The model for supervision of school counseling leadership

Examining Ecological Factors that Predict School Counselors’ Engagement in Leadership Practices

“…To date, some research has examined the role of professional developmental experiences (e.g., leadership experience, mentorship; Mullen et al, 2018;Mullen et al, 2019) on school counseling leadership practice. Scholars have called for further empirical investigation of leadership training and mentorship (Mullen et al, 2018(Mullen et al, , 2019 and supervision in relation to school counseling leadership (e.g., Dollarhide et al, 2008;Hilts et al, 2022b;Mullen et al, 2019).…”

“…Supervisors of school counselors may offer scaffolded interventions to help facilitate school counselors' dispositions regarding an active orientation toward their work role. One example of how this might be accomplished is utilizing the Model for Supervision of School Counseling Leadership (Hilts et al, 2022b) to cultivate school counselors' empowerment to enact leadership.…”

“…The importance of school counselors receiving and continuing to receive varied levels of leadership support—through supervision, mentorship, and targeted training (Hilts et al, 2022b)—to promote their professional growth and leadership identity development is emphasized in the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards (2016), Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)/Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs) standards (ASCA, n.d.), and the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies (ASCA, 2019b). Further, given that the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2019a) identifies leadership as one of the primary guiding themes undergirding school counselors’ roles and functions, targeted training on and experiences in leadership are critical for school counselors (Strear et al, 2018; Young & Bryan, 2015, 2018).…”

“…The counseling profession’s understanding of school counseling leadership as an outcome variable is still in its infancy. Hilts et al (2022b) posited that “school counseling leadership is a dynamic, social process through which school counselors engage in practices that successfully garner the support from relevant school partners to accomplish a common objective and implement programs aimed at promoting student development and achievement” (p. 2). Researchers have found that school counseling leadership practice comprises interpersonal influence, resourceful problem solving, systemic collaboration, social justice advocacy, and professional efficacy (Young & Bryan, 2015, 2018).…”

“…Given that school counselors should think and act systemically and to understand students' multilayered contexts (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2019a; McMahon et al, 2014), engaging in a parallel process to better understand how ecological contexts influence school counselors' engagement in leadership would be prudent. Because leadership is inherently a dynamic, social phenomenon (Hilts et al, 2022b), capturing the various ecological factors that may impact the leadership practices of school counselors could offer valuable insights on future training, practice, and research.…”