TPC-Journal-V2-Issue1

54 The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 1 incorporating social justice advocacy in supervision. In short, their recommendations centered on calling supervisee attention to the continuum along which advocacy may occur, encouraging supervisee examination of their own place on the continuum, and scaffolding supervisee development of critical consciousness through reflective questioning, supervisor self-disclosure, and the incorporation of self-assessment and explicit examination of the counseling process in terms of dynamics of privilege and oppression. Research Since research on social justice advocacy in counselor education and supervision is so young, the possibilities for investigation appear limitless. First, establishing a clear understanding of the state of social justice advocacy training in counselor education and supervision programs is needed. Surveying current practices would not only shed light on how the field has embraced the charge to train counselors who are competent advocates, but also would provide perspective on the range of practices currently in use. This would include investigation of (a) strategies for promoting advocacy competence currently employed in counselor education and supervision programs overall, (b) theoretical approaches to counselor training for social justice advocacy, (c) exploring the efficacy of standalone courses on cultural competence and/ or advocacy as compared to infusion of training throughout a curriculum, and (d) the state and practice of social justice within counselor education and supervision programs. Further qualitative inquiry into the training experiences of counselor trainees and counselors would lend an important perspective to the knowledge base. Immediate foci may include desires for training, reflections on the process of developing critical consciousness and committing to social justice advocacy, critical incidents in training, and social justice needs within counselor education. Similarly, qualitative investigation of the experiences of counselor educators and supervisors who are charged with implementing training initiatives would bring additional perspective to the challenges and opportunities inherent in this endeavor. In addition, qualitative investigations of the clients and communities with whom service-learning initiatives are planned or conducted could be useful in assessing not only needs but also the impact of such projects and advocacy initiatives (Murray et al., 2010; Rasheed Ali et al., 2008). Examination of the relationship between multicultural counseling competence and advocacy competence also is indicated as an area in need of exploration. Understanding this relationship could lead to economies in programming and more effective facilitation of student development, as suggested by current practices and understanding of the synergistic relationship between the two competencies (Hays et al., 2007; Manis 2008). In addition, further investigation into how best to assess competence in both areas of practice would be useful (Smith et al., 2006). Finally, experimental research that assesses the efficacy of critically grounded pedagogical strategies in short- and long-term approaches would be helpful in assessing its ongoing utility in counselor education and supervision curricula, and in considering the question of efficacy of stand alone versus infusion approaches (Manis, 2008). This could be limited to specific strategies such as examination of dynamics of privilege and oppression, or expanded to testing full models or approaches as presented in the literature. And while there is promising evidence of the efficacy of critically grounded approaches for counselor education and supervision, this does not rule out the potential utility of investigating the efficacy of approaches grounded in other theories (Smith et al., 2006). Conclusion A review of the literature pointed to an appreciation of critical theories in grounding training for competent social justice advocacy. These approaches call upon counselor educators to attend to social justice across the curriculum and remain alert to their role in socializing counselor trainees as advocates. They also emphasize the importance of attending to the individual meaning-making of counselor trainees with respect to culture and dynamics of privilege and oppression. Lastly, they underscore the developmental nature of developing critical consciousness and the need to incorporate strategies that both instruct counselor trainees, and allow them to apply concepts in the field. Adopting a critical pedagogical approach demands a high degree of investment from faculty and trainees. Counselor education and supervision practices are inherently reflective and experiential, and thus consonant with critical pedagogies.