Education

National Institute of Education (NIE): Arts (Counselling & Guidance)

Category Art and Social Sciences, Education, National Institute of Education (NIE), Postgraduate, Singapore
Tags Arts, Counselling, Guidance, National Institute of Education, NIE

Counselling and guidance are evolving to meet the needs of individuals in schools and communities to improve their understanding, adjustment, and daily functioning across the lifespan. The roles of counsellors are notably complex and multifaceted. The challenges and demands in the quality of the counselling and guidance services offered in the educational and community settings are also increasing. Hence, counsellors need to be reflective about their own practices and ways to enhance their competencies in these areas. The Master of Arts (Counselling and Guidance) programme is specially designed to equip counselling graduates with skills and knowledge in various counselling core areas to maximise counsellor’s level of functioning and the capacity to conduct research. The programme emphasises a developmental perspective, focusing on issues pertinent to providing counselling and guidance services and programme development. The counsellors’ personal and professional growth and development; appreciation of diversity and demonstration of understanding ethical and legal issues are also emphasised. The practicum allows application of theories and techniques leading to effective individual and group counselling.

This rigorous, informative and structured training programme is a course-work oriented professional degree that is designed to prepare new entrants into the fields of counselling and guidance as highly competent and caring counsellors. It is also designed to enhance and upgrade the knowledge and skills of counsellors at a master’s level and to prepare those who may wish to pursue a doctoral education later.

The Master of Arts (Counselling and Guidance) is a professional degree which comprises 42 Academic Units (AUs) inclusive of the 8 core areas for coursework component (11 courses of 3 AUs each), clinical instruction (2 practica of 3 AUs each) and dissertation (3 AUs).

The core areas have been identified as the essential competency areas for counsellors by Council for the Accreditation of Counselling and other Related Educational Programmes (CACREP). For clinical instruction, a total of 400 hours (100 hours of face to face and 100 hours of associated services for each practicum) is required. Students can start their full-time or part-time practicum after the completion of 5 specified courses.

Candidature
This programme is designed to accommodate both part-time and full-time students. It may be completed within four 13-week semesters for full-time students, undertaking an average of four courses in each semester. Part-time students may complete all coursework in five to eight 13-week semesters, undertaking two to three courses in each semester. Not all courses are offered in every semester and students are required to plan their study carefully to ensure a timely completion of the degree. Each course (3 AUs) involves 3 hours of contact time for 13 weeks (3×13 =39 hours).

Classes are normally conducted in the afternoons on weekdays and occasional Saturdays. Students are advised that successfully completing the programme requires some availability during regular school / office hours especially for counselling practicum. Hence, a demanding two years (or more) will be required to complete the programme. High quality work is expected and attendance in each class is of paramount importance. The minimum and maximum candidature periods for this programme are two years and four years respectively.