COUNSELLORS’ CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN UYO LOCAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Abstract

This study investigated counsellors’ interpersonal characteristics and social adjustment of secondary school students in Uyo Local Education Committee. Two research questions were raised to guide the study. A correlational research design was adopted while the population of the study comprised of all the 6,618 senior secondary Two (SS2) students in the fifteen (15) public secondary schools in the study area. A sample size of 378 Senior Secondary Two (SS2) students which represents 5 percent of the study population was selected for the study using Taro Yamane sampling formulae. To get adequate sampled schools, random sampling method was used to select 9 public secondary schools out of 15. Thereafter, hence, 42 students were selected from each of the sampled schools using hat and draw method of random sampling, which gives a total of 378 sampled respondents. The researcher’s structured questionnaire entitled “Counsellors’ Interpersonal Characteristics and Students Social Adjustment Questionnaire (CICSSAQ)” was used for data collection. Data generated from the field was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) statistics and the study findings revealed a very high positive and significant relationship between counsellors’ rapport-building, confidentiality, and social adjustment of secondary school students in Uyo Local Education Committee. Conclusion was drawn from the findings while the researcher recommended among other things that, as a way of building rapport, school counsellors should always be friendly, approachable and offer timely support to students so that they can develop positive thoughts and beliefs about themselves as well as behave healthily with schoolmates.