Culturally Responsive School Counselors and Programs: Addressing the Needs of All Students

Among the issues facing contemporary school counselors, addressing the developmental needs of the growing number of students from culturally diverse backgrounds is, perhaps, the most challenging. Demographic trends indicate that the number of students in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States increased by approximately one million from 1987-1988 to 1990-1991. More than threequarters of this growth can be attributed to an increase in the number of Hispanic and Asian students. Data further indicate that the overall proportion of minority public school students increased from 1987-1988 to 1990-1991 while the proportion of White non-Hispanic students declined (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996). In concrete terms, these demographic estimates mean that, as never before, U.S. schools are becoming a social arena where children who represent truly diverse behavioral styles, attitudinal orientations, and value systems have been brought together with one goal-to prepare them for academic, career, and social success in the 21st Century. Cultural pluralism has become widely recognized as a major factor deserving understanding on the part of school counselors. Significantly, the American School Counselor Association (1999) established a position statement on cross/ multicultural counseling that calls for the facilitation of student development through an understanding of and appreciation for multiculturalism and diversity. This statement encourages school counselors to take action to ensure that students from culturally diverse backgrounds receive services that foster their development. However, there is a growing realization that current school counseling services often do not have broad applicability across the range of cultural backgrounds represented by students (Baruth & Manning, 2000; Herring, 1997; Lee, 1995). School counselors are becoming increasingly aware that their practices are rooted firmly in the values of European-American middle class culture, whereas the cultural values of a significant portion of the students with whom they work represent worldviews whose origins are found in Africa, Asia, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, or the Middle East (Herring, 1997; Lee, 1995). Cultural diversity must be effectively addressed in the provision of comprehensive school counseling programs. Three concepts underscore the importance of promoting cultural diversity in school counseling interventions. These are access, equity, and educational justice. All students, regardless of their cultural background and heritage, deserve equal access to a quality education. Anything less than that, for any child, is a grave educational injustice. School counselors need a different perspective from which to operate if they are going to ensure that students from culturally diverse backgrounds have access to services that promote optimal academic, career, and personal-social development (Baruth & Manning, 2000). This article provides such a perspective. The article provides direction for planning, implementing, and evaluating culturally responsive school counseling programs. The article first explores the concept of a culturally responsive school. It next considers the ways that a comprehensive guidance and counseling program can promote such a school. Within the context of a school counseling program that is both comprehensive and culturally responsive, specific counselor roles and functions considered critical for enhancing the quality of education for all children are discussed. Salient Aspects of Culturally Responsive Schools For the past 20 years, I have been an active consultant to schools across the country that have been grappling with the challenges and opportunities associated with a culturally diverse student body. It has become obvious to me that schools and school systems vary widely in their response to issues of cultural diversity. Those schools that have been successful in both meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities associated with multiculturalism and diversity appear to share a number of important characteristics. …