RATIONALE The rationale behind this guidance program is to help high school students cope and overcome types of stress at school and adhere to their personal effectiveness and help them manage a better stress management program during school activities as well as examination. Designing such group guidance program will provide students a better avenue to enjoy classroom and school environment without engaging themselves to certain exposure of too much stress as it can affect school performance and academic achievement within the process of dealing to situations that will bring consequences to their unique individuality. Although education has undergone reform movements, most guidance programs have stayed the same changed only by adding new duties and responsibilities in response to each new educational crisis. For the most part, guidance programs are essentially old models with elements added to adjust to new teaching and administration models. The time for change in guidance programs has finally presented itself. A new interest in education by parents and community has caused educators to look carefully at resources and to develop an intense interest in stress management programs and finding new ways to overcome it. The guidance program was established to help students cope with stress, as (Aubrey, 1985) included helping students cope with stress at school the responsibilities continue to grow and few assigned responsibilities have been deleted even though parents and motivate students to stay active in school and increase their learning and how to establish learning rituals in the home without experiencing stress. CLIENTELE The group guidance program is to be proposed to a number of high school students which is a group of boys ages 14-16 years old from the secondary level of their education belonging to the middle income families that has tendencies of getting distracted easily to complex school activities, restless in such ways and is unable to cope with stress most especially after a very long examination. These group of boys will come from a reliable institution that is quite strict when it comes to school academic programs and follows straight curriculum under the rules and regulations of the school directors and that in this case, the effectiveness of the program designed will be a useful tool for this students in coping stress and have the appropriate stress management program through guidance supervision respectively. DEFINITION
The group guidance program involves an extensive process integrating professional organization to address the unique concerns faced by the school educators so that these students can engage in more spontaneous activity, to magnify one’s plans, to give them enough services and to become more efficient in delivering them.” (Finn, 1990, p. 586) This guidance program has developed an emerging paradigm that identifies the student as the primary client and designs the efforts in terms of the results for students. The results new guidance approach (Johnson & Johnson, 1991) is one approach to address the changing paradigms of stress and school counseling. This program is designed to guarantee that students can acquire the competencies to avoid the presence of exam stress and become successful in school and to make a better transition to higher education and be able to participate in school activities without having stress and that these students can keep active and well coordinated with themselves (Drucker, 1971).
The school counselors, using research on student needs have developed stress-based the guidance program as these services have been designed based on needs assessments that describe thoughts, opinions and desires of students to the bottom line of demonstrating the impact of stress management guidance program on students. The role of the administrator becomes one of negotiating results and plans, monitoring and appreciating processes and coaching for new behaviors rather than being in a position of directing the activities of the counselors and judging their effectiveness based on elusive criteria or criteria developed for use with teachers. Counselors are expected to demonstrate leadership in the development of the guidance program to better meet student needs by the student support team and the management of the guidance program.
A Systems Approach to Building a Stress Management-Based Program
Stress management-based guidance provides a new paradigm that can change the perspective on counselors’ contributions and responsibilities. There is more than one way to approach the development of the guidance program in groups which may or may not include addressing how stress management guidance interacts with other aspects of the school activities program such as physical and cognitive activities, school climate, and responsibilities for other programs within the school.
However, the one common focus is the need to ensure that all students gain specific techniques and useful ways they need to cope up with stress in school and to achieve a healthy student life as the stress management is to be delivered in different aspects of the guidance program with the intent of ensuring that counselors have sufficient time to address critical elements of the program. A Framework for School Guidance Programs (2003) addresses not only the student attitudes to be delivered but also the system of delivery, the management of the program and the accountability for standards. In this approach educators determine their own professional contributions and delivery system and that the system structure allows each group program to develop uniquely to meet the challenges of the specific clientele population.
The guidance program elements provide a framework to identify the desired program results as well as system elements that are needed for implementation. Each element is an essential part of the system. When all elements are present, the system provides the framework within which administrators, parents and students work together to ensure that students receive the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to overcome the effects of stress in their teenage years within the use of a guidance program mandates a new method for effective evaluation.
