Dismantling racism through collaborative consultation: Promoting culturally affirming educator SEL

Abstract

Evidence suggests teachers, intentionally and unintentionally, perpetuate racist practices in the classroom affecting students’ grades, engagement, opportunities, and mental health. Over time these collective experiences result in generational academic trauma. Within educational settings, school counselors (SCs) work in a myriad of ways to dismantle racist practices. One of the primary tasks of SCs is to promote whole-student wellness by providing equitable opportunities for all students to develop academically, socially, emotionally, and in postsecondary planning. However, it is unreasonable to expect students to flourish in these areas if educational staff, specifically teachers, do not embody, model, and promote culturally affirming social and emotional wellness. Centered in educator SEL, authors propose an integrated and culturally-affirming teacher/school counselor consultation model in which SCs work collaboratively with teachers to champion equity and student success.