Developing a Guidance Program for Townsend High School

Introduction: There has been some form or guidance since the earliest days of education. Guidance and education are practically inseparable since individual growth and development cannot be realized without both. The purpose of guidance is to promote individual understanding, to enable the individual to evaluate his circumstances and opportunities, and to plan his life in a way that he may better serve himself and a democratic society.

During the past few years guidance has come to occupy a prominent place in secondary education in the United States. This is apparent from the increase in the number or secondary school guidance programs; by the many professional and lay publications which declare the necessity of a strong guidance program to fulfill the objectives of education; by the urgent recommendations for guidance from such sources as the White House Conference on Education and the President's Committee on Education.

The school guidance counselor is the key figure in the total program or school guidance services. In most cases guidance counselors rise from the staff of secondary schools. This method or increasing the number or counselors has generally been successful. But more extensive development of counseling has shown that the guidance program needs highly trained personnel, who eventually reach the position of specialists in this unique field.

When there is only a single curriculum consisting or constants which all pupils are expected to take, as was true of many schools in the past and is true of some high schools even today, the possibilities of guidance in relation to the curriculum are definitely limited. But this situation has changed considerably and is still changing constantly.