Program Elements
The guidance program is designed to be an integral part of stress management education of each student and the program consists of a system of elements, which are interrelated and other guidance activity programs useful for group of high school students. The structure of the program lends to the formation of a student support team which works collaboratively to meet the identified goals and students coping stages. The student support team consists of professionals on the school staff that includes health professionals and others.
The elements of the guidance program are as follows:
Mission:
This statement articulates the intentionality of the guidance and student support program. It provides direction for student goals and program activities by specifying the desired long range outcomes for those coping students. It links with the statement of purpose or mission of the administration and ideally with the other student group guidance programs.
Philosophy
The philosophy is a set of guiding principles that are used in the overcoming of stress and program implementation as well as the evaluation of the program. The principles address the students to focus on prevention, specify the management system, indicate how counselors will maintain their professional competence and indicate the activity guidelines for the stress management program.
Conceptual Model of Guidance Program:
A conceptual model of guidance for student stress management programs provides a framework for student goals and purpose in lieu to the bases in guidance program research. The conceptual model serves as an organizer for the elements of the program.
Goals:
Goals are an extension of the statement of mission and define the desired results to be met by the time the student is coping and overcome stress caused by examination and other factors as these are stated in terms of what the students are to achieve and be able to develop a program for personal wellness and effectiveness and avoid stress to kill their body stamina that can bring negative effect in terms of their attitudes.
Management System (Data Flow Schedule):
The management system is the process by which the coping stage and its results are being established. It identifies who is responsible for students acquiring predetermined behaviors, what data will be generated and analyzed. There is a clear division between the effectives as agreed upon the stress guidance program responsibilities and compliance to duties that have been assigned by others.
Stress Management Agreements:
The stress management is viewed in terms of the coping ways of the students that will achieve and related to the program goals; they are not lists of processes and activities the counselor will perform. The results agreements include a separate section for the desired program activities and duties. The guidance program leader responsible for the guidance program will be active in the negotiation of the stress management agreement in order to assure that the program activities are useful for students in coping and overcoming stress to the desired responsibilities expected of the students.
Needs Assessment:
Stress Management needs will identify the gap of what the students should achieved related to the goals defined for the program and provide directions for student support personnel to consider establishing as a need priority that is used to determine better effectiveness of the management guidance program and serve as a logical link for counselors and teachers to work together to ensure attainment of the specified purpose in the aim of helping students cope with stress as there is a need for stress guidance intervention.
Stress Management Plans:
The plans completed by the counselors indicate how the stress management will be overcome by the students as the plan contains the students ability to cope stress problems along with the activities and resources and how the evaluation will be done.
Monitoring System:
This is the process of ensuring that each student acquires the specified stress management guidance program. It is a system designed to communicate to the student and parent, the individual student’s progress in attaining stress management guidance-related goals. It is also designed to ensure that no student is left behind for the program activities.
Advisory Council:
This committee that consists of representation of those groups affected by the program and the purpose is to review guidance program effectiveness for stress management and recommend approaches for the students to get red of it in every process.
Master Calendar of Events:
A calendar of guidance program events to communicate program activities to allow students, parents to know what, when and where activities are scheduled as this element serves as a communication vehicle and increases the visibility of the program in the school and the community.
The way one sees and thinks about stress guidance must undergo a fundamental change if guidance is to move ahead. The approach focuses on the student as the primary client and not on the services being provided, counselors are encouraged to break out of established boundaries, to become more creative and to involve others in the process and provide a way for students to overcome stress and build a better school community and expand the resources available to help students.
Students under stress sometimes develop erroneous ideas about themselves. The degree to which these beliefs are irrational and important corresponds to the degree of emotional upset and subsequent distress they cause. When upset by fears, it’s good idea to consider whether there’s any support for these beliefs and imagine the worst possible outcome if correct. The objective is to consider the feelings of other people and thereby minimize unnecessary and stressful friction.
