A Guidance Model on Personal and Social Competence for Kindergarten Pupils

Early childhood years served as a prime time for learning. In this stage, children need all the help they can get to learn and be equipped with the right knowledge, skills, values, and competencies to grow into responsible individuals. Research has indicated that children who lack personal/social skills can display a variety of problems, ranging from social withdrawal to anti-social behavior (Herbert, 1997). Guided by the theories of Rogers (1959) and Adler (1964), the researcher created a workable framework based on the identified competencies of Department of Education and the American School Counseling Association (ASCA). This study intends to understand the competencies exhibited by the kindergarten pupils, specifically, (1) identify and describe the personal and social competencies of kindergarten pupils;(2) develop a guidance model to enhance the personal and social competencies of kindergarten pupils with difficulties; and (3) tryout and validate the acceptability of the newly developed model.