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Counselling Psychology Quarterly,June 2007; 20(2): 205–211THEORY AND PRACTICEPerson-centred approach in schools: Is it the answerto disruptive behaviour in our classrooms?FRANCIS GATONGIRothesay Academy, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland, UKAbstractThe person-centred approach based on the work of Carl Rogers (1902–1987) wasdesigned to promote openness, growth and change in understanding the counselingprocesses. It is an approach which is practical and helpful in education, because it cansolve some of the problems outside the curriculum faced by students. For example itprovides a way of understanding and solving issues of relationships, emotionaldevelopment and ethical behaviour that seem to be at the root of most of the problemsin school and society at large. However, it is essential to incorporate some acceleratingingredients to inform conditions which facilitate growth. These include acceptance,empathy and positive regard from others. For example it has been realized that if anindividual is denied acceptance and positive regard they fail to relate the meaning of theirexperience to themselves and positive growth in such a relevant way is inhibited.However, the approach is faced with some drawbacks which will be explored. Teachingtoday in British schools is a very challenging job. It is becoming increasingly difficult toestablish a classroom environment that is free from disruptive behaviour. The person-centred approach, where the student as the client is made responsible of his or her ownbehaviour, could be part of the solution. This could be the focus of an educational yetassertive discipline program. This paper will discuss the person-centred approach incounseling touching on the process of the helping relationship, empathy, congruence,unconditional positive regard as important concepts of the approach and somesuggestions on classroom management.Keywords:Person-centred approach, disruptive classroom behaviour, counselingThe person-centred approachAs opposed to the other therapeutic approaches, the person-centred therapy isfounded on the principles of attitudes, and based on the three ‘‘core conditions’’Correspondence: Francis Gatongi, BEd (Science) MEd, Rothesay Academy, Rothesay, Isle of Bute,Scotland, UK. E-mail: ndiwan2003@yahoo.comISSN 0951-5070 print/ISSN 1469-3674 onlineß2007 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/09515070701403406
of congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard, which were reducedfrom the original six and which the counselor alone brings to the relationship(Carkhuff, 1969a, 1969b). The person-centred approach is not concerned withfinding out the causes of the problem and finding the best solution possible. It isthe individual client, in an open and accepting relationship with the therapist,who is empowered to take control over his or her own healing. Healing is thenseen as something which must originate from the client and not from anyprofessional technique provided by the helper (Barnard, 1984). The helper is onlymeant to be a useful companion in the process. Person-centred therapy does nottherefore have any specific techniques which are applied in every situation; eachhelper chooses what is most appropriate according to the case at hand(Clarke, 1994, p. 1).EmpathyOne of the most important core conditions is empathy. Although congruence andunconditional positive regard sometimes take an important position, empathytakes the highest priority (Patterson, 1980). Empathy basically is the attempt bythe helper to enter the world of the client and really come to know it (Thorne,1984). The helper therefore in a sense enters into the ‘‘shoes’’ of the client. Andaccording to Rogers it is ‘‘to sense the client’s private world as if were your own,but without loosing the ‘as if’ quality’’ (Rogers, 1957, p. 99). It is not an easy taskto get as close as possible to another person’s way of seeing reality or constructsystem and here lies the difficult part for the helper. It even becomes moredifficult especially when one still wishes to hold onto one’s own reality. Trueempathic understanding development can take a long time to achieve.It is important for the helper to feel comfortable in their own identity for themto give empathy (Mearns & Thorne, 1988). It is thus basically important for thehelper to hold on his own identity, because this will be necessary in creating theneeded growth in the client’s self-concept. An important condition for empathy isthat it must be accurate and that it must be made known to the client. Both ofthese skills can be learned and they have been known to make a big difference tothe existing relationship between a client and the helper (Clarke, 1994, p. 2;Nelson, 2000, p. 43).CongruenceCongruence, sometimes called genuineness, is a characteristic of beingtransparent, real, and honest in a helping relationship. In simple terms, thehelper must be able to be genuine about the way he is feeling and let the client beaware of this, rather than play professional and keep the feeling to himself.Dryden (1990) argues that ‘‘the helpers should be ready to be as ready as istherapeutically desirable to their clients to a level of displaying their personal andprivate experiences to their clients, if the situation demands’’ (p. 17).Normally empathy is conveyed through active listening to the client whilegenuineness is about listening to oneself, i.e., being aware of everything that is206F. Gatongi