Counselling Services for the Distance Learner

INTRODUCTION

Distance education as an educational approach is being increasingly accepted in many countries of the world. The opportunities for learning at a distance have expanded rapidly especially during the last few decades.

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) instituted as an integral part of the university system of the country in 1980, is essentially a distance teaching university. Its registered student population which is 19,456 today, falls into the category of distance learners following programmes of study leading to certificates, diplomas, degrees and post graduate qualifications. The OUSL also offers associate student programmes and public education programmes which do not carry a formal qualification.

The main objectives of the OUSL are, to make higher education available to everyone, to provide mid-career training; to provide an opportunity to study while remaining in employment, to make life long education possible; to provide education even to geographically isolated areas, to promote social mobility and self improvement, to offer an opportunity to the disabled and to encourage and provide facilities for research.

The OUSL is intended for adult learners and enables its students to pursue further education at their own pace without disrupting the everyday necessities of work, whether at home, factory, school or office.

The system of education at the OUSL to a great extent is directed towards the learner. Besides, the system attempts in a large way to focus attention on the learner and the process of learning; unlike traditional pedagogy, where concentration is on the teacher and on teaching. The teachers are expected to facilitate learning and not indulge in mere instruction.

The system of study adopted by the OUSL is a multimedia system with strong emphasis on distance education techniques, using printed materials and audio-visual aids. The printed course materials provide the primary material for self-study. These are supported by day-schools, consultancy sessions, audio-visual material, seminars/ workshops, laboratory work, discussion classes etc. Hence what learning at the OUSL requires is not regular face to face contact with a teacher but interactive communication between the university and the learner.

Through its programmes of study the OUSL keeps the learners informed that learning depends on themselves, on their own motivation to learn, on their commitment to learn the lessons on their own, with guidance and support from the institution and the learning materials.

It has been stated that distance education requires an act of self discipline and that it is a purposeful testing of self-reliance and self determination (Manila 1989). It informs learners that not all knowledge and facts come directly from the teacher. It informs the learners that most knowledge, perceptions, and insights come only from their own actions. In the end, the distance learner comes to realize that the best teacher is really oneself, and that personal efforts in this connection are the most important. In essence distance education leads to the liberation of the learner and provides opportunities for self determination which can lead to the development of self reliance and thereby to the enhancement of self-esteem and personal dignity.

Wright (1987) examines notions of independent learning, offering a definition as, 'the ability to take responsibility for one's own learning'. Further Wright explains that personal development results when taking responsibility develops into a meta–skill which enhances the ability to learn other things, resulting in a gain in 'personal power' or 'potential for action'.

In fact the overall aim of any teaching and learning system should be to enhance the personal development of a student through the process of studying a course. The kinds of intervention adopted by the OUSL via distance teaching, in promoting personal development through learning are many and varied. Among the different modes of intervention, counselling services extended to the distance learner stand out as one of the best ways. Tait and Sewart (1983) record that counselling in distance education covers activities which under another broad term can be described as student support services. Counselling covers a spectrum of activities of informing, advising and counselling.

Advising is a mixture of knowledge and learner dependence and strikes a balance between informing and counselling. Counselling however is entirely learner dependent rather than knowledge dependent. Hence counselling services could be academic or non-academic. Academic counselling tends to relate to specific and cognitive issues and non-academic counselling tends to relate to general and affective issues. Learners however will not draw this finer distinction.

Two other possible classifications of counselling are developmental counselling and problem solving counselling.

Developmental counselling is concerned with the development of learners, and covers issues related to clarification of course information, entry requirements; orientation to study at a distance, overall career directions; support to deal with the sense of frustration and disappointment; encouraging return to study, organising and structuring time and social demands etc.

Problem solving counselling provides appropriate response to barriers in learner progress. Barriers to learner progress can be study-related, time-related, personal or institutional.

Whatever be the type of service extended, counselling could not only enhance the capacity of the learner to take responsibility for the learning but also could support the distance learner to acquire potential for action from what is learnt.

The paper attempts to review the relevance of counselling services in distance education in relation to the nature of the needs of students following academic programmes and courses of study offered by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and to examine the different modes of counselling that could be adopted to support these students.

Of the programmes offered by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences the programmes selected for the purpose of the above review are the Certificate in Pre-school Education, Post Graduate Diploma in Education, the Foundation Programme in Social Sciences and the Diploma in Management.

STUDENT PROBLEMS IN LEARNING

Considering the admission requirements for programmes as stipulated by the OUSL, all students registered, invariably are adult students over eighteen years of age.

Further the students registered for a particular programme invariably may have common characteristics as determined by the pre-requisites for entry. However the background characteristics of students generally vary in respect of the different programmes.

