Perceptions of school counselors toward their role as social justice advocates and educators

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of school counselors toward their role as social justice educators and advocates. The study also examined whether a theory of transformational education had relevancy to the social justice role of the school counselor. Participants in the study include 38 school counselors from 12 states. Q methodology was used to illuminate the subjective responses of school counselors who sorted 36 statements according to the condition of instruction, "What most describes your priorities and beliefs as a school counselor?"

Findings and Conclusions: The statements were factor analyzed through statistical procedures, resulting in a 4-factor solution that represented counselor viewpoints: The Relational Diplomat, the Advocate for Change, the Practical Traditionalist, and the Congruent Pragmatist. The Advocate for Change perspective most closely aligns with the current conceptual school counselor literature and the recommendations in the ASCA model. In terms of Hart's theory (2001, 2009) on transformational education, the Advocate for Change perspective clearly believes his/her school counseling program has transformative power while the Congruent Pragmatist does not believe his/her school counseling program has transformative power. This finding lends legitimacy of a transformation educational theory to undergird the social justice advocacy movement in school counseling.