Preparing Future Counselor Education Leaders to Address Diversity and Social Justice

Abstract

Counselor education curriculum lacks a fluid study of diversity and social justice. Leadership and advocacy are treated as discrete units instead of interwoven within the counselor education pedagogy. Also, despite an increase of leadership development programs in many areas, due to lack of education and training in the field of education, the majority of educational leaders enter the field with inadequate knowledge, skills, or strategies. Leadership is a competency for counselors; however, leadership and leader behavior have been neglected throughout the short history of counseling. This paper examines current practices and the gap in leadership preparation in counseling programs, advocacy for social justice and diversity from counselor education perspective, and discusses and makes recommendations based on current approaches.

Keywords

• counselor education,counseling,leadership,social justice,diversity

References

1. American Counseling Association (2005). Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.
2. American Counseling Association (2014). Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.
3. Blackmore, J. (2009). Leadership for social justice: A transnational dialogue. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 4(1), 1-10. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ875405.pdf
4. Chi Sigma Iota, International (2013). Principles and practices of leadership excellence: CSI chapter leadership development survey. Retrieved from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.csi-net.org/resource/resmgr/Research,_Essay,_Papers,_Articles/PPLE_Study.pdf
5. Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) (2009). 2009 standards. Alexandria, VA: Author.
6. Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) (2016). 2016 standards. Alexandria, VA: Author.
7. Cox, J. A. (2003). Tapping the potential: Leadership possibilities for master’s degree students. In J. D. West, C. J. Osborn, & D. L. Bubenzer (Eds.), Leaders and legacies: Contributions to the profession of counseling (79-94). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.
8. Diem, S., & Carpenter, B. W. (2012). Social justice and leadership preparation: Developing a transformative curriculum. Planning and Changing, 43(1/2), 96-112. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ977549.pdf

9. Furman, G. (2012). Social justice leadership as praxis: Developing capacities through preparation programs. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(2), 191-229. doi: 10.1177/0013161X11427394
10. Guerra, P. L., Nelson, S. W., Jacobs, J., & Yamamura, E. (2013). Developing educational leaders for social justice: Programmatic elements that work or need improvement. Education Research and Perspectives, 40, 124-149. Retrieved from http://www.erpjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ERPV40_Final_Guerra-et-al.-_2013_-Developing-Educational-Leaders.pdf
11. Holcomb-McCoy, C. C. (1999). Multicultural counseling training: A preliminary study. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED428301.pdf
12. Jenlink, P. M., & Jenlink, K. E. (2012). Examining leadership as public pedagogy for social science. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 7(3), 1-16. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ997439.pdf
13. Lee, C. C. (2012). Social justice as the fifth force in counseling. In C. Y. Chang, C. A. B. Minton, A. L. Dixon, J. E. Myers, & T. J. Sweeney (Eds.), Professional counseling excellence through leadership and advocacy (109-120). New York, NY: Routledge.
14. Lewis, T. F. (2012). Foundations of leadership: Theory, philosophy, and research. In C. Y. Chang, C. A. B. Minton, A. L. Dixon, J. E. Myers, & T. J. Sweeney (Eds.), Professional counseling excellence through leadership and advocacy (41-62). New York, NY: Routledge.
15. Lyman, L. L., & Villani, C. J. (2002). The complexity of poverty: A missing component of educational leadership programs. Journal of School Leadership, 12(3), 246-280.
16. Marcellino, P. A. (2012). Preparing educational leaders for social justice, action-learning, and democratic activism. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 7(3), 1-11. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ997468.pdf
17. Marshall, C. (2004). Social justice challenges to educational administration: Introduction to a special issue. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 3-13. doi:10.1177/0013161X03258139
18. Maxwell, B., Waddington, D. I., McDonough, K., Cormier, A.-A., & Schwimmer, M. (2012). Interculturalism, multiculturalism, and the state funding and regulation of conservative religious schools. Educational Theory, 62, 427-447. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2012.00455.x
19. McKinney, S. A., & Capper, C. A. (2010). Preparing leaders for social justice: Lessons from an exemplary counseling psychology department. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 5(3), 73-106. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ913592.pdf
20. Meany-Walen, K., Carnes-Holt, K., Barrio Minton, C. A., Purswell, K., & Pronchenko-Jain, Y. (2013). An exploration of counselors' professional leadership development. Journal of Counseling & Development, 91(2), 206-215. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00087.x
21. Minton, C. A. B., & Morris, C. A. W. (2012). Leadership training: Entry-level and doctoral curricula. In C. Y. Chang, C. A. B. Minton, A. L. Dixon, J.E. Myers, & T. J. Sweeney (Eds.), Professional counseling excellence through leadership and advocacy (245-266). New York, NY: Routledge.
22. Myers, J. E. (2012). Professional leadership, leading well: Characteristics, principles, and ethics of effective counseling leaders. In C. Y. Chang, C. A. B. Minton, A. L. Dixon, J. E. Myers, & T. J. Sweeney (Eds.), Professional counseling excellence through leadership and advocacy (41-61). New York, NY: Routledge.
23. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
24. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1992). Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/Minorities.aspx
25. Ponton, R., & Cavaiola, A. (2008). Positive leadership in counseling workgroups. In G. R. Walz, J. C. Bleuer, & R. K. Yep (Eds.), Compelling counseling interventions: Celebrating vistas’ fifth anniversary (pp. 283-292). Ann Arbor, MI: Counseling Outfitters.
26. Sears, S. S., & Davis, T. E. (2003). The doctorate in counselor education: Implications for leadership. In J. D. West, C. J. Osborn, & D. L. Bubenzer (Eds.), Leaders and legacies: Contributions to the profession of counseling (95-108). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.
27. Sweeney, T. J. (2012). Leadership for the counseling profession. In C. Y. Chang, C. A. B. Minton, A. L. Dixon, J. E. Myers, & T. J. Sweeney (Eds.), Professional counseling excellence through leadership and advocacy (pp. 21-40). New York, NY: Routledge.
28. Wahesh, E., & Myers, J. E. (2014). Principles and practices of leadership excellence: CSI chapter presidents’ experience, perceived competence, and rankings of importance. Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, 1(1), 83–97. http://doi.org/10.1080/2326716X.2014.886977
29. West, J. D., Osborn, C. J., & Bubenzer, D. L. (2003). Dimensions of leadership in the counseling profession. In J. D. West, C. J. Osborn, & D. L. Bubenzer (Eds.), Leaders and legacies: Contributions to the profession of counseling (3-22). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.
30. Wiley Online Library (2016). Journal of counseling and development. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1556-6676