Peer counselling - a means of actualising Adolescents' helping potential

There is an increasing demand that schools should devote more of their resources to enhancing the emotional and social aspects of students' development, and should relax their competitive achievement-oriented practices. A peer-counselling programme is presented as one approach to affective education. Its principal goal is to form a system within the school through which students can become involved in counselling and helping their fellow-students. The training programme developed was based on four principles: understanding, experiencing, modelling, and application. The pilot study included 50 high-school students in Israel. Four general processes were identified during the training course: formation of learning groups, development of personal involvement, transfer of learning to practical situations, and mastering counselling skills and principles. The steps currently being taken to extend the project are briefly presented and discussed.