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School Counselors' Strategies for

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Anneliese Singh

Professional School Counseling

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 School Counselors' Strategies for Social Justice Change: A Grounded Theory of What Works in
the Real World
Author(s): Anneliese A. Singh, Alessandra Urbano, Meg Haston and Eleanor McMahon
Source: Professional School Counseling, Vol. 13, No. 3 (FEBRUARY 2010), pp. 135-145
Published by: American School Counselor Association
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 Anneliese A.Singh,
Ph.D.,isan assistant
professorin the
Department of School Counselors'
Counseling and Human Strategies
Development Services
,
UniversityofGeorgia, for Social Justice
Change:
Athens.
E-mail:[email protected]
A Grounded of What
Alessandra Urbanoisa Theory
doctoralstudent in the
counselingpsychology Works in the Real World
doctoralprogram at
UniversityofGeorgia , A qualitative studyuseda groundedtheory methodol- (Bailey,Getch, & Chen-Hayes,2007; Bemak &
andMegHastonand ogyto explorethestrategies that16 schoolcounselors Chung,2005; Cox & Lee, 2007; Holcomb-McCoy,
EleanorMcMahonare whoself-identified as socialjusticeagentsusedtoadvo- 2007; House & Martin,1999). School counselor
master'sstudents in the cateforsystemic changewithintheirschoolcommuni- advocatesare encouragedto addresseducational
community counseling ties.Findingsincludedsevenoverarching themes: (a) inequitiesand differences in academicachievement
program. usingpoliticalsavvytonavigatepowerstructures , (b) that may grounded issuesof race/ethnicity,
be in
consciousness raising, (c) initiatingdifficultdialogues , gender,class,disability status,and sexualorienta-
Theauthors wishtogive (d) buildingintentionalrelationships , (e) teaching tion, and that mayprevent manystudents frommax-
specialthankstoLenore students self-advocacy skills,(f) using data for mar- imizing their academic,social, and personalpoten-
Katz,a school counselor keting,and (g) educatingothersabout theschool tial(Cox & Lee; Singh,inpress).In orderto address
whohasinspired each counselor roleofadvocate. thesesystemic injustices, therehas been a growing
ofthem. movementto expandthe counselingrole fromits
richbodyof literature identifiestheimportant traditional emphasison theintrapsychic concernsof
roleofschoolcounseloradvocacyin addressing individual students to a broaderfocuson theexter-
A issuesof societalinequityin schools (Bailey, nal forcesthathavean adverseeffecton students'
Getch,& Chen-Hayes,2003; Cox & Lee, 2007; intellectual, social,and psychological development
Holcomb-McCoy,2007; House & et
Martin,1999). (Goodman al.,2004, Kiselica& Robinson,2001;
However,limitedresearch addressesthequestionof Lee, 2007).
howschoolcounselors can be trainedto assumethis Althougha thoroughreviewof thismovement is
challenging role &
(Ratts,DeKruyf, Chen-Hayes, beyond scope die of this article, there areimportant
2007; Trusty& Brown,2005). Further, fewpub- school counselinginitiativesthat have laid the
lishedstudiesexplorethe subjectiveexperiences of groundwork foradvocacy. The Transforming School
schoolcounselorswithregardto whattheiradvoca- CounselingInitiative (TSCI), a collaboration with
cy "looks like" in &
practice(Field Baker,2004; the Education Trust,began in 1996 to examine
Pennymon, 2005). The voicesof practicing school innovative rolesforschoolcounselors.TSCI assert-
counseloradvocatesare thusabsentfromthesocial ed thatadvocacymustbe a criticalcounselingrole,
justiceliterature in schoolcounseling.Recentlitera- especiallyas it relatesto the collectionof data to
ture suggests that qualitativeapproaches offer highlight educationaldisparities (Paisley& Hayes,
important to of
ways gain in-depthunderstanding 2002). Shortlythereafter, the AmericanSchool
how school counselorsdevelop and implement CounselorAssociationcreatedthe ASCA National
advocacy strategies(Singh, in press; Trusty& Model®. This model definedschool counselors'
Brown).The purposeofthepresentstudyis to con- roles as advocatesand addressedthe questionof
tribute to theliterature on schoolcounseloradvoca- "How arestudents different becauseofwhatschool
cy throughidentification of a groundedtheoryof counselors do?" The ASCA NationalModel (2005),
how schoolcounselorswho identify as socialjustice whichoffersa comprehensive framework to guide
agentsadvocateforsystemicchangewithintheir schoolcounselingprograms, is basedon thequali-
schoolcommunities. ties of leadership,advocacy,and collaboration,
whichareintendedto lead to systemic change.
SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND Further,in 2003 the AmericanCounseling
SOCIAL JUSTICE Association(ACA) endorsedits formalAdvocacy
Over thepastdecade,theschoolcounselinglitera- Competencies (Lewis,Arnold,House, & Toporek,
turehas focusedincreasingly on theimportance of 2003). This set of competenciesencouragesall
advocacyworkon the part of school counselors counselorsto advocateon threelevels(student/

