MEC 8017 School Counselor Leadership Seminar

Many experts contend that leadership is a central role of the school counselor (ASCA, 2012a; Dollarhide & Gibson, 2008).  Strong leadership is the foundation for a school counselor to be effective in advocacy and collaboration work not only for children, families, and school communities, but for the advancement of the school counseling profession (ASCA, 2012a; House & Sears, 2002).  The American School Counselor Association underscored the importance of leadership by placing it as one of the four major themes along with collaboration, advocacy and systemic change of the National Model (Curry & DeVoss, 2009; Janson, 2009).  ASCA included leadership in the preamble to the ASCA’s (2010b) Ethical Standards for School Counselors (Curry & DeVoss, 2009).  Peppered throughout the ASCA School Counselor Competencies document is the concept of leadership (ASCA, 2012b; Shillingford & Lambie, 2010).  Experts working on the Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TSCI) contended that effective leadership is the hallmark of a school counselor who works collaboratively with various stakeholders to close the achievement gap while ensuring all students succeed (Shillingford & Lambie, 2010; Steen & Rudd, 2009; Trolley, 2011).  

This seminar is designed to facilitate leadership and advocacy development. It explores leadership styles and advocacy models to help counselor candidates understand and prepare for future leadership roles within the context of the K-12 school setting.  Candidates will gain critical knowledge of qualities, principles, skills and styles of effective leadership and an understanding of the important role of the school counselor as a systems change agent as it relates to child advocacy and social justice work.