Antiracist School Counseling Pedagogy: A Quasi-Experimental Multiple Regression Analysis

Date of Award

12-2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Jennifer Foster, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Stephen Craig, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Shawn Bultsma, Ph.D.

Keywords

Antiracist school counseling, counseling andragogy, counselor education, school counseling andragogy, school counseling pedagogy

Abstract

America’s K-12 schools, which were initially created exclusively for White children, are racialized institutions (Spring, 2019). School counseling ethics now obligate school counselors to engage in antiracist praxis in schools, yet school counselors-in-training (SCITs) are not typically provided with explicit training in antiracism, which allows them to enter the field with colorblind racial attitudes that inhibit them from recognizing and confronting racism in schools (Gibson & Fripp, 2022). The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between colorblind racial attitudes and antiracist behaviors of school counselors in-training who had and had not taken an antiracist school counseling course. The antiracist school counseling course included content focused on racism and antiracism, but was also created and delivered using antiracist pedagogical approaches and practices. Colorblind racial attitudes were measured using the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS; Neville et al., 2000). Antiracist behaviors were measured using the anti-racism behavioral inventory (ARBI; Pieterse et al., 2016). Participants included 60 SCITs enrolled in a school counseling graduate program in the Midwest who were recruited using purposive sampling. This research used a quasi-experimental cross-sectional survey design.

Data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression. The findings indicated that SCITs who completed an antiracist school counseling course had statistically significantly higher scores on the ARBI (Pieterse et al., 2016) and lower scores on the CoBRAS (Neville et al., 2000) than SCITs who had not completed the course. Thus SCITs who completed the course reported more antiracist behaviors and fewer colorblind racial attitudes than those who had not completed the course. The findings also indicated that scores on the ARBI and CoBRAS were significantly negatively correlated, with high scores on the CoBRAS correlated to low scores on the ARBI, and low scores on the CoBRAS correlated to high scores on the ARBI. Multiple linear regression analyses included the predictor variables of race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, teaching degree obtainment, number of credits completed, political ideology, and completion status of an antiracist school counseling course. Results showed that sexual orientation and completion status of an antiracist school counseling course predicted antiracist behaviors as measured by the ARBI and that completion status of an antiracist school counseling course alone predicted colorblind racial attitudes as measured by the CoBRAS. Implications of this study contribute to the growing body of research on antiracist counselor education pedagogy.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Abstract Only

Restricted to Campus until

12-2025

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS