In this special issue, the editors and each team of contributing authors offer examples of how a combined identity as educator–counselor can affect the various roles and responsibilities associated with school counseling. The suggestion that school counselor identity is always both educator and counselor is neither trivial nor a semantic distinction. Reshaping the narrative to suggest that school counselors are situated as educators who are oriented by counseling has the potential to mitigate much of the role ambiguity that has persisted in the profession for decades and, more important, has the potential to sharpen practice and contribute to greater student and schoolwide outcomes.
AkosP.BastianK. C.DominaT.de LunaL. M. M. (2019). Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) and student outcomes in elementary and middle schools. Professional School Counseling, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X19869933
American School Counselor Association. (2019). ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
4.
Betters-BubonJ.Goodman-ScottE.BamgboseO. (2020). School counselor educators’ reactions to changes in the profession[manuscript submitted for publication]. Journal of Counseling and Development.
5.
BlakeM. K. (2020). Other duties as assigned: The ambiguous role of the high school counselor. Sociology of Education, 93(4), 315–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040720932563
6.
BowersH.LembergerM. E. (2016). A person-centered humanistic approach to performing evidence-based school counseling research. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 15(1), 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2016.1139502
7.
BowersH.Lemberger-TrueloveM. E.BrigmanG. (2017). A social-emotional leadership framework for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 21(1b). https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X18773004
8.
CookA. L.Krueger-HenneyP. (2017). Group work that examines systems of power with young people: Youth participatory action research. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 42(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01933922.2017.1282570
9.
CottinghamH. F. (1973). Psychological education, the guidance function, and the school counselor. The School Counselor, 20(5), 340–345.
10.
DeKruyfL.AugerR. W.Trice-BlackS. (2013). The role of school counselors in meeting students’ mental health needs: Examining issues of professional identity. Professional School Counseling, 16(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0001600502
11.
DeweyJ. (1944). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. The Free Press. (Original work published 1916)
12.
DuranE.FirehammerJ.GonzalezJ. (2008). Liberation psychology as the path toward healing cultural soul wounds. Journal of Counseling & Development, 86(3), 288–295. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2008.tb00511.x
13.
FreireP. (1974). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Seabury Press.
14.
Goodman-ScottE.UptonA. W.Neuer CoburnA. A. (2021). District-level school counseling supervisors’ experiences and perceptions hiring school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
15.
GutiérrezK. D. (2016). 2011 AERA presidential address: Designing resilient ecologies: Social design experiments and a new social imagination. Educational Researcher, 45(3), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16645430
16.
HansenJ. T.SpecialeM.LembergerM. E. (2014). Humanism: The foundation and future of professional counseling. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, 53(3), 170–190. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1939.2014.00055.x
17.
HenryL. M.BryanJ. (2021). How the educator–counselor–leader–collaborator creates asset-rich schools: A qualitative study of a school–family–community partnership. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
18.
Hipolito-DelgadoC. P.Porras-HolguinL.-E.StickneyD.KirshnerB. (2021). Advocating for students during distance learning: The role of the school counselor. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
19.
LapanR. T.BobekB. L.KosciulekJ. (2017). School-based approaches promoting children’s career exploration and development. In WatsonM.McMahonM. (Eds.), Career exploration and development in childhood: Perspectives from theory, research and practice (pp. 159–171). Routledge.
20.
Lemberger-TrueloveM. E.BowersH. (2019). An advocating student-within-environment approach to school counseling. In DollarhideC. T.Lemberger-TrueloveM. E. (Eds.), Theories of school counseling for the 21st century (pp. 266–294). Oxford University Press.
21.
Lemberger-TrueloveM. E.CeballosP. L.MolinaC. E.CarbonneauK. J. (2021). Growth in middle school students’ curiosity, executive functioning, and academic achievement: Results from a theory-informed SEL and MBI school counseling intervention. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
22.
Lemberger-TrueloveM. E.CeballosP. L.MolinaC. E.DehnerJ. M. (2020). Inclusion of theory for evidence-based school counseling practice and scholarship. Professional School Counseling, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X20903576
23.
LevyI.CookA. L.EmdinC. (2018). Remixing the school counselor’s tool kit: Hip hop spoken word therapy and YPAR. Professional School Counseling, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X18800285
24.
LimbergD.StarrettA.OhrtJ. H.IrvinM. J.LotterC.RoyG. J. (2021). School counselor and teacher collaboration to enhance students’ career development using project-based learning. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
25.
LoveB. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.
PattonD. (2019). Predictive relationships between school counselor role ambiguity, role diffusion, and job satisfaction [Doctoral dissertation, Walden University]. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6260/
28.
PoyntonT. A.LapanR. T.SchuylerS. W. (2021). Reducing inequality in high school students’ college knowledge: The role of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
29.
RonesM.HoagwoodK. (2000). School-based mental health services: A research review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3, 223–241. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026425104386
30.
Wachter MorrisC. A.WesterK. L.JonesC. T.FantahunS. (2021). School counselors and unified educator–counselor identity: A data-informed approach to suicide prevention. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
31.
ZyromskiB.GriffithC.ChoiJ. (2021). Embracing school counselors’ situatedness: Data-based decision making as fulfillment of a complex identity. Professional School Counseling, 24(1b).