2010| ASCA 135

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 client,school/community, and publicarena)to re- schoolcounselingprograms, as wellas how school
solve social justiceissuesrootedin environmental counselorsare perceivedby school administrators.
and systemicfactors.The ASCA NationalModel We discusstwoexemplar groundedtheory studiesin
and ACA Advocacy Competencies are critical orderto demonstrate theutility of a groundedthe-
resourcesforschoolcounseloradvocates;however, ory approachin school counselingresearch.First,
limitedresearch offersinsight intohowschoolcoun- Scarborough andLuke(2008) useda groundedthe-
selorsin the fieldincorporate theseguidelinesinto ory designto examinethe componentsof school
theiradvocacywork.The challengeofhowto infuse counselors'successful implementation of develop-
advocacy missions into school counselor training mental school counseling programs. Thoughlimited
programs thus remains. a
by relativelyhomogeneousparticipantgroup
(female,European American),Scarboroughand
TRAINING SCHOOL COUNSELORS Luke'sstudyidentified important contextual factors
AS SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATES and activitiesvitalto successful programimplemen-
tation(e.g., marketing, planning,evaluating).This
Threeempirical studieshaveexaminedtheextentto studyis an important exampleofgroundedtheory at
whichcounselingprogramspreparestudentsto be its best in school counselingbecause therewere
effectivesocialjusticeadvocates.Ratts(2006) useda extensive verification standards used in theresearch
survey method to assess advocacytraining pro- design.Further, studyprovidedclearimplica-
in the
grams across the United Statesand foundonlya tionsforschoolcounselortraining andongoingpro-
moderateemphasison advocacycompetenciesin fessional development.
Few published trainingprograms.In anotherquantitative study, In a secondstudyusinga rigorousgroundedthe-
Kircher(2007) found that facultyassessmentof ory researchdesign,Amatea and Clark (2005)
studies explorethe counselingtrainees'readinessto apply advocacy examinedpublicschooladministrators' conceptions
competencies in practicesettings wassimilarly mod- of the primary rolesof school counselorsin their
subjective est. Thus, althoughschoolcounselortraining pro- schoolcommunities acrossvariousschoollevels.The
are
grams being called to structure theircurricular researchers found that administrators held four
experiencesof to
goals prepare students to become social justice important role conceptions: innovative school
advocatesand to understand how thesecompeten- leader, collaborativecase consultant,responsive
schoolcounselors ciesoperateinconcertwithmulticultural competen- directserviceprovider, andadministrative teamplay-
cies (Constantine,Hage, Kindaichi, Bryant,& er.The authors used a recursive data collection and
withregardto what 2007), research in responseto thiscall has been lim- analysisapproach, in which new data collected were
ited(Bemak& Chung,2008; Rattset al., 2007). analyzedand informed bypreviousdata,in addition
theiradvocacy In a qualitativestudyevaluatingschool coun- to usingseveral verification standards (e.g., member
selors'advocacytraining, and
Pennymon(2005) exam- checking,reflexivity) identifying researcher
"looks like"in inedeventsthateitherfacilitated or hinderedcoun- assumptions prior to data collection.Both grounded
selors'socialjusticelearning. Pennymon founda gap theorystudies demonstratethe utilityof this
practice. in training betweenthe teachingof advocacyon a approachin gainingin-depthunderstanding of cer-
theoretical in
level and the realityof workingas an tainphenomena schoolcounseling.
advocatein a school setting.Additionalfindings Becausethepurposeof thepresentstudywas to
indicatedthat a graduateprogramthat did not describethe social justice strategiesthat school
infuseadvocacyinto its philosophy, missionstate- counseloradvocatesuse to promotechangein their
ment, and trainingmodel hamperedadvocacy settings,we used a grounded theorytradition
preparation. Thisresearch also indicatedthatcohort (Strauss& Corbin,2008). Specifically, theresearch
experiences, faculty modeling, and thecultivation of questionguidingthepresent studywas"Whatadvo-
self-efficacywere helpfulin trainingschool coun- cacystrategies do schoolcounselors whoself-identi-
selorsto be advocatesforsocialjustice. fyas social justiceadvocatesuse to enact change
withintheirschoolcommunities?"
USING GROUNDED THEORY
APPROACHES IN SCHOOL COUNSELING METHOD
RESEARCH
ResearchTeam
Groundedtheory(Strauss& Corbin,2008) is a rig- The researchteamwas made up of a schoolcoun-
orous researchprocessthat involvesgenerating a seloreducator(South AsianAmericanwoman),a
conceptualmodel(or theory)thatis "grounded"in counselingpsychologydoctoral student (White
the data. Grounded theoryresearchdesigns in Americanwoman), two master's-level counseling
schoolcounselinghaveprovenusefulin describing students(WhiteAmericanwomen),and a school
how school counselorsimplementcomprehensive counselor(JewishAmericanwoman). Each of the

