Transforming the Role of the Counselor To Provide Leadership in Educational Reform through Collaboration.

Abstract

Public education has been in a period of transition (Darling-Hammond, 1996; Elmore, 1996; George & McEwin, 1999; Hargreaves & Fullan, 1992), affecting the very core of the principles and values on which schoolrelated professionals are trained and practice. Given the trends in public education that emphasize academic achievement, there is a compelling need for all educators to utilize their skills, redefine training, and become current rather than outdated professionals, who can contribute to the goals of contemporary public education and create safe schools and communities for all children. To varying degrees, professionals working in public education have changed, adapted, adopted, and resisted educational reform while trying to maintain their historical roots and professional identities. This significantly impacts the culture of schools and the communities in which they exist and is particularly true for school counselors, a professional group that has the potential to play a leadership role in successfully bringing into the 21st century schools that are safe and conducive to learning for all students. Similar to other educators, the job description for school counselors must be redefined to align effectively with national and state educational objectives. A change in role for school counselors will facilitate meaningful participation in achieving these standards and would be particularly important in serving all students by lessening the well-documented achievement gap between low income and minority students in comparison with other student groups (The Education Trust, 1996). This article focuses on a critical redefinition of the future school counselor as a leader in promoting educational reform and meeting national and state educational objectives inclusive of creating healthy safe school environments, partially by playing a major role in facilitating interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration. School Counselor, Not Guidance Counselor Please note that the terminology used in this article will intentionally reflect the change in the school counselor's role and function and refer to the school counselor rather than school guidance counselor or guidance counselor. This change in nomenclature represents a shift in thinking and movement towards the future professional school counselor rather than the historical vocational guidance counselor and is supported by the American School Counselor Association. The name change is particularly important since the school counseling profession is in a critical period of transition that will determine the future form and structure and ultimately decide the continuation of the profession. The Need for Collaboration Modern day schools in the United States are facing complex and deep-rooted problems (Burning, Gilman, Sparzo, & Vargas, 1998) that supersede the traditional boundaries of schools and require addressing the problems within the context of the school and the larger community (Heath & McLaughlin, 1987; Keys & Bemak, 1997; Lerner, 1995). The complexity of the today's problems clearly intersect with other facets of society such as social services, mental and public health services, juvenile services, housing, parks and recreation, law enforcement, religious institutions, child and protective services, and business organizations. Issues such as poverty, violence, poor academic achievement, substance abuse, and physical and sexual abuse require a multifaceted response by many professionals rather than the limited narrow perspective of only one professional discipline (Boyer, 1990; Lerner, 1995) and point towards the need for school counselors to work across disciplines. This is particularly important when considering that 14 to 15 million children have been identified as living in a socially and psychologically toxic environment (Garbarino, 1995). The U.S. Department of Education (1993) estimates that 43% of all children are born with at least one learning or developmental barrier that frequently expands into multiple barriers as they grow older. …