Antiracist school counseling: A consensual qualitative study

Abstract

School counselors have a unique role as frontline advocates and change agents who work toward addressing systemic inequities within K-12 education (Placeres et al., 2022). Racism is the systemic prioritization of Whiteness as the standard of humanness, success, and well-being. School counselors are responsible for resisting racism in the support of the wellness of all students. This consensual qualitative study examined the question, what is antiracist school counseling? Four focus groups (N = 17) were conducted within the School Counseling Interest Network (SCIN), a subgroup of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES). The resulting four domains, such as anti-Blackness, knowledge, action, and responsibility, describe antiracist school counseling. Implications for counselor education, research, and practice are discussed. K E Y W O R D Santi-Blackness, antiracist, consensual qualitative research, school counseling Antiracism inherently and actively deconstructs racist policies, procedures, and systems to allocate resources and power equitably (Johnson, Brookover, et al., 2022;Johnson, Ieva, et al., 2022). Holcomb-McCoy (2021) described the practice of antiracism within education as the interrogation and destruction of educational policies that uphold racist perspectives, such as Eurocentric curricula, standardized testing, and discipline. Incorporating antiracism in school counseling requires a thorough understanding of the racism and

Theory‐informed school counseling: Increasing efficacy through prevention‐focused practice and outcome research

“…Social justice within education occurs when (a) resources and rewards are equitably dispersed; (b) policies and procedures protect the rights and freedoms of individuals and groups within the school and community; and (c) students, teachers, staff, and others are treated with respect and dignity, as fellow citizens (Jost & Kay, 2010). Given school counselors are situated within schools that are systems within larger cultural systems, these professionals can engage in preventive work that is procedural, interactional, and restorative, (Chen et al., 2010; Goodman‐Scott & Ziomek‐Daigle, 2022; Leigh‐Osroosh et al., 2023; Ratts & Greenleaf, 2018). As stated by ASCA (2022a), school counselors must “advocate for equitable, anti‐oppressive, and anti‐bias policies and procedures, systems and practices, and provide effective, evidence‐based and culturally sustaining interventions to address student needs” (p. 2).…”