Educational Counseling and Socio-Economic Development. MsC.Amilkar A. Brunal

 

(What do you mean?)[1] [2]

Traducing by PhD. George Davy Vera

Faced with the question of the REMO in 2012:[3]

 

"Is it valid that a magazine specializing in the dissemination of educational issues is also in the treatment of social and economic problems, is THE REMO a means of political analysis?",

I took advantage of this academic provocation at the time to affirm what I do not know if many people share in the academic world of Counseling:

 

"of course we must as Counseling professionals,  dedicate ourselves to the study and treatment of the social and economic problems of our time which not only our students and Counselors experience, but ourselves, not only as social beings, but as professionals that  face day to day  the effects of the models of social development that we live in.

 

Counseling, devoid of this level of analysis would not go beyond being a technical discipline in which naive and intuitive counseling is applied in a tone of popular wisdom that our grandmothers, with the best intention,  have historically performed.

 

I consider that the study of Person-Society-School relationships (which is obviously not unique to sociology), can not simply be an important chapter of our work, but the philosophical-praxiological essence fundamental to understanding such complex situations such as the construction of life projects in this contemporary society [called by some "Modern or postmodern" and by others with whom I share their position (Ulrichk Beck) risk society or society in which the second ,third, and fourth industrialization] in which the overwhelming and impoverishing neoliberal policy is increasingly accepted, implemented by normalizing hourly working precariousness, reflected in the multiple poverty (Max-Neef) of the families of most of our public or official school students, translated into precarious living conditions and probable futures.

It is for all this that a model of Guidance that is called "Latin American", It cannot evade the component of community life, as a fundamental axis of interaction with the educational community it serves. However, political aspects of the so-called socialist-communist NOT proposed here, which has shown in sister countries such as Cuba and Venezuela that the people reject any hyper-controlling totalitarian intervention of social life and equally radical and overwhelming of freedoms and human rights. Nor could we make apology for the savage capitalism we suffer in most of our countries. Much less is attended to the principles of liberation theology that at the time gave their answers to the problems of depressed societies like the ones we know in our daily work.

We have proclaimed several times in OrientAction, the search for humanizing and community models, communal, or community, without any weapon other than transcendental human action in our field, that allows us to work from critical pedagogies, a building of sense of life in community, such as models such as "Ubuntu" of pan-Africanist movements and the well-known Abya-Yala model, or Suma Kuamsay (Good Living) proclaim: Living in harmony with nature to nature which we belong to and on which we depend in order to build a social life in community (although it seems redundant), transverse in the micro social, at least by the principles of Empathetic Leadership and Alterity-Assertive (proposed in the glossary of our magazine OrientAcción), and in the social mezzo , by principles of ethically-sustainable economics (fair trade), aesthetics (harmonic), solidarity and synergistic, determined communally, giving priority to respectful, fair, rational and indigenous production, a principle widely explained by economists of the theory of "Human Scale Development".

Transcendental Human Action in Educational  Orientation

But what belongs to us beyond individual commitment as citizens? What actions are typical of our professional work? Obviously, the assistance position of distributing food, giving away used clothes, etc., which can be very appropriate for volunteer citizens, merciful  or empathetic, O.N.Gs or other social foundation organizations (which somehow seek to close the social gaps that states have stopped covering, often due to political corruption and/or mismanagement of public resources, without discounting the brutal weight of our countries' external debt, in many cases immoral and unpayable), may still be necessary and relevant in our communities, however obviously, that cannot be our role.

Social mobilization, in these cases, is left to those who belong to them: the social and trade union leaders whom we deeply thank for the working conditions obtained after decades of joint struggle in public squares and streets. Nor do I think that's the role of Educational Guidance.  This is not the invitation presented here, nor that of meddling in houses, returning old models poorly imported from social work and poorly implemented in   Counseling  of the 80s and 90s, supplanting the work of the official entities that they are responsible for intervening or mediating in the domestic-family sphere. Guidance   in other cases has also supplanted clinical psychology, (by the way, playing a rather mediocre role by the way), in the search for an identity of its own. It has also happened with pedagogy, when the Counselor replaces the teacher in his classroom with no better results.

