Influence of demographic factors on guidance needs of teacher trainees in Ghana

The guidance needs of a particular student or group of students are likely to differ and evolve based on different variables. However, information on the influence of certain demographic variables on the guidance needs of teacher trainees at the Colleges of Education level in Ghana seems to be unavailable. Our purpose in this study was to investigate whether the guidance needs of teacher trainees in the Colleges of Education in Ghana varied based on their sex, age, marital status and the college in which they were enrolled. The study employed a survey research design in which data were collected with the help of a questionnaire from a total of 401 2nd-year teacher trainees (256 males and 145 females). Data were analysed using means, standard deviations, independent samples t-test and Kruskal–Wallis H test. The results showed that the guidance needs of teacher trainees in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region vary based on the trainees’ sex, age, marital status and college. It was recommended that college counsellors should take into account the demographic variables of sex, age, marital status and college when designing and implementing guidance programmes in Colleges of Education. Keywords: Counselling, guidance, guidance needs, guidance needs assessment, teacher trainees