EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 8 , Number 1, May 2023 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) zzzzzz z Access and Influence of the Guidance Office on The Student’s Emotional Needs John Mark S. Santos1, Mark Joseph G. Dadez2, John Vincent L. Santos3 Undergraduate Researcher, Holy Cross College, Sta. Rosa, NE, Inc. Philippines12 Adviser, Holy Cross College, Sta. Rosa, NE, Inc. Philippines3 j.vince103@gmail.com Accepted: Jan 10th 2023 Reviewed: Marc 5th , 2023 Published: May 30th 2023 Abstract: This study seeks to identify and resolve a variety of issues that students face, including not only their physical behaviors but also their emotional feelings. The study focuses on students' emotions, especially during the pandemic, when many of them are dealing with difficulties that cause stress or uncertainty, and have become a major source of depression, which has been alarming at times. Most students do not go to the guidance office because they are embarrassed or afraid that they will start talking about it if other students see them. The study also intends to investigate some of the more serious reasons why students keep their problems to themselves rather than seeking assistance or advice from a guidance counselor, determining whether they had encountered more difficulties with Holy Cross College students' emotional problems that resulted in difficult circumstances. Identifying the number of students in the school population who are dealing with difficult situations that are causing them to lose focus in their studies. Respondents will be all third-year college students enrolled at Holy Cross College in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija for the academic year 2021-2021. Examining the study's findings, it can analyze and evaluate that data to gain a better understanding of how the guidance counselor comforts and helps students, particularly those who have stopped studying due to their circumstances, but they don't need to be stopped or do things they don't want to do if the guidance counselor comforts and helps them. Keyword: Personal Common Issues, Learning Concerns, Guidance Office Services, Guidance Counelor, School Capability Introduction Problems appear in the lives of individual beings from time to time as a test of their ability to be strong. Emotional issues are the most difficult to overcome and can lead to suicide, particularly in young people who are struggling academically. According to a narrative by Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, and Schellinger 1, students who participated in social/emotional learning programs proved significantly improved social/emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance when compared with untreated groups. The world is facing new challenges due to the pandemic that many students have been affected by. How the society deals with these issues particularly the different institutions when it comes to engaging with their student’s emotional needs? Does it depend on how the teachers solve this alone? Or seek other help from the council? Answering some related questions about the 1 Joseph A Durlak et al., “The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions,” Child Development 82, no. 1 (2011): 405–432, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x. mailto:riyu.choirul57@gmail.com Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 2 zzzzzz emotional crisis of the students, the researchers aim to uncover and determine several problems that students encounter, including not only their physical behaviors but also their emotional feelings. The school counselor is important in deciding the social and emotional needs of students 2. The study emphasizes students' emotions, particularly in this time of the pandemic, when many of them are dealing with difficulties that produce stress or uncertainty, and have become a major source of depression, which has been alarming at times. The majority of students avoid going to the guidance office because they are embarrassed or worried that if other people see them go to the office, they would talk about it. Educational systems as a whole, including school counselors, should educate students who are not only competent in basic academic topics but also have the ability to socially and emotionally practice healthy habits and behave respectfully while working with people of various backgrounds 3. The study also seeks to investigate some of the more severe reasons why students keep their troubles to themselves rather than seeking help or advice from a guidance counselor. All school has their guidance office, but they have a different level of how it acts, and how it will be managed. School counselors recognize that students should equally demonstrate growth in these domains to be successful. School counselors understand these domains are not considered separate but are intertwined, each affecting the other according to Schenck, Anctil, & Smith4. Identifying the juniors' abilities and skills may help them better understand their strengths. Children learn and use social/emotional domain norms as early as preschool and kindergarten to help them control their emotions and learn and apply interpersonal skills 5. Every institution's guidance office and consultant are critical in assisting students in transitioning to a new environment by offering useful behavioral and academic guidance information. Teenagers' school performance can decrease when they engage in high-risk behaviors including drug and alcohol abuse, sex, violence, depression, or attempted suicide 6. Having supervision from an officer not only implies how beneficial it will be for every learner, but it also has a significant impact because it measures their strengths and weaknesses with the help of the guidance officer. When students begin high school, they have a 40–60 percent chance of dropping out 7. According to the ASCA Position Statement, school counselors who design programs strive to promote student growth in academics, careers, and social/emotional development 8. According to 2 Lauren E Bell and Patricia Van Velsor, “Counseling in the Gentrified Neighborhood: What School Counselors Should Know,” Professional School Counseling 21, no. 1 (2017): 1096-2409–21.1., http://dx.doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-21.1.161. 