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researchers had significant experience working, vol- explainedthe study,describedall relevantproce-
unteering,deliveringinterventions, and/or con- dures,and invitedquestions.Once all questions
ducting research in public junior high and high were answeredand each participant signed and
schools.The schoolcounseloreducatorandthedoc- returned theconsentform,theresearchers and par-
toralstudenthad previousexperienceconducting ticipantsarrangeda date to conductthe research
qualitative research, and all researchteammembers interview. All participants also were sent a demo-
hadextensive training in multicultural and socialjus- graphic form electronically, which theyreturned
tice issuesin counseling.The teammetweeklyor priorto theinterview. Ifparticipants did notspecify
bimonthly a
throughoutyear-long research process. a pseudonym on their demographic form,one was
In the beginningof the researchprocess, the assignedto them.To protectconfidentiality, all par-
researchers identified theirassumptions about the ticipants werereferred to by theirpseudonyms for
topic of research. Researcher bias included a value of the duration of thisstudy.
social justiceadvocacyand the beliefthatschool
counselorsare instrumental in makingpositivesys- Instruments
temicchange.Our researcher assumptions also in- Demographicquestionnaire.Participants complet-
cludedanticipation thatschoolcounseloradvocates ed a briefdemographicquestionnaire, indicating
wouldsharestoriesofinstitutional racismand other theirchoiceof pseudonym, age, gender,race/eth-
inequities in schools. As data collection began,we nicity, schoolsetting, educationlevel,socioeconom-
conductedinitialanalysisand constantcomparison ic status,and numberof yearsworkingas a school
(Strauss& Corbin,2008) of thedata in the meet- counselorpost-master's degree. Participants also
ings. In the finalstages of the the
research, meetings provided a definitionof social justiceand of the role Groundedtheoryis
wereusedto conductan audittrail,identify findings, of schoolcounselorsas advocates/change agentsin
conductnegativecase analysis, and reviewreflexive theschoolcommunity. a rigorousresearch
journalskeptbytheresearch teammembers. Semi-structuredinterview.Each participant
completedone semi-structured interview (45-120 processthat
Participants Ten
minutes). participants were interviewed in per-
Participants were 16 professional school counselors son and 6 participants were interviewed byphone. involvesgenerating
whoself-identified as socialjusticeadvocates.Twelve The interview protocol(see AppendixA) wasdevel-
participants werefemaleand4 weremale.Theirages oped basedon a literature reviewand severaldiscus- a conceptualmodel
ranged from 27 to 56 years(M - 39 years). Eleven sions among the research team members. The inter-
participants identified as White, 4 identified as view questions and process were then pilotedwith (or theory)that is
AfricanAmerican,and 1 identified as Asian.With one participant interview.The participant's feedback
regard to classstatus, 5 identified as upper middle from thispilot interview was then incorporated into
"grounded"in the
class, 10 identified as middle class, and 1 identified the final interview protocol. Interview questions
as lower middleclass. Fourteenparticipants held focusedon theexperiences of schoolcounselorsin data.
master'sdegreesin schoolcounseling, and twopar- enactingchange,as well as on the strategies they
ticipants held doctoral degrees in counselor educa- used as advocates.Participants weregiventheflexi-
tion.Six participants wereemployedin publicele- bilityto expresstheirunique experiences as advo-
mentary schools, 2 were in
employed public middle cates. Follow-upquestions varied and were guided
schools,1 was employedin a privatemiddleschool, bythematerial providedbyeachparticipant.
and 7 wereemployedin publichighschools.The
participants' professional school counselingexperi- Data Collectionand AnalysisProcedures
encerangedfrom1 yearto 22 years 8.6 years). Recursivity was builtintoeachstageof theresearch
processso that simultaneousdata collectionand
SamplingProcedures analysiscontinuously informed each otherand, in
Researchers circulated electronic flyers detailingthe turn,the emerginggroundedtheory(Strauss&
focusofthestudyto schoolcounselorlistservs inthe Corbin,2008). Afterthe firsttwo interviews were
Southeastern UnitedStates(i.e., Southeastern state transcribed, fourresearch teammembers individual-
chapters ofASCA). As theresearchers soughtinfor- lyreviewed and coded thetranscripts usingan open
mation-richcases, purposivesampling(Patton, coding process.Open coding involvedanalyzing
2002) was used to establishcriteriaforparticipant each line or paragraph of the transcripts forcodes
selection.Selectioncriteriaincluded(a) holdinga reflectingeach participant'sexperiences.More
master'sdegree in school counseling,(b) having specifically, each discreteidea, event,or experience
workexperience as a professional schoolcounselor, was givena name (e.g., "courage,""dialoguing,"
and (c) identifying as a social justice advocate. "studentempowerment"). To createa codebookfor
Participants who expressedinterestwere sent in- theremaining interviews, researchers usedconstant
formedconsentformselectronically. These forms comparison withtheirdiscrete codesto identify cat-

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 thatschoolcounseloradvocatesuse in making
Figure1. Emergentmodelof socialjusticestrategies
systemic
change.
egoriesthatrelatedto a commonoverarching con- year,duringwhichtimetheresearch teamcontinu-
cept and to discern anydiscrepancies between their ally reviewedand coded data as data were collected
discretecodes (Strauss& Corbin). and analyzed,further the
strengthened credibility of
Aftereach interview was conducted,transcribed, findings. Throughout theresearch process, a school
and coded usingthiscodebook,we utilizedaxial counselorservedas an internal auditorbyattending
codingto examinetherelationship betweeneachof researchmeetingsregularly and reviewing the data
thepreestablished categories.During thisstage,the for accuracy of the coding and theory-building
researchteamcreatedhigher-level categoriesbased process.An externalauditorreviewedtheproducts
on the data (e.g., ''methodsof consciousness rais- of the study(i.e., transcripts, researchteamnotes,
ing"), therebycontributing to the initialdevelop- emergent model) for accuracy. Finally,theresearch
mentof a groundedtheory of the phenomenon team searchedfor evidence to disconfirm theemerg-
understudy.Finally, selectivecoding was used to ingtheory and modified the theory when necessary
refinethetheoretical modelbasedon theidentifica- to ensureaccuraterepresentation ofthedata.
tionofan overarching corecategorythataccounted
formostof thevariation in thepreviously identified FINDINGS
categories(e.g., "school counselors'strategies for
systemic change").We reviewedeach participant's We identified sevenoverarching strategiesthatpar-
transcript using the codebook untilsaturationof ticipantsused as social justiceadvocates-„enacting
findings- where no new data were identified changein theirschoolcommunities (see Figure1).
(Strauss& Corbin,2008)- was attainedat partici- Thesestrategies included(a) usingpoliticalsavvyto
pant 14. We decidedto interview 2 additionalpar- navigatepowerstructures, (b) consciousness raising,
ticipantsto verifysaturationofthefindings; difficult
thetotal (c) initiating dialogues,(d) buildinginten-
participant pool was 16. tionalrelationships,(e) teachingstudentsself-advo-
Verification standardsand procedureswerebuilt cacyskills,(f) usingdataformarketing, and (g) edu-
into each stage of the researchprocess.Member catingothersabout the school counselorrole of
checkingoftranscripts, researcherreflexivejournals, advocate.
routineteammeetings, theuse ofmultiple dataana-
lysts,and peerdebriefing wereutilizedto maximize PoliticalSavvyand ConsciousnessRaising
trustworthiness of findings.We identifiedthick Each of the participants sharedthatpoliticalsavvy
descriptions ofthephenomenato demonstrate cred- and consciousness raisingweretwo strategies they
ibilityof findings.Our immersion in thedata fora usedthroughout theadvocacyprocess,whereasthey

