The transformed school counselor chapter 5

The Role of Social Advocacy in Schools  Social advocacy implies questioning the status quo, challenging rules and regulations that deny student access, and protesting changes that dec

School Counselors as

Advocates

The Transformed School Counselor

Chapter 5

The Role of Social Advocacy in Schools

 Social advocacy implies questioning the status quo, challenging rules and

regulations that deny student access, and protesting changes that decrease

opportunities for the under-represented.

The School Counselor as an Advocate

 Surveys the internal and external school to identify barriers that are impeding student success

 Collaborates to establish the conditions necessary for all students

to be successful in their academic, social, emotional, career, and personal development

 Becomes the voice for students with low achievement, especially low socioeconomic-level and minority students

 Empowerment is the complex process that encompasses

self-Characteristics of an Advocate

The school counselor must possess many personal/social consciousness attributes to be an advocate:

 Desire to be a voice for students who are underrepresented

 Willingness to listen

 Genuine positive regard for others

 Flexibility

 Compassion

 Understanding

 Empathy

 Emotional stability

 Insightfulness

 Willingness to take risks

The Ethics of Advocacy

 Advocacy is an ethical imperative as well as

a legal imperative for school counselors.

 Kitchener’s Five Moral Principles are applied by counselors when there is an ethical dilemma.

Kitchener’s Five Moral Principles

 Beneficence – continually seek ways to enhance opportunities for student success

 Nonmaleficence – consider the impact of one’s action or lack of action to determine if potential harm will result

 Loyalty – remain steadfast in efforts to make systemic change for all students

 Justice – look at each individual’s unique needs and be able to justify treating students differently

 Autonomy – empower each and every child to become his

or her own advocate

Advocacy’s Impacts

Advocacy Impacts Systems, Student Opportunities, the School Counseling Program, and Communities

Advocating for Systemic Change

Systemic refers to organizational policies, procedures, and practices of a school

Advocacy’s Impacts, cont’d…

Change refers to:

 Shared vision to guide change

 Leadership capable of driving change

 Professional development to implement and sustain the change

 Organizational arrangements to support change

 Strategies to implement change

 School counselors thinking systemically by identifying practices that negatively impact students and those that should be replicated or expanded

 Reaching many more students

Advocacy’s Impacts, cont’d…

Changing Attitudes and Beliefs

 The school counselor collaborating with other educators can help foster a vision and belief in the development of high aspirations in every child.

 The school counselor’s skills in communication, interpersonal relationships, problem solving, and conflict resolution can

impact the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and administrators regarding widening opportunities for students.

Advocacy’s Impacts, cont’d…

Advocating for Individual Students

 School counselors impact systems to make a difference for every individual in that system.

 Advocacy requires us to give some individual students more help to right an injustice against them, improve their condition, or provide an opportunity.

Advocacy’s Impacts, cont’d…

Advocating for Your School Counseling Program

 Having a plan in mind assists school counselors to assess the needs of the school and develop program strategies around those needs.

parents, administrators, and teachers about the school counseling program.

Advocacy’s Impacts, cont’d…

Advocating for Social Action in the Context of Community

 Families and Institutions of Society

Counselors can be agents of social change in the community by helping students and families develop the strategies needed to advocate for themselves when dealing with other institutions

 Service Learning

School counselors can encourage involvement of students in service learning and address some of the social problems, issues, and injustices of their larger community.

Advocacy Skills

Use of Technology for Advocacy

 Technology enhances the counselor’s role as an advocate.

 Counselors must use technology in monitoring student progress, in student career planning, and in accessing the data for informed student decision-making.

 Many schools have student management systems that contain student biographical information as well as scheduling, attendance, discipline and test history data.

 Using student information management data guarantees that no student is left out.

Counselors’ Skills for Advocacy

Advocacy Through Staff Development

skills, gather new information, or learn new behaviors

proceed and further success.

Steps in Advocating for Change

 1 Identify the problem.

 2 Gather additional information.

 3 Identify the stakeholders.

 4 Research the advocacy history of the problem.

 5 Identify the institutional and/or environmental barriers contributing to the problem

 6 Develop an action plan.

Guiding Principles of Advocacy

 1 Be a calculated risk taker.

 2 Believe you can make a difference.

 3 Believe in your students

 4 Be kind to yourself.

 5 Stay the course.