continues the discussionformally begun in the legislative as-sembly. Recommendations are made tothe student council, the student court,and the social committee.

Responsibility is also assumed in awider sense. Children do volunteer workin hospitals and charitable institutionson Saturdays and during the summer.Each group contributes through schoolcampaigns to welfare funds and carrieson projects of assistance to local groups.For the past two years each grade hasadopted a European orphan, which re-quires contributing a fixed sum ofmoney each month, writing letters, and

sending clothes and school supplies.

Better Teaching Results

It is important to note again that aprogram of guidance is effective to the

-degree that all members of the schoolstaff are interested in the individualand his problems. But general concern,while a necessary condition, is notalone sufficient for a good guidance pro-gram. A well-organized staff of advisersis necessary to carry out the detailedduties of such work. These advisersshould be chosen from the best teachersof the faculty, and relieved of enoughteaching responsibility to carry on thework effectively. If such a program isfollowed, not only will the work ofadvising pupils have promise of success,but the teachers who engage in suchwork will become better teachers.

A Su&id=cue &o-q'~au

ESTELLE BONNER

This article, based on the experience of the teachers in the publicschools of Salina, Kansas, is written by Estelle Bonner, a teacher inPhillips School.

LONG BEFORE Roger Babson desig-nated Kansas as a part of the MagicCircle of the United States, the schoolsof Salina had begun the work of guid-ing their pupils toward sane, honest,practical, happy living. Not only havethe Salina schools wished to make their

May 1948

children conscious of their industrialand agricultural legacy, but they alsohave planned very consistently to givetheir pupils the desire to use their owntalents and abilities in proving thatclean, helpful, orderly living is trulyhappy living.

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Copyright © 1948 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. All rights reserved.