Educator–Counselor: A Nondual Identity for School Counselors

Abstract

In this special issue, the editors and each team of contributing authors offer examples of how a combined identity as educator–counselor can affect the various roles and responsibilities associated with school counseling. The suggestion that school counselor identity is always both educator and counselor is neither trivial nor a semantic distinction. Reshaping the narrative to suggest that school counselors are situated as educators who are oriented by counseling has the potential to mitigate much of the role ambiguity that has persisted in the profession for decades and, more important, has the potential to sharpen practice and contribute to greater student and schoolwide outcomes.

Evidence-Based School Counseling: Embracing Challenges/Changes to the Existing Paradigm

“…Although considering addressing the pervasive inequity and injustice created by structural racism and exacerbated by a global health pandemic may seem overwhelming, school counselors are ideally situated to implement preventative and developmental interventions that increase wellness and social justice outcomes (Henry & Bryan, 2021; Holcomb-McCoy, 2022; Lemberger-Truelove & Bowers, 2019; Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021; J. L. Moore et al, 2021).…”

“…L. Moore et al, 2021). The question is not if the issues exist, or if they are within our purview as school counselors to address (Henry & Bryan, 2021; Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021; J. L. Moore et al, 2021), but rather whether we are defining these issues as the problems of practice to which we give our time and expertise.…”

“…What we define as the purpose or goals for the process will either constrict or expand the amount and types of data we examine in our efforts to identify what needs to be addressed (see Gambrill [2019] for a further exploration of critical thinking steps necessary for this process). Although our situatedness in schools can be an asset to this work (Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021), it can also infuse the work with harmful political and historically oppressive priorities built around the achievement focus of the K–12 educational system (Love, 2019; Polk et al, 2022). School counselors, or any educational leaders, may find difficulty engaging in data-based decision making that goes beyond simply fulfilling administrators’ expectations or national educational policy demands (for a deeper historical review of politically driven data use in K–12 environments, see Zyromski et al, [2021]).…”

“…Although considering addressing the pervasive inequity and injustice created by structural racism and exacerbated by a global health pandemic may seem overwhelming, school counselors are ideally situated to implement preventative and developmental interventions that increase wellness and social justice outcomes (Henry & Bryan, 2021;Holcomb-McCoy, 2022;Lemberger-Truelove & Bowers, 2019;Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021; J. L. Moore et al, 2021). The question is not if the issues exist, or if they are within our purview as school counselors to address (Henry & Bryan, 2021;Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021; J. L. Moore et al, 2021), but rather whether we are defining these issues as the problems of practice to which we give our time and expertise. This can be informed by the first step in the evidence-based school counseling approach, namely, asking "What are the issues that are keeping our students from being successful?…”

“We Are the Heartbeat of the School”: How School Counselors Supported Student Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Although school counselors are trained to deliver social/emotional programming, significant changes to the professional role of the school counselor have led to confusion among education leaders about what counselors can and should do ( Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021 ). The ASCA National Model ( ASCA, 2019 ) explicitly states that school counselors work across three domains: academic, college and career readiness, and social/emotional.…”