The School Counselor Leader: Assessing Your Mindsets and Skills

You have always considered yourself a leader. You held student leadership positions in your school, athletic teams, clubs and community organizations. You ran for office, agreed to chair committees and volunteered when others did not. As a graduate student in school counseling, you learned about the American School Counselor Association’s ASCA National Model and researched and discussed the impact that advocacy, collaboration and leadership (ACL) have on systemic change. You received the best preparation and experience possible, and now you are a school counselor. Perhaps you are new to the field or are a veteran; in either case, you realize ACL in a school setting can be daunting.

As a retired 30-year veteran in school counseling and district leadership in a large metro-Atlanta school district, I have interacted with hundreds of school counselors and graduate students. Having them reflect upon and share the reason why they wanted to become a school counselor was an important step in beginning their careers or, for veteran counselors, in refocusing on student-centered programming. When asked, most school counselors shared that they entered the profession to change the world, to make it a better place or to protect and serve students (systemic change). As we know from the ASCA National Model, the guiding principles of advocacy, collaboration and leadership drive systemic change; consequently, assessing our ACL mindsets and strengthening our ACL skills are essential for being an effective school counselor.

Consider these change agents who have impacted our lives in unparalleled ways. Helen Keller, Sir Paul McCartney, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malala Yousafzai, Rosa Parks and Jimmy Carter at first glance seem to be a disparate group of private citizens, politicians and artists. But they are considered change agents because of their passion, vision and courage for making the world a better place. These individuals, many of whom overcame adversities, used their leadership mindsets and advocacy skills to change the world. Sound familiar?

Assessing Leadership Mindsets
School counselors who are interested in assessing their ACL mindsets might begin with a review of the ACL themes in literature and research. Visit the leadership section of your local bookstore or library, where you will find hundreds of books on the topic. Explore scholarly journals and collaborate with other professionals in the field. Advocacy and leadership research, self-assessments, books and other resources abound; in fact, advocacy and leadership are often inseparable. Regardless of the assessment and the setting, allow your ACL exploration to spark self-reflection and rich conversations between you and your counselor colleagues, professional learning communities, classmates, mentors and staff. Begin by asking and answering questions that may reveal your ACL mindset.

Assessing Leadership Skills
Having the desire to advocate, collaborate and lead effectively is different from possessing the skills necessary to do so. As is true for our students, once we possess the appropriate mindset, learning and implementing the skills require practice and time. After assessing your ACL mindsets, complete The ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies Assessment for assessing your mindset about students and your school counseling program. The instrument also includes comprehensive statements focused on Professional Foundation, Direct and Indirect Student Services and Planning and Assessment. Your responses can inform strategic planning for implementing and sustaining a comprehensive school counseling program and professional learning.

Summary
Professional and personal self-reflection and assessment are not always easy. Knowing where to begin, asking relevant questions and developing actionable next steps may feel overwhelming at first. School counselors, however, have an ethical responsibility to engage in continual professional self-improvement to ensure we are providing excellent care to our students and school communities.

Consider the following questions as you continue your journey of assessing your ACL mindsets and skills:

• Who am I as a school counselor?
• Do my mindsets and skills meet the needs of my students?
• Do I have a fixed or growth leadership mindset?
• How does leadership mindset impact skills?
• What can I do to develop and improve my leadership mindset and skills?
• What are ethical considerations when leadership efforts do not align with school and district prevailing practices?
• What are ethical considerations when a school counselor’s mindsets and skills do not meet the needs of students?

Gail M. Smith is a retired school counselor and school counseling supervisor who spent 30 years working in the Cobb County School District. She can be reached at gailcounselor.smith@gmail.com.