The guidance needs of a particular student or group of students are likely to differ and evolve based on different variables. However, information on the influence of certain demographic variables on the guidance needs of teacher trainees at the Colleges of Education level in Ghana seems to be unavailable. Our purpose in this study was to investigate whether the guidance needs of teacher trainees in the Colleges of Education in Ghana varied based on their sex, age, marital status and the college in which they were enrolled. The study employed a survey research design in which data were collected with the help of a questionnaire from a total of 401 2nd-year teacher trainees (256 males and 145 females). Data were analysed using means, standard deviations, independent samples t-test and Kruskal–Wallis H test. The results showed that the guidance needs of teacher trainees in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region vary based on the trainees’ sex, age, marital status and college. It was recommended that college counsellors should take into account the demographic variables of sex, age, marital status and college when designing and implementing guidance programmes in Colleges of Education.
Keywords: Counselling, guidance, guidance needs, guidance needs assessment, teacher trainees
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the counselling and appraisal services in the Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana. The research design used for the study was the survey approach. Four hundred research participants made up of 317 students, 80 tutors and three counsellors were selected from three Colleges of Education in the Volta Region through stratified and purposive sampling procedures. Stratified sampling technique was used to select the students and tutors while the counsellors were selected purposively. Data were collected with questionnaire and analysed using frequencies and percentages. The results revealed that teacher trainees were not benefiting fully from both the counselling and appraisal services. Some of the recommendations made were that counsellors should intensify guidance activities in the colleges so as to make guidance services, especially the counselling and appraisal services more attractive and accessible to students. In addition, college authorities should play a supervisory role to ensure that counsellors organise guidance activities in the key service areas on periodic bases, just like other co-curricular activities such as sports.
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