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CHAPTER 2. IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND METHOD
3 Pupil Guidance
(2) Pupil Guidance in Various Major Countries


The importance of pupil guidance is also recognized in the U.S.A. and other countries. Arrangements for specialists such as counselors and school psychologists are made by schools and by local boards of education. All countries are concerned with pupil guidance problems, which have been become increasingly important year by year

In the U.S.A. schools and local boards of education have professional 'guidance counselors' assigned to such services as (1) assessing abilities and aptitudes of individual pupils and maintaining cumulative records for each individual as the bas is for counseling, (2) collecting and providing data which can assist individual pupils in educational and vocational planning, (3) providing counseling, (4) conducting group guidance, and (5) providing placement guidance.

Counselors are recruited from among university graduates with majors in psychology and other professional subjects. As of 1965, there were 33,646guidance counselors and 3,890 school psychologists. At the secondary school level, there was one counselor for every 508 students in grades seven to twelve.

In England and Wales some secondary schools have specialists in pupil guidance called 'counselors' or 'young tutors'. Their total number, however, is still very small. These specialists are employed from among teachers who have comparatively long teaching experiences as well as strong interests in counseling, or from among those who have completed courses at universities or teacher training schools specifically designed for the training of counselors. Counselors provide assistance and advice to pupils regarding personal, educational (notably selection of subjects and courses) orientation and vocational problems.

In France, specialists in pupil guidance are found in public "Educational and Vocational Guidance Centers" set up in each country and in each secondary school. These specialists are required to pass national examinations after having received a professional education at national centers for the training of guidance counselors or at research institutes of psychology attached to universities. In addition, there is a guidance system at the lower stage of secondary education called 'Observation and Guidance Period'. This system is designed to provide 4 years of systematic educational guidance services by keeping curriculum diversification to a minimum, thereby providing common programs to all pupils at this stage enabling detailed observation of the abilities and aptitudes of individual pupils.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, pupil guidance specialists are also called counselors, and are found in each school. University graduates who specialized in psychology and other professional subjects can be qualified as counselors. They are assigned to teaching duties but to a lesser extent than ordinary teachers. Counselors not only provide educational and vocational guidance in special guidance rooms, but also make direct observations as specialists, the task of which is assigned by classroom teachers.


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