I propose here, to work mainly and decisively for the empowerment and psychosocial strengthening of the families with which we work, from a [4]cross-sectoral and interinstitutional perspective, critical  (recognizing that the individualistic perspective   in Educational Counseling is necessary but insufficient), that makes it easier for them to generate social awareness, understood all this as self-recognition, as social beings capable of transforming and transforming their circumstances transitionally, ethically-sustainably, synergistically-solidarity, resilient and fragile, regardless of their difficult conditions of life. This is the work we consider to be momentous in Counseling as it obviously affects everything from the individual to all known forms and levels of society

So these are the reasons why in this edition, in the midst of the greatest pandemic of recent times, we are committed to various reflection-action articles, presented by colleagues of the highest  academic and human level, who pride us and exalt the field by demonstrating that their proposals in the areas of General Counseling,   Vocational/Professional and Professional Guidance,   Family Counseling, are not reflected in a distant desk, but within the very part of the work committed to the communities to which we owe ourselves. 

 

It's the right time to thank and recognize the totally selfless and voluntary work of all of us who make this means of expression and outreach possible. Thank you very much

 

Amilkar A. Brunal

 

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[1] Colloquial expression in culture popular Mexican, used here respectfully and joquely to refer to a supposedly obvious response.

[2] Amilkar A. Brunal, is a psychologist graduated from the University "Konrad Lorenz" of Bogota, specialist in Educational Guidance and Development Human the University "El Bosque" of Bogotá (2001), Educational Guidance in school field attached to the Secretary of Education of Bogotá since 1994 and master in Interdisciplinary Social Research graduated from the District University "Francisco José de Caldas(2008). Author of books Transitional Orientation 1.0 (2014) . "When Men Talk" and co-author of: "Role and Sense Education Orientation in Colombia." Co-editor from the Latin American Journal of Guidance and Development Human:"OrientAcción" of the Latin American Network of Guidance Professionals(Relapro) of which he is Director General for the period [2018-2021] amilkarbrunal@gmail.com . https://amilkarbrunal.blogspot.com/

 

[3] Torres Verdugo, María Angela, & Magaña Vargas, Hector. (2008). Profile of the REMO, five years after its foundation. Mexican Journal of Educational Orientation, 6(15), 1-8. Retrieved on 01 October 2020, http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-75272008000200013&lng=pt&tlng=es.

 

[4] "Minimum micro-social group, consisting of inbreeding, parenting or voluntary union, with the purpose of performing the existential axiological needs of: Subsistence, Protection, Affection, Identity, Understanding, Participation, Creation, Recreation and Communication sharing ethical modes (Post conventional-Conventional-Preconventional-Sub-conventionals) of  obtaining and managing satisfactors for these needs indicators of moral awareness. Magazine OrientAcción 2020[4]

 

EDUCATIONAL COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. Prof. Dr. Julio González Bello

 

University of Carabobo-Venezuela

 

Traducing by PhD. George Davy Vera

 

Summary

What is presented here is a short article in the modality of reflection article (Colciencias, 2010) to try to answer the question what is the main role that educational guidance can play in community social development? It is noteworthy  that  in Educational  Counseling, the emphasis had been placed on improving students on their study habits, their adaptation to  the environment, the solution of personal relationship problems, and on how to make better vocational-professional decisions; andultimately,  as in Education,  how a person could be helped in their social ascent from a social strip of  poor or middle class  to an upper middle class. That is, wellaimed at individual development. Now, during these times, it is also intended that Educational Guidance should also facilitate the   improvements that must be made in the community where it is lived. In these times, we seek through the Educational Counseling,   that the development of individual is complemented by sustainable,  and inclusive community social  development, and that in my opinion neither of us should be above the other, on the understanding that in Human Development, both individual development, and community,  social development must be considered. It is said  that the Counseling professional must exercise his role as an agent of change,  facilitating and coordinating processes of social transformation from the community, and even promoting the mobilization of the community, when necessary.

 

Keywords: Educational Orientation, Human Development, Community Social Development, Latin America.