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used the remaining fivestrategies in specificsitua- people[who] aren'tgoingto likeme because
tionsand/orduringparticular stages of the advoca- I'm trying to standup forwhatI reallybelieve
cyprocess.Specifically, politicalsavvy(i.e., knowing is right. And I haveto be OK withthat.
whenand howto intervene) servedas a prerequisite
forand an integralpartof theotherfivestrategies, BuildingIntentionalRelationships
eachofwhichservedas a distinct wayofraisingcon- All but2 of theparticipants sharedthattheydelib-
sciousnessin the pursuitof systemicchange.For eratelyformedpositiveworkingrelationships with
example, in order to initiate difficultdialogues,par- others in their school communities; these alliances
ticipants describedfirstneedingto discernwhenit wereindispensable to participants as theyworkedto
wasappropriate to speak,howto deliverinformation instigatesocial change.This relationship- building
in such a waythattheycould be heard,whomto processincludeda widevariety of individuals rang-
speakto, and how to strikean appropriate balance ingfromstudents, parents, administrators (localand
betweenbeingthe "supportive counselor"and the district-level), teachers, and otherschoolcounselors
"aggressivechangeagent." One participant, Kim, to janitors,nurses, social workers,and otherkey
shared, community members. Participants reportedthat
they created broad coalitions of supportformacro-
The truthis you winpeople to yourside by levelsystemic change, while also engagingin micro-
letting them see who you are.You are a warm, level interventions on social justiceissues,such as
intelligent, knowledgeable, forward-thinking attending to concerns of students of color. For
person. You don't win people over byrunning instance, one participant described havingbuilta
up to them and slapping them with issues. You broad support network across all domains of the
win themoverby gettingto knowthem,by school hierarchy, and she reportedthatshe later
forming teams,andthenbyrespectfully bring- accessedthissupportnetwork whena criticalsocial
ing up the issues. ... We are political animals. justice issue arose in her school. In thisway,shewas
We don'twantto sayit,butwe are.Andthese prepared to act quickly and had established thenec-
situations areverypolitical. essarysupport to address important issues (e.g.,sup-
portingstudents ofcolorwhowerebeingmarginal-
InitiatingDifficult Dialogues ized throughtestingpolicies).
All of theparticipants sharedthatinitiating difficult Participants viewedeveryonein the school as a
conversations aboutsocialjusticeissueswasa critical potentialally.Simoneshared,
strategyused to create change in theirschools.
Initiating thesedialoguesinvolvedbroachingtopics For me, the relationship is key.There's not
thatmightmakeothersfeeluncomfortable ordefen- muchyoucan do withouthavinga solidrela-
sive.Ravenshared, tionship with... justaboutanybodyin theor-
ganization.And fortraining purposes,I think
Whatyouneedto be a successful socialjustice thatI wouldsuggestthat... schoolcounselor
agentin yourschoolis to do whatwe'vebeen educatorsfocuson encouragingthe school
trainedto do- to dialogue,to raiseawareness, counselorsto havepositiveworkingrelation-
and to ask hardquestions.We have to raise shipswithprincipals, administrators, and even
awareness throughout the school ... so every- district people. Before you can reallyget any-
one knowshow to makechangein theclass- thingdone,youhaveto makesurethatsome-
rooms.Likeno one cansaythe"N" word,but one's willingto hearyouout. Thatis thefirst
you stillhear "faggot" - and teachers would step in workingtowardsome sort of social
let it go or would laugh.I bringthatsortof change.
stuff Upeventhoughit is tough.
Susan echoed thissentiment: "Havingthe support
also
Participants sharedthedifficulty theyfaced in to talk to othercounselorsoutsideof yourown
raisingconcernswithteachersabout how students building, and also otherprofessionals, is key.I know
werebeingtreated;thisincludedaddressing teach- thatthesocialworkerwho workswithus has been
ers'assumptions aboutandstereotyping ofstudents' excellent."
cultures.In doing so, participants struggledwith Anotherparticipant, Samantha, shared,
how theywould be perceivedbyotherswhenthey
initiated thesedifficult dialogues.As Joyshared, I lookat everybody as beinga keyperson.... I
thinkto say thatthereare people [who] are
I knowthere'sgoingto be somebacklash, and moreimportant toconnectwithsomehowfeeds
I hatethat - I wanteverybody to likeme. But into"thehierarchy," so I lookat everybody as
the truthis thatthereare goingto be some an opportunity to connecton socialjustice.

