Given the trends in education that emphasize academic achievement, there is a

compelling need for all educators to utilize their skills, redefine training, and become current
rather than outdated professionals, who can contribute to the goals of contemporary
education and create safe schools and communities for all children. The global trend seems
to have moved from a casework and remedial approach to a preventive, developmental
approach in providing guidance and counselling (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994; Yuen, 2002).
Guidance and counselling services are important not only for adults but also children and
these services must be implemented in schools. Unfortunately, not all schools have a trained
guidance and counselling teacher, so an ordinary teacher comes into the picture to play the
role of a guidance teacher to help the administration manage the problems in school. If it is
being ignored, it will give a bad impact not only for the pupils but for school management and
administration as well.

“Go to the principal’s office!” Nobody wants to hear that. But sometimes, the
pressures and demands of school are enough to make anyone act out. That is where we can
come in as a guidance teacher, and make a fulfilling career from easing students through the
often tumultuous school years. With our help, they can navigate problems with confidence.
Children and young adults need guidance and support, especially when it comes to dealing
with academic, personal, parental and social pressures. Helping pupils reach their potential
should be our number one goal and to achieve it we should be caring, flexible, adaptable
and patient.

Guidance has been severally defined as the assistance given to individuals to enable
them make independent and adequate choices, decisions and adjustments in life. According
to Mkpa (1989), Guidance is a program of service intended to help students acquire the
capacity for self direction or self guidance. From the foregoing, the instructor is expected to
perform some guidance roles while teaching consciously or unconsciously. The major aim of
teaching is to impart knowledge, practical skills and understanding to the learner. Teaching
therefore can be viewed as a intentional activity aimed at inducing learning. The teacher's
priority is to meet the individual student educational needs. The dictionary of Education
(Good 1973) defined the teacher/instructor as a person employed in an official capacity for
the purpose of guiding and directing learning experiences of pupils or students in an
educational institution whether public or private.

One of the roles of a teacher as a counselor or mentor is to assist and guide pupils to
solve problems associated with learning, socioeconomic and family. For example, teachers
can guide a group of pupils to perform assigned tasks such as extra exercises on
Mathematics and as the famous proverb goes, ‘Practice makes perfect’. On the issue of
social emotions such as frustration, boredom, and so, teachers should guide pupils so as to
re-build confidence and actively participate in learning activities. There are also some cases
of pupils facing family problems such as divorce. In this case, the role of the teacher is to
advise and consult the student to find the cause of their problems. Teachers can also guide
the student if the student is unable to solve their own problems. In this context, teachers
should be sensitive and caring about each action and behaviour of pupils. If the pupils still
have problems, teachers should guide them to search for ways to resolve the issue
positively so that classroom-related problems do not exist as not to concentrate during
teaching and learning, sleeping and so on.

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 In addition, the teacher's role as a counselor is to always help develop pupils' ability.
This is because pupils at school have different levels of ability such as some being smart
and some being average. According Ramlah Jantan and Mahami Razali (2002) has divided
the aspects of individual differences to eleven different aspects, namely physical, emotional,
intelligent, social, cultural, personality, talents, interests, backgrounds and more. Therefore,
teachers play an important role in guiding and providing a variety of enrichment activities to
challenge their mental thoughts. This will encourage pupils to be more actively involved in
learning. In this context, teachers should provide opportunities for pupils to engage in
teaching and learning so that they feel loved and will be actively involved when teaching and
learning is carried out. In the classroom, teachers can use questioning techniques,
reinforcement techniques, and give encouragement to pupils so that their abilities can be
developed. Ability of a student must be developed in balance of all aspects, namely physical,
spiritual, emotional, intellectual and social.

In addition, the role of teachers as counselors is to help pupils to make

adjustment. In this case, ordinary teachers help pupils to adapt in various aspects such as
physical, mental, emotional, environmental and so on. This adaptation happens directly or
indirectly, whether in the classroom or outside the classroom. This is because all pupils have
different backgrounds, in terms of culture, religion, race and family. Therefore, teachers
should play a role in guiding pupils to familiarize them with real life situation, and motivate
them with words that can increase pupils’ enthusiasm. In this context, teachers must
understand pupils through the observation of attitude and behaviours of pupils in the
classroom. If there are pupils who seem depressed, teachers need to take action by meeting
and talking with the pupils and take actions accordingly.

The role of a teacher as a counselor is to guide pupils to make decisions. Teachers

should guide pupils to make wise decisions and be rational in different circumstances in life
so they do not lose their way in life. In this context, the teacher can only give suggestions to
the pupils, but the right to make the decision is in the hands of the student. In addition,
teachers also need to ensure that decisions made by the pupils are guided by moral values,
religion and culture. This is because values are important in providing guidance in life.
Regular teachers can also help pupils to choose subjects that they want to learn and
communicate with them regularly to think about career fields that they will operate in the
future to come.

Next, the teacher's role as a counselor is to form the positive working habit of pupils.
Forming positive habits can impact positively towards their performance and help improve
their learning. Among the positive habits that need to be formed are being positive when
facing difficulties, being sensitive to time in which they are aware of their schedule and what
to do when it is time, being confident in their abilities and themselves, willing to try to benefit
themselves and others. Forming of positive habits should be addressed by teachers in the
early years so that problems that arise can be contained and can serve as a lesson for the
challenges that would test us in order to achieve success.

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 In terms of ethics of a teacher in guidance and counselling, there are a few things
that a teacher has to keep in mind. Firstly, teachers need to develop trusting relationships
with students, and an understanding of confidentiality in communications and discussions
helps built that trust. However, teachers are sometimes obligated to break that confidentiality
under circumstances where the law or professional ethics require it. They may also breach
confidentiality to parents or appropriate third parties in instances where it would ultimately be
in the best interests of the student or when they are required to do so by law. For instance, if
a student is threatening to harm him or herself, the parents and medical authorities may
have to be notified.

Besides, an increasingly diverse Malaysian population equals an increasingly diverse

student population. Teachers need to be aware of their own cultural biases and values to
avoid imposing them on their students. They should develop an understanding of how social
and economic inequalities as well as gender, cultural and racial biases impact students and
their families. Teachers should ensure that each student in their charge has equal access to
the guidance they need. Some students will require greater attention, but teachers should
not use the needs of others or their personal preferences for certain students to prevent
them from serving all students at their level of need.

Therefore, it can be concluded that a regular teacher's role is very similar to a

counselor like the characteristics of a counselor to help pupils in the learning process.
Regular teacher must also have skills in guidance and counseling in order to solve the
problems faced by pupils and facilitate the pupils during the teaching and learning process.