TITLE:
The Digital Immigrant Guidance Counselors in the Face of the New Normal
AUTHORS:
Christian Victor B. Obrero, Eric James J. Pascua
KEYWORDS:
Information Communications Technology, Guidance and Counseling
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.13 No.4,
April
30,
2025
ABSTRACT: This study aimed to construct a phenomenological overview of the experiences of digital immigrant Guidance Counselors during the shift to the new normal and how digital fluency has impacted their delivery of Guidance and Counseling services through information communications technologies. The study anchored itself on the Social Interaction of Technology, Activity Theory, and Motivation Theories. To attain the research objectives, a qualitative design was used. The study covered 11 Registered Guidance Counselors from Baguio City and neighboring municipalities aged 36 and older. Phenomenology and thematic analysis was used as a means to treat the collected data through interviews. Findings from this study uncovered that the digital immigrant Guidance Counselors have discovered new modalities to administer Guidance and Counseling programs, an emergence of various challenges within the profession as impacted by the circumstances of the new normal, and a push towards professional upscaling. Digital fluency did impact the delivery of the Guidance and Counseling responsibilities during the new normal; and with that considered, it was concluded that the willingness to adapt to the ICT modalities was affected by the attitudes towards ICT. Critical analysis points to the gap of knowledge, and challenges with the resources needed to deliver programs through ICT were roots to the issues put forward during the new normal. It is recommended that after this research, actions need to be done to make sure that Guidance and Counseling services can still be accessible throughout any possible circumstance in order to help the learners in need.