3 Thomas Armstrong, Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom (Ascd, 2009). 4 Tina M Anctil et al., “Professional School Counselors’ Career Development Practices and Continuing Education Needs,” The Career Development Quarterly 60, no. 2 (2012): 109–121, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2161- 0045.2012.00009.x. 5 Ian Martin and John Carey, “Development of a Logic Model to Guide Evaluations of the ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs,” The Professional Counselor 4, no. 5 (2014): 455–466, http://dx.doi.org/10.15241/im.4.5.455. 6 Karen M Eaton et al., “Prevalence of Mental Health Problems, Treatment Need, and Barriers to Care among Primary Care-Seeking Spouses of Military Service Members Involved in Iraq and Afghanistan Deployments,” Military medicine 173, no. 11 (2008): 1051–1056. 7 Robert Wm Blum et al., “School Connectedness—Strengthening Health and Education Outcomes for Teenagers,” Journal of School Health 74, no. 7 (2004): 231–235; Klemens Franz and Alexander K Nischelwitzer, “Adaptive Digital Storytelling : A Concept for Narrative Structures and Digital Storytelling Build on Basic Storytelling Principles , Adaptive Story Schemas and Structure Mapping Techniques .,” Digital Media (2004). 8 Martin and Carey, “Development of a Logic Model to Guide Evaluations of the ASCA National Model for Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 3 zzzzzz The Rationale, school counselors are the first line of defense in discovering and resolving student social/emotional problems inside the school system. Guidance counselors have received specialized training in treating students with social/emotional issues that may compromise with academic success. School counselors construct a school counseling curriculum, offer small-group therapy, and provide appraisal and advice to enhance students' social/ emotional well-being within a school counseling program. School counselors help promote mindsets and behaviors that enhance the learning process and create a sense of college and career readiness for all students at all grade levels in human development. School counselors play an important role in encouraging students' interest, which is essential for their social and emotional development. The counselor's office is in charge of students' social/emotional development, which reduces the likelihood of disengagement. According to the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution (2015), social/emotional skills are particularly important for all students' main contributions in today's environment. The study adopts Theories of Counseling stated that: History or background, personality theory, techniques of psychotherapy and counseling are the three most significant areas that will receive the most attention to students. These three elements will expose the students' different backgrounds and concerns. It can also demonstrate how counseling will deal with these concerns, as well as gain access to the guidance office and take control over the student's emotional issues Methods A methodology study integrates data collection and analysis from various sources in a systematic manner. This type of research produces results through the application of computational, statistical, and mathematical tools. The data was gathered using a variety of methods, including interviews and surveys9. This is managed to accomplish by attempting to categorize the problem and determine its frequency by looking for effects that can be consistently applied to a larger population. The participants of the study are the volunteer third-year college students of Holy Cross College who were enrolled this academic year 2021-2022. Slovin`s Formula will be use in selection of participants. The data will be gathered using voluntary response sampling, which will be done through a questionnaire. Due to the pandemic's health protocol, the questionnaire will be sent in Google Form through the use of Messenger. It's split into two (2) categories describing the profiling of the respondents and the factors determining the Access And Influence Of The Guidance Office To The Student’s Emotional Needs. The first category of the questionnaire reveals the personal backgrounds of respondents to investigate their current status especially in dealing with emotional problems. It contains questions that confirmed their profiles and backgrounds. The second category of the questionnaire consists of four (4) sections to reveals common problems among students, learning concerns, office services and school capability. Each section contains five (5) questions that must be answered in order to describe the possible factors of emotional problems that are causing difficulties in their studies, as well as a question about what School Counseling Programs.” 9 Owen Doody and Maria Noonan, “Preparing and Conducting Interviews to Collect Data,” Nurse Researcher (2013). Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 4 zzzzzz action plan may be used to help students recover and promote school guidance and counseling. The first section of the questionnaire will identify students' common social/emotional problems. The second section will identify their learning difficulties as a result of their personal matters. The third section is to determine how students are aware of the guidance and counseling. The final section will assess the school's capability in dealing with the most serious social and emotional issues by surveying the students. The researchers used the Correlation Analysis to measure the strength of the linear relationship and association between students’ alignment to their program and their academic performance. The analysis also identifies the relationship, patterns, significant connections, and trends between two variables. Result and Discussion Table 1 – Factors determining the Access and Influence of the Guidance Office to the Student’s Emotional Needs Factors GWM VD VI Personal Common Issues without the Pandemic (1.1) 2.54 Agree Factors agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. Personal Common Issues during the Pandemic (1.2) 2.62 Agree Factors agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. Impact of Personal Issues in your Studies (1.3) 2.61 Agree Agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. Learning Concerns (2) 3.00 Agree Learning Concerns agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. Guidance Office Services (3) 3.06 Agree Guidance Office Services agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. School Capability (4) 3.31 Strongly Agree School Capability strongly agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 5 zzzzzz Overall GWM 2.86 Agree All Factors agree in determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. The table 1 shows that the General Weighted Mean of 2.86 with the verbal description of Agree which means that all the factors were determined to access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. It shows that students agree to have counseling program in the school. Table 2 – Kendall’s Tau Correlation test between the Profile of the Respondents and Factors determining the Access And Influence Of The Guidance Office To The Student’s Emotional Needs 1.1 1.2 1.3 2 3 4 Age Correlation Coefficient 1.000 -0.053 -0.074 -0.098 0.007 0.122 0.053 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.492 0.330 0.195 0.928 0.120 0.502 Gender Correlation Coefficient -0.022 -0.076 -0.108 -0.007 -0.121 -0.125 -0.142 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.803 0.325 0.162 0.928 0.115 0.114 0.075 Status Correlation Coefficient .204* -0.001 -0.082 -0.123 0.120 0.115 0.093 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.022 0.991 0.288 0.108 0.121 0.147 0.242 Father’s Occupation Correlation Coefficient 0.040 0.007 -0.035 0.032 0.093 0.055 .160* Sig. (2-tailed) 0.653 0.925 0.648 0.673 0.226 0.489 0.045 Mother’s Occupation Correlation Coefficient 0.010 -0.018 -0.035 -0.037 -0.075 -0.104 -0.054 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.910 0.813 0.651 0.624 0.333 0.188 0.496 Family Income Correlation Coefficient 0.004 -.144* -0.070 0.056 0.082 0.014 0.037 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.962 0.045 0.329 0.431 0.252 0.847 0.620 N 124 124 124 124 124 124 124 Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 6 zzzzzz Legend: 1.1 – Personal Common Issues without the Pandemic 1.2 – Personal Common Issues during the Pandemic 1.3 – Impact of Personal Issues in your Studies 2 – Learning Concerns 3 – Guidance Office Services 4 - School Capability *. - Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) **. - Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) Table 2 shows the significant relationship on the profile of the volunteer respondents and the factors Factors determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. The researchers used Kendall’s Tau Correlation test for the significant relationship between variables. The data shows that there is no significant relationship between age, gender, status, mother’s occupation and Personal Common Issues without the Pandemic, Personal Common Issues during the Pandemic, Impact of Personal Issues in your Studies, Learning Concerns, Guidance Office Services and School Capability. Therefore, the researchers failed to reject the null hypothesis suggesting that there is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents, personal common issues, and the factors determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs. And there is no significant relationship between the father’s occupation and Personal Common Issues without the Pandemic, Personal Common Issues during the Pandemic, Impact of Personal Issues in your Studies, Learning Concerns, Guidance Office Services but there is a positive relationship with the School Capability. (rs = .160, p < 0.05). The null hypothesis was rejected . While in the family income, it shows that there was a negative relationship in the Personal Common Issues without the Pandemic. (rs = -.144, p < 0.05) and the rest of the factors have no significant relationship with the respondents’ family income. To test the relationship of the student’s academic performance with their interest and skills, the researchers used the Spearman Rank-Ordered Correlation, setting the margin of error at 5%, the critical value for rejecting the null hypothesis is 0.206. The tabulation of data shows that the obtained value is rs = -0.004. To reject the null hypothesis, the obtained value should be greater than or equal to the critical value which only means that we fail to reject our null hypothesis (rs = -0.004, ρ>0.05). The correlation coefficient implies a trivial or no relationship at all between the alignment and self-assessed performance of the students. Table 3 – Kendall’s Tau Correlation test between the Factors determining the Access And Influence Of The Guidance Office To The Student’s Emotional Needs 1.1 1.2 1.3 2 3 4 1.1 Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .667** .378** .227** .144* 0.067 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.035 0.327 Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 7 zzzzzz 1.2 Correlation Coefficient .667** 1.000 .468** .297** .215** 0.024 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002 0.731 1.3 Correlation Coefficient .378** .468** 1.000 .295** 0.116 0.064 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.083 0.340 2 Correlation Coefficient .227** .297** .295** 1.000 .256** .182** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.008 3 Correlation Coefficient .144* .215** 0.116 .256** 1.000 .436** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.035 0.002 0.083 0.000 0.000 4 Correlation Coefficient 0.067 0.024 0.064 .182** .436** 