THE STRATEGIES OF SCHOOL COUNSELORS IN STRENGTHENING STUDENTS’ DISCIPLINE CHARACTER

Abstract

Discipline is an essential element of character education, playing a critical role in promoting academic achievement and a sense of responsibility among students. However, infractions of rules, lateness, and disobedience regarding school regulations still present common problems within the school environment. This article attempts to review strategies used by school counsellors to build the discipline of students through preventive services under the underpinning of Bandura's self-regulation theory. This qualitative research uses the literature review design to synthesize national and international journals, books, and other relevant official documents. National and international data were analyzed using a thematic analysis to identify patterns of preventive counselling strategies. The results indicate six significant strategies: orientation and information services, individual and group counselling, character-building programs, teacher role modelling, the use of educational rewards and punishments, and collaboration with stakeholders. A closer analysis through Bandura's theoretical framework shows how these strategies produce effects via the processes of self-monitoring, self-judgment, self-reaction, observation learning, and reinforcement that allow discipline to become an attribute internalized within character instead of temporary performances regulated by external control. The paper makes a theoretical contribution to the development of self-regulation-based models of preventive counselling and provides practical recommendations for teachers and schools to use as part of their practical intervention for GC in building an integrity-based and character-focused education climate.