Plugging the gap

There are several elucidations of the term 'Counselling'. However, I would like stick to the following definition put forth by the British Association for Counselling in 1978, as mentioned in the 2014 book, 'A Short Introduction to Counselling' by Sally Aldridge: 'Counselling takes place when one person accepts responsibility for helping another to decide upon a course of action or to understand or change patterns of behaviour which distress, disturb or affect his social behaviour'. Thus, it is comprehensible that though many a times we find certain inhibitions attached to the notion of seeking assistance through counselling, as it is thought to be only therapeutic, being attached to abnormal behavioural issues or concerns. The term goes beyond that connotation and includes specialised and professional guidance on various aspects of life. In recent times, with the world experiencing drastic transformation on a continuous basis, especially with COVID ushering in transitions we were absolutely unfamiliar with before, we are all able to comprehend the significance of counselling sessions.

With an exclusive focus on the teaching-learning landscape, an attempt has been made here to revisit the need for, and significance of, counselling from the standpoints of students, parents and faculty members in the contemporary global scenario.

Let us first zero in on the student's standpoint. The future hinges on their competencies, innovative outlook, adaptability, ability to address complex scenarios and resolve problems. They are the harbinger of revolution and change. Hence, counselling of students, from various perspectives, becomes imperative. Schools and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) should take initiatives for such sessions on a regular basis to address students' indecisiveness in taking up the right courses or the right career trajectory. Counselling is important to inculcate among the pupils — during their childhood days, adolescence and even the matured phases of life — to have the right attitude, mindset and conduct while socialising and working with peers and in understanding and accepting the advice and guidance by parents, guardians and faculty members. Furthermore, looking at the recent COVID scenario, when pupils have gone through a tough phase over the last two years, devoid of any interaction in the physical mode, just being used to staying indoors and studying and working over virtual platforms, it is now essential to carry out counselling sessions to equip them with the comfort, appropriate mindset and capability to return back to the normal. However, students of the HEIs, being matured enough to handle difficult circumstances, may cope up without such sessions to get back to normal.

Enormous accountability and responsibility fall on the shoulders of parents in bringing up and grooming their children in an appropriate manner. While the world is dynamic and too competitive, and with every parent willing to see their children on the highest step of the ladder of success, counselling may be carried out by trained professionals to provide parents with the right direction if they are willing to seek the same to address behavioural, attitudinal or even career concerns pertaining to their children. While focusing on one's own child's development and progress, a parent should also impart vital lessons to the child, like refraining from demeaning, bullying or dominating peers and that a class is a level playing field. In this digital era where we are all content with our deep-rooted relationships with gadgets and spend most of our time hearing or seeing things rather than being 'heard', it is of utmost importance that the parents are counselled to ensure that their child is 'heard'. Much of the complications that arise during various phases of an individual's development can be averted or addressed in case the problems are identified in their budding stage through cordial communication between the parent and the children. Parents also need to educate their children that competition is beneficial as long as it is healthy. In this backdrop it also needs to be mentioned that grades and marks cannot always predict an individual's range of accomplishments in future, and there are umpteen instances of mediocre pupils becoming extremely successful. Furthermore, huge success can also be witnessed in domains other than academics. Hence, parents should be considerate enough to understand where their child's flair, penchant and interest lie. In this fast-paced world, parents also need to realise the importance of focusing on shaping up a student's mind with the right value systems so that s/he is empathetic, emotionally strong, displays integrity and responsibility at all times. Though I have used the terms child or children most of the time, all these concepts apply to grown-up and matured individuals as well. Thus, from various respects, counselling sessions may provide suitable and much required assistance to the parents to find appropriate courses of action to help their child in their progression.

Finally, this article focuses on the very important aspect of faculty fraternity. Enter 2022, the crucial chapter of teacher-student direct or offline interaction that has been lying dormant for more than two years due to the pandemic, unfolds. The teachers would now have to face diverse and difficult scenarios like dealing with toddlers who have only experienced virtual classes or tackling grownups who might have felt some kind of ease in attending virtual classes or examinations. The teachers now bear humongous responsibility to realise each student's frame of mind and the exclusive support the pupil might need to adjust to the exposure to the normal physical mode of learning for the first time in case s/he is a toddler, or after a long gap in case of other children or grown ups. Hence, counselling may also help the faculty at large to deal with such challenging circumstances.

Everchanging global scenarios in terms of unprecedented disruptions, transitions and evolutions thus position counselling to play a critical role in helping individuals address various frictions and hitches, developing constructive relationships between the groups, in providing peace of mind as well as mental strength and, thereby, ensuring progress of one and all in the best possible way.

The writer is Assistant Professor (Finance), International Management Institute, Kolkata. Views expressed are personal