This book builds on social justice and multicultural counseling research and operationalizes what counselors need to know and do to combat systemic racism. Readers will learn how to define an antiracist approach to their work and behavior; proactively address racial incidents in schools; create college and career readiness systems for students of color; and apply antiracist perspectives to K-12 counseling practice, counselor professional development, school-family-community partnerships, counselor training programs, and counseling supervision. Practical appendixes include a professional development tool for critical self-reflection and an antiracist syllabus review protocol. *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com *To purchase print copies, please visit the ACA website https://imis.counseling.org/ *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]
"Antiracism in counseling requires courage and a high level of understanding of the history of racism in the United States, including the racist structures that have perpetuated white supremacist views. The information presented in this book is intended to facilitate counselors' comprehensive knowledge of antiracism, in particular compared to other constructs such as cultural competence and social justice counseling. As a whole, I firmly believe that antiracism is the foundation of cultural competence and social justice counseling practice. One cannot be a culturally competent counselor or a social justice advocate if antiracism is absent from one's repertoire of understanding. Antiracism is an active stance in which counselors challenge and fight against racist ideas, behaviors, and, most important, policies. Dr. Angela Davis, a noted Black activist, stated, "In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist." More recently, Ibram X. Kendi, an antiracist scholar, made the same point to highlight the difference between being not racist and being antiracist. In his book How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi lamented that racist ideas have defined our society since its inception, and therefore practices that stem from racist views seem natural. Being antiracist is difficult because it requires us to act differently, think differently, and act in ways that contradict our typical practices and beliefs. Kendi (2019) stated, "To be an antiracist is a radical choice in the face of our history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness" (p. 23). Given the shift in mind-set necessary for antiracist counseling practice, this book offers you an opportunity to explore antiracist counseling through the voices of diverse authors who represent expertise across the counseling spectrum as well as intersectional diversity in terms of gender, sexuality, and race. Some are counselor educators, some are practicing school counselors, some are clinical mental health counselors, one is a Postdoctoral Fellow with a background in African American studies, and one is a teacher educator. The authors are diverse, but they all share a unique perspective on antiracism. In addition, many of the authors describe their personal journeys to becoming antiracist counselors. They offer their own self-interrogation of their racial consciousness. Like Kendi, they share their missteps as well as their resilience and willingness to persevere through the journey. Most important, I believe the unwavering and collective sense of urgency among these authors is what makes this book special. Their commitment to social change and lifting up our profession is the thread that binds them together"--
Create conditions that lead to success for ALL students and confront conditions that create opportunity gaps This new edition of a bestseller shows school counselors how to incorporate principles of social justice, antiracism, equity, and advocacy into their practice and addresses the reasons why some students are more likely to encounter challenges at school due to racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism. It includes: Vignettes, strategies, activities, and reflective individual and group study questions A framework for how school counselors can mitigate the impact of negative factors that hamper academic performance and healthy development, especially among students of color Six functions of school counselors that move schools toward more just practices and, ultimately, to higher test scores and increased student achievement.
Interrupting Racism provides school counselors with a brief overview of racial equity in schools and practical ideas that a school-level practitioner can put into action. The book walks readers through the current state of achievement gap and racial equity in schools and looks at issues around intention, action, white privilege, and implicit bias. Later chapters include interrupting racism case studies and stories from school counselors about incorporating stakeholders into the work of racial equity. Activities, lessons, and action plans promote self-reflection, staff-reflection, and student-reflection and encourage school counselors to drive systemic change for students through advocacy, collaboration, and leadership.
This book provides an interdisciplinary structure to critique existing approaches that have failed to eradicate systemic inequalities across helping professions. This timely contribution offers helping professionals sought after resources that many are clamoring for to improve their practice, their pedagogical stance, and their knowledge as it relates to antiracism and antiracist approaches. This collection of chapters that cover antiracist research, theory and practice approaches is in direct response to Kendi’s (2019) call to action to examine and revise institutional policies and practices to become antiracist. Collectively this book advances existing research and resources by providing interdisciplinary strategies for helping professionals to engage in antiracism through critical evaluation of research, practice, and policies. Doing so empowers helping professionals across disciplines to employ antiracist strategies that deconstruct and dismantle racism embedded within the foundational origins, professional standards, and disciplinary practices of helping professions while simultaneously merging research, practice, and advocacy that employs antiracist practices.