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 TeachingStudentsSelf-Advocacy Skills theprocessofgetting towardthefreedom that
Each of theparticipants communicated the impor- they desirefor themselves.
tance of teachingstudentsthe necessaryskillsto
advocateforthemselves, especially whentherewere UsingData forMarketing
seemingly insurmountable barriers to students' Allbutone oftheparticipants communicated thatit
development within the home or at school. For was not sufficient to verbalize the importanceof
one
instance, participant specifically reached out to a social in a
justice generalway, and that utilizing data
gay student who was with
struggling homophobia to underscore the of
significance specific socialjus-
withinhisown family. The participant validatedthe ticeissuesintheschoolcommunity wasa crucialele-
family stressorsin the student'slifeand connected mentof theiradvocacywork.In identifying trends
himwithpaperand electronic pamphlets containing and needs specific to their school and sharingthis
storiesof gayyouthmanagingsimilarfamily chal- information withtheircolleaguesand administra-
lenges.In additionto educationand validation, the tors,participants used data to raiseconsciousness
participant then used to
role-plays exploreways the with respect to social justiceissuesthatwereother-
gay student could express himself to his family mem- wise overlooked or dismissed. Starshared,
bersinorderto buildself-advocacy skills.Ultimately,
thisstudent'sparentsthreatened notto fundhiscol- I get in thereand look at testdata and test
lege tuition because he was gay, and the school scores,discipline referralsand attendance pat-
Allofthe counselorshowedthestudenthow he could search ternsandclassroom -
grades allofthosethings.
forInternet resources on collegescholarships forgay You'vegotto be ableto lookat it,understand
participantsshared students. it,analyzeit,pullit apart,putit backtogeth-
Anotherparticipant regularly invested his time to er,look fortrends,and recognizethetrends.
that initiating showlow-income studentshow to use theInternet Placementin accelerated and gifted
programs
to searchforcollegescholarships and how to navi- is
programs piecea of data that we're always
difficult gate admissionsprocesses.School counselorsgave lookingat. One of thethingsthatwe've dis-
students thevocabulary and skillsto understand sit- coveredinthatprocessis that,[with]ourAfri-
conversations uationsand eventsthat were confusingor over- can American males,theyareoverrepresented
whelming forthem.One participant helpedherstu- in thediscipline referrals and underrepresent-
about social justice dent to understand whatstudentgovernment was ed inthegifted referrals. Butwhenyoulookat
and how to becomeinvolved.Anotherparticipant, theirscorestheyare eligibleforgiftedplace-
issues was a critical Gleaton,shared, ment.So, youknow,thatinformation wasout
there,and no one wasseeingituntilwe gotin
strategyused to Sometimesadvocatingforkidsis justhelping thereand startedmessingwithnumbers.
themto see clearpathways. It's notreallyget-
create change in
tingon thephonewiththeparents, youknow, EducatingOthersAboutSchoolCounselors'Role
and saying,"You shouldn'tbe so down on as Advocate
theirschools* yourkid,"becauseI'm steppingintoterritory All but 2 of the participants discussedthe impor-
whereI maynot belong.So advocacyin this tanceof"good publicrelations" in termsofmarket-
particular situationmeantadvocatingforthat ing theirschool counselorrole as advocate.They
kidto findhisvoice.... I thinkself-advocacy is also "spreadtheword"aboutthespecific socialjus-
one ofthegreatest toolsthatwe can givekids. tice interventions and initiatives that they were
And teachingkidsto advocateforthemselves involvedin withinthe school community so that
is one of thebestthingsthatI can do. administrators, teachers,parents,students,and
otherkeycommunity members wereawareof their
Participants expressedthe idea that these self- advocacywork.Samanthashared,
advocacyskillswerepartof a criticalself-sustaining
socialjusticetoolforstudents, teaching themhowto A lot of people I workwithhangon to the
navigatedifficult systems withintheschool,to value ideaofthetraditional guidancecounselorwho
theirownvoiceandperspective, andto accesseduca- sitsat a deskand is notpartofthewholesys-
tionalresources.Kim describedthe waysin which tembutis justsortofperipheral. So, I haveto
self-advocacy couldfacilitate students'liberation: helpnotonlytheprincipals, butteacherstoo,
see the connectionsbetweenacademicper-
I want to be partof a changeprocessthat formanceand developmentalissues, social
allowsstudentsto advocateforthemselves, to issues,emotionalissuesand realizingthatyou
choose theiridentity, to be self-determining can'tjustattendto one oftheseareaswithout
... and to help themunderstand how educa- theothers - thatthey're intertwined andsocial
tioncan be partof theirfreedom... a partof justiceis an integral partofall theseareas.

