Running Head: LEADER FOR ALL STUDENTS 1

An Effective School Counselor’s Role: Being a Leader for All Students

Nina Brashears

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Abstract

A school counselor leader ideally operates from a disposition where expertise, skills, knowledge,

and mindsets support the success of all students. Leadership in this case is not a role, but a set of

actions that align to the implementation of a comprehensive school-counseling program (CSCP).

The school counselor seeks opportunities to expand their impact and influence within the school

as a leader wholly committed to the success and potential of every student. Through a leadership

mindset school counselors can balance leadership styles to promote student success. The

foundation of the CSCP planning and implementation provides one focus that can be expanded

to balance the leadership in program delivery to ultimately create systemic change that benefits

achievement and inclusion of every student.

Keywords: school counselors, leadership, impact, influence, systemic change

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An Effective School Counselor’s Role: Being a Leader for All Students

A school counselor is a leader that will utilize various types of leadership to be an

advocate for systems that promote outcomes and access for all students. Since a school counselor

works within a school building and within the confines of existing structures, successful focus,

actions, and delivery should be grounded in leadership. School counselors must see themselves

as a leader and act in way that shows leadership in order to be most effective. The idea of

leadership has evolved within disciplines, but a school counselor should view himself or herself

as a leader willing to bring together their expertise, in collaboration with other leaders in the

building, to change trajectories and practices to be more effective and inclusive. Within the last

century the role of school counselor has shifted from a position of counseling as needed to a

systemic-focused role that strives for equitable opportunity for all students. As a systemic change

agent, the school counselor is a leader within the school building.

According to the ASCA National Model (2012) the four elements of leadership in school

counseling are: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic leadership. Dollarhide (2003)

summarizes the various roles of leadership within these four elements to start with the “systemic

view of establishing a program” and “recruiting colleagues” to then “accessing power structures

and inspiring others.” This paper will argue that a school counseling leader must navigate and

balance these four types of leadership as they implement a CSCP and use the experience to

ultimately disrupt systems that impede students from achieving their full potential for success

and well-being.

Professional school counselors are in a unique position that combines skills, knowledge,

and mindsets to weave together the story of data and individual experiences to keep the focus on

what is best for students. While they may not be a leader in the traditional sense of a school
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leader or administrator, school counselors are a steady source of support, advocacy, and focus on

the needs and potential of all students. System leadership can be a set of actions and dispositions,

not necessarily a specific role. Jansen, Stone, and Clark (2009) argued for the “importance of

viewing leadership as practice, rather than simply personal characteristics, position, or

professional role.” When school counselors act from this disposition they are empowered to best

serve all the students within the school building. Jansen, et al. (2009) supports this view by

stating how school counselors are "natural leaders" due to the fact that they “receive thorough

training in areas including human relations, problem solving, change processes, human and

career development, group work, learning theories, and program evaluation.” The skills and

mindsets that make an effective professional school counselor are connected to the skills of an

effective educational leader who can rally others around a common goal, a goal that should be

systems and supports that promote opportunity, access, and achievement for all students.

Structural Leadership: Building Effective Programs

Impact and influence comes from being reliable and present. Through a well-planned and

executed program, stakeholders see counselors as dependable and a source of leadership through

program implementation. Young and Bryan (2016) assert “school counselors currently initiate

programs and deliver services that directly involve them in leadership in their school.” Within

this perspective the implementation of a CSCP should present opportunities for a school

counselor to show leadership. Through the process of identifying program goals and potential

areas of needs, school counselors may “recognize dysfunctional systems within schools and in

the community and its impact on students” (Evans, Zambrano, Cook, Moyer, & Duffey, 2011).