Table 1 below shows us,

i. The average male/female participation.

ii. The average age range of students enrolled in respect of each programme, during the period 1998-2000.

It could be noted that students registered for the Certificate in Pre-School Education programmes are all female students. But as regards the Diploma in Management programme and the programme in Social Sciences, male students outnumber female students. Of students registered for the Post Graduate Diploma in Education the majority are female students.

However there does not appear to be a great disparity in the minimum and the maximum age of students following the respective programmes.

As regards academic qualifications, students registered for the Certificate in Pre-school Education, the Foundation programme in Social Sciences and Diploma in Management programme have either passed G.C.E (O/L) examination or G.C.E. (A/L) examination. Graduates or graduate teachers employed in government schools, pirivenas, private schools, Teachers' Colleges and Technical Institutes of the country form the target audience of the Post Graduate Diploma in Education Programme.

Whatever may be the differences among students enrolled for the programmes under review, practically all of them are confronted with the problems of learning new subjects and may experience difficulties of mastering new concepts which are quite outside the range of their previous knowledge.

Further factors such as age, maturity, level of motivation, level of skills and abilities, problems encountered relating to time, employment and family support will vary not only within each group but also across groups and this in turn will influence students' perceptions of themselves as learners and of the services extended by the OUSL. Hence there could be problems that distance learners experience either because of individual differences among them or because of institutional factors.

Nearly 65% of these students follow the programmes while being employed and are studying part time. The difficulty of coping with family problems, the job and the study programme could make it difficult for some students to keep to schedules decided by the OUSL and hence they may experience stress.

Like all other distance education students, these students too are generally isolated and tend to be deprived of face to face support by fellow students and teachers. This in turn could lead to anxiety among the students especially due to their inability to compare performance levels with fellow students and hence they may be unable to set reasonable goals. Further it is likely that these students may experience a feeling of inadequacy as regards their ability to concentrate, to remember what is studied and to manage the process of revision. In fact a majority of the students used to the traditional mode of instruction that places emphasis on teaching, have to cope with the change to the distance mode of study. Both academic as well as non-academic counselling could make a valuable contribution to support these students who may experience the task of studying to be demanding and challenging.

It is assumed by some (Knowles 1980, Coggins 1989) that adult learners return to formal learning with a wealth of experience and skills that put them at a level capable of conceptualizing, being internally motivated, independent and self-disciplined. Along with these qualities, as Shomaker (1998) remarks, adult learners are capable of excellent critical thinking and are resourceful. But it may be observed that age does not guarantee this level of readiness to all adult learners and that there could be cultural differences as regards these abilities. Gamaathige and Dissanayake (1999) in relation to a study conducted on the Foundation Programme in Social Studies have concluded, that the younger students aged between 18 and 25 years performed better in the distance mode of learning than mature and older students.

It is likely that some, if not many, adult learners, have had negative previous experience and have not been continually enrolled on course work. As Farnes (1988) points out, such students may have difficulty in resuming a role left behind some years ago. Paul (1990) asserts a large number of students do not cope effectively with the demands for independence, time management and self direction posed by distance learning. However it should be noted that Paul's assertions do not limit the possibilities of growth and improvement throughout the learning process. In fact Beaty and Morgan (1992) found, resumption of education as an adult learner leads to marked improvement in levels of 'confidence, competence and control in learning'. The adult learners who returns to formal learning will in all probability act deliberately to develop themselves and their education for personal pleasure or in support of their careers. But it does not preclude the continued need for support, feedback, direction and encouragement (Shomaker 1998). Nevertheless Shomaker further observes that it is not possible to assume that students who return to formal learning to study through the distance mode, although relatively independent and internally motivated, are all gifted with good interpersonal skills and with capacity for personal development. The students registered with the OUSL are no exception to this observation. Hence as educators it is our responsibility to look into how the OUSL should provide services to guide and counsel students to develop themselves. The services of a counsellor who places emphasis on the developmental dimension of counselling could provide services to promote effective peer interaction and personal development.

Reviewing further the needs and problems of students registered for the programmes under review, experience suggests that the complexity of the procedures related to registration, re-registration, maintenance of studentship and examinations could also create problems to students especially in view of the large numbers enrolled for each of the programmes. Table 2 presents the total number enrolled in the year 2000 for each of the programmes under review in relation to staff numbers (academic and academic support staff) in each department.

However there is provision in the OUSL system to make available on print, general information about the programmes. But it may be that the students being accustomed to the traditional mode of instruction received through the formal school system, are unable to comprehend and interpret meaningfully the information furnished. Under these circumstances the students often have to proceed with the programmes without having defined manageable goals that stimulate interest and enthusiasm. As such these students need support to sustain motivation and the expected level of achievement.
