An Ecological Model of Professional School Counseling

Abstract

The 21st century has witnessed a drastic transformation in professional school counseling, fueled by calls for social justice and educational equity and characterized by a movement toward collaboration, advocacy, leadership, and systemic change to promote academic success for all students. The authors describe how this transformation is aligned with an ecological perspective, provide an overview of the basic tenets of ecological thinking, and take a first step toward developing an intentional model of ecological school counseling.

An Ecological View of School Counselor Ratios and Student Academic Outcomes: A National Investigation

“…As a result, the counseling profession may consider (a) advocating for lower high school counselor ratios as well as (b) using an ecological lens when examining school counselor ratios. Although more empirical evidence is needed, school counselors can consider effecting student learning variables across multiple sublevels by using an ecological model of school counseling, such as that conceptualized by McMahon, Mason, Daluga‐Guenther, and Ruiz () as well as Sink (). For instance, systems thinking can be embedded into school counseling best practices, such as CSCPs, in order to serve students through a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate set of counseling services.…”

Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: Guidelines for the Counseling Profession

“…The socioecological model has become popular in health promotions because it focuses on the individual and the social environment as targets for health interventions (Stokols, ). A socioecological approach provides counselors a framework for understanding the extent to which individuals and their social environment influence each other (Cook, ; McMahon, Mason, Daluga‐Guenther, & Ruiz, ). Moreover, counselors and related helping professionals can explore the degree to which oppressive environmental factors influence the health and well‐being of individuals.…”

El enfoque intersectorial en la provisión de orientación y apoyo escolar. Perspectiva de orientadores, tutores y directores

“…Desde este enfoque, el papel de la orientación y la figura del orientador constituyen elementos fundamentales que requieren la reconceptualización de la orientación, del papel del orientador y del alcance de su práctica (Vélaz-de-Medrano, 2008;McMahon, Mason, Daluga-Guenther & Ruiz, 2014). De acuerdo con The National Center for Transforming School Counseling (NCTSC) (2009), la profesión de orientador escolar debe centrarse en las relaciones e interacciones entre los alumnos y el entorno escolar con el fin de reducir los efectos de posibles barreras contextuales e institucionales que pueden limitar el desarrollo del estudiante.…”