 

Resumen

Lo que aquí se presenta es un artículo breve en la modalidad de artículo de reflexión (Colciencias, 2010)  para intentar dar respuesta a la pregunta ¿cuál es el principal rol que puede desempeñar la Orientación educativa en el desarrollo social comunitario? Es de destacar que en la Orientación Educativa, el énfasis se había colocado en mejorar, en los estudiantes,  sus hábitos de estudio,  su adaptación al entorno,  la solución de problemas personales de relación y en  cómo tomar mejores decisiones vocacionales-profesionales; y en definitiva, al igual que en la Educación, en cómo se  podía ayudar a una persona en su ascenso social desde una franja social de pobre o clase media baja hasta una clase media alta. Es decir, básicamente dirigido al desarrollo individual. Ahora, en este cambio de época, se pretende que la Orientación educativa facilite también  las mejoras que deben darse en  la comunidad donde se vive. De allí que en estos tiempos se busque a través de la Orientación Educativa, que el desarrollo individual sea complementado con un desarrollo social comunitario sostenible e inclusivo,  y que en mi opinión, ninguno de los dos debe estar por encima del otro, en el entendido que en el Desarrollo Humano se deben considerar, tanto el desarrollo individual como el desarrollo social comunitario. Cómo conclusión se puede afirmar que el profesional de la Orientación debe ejercer su rol de agente de cambio, facilitando y coordinando los procesos de transformación social desde la comunidad e incluso  promoviendo la movilización de la comunidad, cuando sea necesario.

 

 

Introduction

 

First of all, it has  to be clarified that the Educational Counseling is a  process of pedagogical, and bio-psycho-social accompaniment  (OrientAcción Magazine, 2018),  that is carried out from a school, understanding the period from primary or basic school, to university education. In this sense we share what Gutiérrez Gómez (2018), stated that "the Educational Counseling seeks to integrate the different forms of Counseling schools, for example, vocational, school, professional, family,   etc."(p. 1).

 

On the other hand, from a rather general sense, community social development   can be understood as the material and intangible improvements that can be achieved in a given community. The idea of improvement relates   to the intention of   raising the levels of well-being and service provision that  can be given in a specific community but also to improving intangible levels such as social justice,  communitarianism, human rights and universal values.

This work aims to develop the idea of how the current changes also implies changes within the initial conception of the Educational Counseling. In these times it is no longer enough to maintain the same approach that has endured  for so long, where the emphasis was placed on a counseling process with a dualistic vision, and where it was basically  a counselor  to solve student’s problems. These problems ranged from improving their study habits, adapting to the environment, solving personal relationship issues, and how to make better vocational-professional decisions. Ultimately, as in Education, how a person could be helped on their social rise from a social strip of poor or lower middle class to an upper middle class, basically because of their inclusion in the country's  economic productive  apparatus.

 

In this sense the idea expressed by Brunal, Vazquez, Mora, Borja and Osorio (2018), is shared when they state that it is required to overcome the instrumental technical approachthat prevails, in the Educational Counseling, from that era. Although it is fair to recognize that at some time there was also the approach to the community, but basically, having as its main focus the same student. In this case, attempts were made to approach teachers, parents and representatives and other influential figures in student life, but a completely different approach is required at the moment.

 

Community Counseling and Social Development

 

What is the main role that educational guidance play in community social development?

 

To date, in the field of  Counseling, there had been conversations of a development based on the individual, where it was only sought that a person could climb positions within the social pyramid, and be able to ascend within the different social classes, and basically from the strip of poor or lower rising  middle class for the middle or  upper class. All these considerations are about to change as the idea of community social development is taking on a lot of strength in the field of Counseling. This idea could  be  understood  as advancing material and intangible improvements in a given community, and can  be considered really novel as it involves considering the group where  you live at the same level as people.

 

For the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)(2015), social development (inclusive) involves first overcoming poverty, basically providing opportunities for decent work and improvements in living conditions, in aspects such as food and distribution of drinking water, to which the reduction of inequalities (gender, ethnic and racial), the strengthening of human rights and the capacities of institutions in the community and ensuring social participation can also be added.

 

The Educational Counseling to date had meant that thanks to the professionalization process, a person changed social status, and it meant that if previously lived in a neighborhood (poverty zone or lower middle class), as a result of that professionalization, the first thing he did was move to an urban area where people with better financial incomes usually lives, and thus enjoyed a better quality of life. Now the idea that educational guidance should also address community social development means that it must also deal with other issues that were not previously intended by The Orientation professionals, i.e. the role of the Educational counseling has been expanded.

