Transformative School Counselor Leadership

Abstract

This descriptive, intrinsic case study explored a transformative leadership professional development opportunity designed for school counselors in a large, urban school district. Interviews with 19 participating school counselors provided increased understanding of school counselors' beliefs, skills, and agency regarding leadership and comprehensive school counseling program implementation. We discuss the results to support school counselor leadership development and implications for school counselors striving for educational equity.

Examining Ecological Factors that Predict School Counselors’ Engagement in Leadership Practices

“…The results from the current study also showed that identifying as a school counselor of color was positively associated with school counseling leadership practices. This seems to be inconsistent with previous quantitative results (Mullen et al, 2018), but aligns with qualitative evidence that school counselors’ race and ethnicity influence their experiences with leadership (e.g., Robinson et al, 2019; Strear et al, 2018). For instance, an African American participant in Robinson et al’s (2019) study noted that their communication with school partners was not nearly as positive as they experienced these interactions to be for their White counterparts.…”

“…The results further extended the line of evidence in the extant school counseling leadership literature regarding the impact of leadership experience and training on school counseling leadership constructs (Lowe et al, 2017; Meany-Walen et al, 2013; Mullen et al, 2018, 2019; Strear et al, 2018). For example, results from both Mullen et al (2018) and Mullen et al (2019) revealed that school counselors who indicating having more leadership experience were more likely to score higher on levels of leadership self-efficacy.…”

“…The importance of school counselors receiving and continuing to receive varied levels of leadership support—through supervision, mentorship, and targeted training (Hilts et al, 2022b)—to promote their professional growth and leadership identity development is emphasized in the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards (2016), Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)/Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs) standards (ASCA, n.d.), and the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies (ASCA, 2019b). Further, given that the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2019a) identifies leadership as one of the primary guiding themes undergirding school counselors’ roles and functions, targeted training on and experiences in leadership are critical for school counselors (Strear et al, 2018; Young & Bryan, 2015, 2018). To date, some research has examined the role of professional developmental experiences (e.g., leadership experience, mentorship; Mullen et al, 2018; Mullen et al, 2019) on school counseling leadership practice.…”

Leveraging State Policy to Promote School Counselor–Principal Collaboration

“…In a recent study, Strear et al (2019) found that school counselors are expressing strong interest in establishing closer and ongoing connections with school principals. This can result in more effective collaboration and increase the capacity to leverage social capital.…”

A Culturally Affirming Shared Leadership Framework

“…Further, the ASCA Ethical Standards (2022) provide direction for best practice and contain guidance specifically related to leadership (B.2.d). Professional literature also provides information regarding leadership in school counseling (Erford, 2019; Robinson et al, 2019; Shell, 2021; Shields et al, 2018; Strear et al, 2019).…”