Target population
The method targets all categories of clients of information, counselling and guidance
services: pupils, young graduates of various education and training programmes, adults.
Examples, case studies, exercises
As presented above, problem solving can be applied by school counsellors in many
school activities, both with pupils and with teachers and parents. In what follows, a series
of applications of the method in individual or group counselling are presented, and some
relevant examples are offered of psycho-educational programmes developed starting from
this method.
Problem solving in counselling
Problem solving is an efficient method for the current activity of teachers, pupils and
parents. Often, in the counselling office or during Counselling and guidance classes,
pupils and teachers present vaguely defined problems, much too general, and ask the
counsellor for help in their solution. For example, pupils may report problems such as: “I
don’t get along with my parents, I don’t know what to do after graduation. I want to
communicate easier with my friends and classmates.” Parents may come up with
problems such as: “My child is disobedient and naughty, My child learns too little.”
Teachers in their turn request solutions to other problems: “Pupils are only interested in
money and don’t care about school, They don’t learn anymore, Pupils are undisciplined
during classes.” There are no solutions to such vague problems. The first step is to help
pupils, teachers or parents define through observable behaviours the “problem” in order
to identify viable alternatives together.
In order to give examples of the way problem solving may be used in the work of a
school counsellor, we present a case study (Littrel, 2001). The research has evinced the
way the counsellor integrated problem solving as a method in solving school problems
initially vaguely and generally defined. The case study shows the way the counsellor
defined a problem in measurable and modifiable terms starting from a global, vaguely
defined problem, and turning it into an operational problem with viable solution
alternatives. The programme lasted for two years and aimed to assess the effectiveness
and applicability of the method in the activity of school counsellors. We present the
application of the method by stages of problem solving.