Dear ASCA Members,
This week, ASCA spoke up to condemn the
systemic racism that persists in our country,
calling on leaders to enact and enforce laws protecting members
of the black community. Like you, the ASCA Board of Directors
and staff are deeply saddened by the deaths of George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the many others who preceded
them. Racism has no place in our schools, our communities, our
nation or our world. ASCA has always been committed to
providing school counselors with resources and tools to close
achievement and opportunity gaps, to address inequities in
their schools and communities, to advocate for students, and to
promote safe and supportive learning environments.
As we continue to advocate for change at the
national level, ASCA is also producing materials and launching
new initiatives to both help you in your work with students and
to further educate and inform communities about prejudice and
privilege.
As you know, the ASCA Ethical Standards for
School Counselors, the ASCA Professional Standards &
Competencies and the ASCA National Model explicitly address the
role of school counselors in promoting equity and access for
all students. To further articulate the standards, ASCA has
compiled them into a single
document, which describes
how school counselors advocate for students and create environments
that ensure equity through implementation of a school
counseling program. On the ASCA website you’ll also find a list of
resources, both ASCA-created and curated
resources, to help guide conversations about racism and to help
students manage the associated trauma.
Additionally, ASCA is announcing the launch of
several new initiatives and resources aimed at combating racism
in schools and educating the school counseling community:
- Racism and
social justice themed issue (July/August) of ASCA School Counselor
magazine, with articles addressing implicit bias,
race-based trauma, social justice in an ASCA National
Model-based program, race conversations with students and
more.
- Free Pop-Up
ASCA Webinar: Address Students’ Race-Based Stress and Trauma,
June 9, 12-1 p.m. EDT, presented by Damien Sweeney, Ed.D.,
program coordinator for comprehensive school counseling,
Kentucky Department of Education. (Additional webinars are
in development.)
- ASCA Virtual
Town Hall: Racism in Schools, June 12, 3 p.m., moderated
by current and former School Counselors of the Year Laura
Ross and Brian Coleman. Watch ASCA’s social media channels
for details.
- ASCA Equity and
Access Task Force to serve as advisors to board and staff
and to ensure ASCA resources appropriately address
systemic oppression, anti-racism and inclusivity.
- Ten sessions
during ASCA@Home addressing
multicultural, diversity and social justice topics.
- ASCA Book Club
to read and discuss books about systemic racism, implicit
bias and privilege featuring the author, when possible.
ASCA will share discussion guides and tips for creating
opportunities to share thoughts with other school
counselors, colleagues, etc. Our first book is “Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You” by
Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. We will post links to
discussion guides next week. Pick up a copy from your
local bookstore (list of black-owned bookstores)
or online.
- Updated ASCA U
Cultural Competence and Social Justice Specialist to
replace the Cultural Competency Specialist, available in
early fall and free to ASCA members.
- Updated and
revised edition of the ASCA National Model companion
“Making Diversity Work,” focusing on equitable, inclusive
and culturally responsible school counseling programs,”
which will be released in August.
- Special issue
of Professional
School Counseling: “Males of Color and School
Counseling: Major Considerations and Best Practices,”
featuring guest editors Dr. Paul Harris (University of
Virginia), Dr. James Moore (The Ohio State University) and
Dr. Erik Hines (University of Connecticut), which will be
released late summer/early fall.
- Additional,
longer-term projects are also in the works.
ASCA’s work extends well beyond the profession
of school counseling to encompass education as a whole. To that
end, we continue to collaborate with The Education Trust, Reach
Higher, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, Teaching
Tolerance, the Learning First Alliance, the College Board,
GLSEN, America’s Promise, National Association of School
Psychologists, the U.S. Department of Education and many other
organizations on issues of equity and inclusion. This work is
critical and helps elevate ASCA’s voice at the national level.
Educators have long believed education is the
path toward breaking the cycle of racism. It’s only one path of
many, but it’s the path school counselors walk. Schools can and
should do better to combat racism and systemic oppression. We
encourage you to share this document with
administrators and other school staff. You must have a seat at
the table to ensure there’s no place for racism in your school.
Further, we must be united in this work. We all
play a role in fighting racism – whether we experience it
firsthand or we witness it happening to others. Those of us who
have been privileged to have never experienced racism and
oppression must recognize that privilege and advocate for all
of our students, colleagues and families. In the introduction
to “Stamped,” Dr. Kendi says, “There will come a time when we
will love humanity, when we will gain the courage to fight for
an equitable society for our beloved humanity, knowing,
intelligently, that when we fight for humanity, we are fighting
for ourselves.” Through you, its members, ASCA is committed to
this work.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.