School counsellors can play a powerful role in closing the achievement gap by incorporating principles of social justice - that is, equity and advocacy for all students - into their practice. This new resource for pre-service and in-service counsellors addresses the reasons why some students are more likely to encounter academic failure (racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism), and challenges readers to play an active role in bringing about the conditions for student success. Offering a variety of vignettes, strategies, activities, and reflective individual and group study questions, the book provides the framework for how school counsellors can mitigate the impact of negative factors hampering academic performance and healthy development. The book details six functions of a school counsellors that move schools toward more just practices and, ultimately, to higher test scores and increased student achievement.
While racism continues to be a persistent and pervasive issue in our schools nationwide, the professionals charged with creating safe and nurturing educational environments have few resources available to address racism directly. Racialized Schools is on the leading edge of books that do just that and includes the latest research and praxis to help school personnel confront racism in a professional manner. A national qualitative survey of students, school counselors, teachers, and administrators sets the stage by providing readers with a 360-degree picture of today's schools and the many ways racism creeps into the lives of our students. The authors present a number of different models and perspectives on understanding and addressing racism, beginning with their own personal and professional experiences. Significant attention is also given to empowering school personnel and students to become racially aware, sensitive, and competent to address racism and racial conflicts in schools. Racialized Schools is not only a comprehensive look at racism within our schools; it is also a practical tool for use by teachers, school counselors, administrators, etc., for implementing preventative measures to combat racism directly.
A School Counselor's Guide to Small Groups: Coordination, Leadership, and Assessment provides practicing school counselors, school counseling supervisors, school counselor educators, and counselors-in-training with the knowledge and tools they need to effectively implement and lead small groups within school contexts. The book features two distinct sections. The first section includes 10 mini-chapters designed to help readers consider how to use their group leadership skills to support group implementation. The second section provides readers with more than 50 small-group session plans divided into four key categories: anxiety, social skills, decision-making, and grief. The session plans include instructions for implementation, a list of materials needed, discussion ideas, recommended grade levels, American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Mindsets and Behaviors, and learning objectives. The second edition features new chapters and activities, coverage of new group leader skills, and sidebar activities to stimulate reflective practice, including case studies, supervision questions, advice from the authors, and more. The text has been updated to reflect the fourth edition of the ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs. A School Counselor's Guide to Small Groups is co-sponsored by The Association for Specialists in Group Work. It is a vital and highly applicable resource for practicing counselors and counselors-in-training.
In Unconscious Bias in Schools, two seasoned educators describe the phenomenon of unconscious racial bias and how it negatively affects the work of educators and students in schools. “Regardless of the amount of effort, time, and resources education leaders put into improving the academic achievement of students of color,” the authors write, “if unconscious racial bias is overlooked, improvement efforts may never achieve their highest potential.” In order to address this bias, the authors argue, educators must first be aware of the racialized context in which we live. Through personal anecdotes and real-life scenarios, Unconscious Bias in Schools provides education leaders with an essential roadmap for addressing these issues directly. The authors draw on the literature on change management, leadership, critical race theory, and racial identity development, as well as the growing research on unconscious bias in a variety of fields, to provide guidance for creating the conditions necessary to do this work—awareness, trust, and a “learner’s stance.” Benson and Fiarman also outline specific steps toward normalizing conversations about race; reducing the influence of bias on decision-making; building empathic relationships; and developing a system of accountability. All too often, conversations about race become mired in questions of attitude or intention–“But I’m not a racist!” This book shows how information about unconscious bias can help shift conversations among educators to a more productive, collegial approach that has the potential to disrupt the patterns of perception that perpetuate racism and institutional injustice. Tracey A. Benson is an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Sarah E. Fiarman is the director of leadership development for EL Education, and a former public school teacher, principal, and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Drawing from over 20 years of teaching experience in the U.S., ranging from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate, Affolter illustrates personal, practical, and theoretical ways for teachers to grapple with the complexities of race and racism within their own schools and communities and develop as inclusive anti-racist teachers. The work aims to take into account the deeply human dimensions of inclusive anti- racist teaching, while drawing attention to the threat of burnout, inviting closer inspection of curricula development, and exploring tangible ways to sustain this important work for teaching. Resisting racism, agitating for change, and walking an inclusive anti-racist path requires commitment to unflinchingly look at one's failures and examine silences. It is work that must be done in all settings: rural, urban, suburban. This book offers all pre-teachers and in-service teachers some perspectives and reflections on engaging anti-racist inclusive practice. The questions raised here ask each of us to consider our own positioning and interrogate the stories we tell ourselves about "the other." The book seeks to call in white teachers in particular to carefully examine our own biases and the ways we may replicate white supremacist ideology within our pedagogy and curricula. The questions posed here and the work ahead is not easy. This is work best taken on with those that can challenge with love and help support one other as we imagine and work towards a more just world.
