ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the pastoral care system is both a part of, and subsumes, individual counselling within the school setting. Schools exist to facilitate the education of young people. Throughout history, the function of education has been seen as not only imparting knowledge, but also as helping students to learn about themselves. The pastoral system is the linchpin in establishing the ethos of the school. The emphasis on personal growth and on social skills training became prominent in British schools from the late 1970s through the extensive work of the Counselling and Career Development Unit based at the University of Leeds. R. Kaser viewed the pastoral system as an 'ecosystem', that is a functioning unit and its environment. The pastoral team should try to detect, and deal with, problems due to sterile relationships within the school and of inappropriate educational methods.