In order to see how system can be improved, the school counselor must be in the process of

implementation and service both directly and indirectly within the system. With intimate
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knowledge of existing systems at the school the school counselor “can work to guide systems

towards becoming more responsive to the needs of all students” (Evans, et al., 2011). However

to take ownership of the role they play within the existing systems school counselors can use

roles or practices they already do as a method for change (Jansen, et al., 2009). Moreover

specific actions may take the form of “staff development, large-group guidance, and college

advising” that ultimately contribute to closing achievement and opportunity gaps for students

(Jansen et al., 2009). Shillingford and Lambie (2010) assert, “school counselors should be self-

advocates in promoting and securing the appropriate delivery of services.” Thus, the foundation

of leadership for students takes the form of advocacy for the value and impact of a CSCP

implemented by a professional school counselor.

Human Resource Leadership: Recognizing the Strengths of Others

School counselor leaders build up everyone around them, including stakeholders inside

and outside the building, to have the greatest impact on influencing outcomes for students. Each

individual interacting with students has unique strengths that can be used to meet the needs of

students. This starts with the belief in the abilities and strengths of all students and applying that

same belief to see the best in others. Having the interpersonal awareness of the strengths of other

professionals can build the collaboration and partnership among professionals in the building to

facilitate and support structures and programs for students. Within the realm of instruction,

Young and Bryan (2016) assert that the counselor goes beyond being a “supplemental service

provider” to ideally “a valuable partner in the instructional environment.” Serving as a leader

focused on the well being of students requires consideration of how other professionals within

the building interact with students. The CSCP should not be seen as a distinct entity from other

priorities or goals of a school, but rather an integrated component of a student’s educational

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experience while at school. A school counselor exhibits leadership when their influence can be

felt even when they are not in direct contact or overtly present throughout the school day. Thus,

building the capacity and confidence of other educators ultimately contributes to the goal of

success for all students. A school counselor leader that works in partnership with other

stakeholders can wield greater influence on the many systems and spaces that impact students.

Since the school counselor interacts with educators, students, and families within the

context of school and the greater community, cultural competence is important for recognizing

the assets brought by others. A school counselor that leads through example as a model of

cultural competence can impact a greater number of stakeholders and students. Evans,

Zambrano, Cook, Moyer, and Duffey, (2011) reference cultural competence when they describe

how the power of moving “beyond counselors' awareness of their beliefs and attitudes to address

the importance of understanding the beliefs and attitudes of those whom they serve.” Being

guided by a deep belief in all students and a curiosity to learn across lines of difference enhances

the connections made by a school counselor. Additionally, Evans, et al. (2011) contends that “as

counselors become more culturally competent, they will utilize the knowledge, beliefs, and skills

to serve the student population more effectively.” Operating from a perspective that recognizes

and affirms the role and importance of others within the system, the school counselor is setting

up the relationships and routines to be able to navigate the political systems at play in a school or

district.

Political Leadership: Creating Impact and Influence Through Relationships And Data

School counselors take a big picture view to gain insights into hidden drivers of school

time, resources, and focus to ultimately align these areas with their own work. When aligned

with the mindsets and values of the administration there can be additional value given to the
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programs, perspectives, and services that school counselors provide. Young and Bryan (2016)

see the counselor as a political leader who “understands the political realities of an organization

and can overcome challenges to sustain stakeholder interest.” The realities of a school building

create hierarchies through titles and positions and the principal and administrative team receive

leadership roles through this process. However if the definition of leadership expands beyond

title, the school counselor can assume leadership roles both formally and informally. Mason and

McMahon (2009) conceptualize leadership as having “more to do with skills, relationships, and

processes than with authoritative power or position within a hierarchy.” Since school counselors

are trained and use daily skills associated with interpersonal relationships and implementation of

a CSCP their daily actions meet the definition of leadership and they can use that influence

within the school building. According to Young and Kaffenberger (2015) “reviewing, collecting,

analyzing, interpreting, and sharing data are part of every cycle of program development and

delivery.” So while structural implementation of a CSCP requires the use of data to drive

programming, the school counselor leader utilizes data as a tool to influence other leaders in the

school building. Many current programs from the federal to local level are emphasizing the use

of data to drive decision-making within schools (Young and Kaffenberger, 2015). With an

understanding of this trend in education, the school counselor leader understands data as one

point of influence for the principal or other instructional leaders of the building. Accordingly the

school counselor leader can align data from the CSCP to data measured, valued, and used by

school leaders to maintain focus on what is best for all students. Combined with relationships,

data can wield power to gain allies as school counselors continue to work towards the ultimate

goal of creating and maintaining systems that empower all students served by a school.

