Advocating for Better Futures for All Students: A New Vision for School Counselors

Abstract

This article describes how the role of counselors must change to include social advocacy as a primary component. Counselors must work as change agents and advocates for the elimination of systemic barriers that impede academic success for all students. The primary role of school counselors who serve as assertive advocates is to create opportunities for all students to define, nurture and accomplish high aspirations. Thus, school counselors become catalysts and leaders focused on removing the institutional barriers that continue to result in an achievement gap between poor and minority youth and their more advantaged peers. This article presents a new social advocacy role for school counselors based on the belief that they must be proactive leaders and advocates for student success in schools. This means working to help all students gain access to rigorous academic preparation and support for success in these programs. Educational equity in a democratic society requires that all children--especially poor and minority youth who have traditionally been the least served by schools--be better prepared for the future. Closing the achievement gap between poor and minority children and their more advantaged peers becomes the primary goal of every school counselor in this new approach. The importance of this focus is clear; our global society and our status as a world leader are increasingly dependent on the development and better use of all of our human resources. The need to influence and raise academic achievement in our schools is paramount. The achievement gap exists because we systematically expect less of minority and low-income children (American Association for Higher Education [AAHE], 1992). As one African-American high school senior recently stated: We are not only given the short end of the stick in terms of facilities and resources; but inner-city students aren't expected to excel. We are sometimes granted honors for completing only part of a task, while students in more affluent areas are expected to do more to get the same recognition. We are pitied by outsiders who sometimes try to help by giving us undeserved praise. Thus, we often don't expect much more of our own selves. We aren't pushed hard enough. We are babied by our teachers for too long. (Swasey, 1997, p. 4) A social advocacy approach is based on the belief that individual and/or collective action must be taken to right injustices or to improve conditions for the benefit of an individual or group. This kind of social action means that counselors have to actively intervene in the decision making process of the students and in the social context affecting them (Lee, 1997). For school counselors, social advocacy is based on the belief that virtually all students can achieve at high levels, and that counselors must be proactive leaders in closing the existing achievement gap in schools. We propose a model of activism where counselors function as leaders, change agents, and as people willing to take risks. We believe that if counselors adopt an advocacy role they help students become prepared to work in today's world and move toward becoming active, involved citizens. School counselors working from this model stand for social, economic, and political justice and advocate for students not being served well by school systems. Changes in Schools Through diverse educational reform efforts, many schools are working toward greater equity and improved achievement for all students. Supporters of standards-based education have been working diligently to transform many K-12 functions including curriculum, teacher preparation, and continuing professional development for teachers. To date, major school reform efforts have focused on setting more rigorous academic standards, building new assessment strategies and restructuring pre-service and in-service experiences for teachers and administrators. …