1.000 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.327 0.731 0.340 0.008 0.000 N 124 124 124 124 124 124 The table shows the test for significant relationship for the Personal Common Issues without and during the pandemic, Impact of Personal Issues to the studies on Learning Concerns, Guidance Office Services, and School Capability. The data shows that there were positive relationship between the personal issues even without the pandemic on the personal issues during the pandemic, it has impact I=on the studies, learning concerns, and guidance office services. (rs = .667, p< 0.01), (rs = .378, p < 0.01), (rs = .144, p < 0.05). And there was no significant relationship between the personal issues without the pandemic and school capability. Therefore, the null hypothesis was failed to reject. Same with the personal issues during the pandemic, there were significant relationship on the variables. (rs = .468, p < 0.01), (rs = .297, p < 0.01), (rs = .215, p < 0.01) and also failed to reject in the school capability. Conclusions This study evaluated the factors determining the access and influence of the guidance office to the student’s emotional needs of third-year college students without and during the pandemic at Holy Cross College. Personal Common Issues, Learning Concerns, Guidance Office Services, and School Capability distance were the variables identified. The majority of the respondents' profiles did not show a significant relationship with other variables. Females respond more than males. The vast majority of volunteer respondents were single. Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 8 zzzzzz The general weighted mean was 2.86, with a verbal description of Agree, indicating that all of the factors were determined to access and influence the guidance office's influence on the student's emotional needs. It demonstrates that students encourage the school's counseling program. The researchers conclude that many students have emotional problems and seek help, particularly when they are around the school. Students encourage the school to regularly monitor students' behavior with the help of the Guidance Office. According to the study's findings, the majority of respondents were female, and they acted the most when it came to emotions. Women were very emotional and weak, and they needed assistance and support to recover from their personal issues. Recommendations Table 4 - A proposed action plan to help students recover and promote the guidance and counseling in school Area of Concern Objectives Activities Person in Charge Outcome 1. Personal common Issues without pandemic To obtain counselling in helping students’ relationship Make an often consultation with the students Adviser/ Counselor Students could often and express their feelings 2. Personal common Issues during the pandemic To obtain counselling in helping students’ relationship Make an often consultation with the students Adviser/ Counselor Students could often and express their feelings 3. Impact of Personal Issues in your Studies To put effective strategies in overcoming difficulties Monthly seminar for guidance and counselling Counselor Students share their problems to avoid suicidal 4. Learning Concerns To give students refresh and relax Academic break School Admin Students can relax and prepared for the following lesson 5. Guidance Office Serviced To develop an understanding not only on physical but also emotional needs of the students Monitoring the emotional status of the students Subject teachers/ Counselor Students' can access to the guidance office for their concerns 6. School Capability To support and help students to recover from their emotional problems Guidance and Counselling School Admin/ Counselor School will recognized for addressing the concerns of every students emotional needs. Volume 8, Number 1, May 2023 | 9 zzzzzz The recommendations of the study are presented in table 4. References Anctil, Tina M, Carol Klose Smith, Paulette Schenck, and Carol Dahir. “Professional School Counselors’ Career Development Practices and Continuing Education Needs.” The Career Development Quarterly 60, no. 2 (2012): 109–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2161- 0045.2012.00009.x. Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Ascd, 2009. Bell, Lauren E, and Patricia Van Velsor. “Counseling in the Gentrified Neighborhood: What School Counselors Should Know.” Professional School Counseling 21, no. 1 (2017): 1096-2409– 21.1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-21.1.161. Blum, Robert Wm, Heather P Libbey, John H Bishop, and Matthew Bishop. “School Connectedness—Strengthening Health and Education Outcomes for Teenagers.” Journal of School Health 74, no. 7 (2004): 231–235. Doody, Owen, and Maria Noonan. “Preparing and Conducting Interviews to Collect Data.” Nurse Researcher (2013). Durlak, Joseph A, Roger P Weissberg, Allison B Dymnicki, Rebecca D Taylor, and Kriston B Schellinger. “The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta- Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions.” Child Development 82, no. 1 (2011): 405– 432. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x. Eaton, Karen M, Charles W Hoge, Stephen C Messer, Allison A Whitt, Oscar A Cabrera, Dennis McGurk, Anthony Cox, and Carl A Castro. “Prevalence of Mental Health Problems, Treatment Need, and Barriers to Care among Primary Care-Seeking Spouses of Military Service Members Involved in Iraq and Afghanistan Deployments.” Military medicine 173, no. 11 (2008): 1051–1056. Franz, Klemens, and Alexander K Nischelwitzer. “Adaptive Digital Storytelling : A Concept for Narrative Structures and Digital Storytelling Build on Basic Storytelling Principles , Adaptive Story Schemas and Structure Mapping Techniques .” Digital Media (2004). Martin, Ian, and John Carey. “Development of a Logic Model to Guide Evaluations of the ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs.” The Professional Counselor 4, no. 5 (2014): 455–466. http://dx.doi.org/10.15241/im.4.5.455.