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 Participants noted that educatingothersabout buildingof supportnetworks to facilitatetheadvo-
theirroleas socialjusticeadvocatesalso involvedthe cacy process.However, the findings of this study
establishment ofprofessionalboundaries. Whenthey suggestthatempiricalworkshould build on the
wereaskedto do tasksthatdeterred themfromtheir existingconceptualliterature thatadvocatesforthe
advocacywork,forexample,theyclarified thenature of
importance developingfamily, school,and com-
of theirrole.Amyshared, munitypartnerships &
(Mitchell Bryant,2007;
Simcox,Nuijens,& Lee, 2006). Participants in the
I thinkthatfirst youadvocate, and then ifyou present study discussed theimportance buildinga
of
have timeforthe otherthings,you do the coalitioncomposedof individuals at everylevelof
otherthings.[Laughter.]But whetherit's on the school community, emphasizingthe key role
a smallscale,whetherit's witha specificstu- playedby each community member.Participants
dentorwitha particular population within the noted thatestablishment of these relationships facil-
county, that's our number-one role. So if I itated their being heard by keyindividuals during
everfeltlike... all myothertaskswerereally thosetimesinwhichtheyhadto initiate difficult dia-
hindering thatadvocacy,thenI'm able to say loguesor challengethestatusquo. Further, partici-
to my administrators, "
Um, I'm reallynot pantsdiscussedhavingtheserelationships as benefi-
able to do thesethings.I reallyam hereto do cial to theirpersonaldevelopment as advocatesin Asparticipantsin
myarea of expertise....You know,you may thattheiralliesoftenraisedtheirawarenessabout
wantto pullsomebodyelse to do theseother certainsocialjusticeissues.Importandy, havingsup- thisstudyperceived
things."I've had to do thatmanytimes. port in theireffortsforchangekept participants
fromfeelingalone.This finding suggeststhattrain- theiridentityas an
DISCUSSION ing programsshouldemphasizethe importance of
buildingcollaborative working relationships withall advocate as central
The voicesof the 16 participants in thisstudypro- members oftheschoolcommunity.
vide a groundedtheoryof how school counselor The strategies of teachingstudentsself-advocacy to theiradvocacy
advocatesin this studyenactedpositivesystemic skillsand usingdataformarketing bothsupportthe
changein theirschool settings.The school coun- schoolcounselingand socialjusticeliterature, par- work,training
selorsuniformly sharedthattheirsocialjusticeadvo- ticularly as it relatesto schoolcounselorsusingthe
cacywasa politicalprocess.Theydescribedthatthey ACA AdvocacyCompetencies (Lewiset al., 2003). programsshould
could not claimneutrality and expectsocialjustice Specifically, participants' accountsof teachingstu-
changeto occurwhilenavigating thecomplexpolit- dentsself-advocacy skillsandofconnecting students supporttrainees in
ical systemsof theirschools.Similarly, theyshared withthenecessary resources to achievechangerelate
thattheiradvocacyofteninvolvedthe assertionof directly to the sevencompetencies includedin the the assessmentand
difficultand at timesunpopularpositions.In this ACA Client/Student Empowerment domainand to
regard,the study'sfindings supportpreviouscon- the six competencies includedin theACA Client/ developmentofthis
ceptualliterature thepressure
identifying thatschool StudentAdvocacydomain.Furthermore, thepartic-
counselors feelto be likedandavoidconflict as a sig- ipants'use of dataanalysis and presentation to raise identitythroughout
nificantbarrierto socialjusticeadvocacyin schools individuals'(i.e., teachers,administrators, parents,
(Bemak& Chung,2008). Thisfinding suggeststhat and community members)awarenessof oppressive the training
schoolcounseling trainingprograms shouldsupport trendsrelatesdirectlyto Ratts and colleagues'
studentsin developingskills to anticipateand (2007) description oftheuse ofdatato revealareas process.
addresstheinevitable interpersonal challenges inher- ofneedor disparity at theSchool/Community level
ent in advocacywork.For example,pickingone's of theACA Competencies. The participants' focus
battles,knowingwhomto speakwithand whento on teachingstudentsself-advocacy skillsand using
speak,and beingdeliberate in selectionof theloca- dataforconsciousness raisingsuggeststhattheyare
tion,timing, andtenorofconversations wereimpor- integrating aspectsof the ACA AdvocacyCompe-
tantpoliticalconsiderations thatparticipants in this tenciesinto theirworkas school counseloradvo-
studynegotiatedand of whichtraineesshould be cates.Thisfinding suggeststhatit is vitalthattrain-
aware. ingprograms integrate thesecompetencies through-
The strategy of buildingintentional relationships out trainees'training experiences, in botha theoret-
withschoolcommunity membersrepresents a find- icalandan appliedmanner, inorderto preparethem
inguniqueto theexisting bodyofschoolcounseling to be successful future schoolcounseloradvocates.
literature.Whileresearchexiststhatdocumentsthe Withregardto the strategy of educatingothers
significanceand nature of the principal-school about theirroleas advocates,participants reported
counselorrelationship (Janson,Militello,& Kosine, thattheyoftenhad to correctmisperceptions con-
2008; Ponec & Brock,2000), no studiescould be cerningthe natureof theirworkand role. School
found that addressschool counselors'deliberate counselorsin thisstudydescribedaddressingthe

