The School Counselor and Cultural Diversity

(Adopted 1988; revised 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2021)

ASCA Position

School counselors have a professional and ethical responsibility to expand personal multicultural and social justice advocacy, awareness, knowledge and skills to be an effective, culturally competent school counselor. School counselors work toward cultural competence and cultural humility to provide culturally sustaining school counseling. School counselors demonstrate responsiveness by collaborating with students and stakeholders in support of a school and community climate that embraces cultural diversity and helps to promote all students' academic, career and social/emotional development.

The Rationale

Diversity is a “range of cultures and subcultures that represent attitudes, beliefs, values, rituals, symbols, norms and conventions, customs, behaviors and ideologies” (Stone & Dahir, 2016, p. 294). Culture is a powerful and pervasive influence on the attitudes and behaviors of students, stakeholders and school counselors. In response to cultural diversification in schools and communities, school counselors must be more globally responsive and culturally sustaining in the educational and social environment than ever before.

As a part of this charge, school counselors need to continue to enhance knowledge and awareness of prejudice, power and various forms of oppression and utilize culturally responsive skills to support ever-changing student needs (ASCA Ethical Standards, 2022). In support of students, school counselors implement “equitable academic, career and social/emotional developmental opportunities for all students” (ASCA Ethical Standards, 2022). It is an “expectation, not the exception” for school counselors to integrate multiculturalism and social justice perspectives into their work as advocates and leaders (Ratts and Greenleaf, 2017, p.8).

The School Counselor's Role

The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2022) and a “host of voices in school counseling literature point to school counselor advocacy as a key factor in making progress toward this vision of equitable schools and communities. Our vision for equitable, inclusive and culturally sustaining schools can inform our advocacy goals as people and as professionals” (Grothaus, et al., 2020, p. 26).

School counselors can provide culturally responsive counseling by:

exploring their personal knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about working with diverse student populations
ensuring each student has access to a school counseling program that advocates for all students in diverse cultural groups
addressing the impact poverty and social class have on student achievement
identifying the impact of family culture upon student performance
delivering culturally sensitive instruction, appraisal and advisement, and counseling
ensuring all students’ rights are respected and all students’ needs are met
consulting and collaborating with stakeholders to create a school climate that welcomes and appreciates the strengths and gifts of culturally diverse students
using data to measure access to programs and to close disproportionate gaps in opportunity, information and resources that affect achievement among diverse student populations (Henfield et al., 2014)
enhancing their own cultural competence and facilitating the cultural awareness, knowledge and skills of all school personnel (Ratts & Greenleaf, 2017; Ratts, et al., 2015)

A culturally sustaining school counseling program includes a school counseling program advisory council that incorporates diverse perspectives and has representation reflecting the school's cultural census. Advisory councils can support the school counseling program in the development of goals, culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy. and strategic planning, as well as community bridging, awareness and advocacy (Grothaus, et al., 2020).

Summary

School counselors implement a culturally sustaining school counseling program that creates systematic change through growth, self-awareness, humility, knowledge of worldviews and cultural identities (Grothaus, et al., 2020). School counselors collaborate with all stakeholders to provide relevant interventions and strategies that advocate for and promote social justice for all students (Ratts, 2015, as cited in Grothaus, et al., 2020). Through their school counseling programs, school counselors are positioned to actively become a part of the solution where cultural diversity is fully embraced in schools (ASCA, 2020).

References

American School Counselor Association. (2022). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association. (2020) Standards in practice: Eliminating racism and bias in schools: The school counselor’s role. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Grothaus, T., Johnson, K. F., & Edirmanasinghe, N. (2020). Culturally sustaining school counseling. Alexandria: VA: American School Counseling Association.

*Note this position statement includes minor updates to reflect the revisions to the 2022 ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.

Henfield, M. S., Washington, A. R., & Byrd, J. A. (2014). Addressing academic and opportunity gaps impacting gifted Black males: Implications for school counselors. Gifted Child Today, 37(3), 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/1076217514530118

Lekas, H. M., Pahl, K., & Fuller Lewis, C. (2020). Rethinking cultural competence: Shifting to cultural humility. Health Services Insights, 13, 1178632920970580. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178632920970580

Ratts, M. J., & Greenleaf, A. T. (2017). Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies: A leadership framework for professional school counselors. Professional School Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X18773582

Ratts, M., Singh, A., Nassar-McMillian, S., Butler, S. & McCullough, J. (2016). Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies: Guidelines for the counseling profession. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. 44. 28-48. 10.1002/jmcd.12035.

Stone, C.B., & Dahir, C.A. (2016). The transformed school counselor (3^rd ed.). Cengage Learning.

Resources

American School Counselor Association (2019). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA.

American School Counselor Association (2019). ASCA Standards for School Counselor Preparation Programs. Alexandria, VA.

Atkins, R., & Oglesby, A. (2019). Interrupting racism: Equity and social justice in school counseling. Routledge.

Chu-Lien Chao, R. (2013). Race/ethnicity and multicultural competence among school counselors: Multicultural training, racial/ethnic identity, and color-blind racial attitudes. Journal of Counseling and Development, 91, 140-151.

Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP; 2016). Social and cultural diversity professional counseling identity. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Frances, D. (2020). Multicultural counseling: Understanding bias and practicing humility [Webinar]. American School Counseling Association. https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/cross-cultural-counseling-understand-bias-and-practice-humility.

Guzman, M. R., Calfa, N. A., Kerne, V., McCarthy, C. (2013). Examination of multicultural counseling competencies in school counselors. Journal of School Counseling, 11(7), 1-27.

Howard, T. (2020). Why race and culture matter in schools: Closing the achievement gap in America’s classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.

Merlin, C. (2016). Build multiculturally aware students [Webinar]. American School Counseling Association. https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/build-multiculturally-aware-students.

Merlin-Knoblich, C., Moss, L., Cholewa, B., & Sringer, S. I. (2019). A consensual qualitative research exploration of school counselor multicultural education behaviors. Professional School Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X20940637

Nieto, S & Bode, P. (2018). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education. Pearson.

Owens, D., Bodenhorn, N., Bryant, R. M. (2010). Self-efficacy and multicultural competence of school counselors. Journal of School Counseling, 8(17), 1-20.

Studer, J. R. (2015). The essential school counselor in a changing society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Shure, L., West-Oltunji, C., & Cholewa, B. (2019). Investigating the relationship between school counselor recommendations and student cultural behavioral styles. Journal of Negro Education, 88(4), 454-466.

*Note this position statement includes minor updates to reflect the revisions to the 2022 ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.