SCHOOL LEADERS ENSURING THAT GUIDANCE COUNSELLORS ARE TRAINED IN PROFESSIONAL ETHICAL SKILLS TO BECOME PROFESSIONAL MENTORS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN GWAGWALADA AREA COUNCIL FCT, ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper focused on school leaders ensuring that guidance counsellors are trained to become professional mentors in secondary schools in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja. The researchers set two research questions to guide the study. Survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 2,128 teachers and 376 principals from 376 public secondary schools in 31 Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State. The sample of the study was 800 teachers, who were used to assess 200 sampled principals in the study. The research questionnaire was validated by experts in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations, University of Uyo, AkwaIbom State. The reliability of the instrument was carried out by conducting a pilot study, twenty teachers (who were not part of the sample) responded to the questionnaire. Test-retest method was used to collect data for analysis. The reliability index of 0.78 was obtained through Crombach alpha statistics. Mean statistics was used to analyse the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that principals did not train guidance counsellors to acquire mentoring skills in professional ethics, curriculum content, pedagogical, and teacher/student relationship skills in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. Based on the study findings, the researchers recommended that, school leaders in secondary schools should ensure that guidance counsellors undergo training on professional ethical skills to become   professional mentors etc.