Romania Clasa a XII-a Counselling and Guidance

Chapters: 5

1. Self-knowledge and personal development

Preparing for adult life

The Self: Concept, Esteem and Culture – The self is the total of our experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings about ourselves. It has a personal identity (what makes me unique) and a social identity (the groups I belong to). The self is both the knower (subject) and the known (object). Self-concept is how we see ourselves; self-esteem is how we value ourselves across areas like studies, friends, body and family. Self-efficacy is belief that we can succeed; self-regulation is managing our own behaviour, helped by self-observation, self-instruction and self-reinforcement. Indian culture sees the self with flexible borders that include family and community; Western culture draws a firmer border around the individual.

Cooperation and leadership

Leadership: Guiding a Team to a Shared Goal – Leadership is the ability to influence people so they work willingly toward a shared goal. Good leaders have vision, communicate well, are fair and build trust. The main styles are autocratic (leader decides), democratic (team takes part) and laissez-faire (team decides itself). No style is always best: it depends on the situation and the team. Leaders also shape company culture, grow talent, and good leadership includes everyone, including women.

Critical and lifelong learning

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Education options after high school · Personal marketing

Career Planning: From Knowing Yourself to Your First Job – Career planning has five steps. 1) Know yourself: interests, skills and values. 2) Explore career families and find out the work, study needed, pay and demand. 3) Plan a pathway with SMART goals and a plan B. 4) Search for jobs with a CV, cover letter, digital portfolio and interview practice. 5) Make the move from school to work and keep learning, because careers change over a lifetime.

Career, stress and equal chances

Stress: Nature, Sources and Effects on Health – Stress is the pattern of body and mind responses to events that disturb our balance and seem to exceed our ability to cope. Events that cause stress are stressors. Stress can be helpful (eustress) or harmful (distress). Lazarus showed that stress depends on appraisal: is it a threat, and can I cope? Stress can be physical and environmental, psychological (frustration, conflict, inner and social pressure) or social. Its sources include major life events, daily hassles and traumatic events. It affects emotions, body, thinking and behaviour, and long-term stress can lead to burnout. Selye's general adaptation syndrome has three stages: alarm, resistance and exhaustion. Long stress weakens the immune system. A healthy lifestyle protects against stress.