Symbolic: Creating Real Change for All Students

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School counselors as leaders will recognize the incremental changes happening

throughout the building that can have huge impacts on students. The role of a leader in this

capacity is to connect with others to share how change or the process of moving forward can

provide a more enriching environment for students that ultimately results in students being able

to realize their social, emotional, academic, and developmental potential. These small changes

can combine to ideally change trajectories, especially of traditionally underserved populations of

students. Young and Bryan (2016) connect school counselor leaders with “a common strand

among successful educational leadership approaches” in that school counselors should exhibit “a

core belief that leadership is central for transformative visions focused on improved, productive

student outcomes.” In this process school counselors must themselves remain grounded in

cultural competence in order to model, reinforce, guide, and strengthen others in this process.

Being culturally competent means being aware and always learning. Jansen, et al. (2009)

cautions that if the school counselor’s “leadership is expressed through practices that do not

enhance the lives of students and promote achievement, then the end results may be the creation

or reinforcement of, rather than the removal of, barriers that impede student success.” Other

professionals operating within the school building may not have the perspective to see how all of

the systems work to either promote or inhibit student access and success. A school counselor is

using a crucial form of influence when they can identify a system that holds students back,

propose a solution or change, and finally have the relationships and understanding of school

power structures to make change a reality. In this way they are serving as the leader for

achievement and inclusion of every student. Evans, et al. (2011) emphasizes that a school

counselor leader works to “ensure that school systems do not force disempowered students to

change to fit the system” rather the school counselor leader advocates that “school systems adjust
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to fit the needs of students.” Enduring change to systems takes time, but the school counselor

leader operates with the focus on celebrating change while never being complacent in a system

that bars some segment of students from reaching their full potential.

Conclusion

Given the context of the educational system and specific school setting in which a school

counselor operates, acting from a leadership disposition sets the stage to find solutions and

advocate for change from within the system. The school counselor is in a position uniquely

focused on students. The intimate knowledge of how the systems in place either inhibit or

promote individuals and groups provides guidance for the school counselor leader as they

identify solutions. A leader can inspire others to come together toward a common goal and

leadership goes beyond title or role to include strategic choices and actions. The role of a school

counselor is most effective and inclusive when the school counselor leader builds an effective

CSCP, recognizes the strengths in others, and uses relationships and data to grow impact and

influence as a leader to ultimately create real change for all students. There are limitations to

fully actualizing leadership in all these areas due to issues such as experience, personal

characteristics, time available, and access to training and development of leadership skills.

However, leadership is not an end goal, but rather an on-going process of implementing,

evaluating, and adapting so the school counselor leader is flexible in response to unique

challenges and situations that occur in their school building. Operating from the perspective that

leadership is actions and mindsets, not a role or position, the school counselor serves to keep the

focus on the success and inclusion of all students.

Within their role at a school, a school counselor leader not only advocates for the value of

a CSCP, but also navigates interpersonal leadership to effectively build partnerships and develop
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allies. The school counselor leader is singularly focused on what is best for students and can

model and guide others within the school to remain committed to creating student-centered

systems. Gaining experiences to build cultural competence can not only benefit work with

students, but also contribute to forming relationships with other stakeholders such as parents,

caregivers, and other educators. The specific skills and experiences that school counselors are

trained in to be able to serve students align to effective actions of a leader. Balancing the styles

and purpose of different leadership areas is a skill. With time to develop these skills, a school

counselor leader is able to lead others towards ambitious goals. By acknowledging and

navigating service, relationships, and data a school counselor leader is always striving to shift or

maintain systems for the best interest of all students.

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