 

This new change in orientation now assumes that Orientation professionals must become promoters of change in the community where their school is located, in an elementary or basic school, secondary school, or a university education institution. Now the guidance work must be done from a community conception, not as much person to person work, but also work with the whole community.

 

For Camargo Martínez (2009) the Community Orientation implies the commitment of the professional of the Orientation to "social transformation based on a process of awareness, organization and mobilization of people in the search for collective well-being" (p. 24)

 

But in addition to all the above, it should also be considered that from the Educational Counseling, as considered by a group of affiliated professionals in the Latin American network of professionals of the Orientation (Relapro), community social development  should be directed to the awakening of a group ethical awareness, which includes concepts such as social justice, communitarianism,  universal values,  respect of human rights and a solidarity economy.

 

It is also clear that from Latin America, because of the existing political conditions, basically because of the existence of the two polarities to explain macrosocial development (capitalism and socialism), we are in a very complex situation, where apparently neither option, to date, has been able to cover the expectations of the general population. since capitalism is only trying to favor large economic corporations, and from socialism, in some countries it has meant the formation of military castes, the enrichment of some sectors of society related to the government on duty, and the economic-social-health and educational debacle of the population, and in some cases, returning to the nineteenth century, according to thesocio-healthconditionsin which the population is lived

 

At this point it is worth noting what is expressed by the Latin American Network of Guidance Professionals (2020), and the idea that:

 

Like the international community points out, this group expresses its discontent with the two predominant approaches in the world at large (capitalism) and in the hemisphere in particular (Cuba and Venezuela) opting for the communal perspective, in order to be able to develop Models of Orientation that contemplate the component of my solidarity economyinits programs. (3rd, parr)

 

Thus, one of the mainchallenges of the Educational Orientation in the 21st century is to consolidate the role of Orientation professionals as an agent of change in a community and to be a facilitator of human development, on the understanding that it is made up of individual development and community social development.

 

Conclusion

 

In this change of era it is necessary for the counseling professional to decide by the search and experimentation of other goals and objectives in his professional career, he has already spent the time of counseling to improve study habits and application of psychological tests to determine the best career to follow. It was time to address other issues, such as    social justice, community development, and solidarity, sense of life, forms of government, democracy, human and peoples' rights, and ethics and universal values.

 

How it can be said that the Guidance professional must exercise his role as an agent of change by facilitating and coordinating processes of social transformation from the community and even promoting community mobilization, where necessary.

 

 

References

 

Brunal, A., Vázquez, S.G., Mora, A., Borja, C., and Osorio, S.  (2018). Transitional Orientation for the Sense of Life. OrientAcción Magazine. Available in:  https://revistaorientaccion.blogspot.com/2018/04/orientacion-para-la-vida-activa-completo.html

 

Camargo Martínez, X. (2009). Community orientation and communication tools for approach. A social approach to Guidance. Mexican Journal of  Orientation. Vol. VI. N.16, pp. 24-29. . .

 

Colsciences (2010). Permanent Indexing Service of Colombian Science, Technology and Innovation Journals. Colombia: Recovered from: http://www.colciencias.gov.co/sites/default/files/upload/paginas/M304PR02G01-indexacion.pdf

 

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (2015). Inclusive Social Development: a new generation of policies to overcome poverty and reduce inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. United Nations. Santiago de Chile.

 

Gutierrez Gómez, R. (2018). Educational orientation, labor market and globalization: employment prospects of educational programs offered by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico to young university students. Ibero-American Journal for Research and Educational Development. Vol. 8. N. 16, pp. 1- 24

 

Latin American Network of Orientation Professionals. (2018). Bio-psycho-social Pedagogical Model of Educational  Orientation.   Vol. 4. N. 4. Available in: http://redorientadoresprofesionales.blogspot.com

 

Latin American Network of GuidanceProfessionals.  (2020) .  General Report Advances Online Human Development Researchor. Available at:  https://relapro2020.blogspot.com/2020/06/informe-general-avances-en-la-linea-de.html