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 misperception thattheyhelda "traditional guidance pantobservations. Ultimately, thegroundedtheory
counselor"function (i.e., that the majority of their model represents the lived experiences ofthe16 par-
workinvolvedtestingand schedulingissues).This ticipants in thisstudyand theinterpretation oftheir
a
findingrepresents unique contribution to the data by one research team.
schoolcounseling literature. Interestingly,once par-
ticipantscorrectedthis misunderstanding, many FuturePractice, Training, and ResearchDirections
found that membersof the school community The presentstudyoffersseveralimplications for
seemed more respectful both of the professional practice, training, and research. In terms of practice
boundaries thatparticipants setand ofthenatureof and training, severalof theparticipants expresseda
theirsocialjusticework.The activity of self-promo- desireforschoolcounselingacademicprogramsto
tionis consistent withpreviousqualitative findings workin tandemwithschoolcounselorsin thefield
that
suggesting marketing public and relations are to supportadvocacyskillstraining.Participants
important skills for school counselors in effectivelyemphasized theimportance ofteaching traineeshow
implementing programs in their schools to initiate difficult dialogues. This type of collabora-
(Scarborough & Luke,2008). Whileself-promotiontioncould serveas an introduction fortraineesto
and role clarification are importantactivitiesfor thechallenges thatschoolcounselors facewhennav-
makingpositivesocialjusticechangein a schoolsys- igatingpowerstructures withintheschoolcommu-
tem, these marketing may skills not come naturally nity.Practicing school counselors also maybenefit
Because self- to school counselorsand should thereforebe from continued education on advocacy work.
emphasizedin schoolcounselortraining programs. Further, havinga spacein whichto collaborate with
advocacyskillsare colleagues and trainees about the difficultiesand
Limitations ofStudy successesof socialjusticeadvocacymaybe helpful
groundedin a value Whilethe presentstudycontributes to the school forpracticing schoolcounselors. Engagingwithoth-
counseling literature in its identification of the spe- ers in the profession in this waycouldinvestschool
of the individual, cificstrategies used byschoolcounselorsadvocating counselorswith a renewedenergy,purpose,and
forchangein theirschool communities, thereare senseofcommunity in theirworkforsocialchange.
school counselors limitations to thestudy.Althougha groundedtheo- This findingis similarto the transformed school
ry does not seek to generalize the livedexperiences counselor preparationencouragedby Hayes and
should endeavor to of its participants, the relatively homogenous and Paisley(2002), who assertedthatadvocacymustbe
smallsamplesize limitstransferability of findings intentionally used as a guidingprinciple undergird-
assess the cultural the
(Creswell,2006). Therefore, findingsmay be and rationales, curriculum
ingprogram assumptions
most transferable to school counselors in the topics and structure, methodologiesof teaching,
appropriatenessof Southeastern UnitedStates.Also,becausethepur- and evaluationof programs in orderto traintrans-
posivesampling method ensured selection ofpartic- formed school counselors.
thisstrategywith ipantswho self-identified and met the criteriaof In the trainingof school counselors,practicum
being a successful in
changeagent schools, study this and internship supervision couldbenefit fromfocus-
each studentwith is restricted in itsfindings becauseitdid notprovide ingon howstudents see themselves usingtheseven
findings about the advocacyexperiences of school strategies in this study in their practicesettings. The
whomtheywork. counselorswho do not self-identify as successful participants in thisstudycommunicated thatthey
and/or advocates.In addition,some of the find- didnotreceivethenecessary socialjusticetraining to
ings- such as teaching students self-advocacy be effective changeagentsduringtheirprograms,
- mayor maynot be culturally
skills appropriate for whichis consistent withpreviousresearch(Kircher,
studentsofvariousculturalbackgrounds. Including 2007; Ratts,2006). School counselingprograms
specific questionsaboutthecultural relevance ofthe shouldconsidernot onlyusingtheASCA National
participants' advocacy strategies might have Model, but also infusingthe ACA advocacyand
strengthened thefindings ofthisstudy. multicultural competenciesthroughoutstudents'
Anotherlimitation involvesresearcher bias,which training. Further, as participants in thisstudyper-
is an ongoingconcernin qualitative research.The ceivedtheiridentity as an advocateas centralto their
research teamworkedto addressresearcher biasand advocacywork,trainingprogramsshouldsupport
assumptions throughthe use of reflexive journals, traineesin the assessment and development of this
peer debriefing, thickdescriptions of participant identitythroughoutthe trainingprocess. Speci-
codes,membercheckingof thetranscripts, and use fically, thisrolecould be introduced in earlyclasses
of an internaland an externalauditor.Further, and thepracticeof advocacycould be assesseddur-
althoughseveralmethodsof verification wereused, ingtrainees'clinicalexperiences in orderto increase
these methodswere not triangulated with other preparedness, accountability, and growth.It is also
methodsand/orevidencethatmighthavecorrobo- important forgraduatetrainingprogramsto help
ratedthefindings, suchas a focusgroupor partici- studentslearnhow bestto promotetheiradvocacy

