Effective Guidance in Elementary Schools

Guidance in the elementary school requires an organismic growth concept, that is, a consideration of the “whole child,” where any one phase of growth becomes an integral part of the organism’s development. With such a concept guidance is thus concerned with physical, mental, emotional, and educational needs. All effort is directed toward the promotion of optimal growth and adjustment to life as a whole. Because children in the elementary school are still relatively immature in their personality growth, they are impressionable and flexible in their responses to experiences. In the elementary school there is virtual freedom from the pressures of making a living and vocational training; thus the school can concentrate on the development of a desirable personality. It is here that we can focus attention on the behaviour of children rather than upon subject matter.