Stress skit
The students performed the stress skit intervention on the third day as an introduction of the cognitive component of stress reduction. First, asked the children, “What are some different forms of stress?” Responses are to be discussed, listed on a chalkboard, and divided into categories such as physical and mental. The students divided themselves into three groups and each group brainstormed, developed and acted out a skit related to their group’s assigned form of stress. Each child in the group acted out a particular aspect of how they were affected by stress. This interactive, non-pressured learning environment was frequently reproduced throughout the program.
Stress collage
In another activity, the students are to asked to create a large “stress collage” by finding images in magazines that were either relaxing or stressful. The stressful and relaxing images were pasted on opposite sides of a large piece of construction paper to illustrate the contrast between the two states of being. The students chose images based on facial expressions, bodily postures, actions, and environments that they perceived as relaxing or stressful. Participants had an opportunity to view other’s choices and discuss them as they worked. This activity allowed participants to be exposed to and to recognize different feelings and emotions, to be aware that different people perceive each emotion differently and to build experience practicing the skill of expressing one’s emotions artistically. Throughout this program, stress and relaxation techniques were used with the students in the hope that the students would realize that there are different ways of experiencing and dealing with stress. The students were taught that they had very powerful resources and ways of handling and dealing with stressful life events because it was understood that some of the participants might experience fear and anxiety in connection with some of these exercises, students were always given the opportunity to end their participation at any time. It is important for the participants to be able to identify sources of stress and then to have interventions to target the stress.
There is no one way to help the body repair and promote growth as there is one useful technique for students to cope up stress – diaphragmatic breathing activity.
Assume a comfortable position. Rest the left hand on top of the abdomen, over the navel and then rest the right hand on the left.
Imagine an empty pouch inside the abdomen beneath the hands. Begin to inhale, imagining the air is entering the nose and descending to fill that internal pouch. The hands will rise as the pouch is filled with air. While continuing to inhale, imagine the pouch filling to the top. Each inhalation should last two seconds for the first week then lengthen to two and a half or three seconds as skills develop.
Slowly begin to exhale to empty the pouch. During exhalation, the raised abdomen and chest will recede. This step should last as long as inhalation or may last one second longer after a week or two of practice.
Physical exercise is one of the most effective and healthiest ways to diffuse stress. The exercise should be aerobic, that is, it should entail as sustained increase in oxygen demand. It should contain coordinated, rhythmic movements rather than random and uncoordinated ones. In addition, the exercise should either allow one to “win” on every occasion. Students who begin stress management programs should try to include several strategies as students might choose one technique to avoid stressors, one to relax and one to vent excessive stress.
There are a number of students who experience difficulty making the transition from childhood to early adolescence and may be described as high-risk. The objective of guidance program activity is to promote an adaptive personal choice behavior in a high-risk group of high school students. School counselors play an integral role in creating developmentally appropriate services for this age group. In general, students have unique needs based on the rapid shifts in their physical, psychological and social development (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000).
The effectiveness of this guidance program enables the students to feel that the stress management has been beneficial in a lot of ways as it was rewarding because it provided a much needed service to the students while providing the counselors with a valuable learning experience. It can be frustrating because the changes noted in the students seemed slow. The students may feel that they have profited from the program. The status of this group of high school students resulted in their having more needs for stress management development in the area of personal and social development, the counseling personnel able to meet as the guidance program has resulted in a more comprehensive school program that will help prevent present risks of stress.
Students are encouraged to describe their values and aspirations in an effort to promote a healthy, future oriented self; as well as to enhance intrinsic motivation. The students also explore their daily choices to evaluate whether these choices are likely to promote or hinder their aspirations. Additionally, individual counseling sessions are used to develop more effective methods of problem solution and self-assertion. Weekly group guidance activities focus on the development of positive conflict resolution and adaptive peer relationships. While individual counseling and group guidance are not coordinated, students have an opportunity to practice and implement the problem solving and assertiveness strategies learned in individual sessions. As many of these students were referred to the program following discipline referrals, the majority of the group guidance activities use cognitive behavioral techniques and psycho education to develop stress resolution strategies. The group guidance activities explore both negative and positive peer influences as well as provide time to practice ways to avoid negative peer pressure due to stress.
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