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rolewithintheschoolsystemusingdifferent meth-social justiceissues: Use a varietyof creative,
ods (e.g., initiating conversations,presenting deliberate,
data, and empathieapproachesto connect
sharingtheASCA NationalModel,usingcreativity). withotherswho mayhave opposingviewson
Becausethereare important socialjusticeorwhoareresistant
socialjusticeinitiatives to change.Help
thatheavilyinvolveschool counselors,such as the traineesto understandthat social justicedia-
TSCI and theEducationTrust'sworkon reducing logues are oftenongoingand requirepatience,
theachievement gap,educatorsmayconnectgradu- courage,and understanding of intenseemotions
ate studentswiththisworkto promotetraining suchas angerand fear.
in
advocacypractice and research. 3.
Understand how to use community mappingto
Withregardto research, thisstudycontributes buildrelationships:
to Use creative methodsto iden-
theliterature in itsfocuson thelivedexperiences tifythe"keyplayers"and important
of community
schoolcounseloradvocates.The subjective natureofmembers withwhomschoolcounselors willneed
thephenomenon ofinquiry(i.e.,socialjusticeadvo-to buildintentional relationships in orderto gain
cacy ofschool counselors)indicates thattheground- support, prevent isolationand burnout, and,ulti-
ed theoryparadigmwas the most appropriate mately, implement change.
approachforthisstudy.This approachprovidedan 4. Highlightself-advocacy skillsin training:
School
in-depthunderstanding of the advocacystrategies counseling trainees mayalready have naturalskills
thatcurrent schoolcounseloradvocatesuse in their in self-advocacy based on theirown lifeexperi-
dailypracticeofadvocacy. The importance ofhavingences. Counseloreducatorsmay explorethese
an internalauditorwho is presently workingas a skills,highlighting trainees'experienceswith
schoolcounselorconstituted an important measuresocialjusticeaction,to promotean understand-
of accountability in the researchprocess.It is sug-ing of self-advocacy skillsthattraineescan then
gested that futuregroundedtheoryinquiriesin teachto students. Becauseself-advocacy skillsare
schoolcounseling considerthisverificationstandard.
grounded in a value of the individual,school
Futureresearch on themodelidentified counselorsshouldendeavorto assessthecultural
in thisstudy
could exploremoredeeplyeach of thesevenadvo- appropriateness ofthisstrategy witheachstudent
cacy strategies(e.g., "How can school counselor withwhomtheywork.
trainingprograms teachpoliticalsavvy?") 5.
effectively Teach data collection,analysis, and communica-
in additionto examining potentialinterstrategy tion methodsto supportsocial justicechange:
rela-
tionships(e.g., "How does buildingrelationshipsSocialjusticeadvocacyseeksto disruptthestatus
withschool community membersimpactreactions quo, whichcan be uncomfortable formanyindi-
to difficultdialogues?").Finally,becausethepartici- viduals.One of themostpowerful waysof edu-
pants discussed continued pressureto assume catingpeople about injustices involvescollecting
administrative dutiesthatimpededtheirabilityto data and analyzingand communicating trends
engage in advocacy,futureresearchmayexamine thatare groundedin thatdata.Althoughoppo-
how schoolcounseloradvocatescan set boundaries nentscan denyschoolcounselors'opinionsand
and protecttheiradvocacyroles. anecdotalobservations, it is muchmoredifficult
to denydatatrends.
School CounselorSocial JusticeTraining 6. Developprofessional advocacyskillsto maximize
ChecklistforSchool CounselingPrograms "buy-in":Social justicechangeinvolvesdeliber-
Becauseofthecriticalneedforsocialjusticetraining ateefforts to educateothersabouttheimportant
in school counselingprograms, in thissectionwe schoolcounselorroleof advocate.Practicing the
providea checklistthatschoolcounseloreducators setting of boundaries and thedelivery ofaccurate
canusewhenteachingsocialjusticestrategiesto stu- information about school counseloradvocacy
dents.Thischecklistis basedon thefindingsof the roleswillhelpschoolcommunity members to bet-
presentstudy. terunderstand, support, and utilizetheseroles.

1. Teach politicalsavvyand consciousness-raisingCONCLUSION

skills for advocacy: Help school counselor
traineesto learnhow to navigatecomplexschool Thisstudyprovidesa uniqueopportunity to capture
system politics.Politicalsavvyassistsschoolcoun- the richexperiences of 16 school counseloradvo-
selorsin knowingwhen and how to intervene catescommitted to socialjusticechange.Theirvoic-
whileconsciousness-raising skillsprovidespecific es provideinsightinto the awareness,knowledge,
methodsto increaseschool community mem- and skillsthatschoolcounselorsneed to navigatea
bers' awarenessof their goals, motives,and complicated schoolsystem, to manageresistance to
actionsin thepursuitofsystemic change. socialjustice,and to leverageresourceson behalfof
2. Develop skillsin initiating dialogueson historically
difficult marginalized students.The findingslend

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 supportto thefurther integration ofadvocacycom- Janson, M.,& Kosine,
C.,Militello, N.(2008). Four views ofthe
petence in school counselor training, practice, and professional school counselor-principal relationship: A
the social check- Q-methodology study. Professional School Counseling, 11,
scholarship. Finally, justicetraining 353-361.
listforschoolcounselingprogramsis groundedin Kircher, R.(2007). Counselor educators' ofthe
perceptions
the findingsand providesspecificdirectionand preparation ofschool counselors for advocacy (Doctoral
actionstepsschoolcounseloreducatorscan taketo dissertation,Kansas StateUniversity, 2007). Dissertation
more fullyprepare effectiveschool counseling AbstractsInternational, 68,1339.
trainees forsocialjusticeactionin schools.I M.S.,& Robinson,
Kiselica, M.(2001 ).Bringing advocacy
counseling tolife:Thehistory, issues,andhuman dramas
ofsocialjustice work incounseling. Journal ofCounseling
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 APPENDIX A

Interview Questions for Self-Identified

Successful School Counselor Advocates

1. What is social justiceto you?What is advocacyto you?

2. What recommendations would you suggestto help trainingprogramsadequatelyprepare

traineesto serveas social justicechangeagentsin theirrolesas school counselors?

3. How preparedhave you feltto serveas a social justiceagentin yourschool (e.g., aware-
ness,necessaryskills,support)?

4. What helpsyou to be a successfulsocial justicechangeagentin yourschool?

5. What typesof social justice-relatedissuesdo you see in yourschool?

6. What social justiceinterventions

would you liketo see in yourschool?

7. How have you servedas a successfulsocial justiceagentin yourschool community?

For
example:How have theseexperiencesbeen foryou?Resources?Roadblocks?Other
information
you would liketo share?

8. Who are the keypeople, ifany,in yourschool whomyou workwithon issuesrelatedto

social justice?

9. What are students'typicalresponsesto social justiceinterventions?

10. What are parents'typicalresponsesto social justiceinterventions?

11. What is the community'stypicalresponseto social justiceinterventions?

12. Is thereanyotherinformation you would liketo add relatedto yourexperienceswith

social justiceas a school counseloradvocate?

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