leadership

Special Issue: School Counseling Leadership in Practice

A Social-Emotional Leadership Framework for School Counselors

Hannah Bowers 1 , Matthew E. Lemberger-Truelove

2 ,

and Greg Brigman 1

Abstract Social-emotional learning (SEL) is an effective intervention focus associated with personal growth, student achievement, and behavioral regulation. The authors suggest that school counselors extend SEL practices into their leadership dispositions and behaviors. The authors offer implications for socially just school counseling practice, scholarship, and program evaluation.

Keywords social-emotional learning, social-emotional leadership, school counseling

Contemporary schools are required to evince increasing student

learning outcomes concurrent with greater personal and social

stressors on students (Skinner, Pitzer, & Steele, 2016) and edu-

cators (Klassen & Chiu, 2011). Within these expectations,

school counselors are encouraged to intervene on behalf of all

students, teachers, and other stakeholders to mitigate the stres-

sors that limit school and life successes (see American School

Counselor Association [ASCA], 2012). Unfortunately, school

counselors too often are relegated to ancillary duties and gen-

erally considered secondary to the academic content valued in

contemporary schools (Dahir & Stone, 2009; Dollarhide &

Lemberger, 2006), regardless of evidence that illustrates the

value of school counseling services on schools and students

alike (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2014; Lapan, Gysbers, & Sun,

1997). The underutilization of school counselors might be a

function of misunderstanding or misappropriation of school

counseling practices or outcomes (Beesley, 2004; Clark &

Amatea, 2004; Dollarhide, Smith, & Lemberger, 2007). To

address this issue, school counselors can adopt a leadership

posture that is consistent with the nature of the profession and

the needs of schools and learners, which in turn might translate

into greater quantity and improved quality of services

delivered.

School counselors can adopt a leadership posture

that is consistent with the nature of the profession

and the needs of schools and learners, which in turn

might translate into greater quantity and improved

quality of services delivered.

For school counselors to be accepted as leaders, they must

commit to dispositions that lead to behaviors supporting the

successes of various constituents. With this in mind, school

counselors might consider findings from multiple meta-

analyses indicating that social-emotional learning (SEL)

interventions improve students’ academic achievement and

contribute to positive school behaviors (e.g., Durlak, Weiss-

berg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Sklad, Diekstra,

Ritter, Ben, & Gravesteijn, 2012). Conceptual and practice

continuities exist between the behaviors expected of school

counselors and SEL activities deemed valuable in schools

(Lemberger & Hutchison, 2014; Van Velsor, 2009), with impli-

cations for students’ learning and social outcomes, social

justice advocacy in schools, and school counseling leadership.

In fact, several empirical intervention studies illustrate the

helpful influence of SEL interventions on students and schools

as delivered by trained school counselors (e.g., Bowers,

Lemberger, Jones, & Rogers, 2015; Lemberger & Clemens,

2012; Lemberger, Carbonneau, Selig, & Bowers, 2018;

Lemberger, Selig, Bowers, & Rogers, 2015).

More than mere counseling techniques, leadership using

social-emotional insights and behaviors in schools can create

an ethos that affects each participant in the total school envi-

ronment. For students, school counselors with an SEL focus

can generate a culture of solidarity and encouragement, which

is especially important given the inimical nature of many

1 Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA 2

University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Matthew E. Lemberger-Truelove, PhD, University of North Texas, Denton,

TX, USA.

Email: [email protected]

Professional School Counseling Volume 21(1b): 1-10

ª 2018 American School Counselor Association

Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/2156759X18773004 journals.sagepub.com/home/pcx

contemporary schools. Furthermore, SEL behaviors are asso-

ciated with the concept of growth mind-set (Norrish, Williams,

O’Connor, & Robinson, 2013), the belief that the steadfast

pursuit of multiple achievement strategies will lead to greater

student confidence and competence (see Dweck, 2006). Con-

sidered together, SEL and a social-emotional leadership frame-

work for school counseling have the potential to empower

individual students and ameliorate entire systems such that

each might reinforce the other.

More than mere counseling techniques, leadership

using social-emotional insights and behaviors in

schools can create an ethos that affects each

participant in the total school environment.

Social-emotional leadership also might better support teach-

ers, administrators, and other school stakeholders. For exam-

ple, school counselors practicing from a social-emotional

leadership framework can support how adults infuse and rein-

force SEL opportunities in their relationships with students and

across general classroom activities. Furthermore, school coun-

selors as social and emotional leaders can assist educators in

managing their stress and maximizing their capacities as edu-

cators and colleagues. Finally, a social-emotional leadership

framework can ground school counselors’ disposition and prac-

tice as a school leader, therefore challenging the reductive ways

in which school counselors are too often perceived and utilized

by education colleagues in schools.

We endorse a social-emotional leadership framework as a

comprehensive way of being as a school leader while acknowl-

edging that specific SEL practices can be tailored to the role

and activities of school counselors (see Van Velsor, 2009). For

example, the extant SEL literature includes numerous

evidence-based SEL programs (see Collaborative for Aca-

demic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2005) and

general how-to guides designed to perpetuate certain SEL-

related behaviors (e.g., Elias, O’Brien, & Weissberg, 2006;

Greenberg et al., 2003), each of which can be easily integrated

into school counseling praxis. Although SEL can be reduced to

mere intervention strategies for students, school counselors can

use SEL as a leadership framework to create a school culture

that echoes a recent outcome study illustrating the relationships

between one’s commitment to SEL, one’s professional

behaviors, and students’ experiences of SEL (Wanless,

Rimm-Kaufman, Abry, Larsen, & Patton, 2015).

Considering the transformative potential of SEL leadership

in schools, our purpose in this article is to present a model of

social-emotional leadership relevant to school counselors.

The conceptual theory of change proceeds from the assump-

tion that school counselors who embody SEL dispositions will

more likely commit to consistent SEL behaviors, which in

turn will result in useful outcomes. The embodiment of SEL

must be an authentic reflection of the potential of school

counseling as a professional discipline and each school

counselor who is responsive to others’ and their own social

and emotional experiences.

Authentic SEL school counseling leadership is equal parts

dispositional and behavioral, as the qualities of SEL must

provide clear implications for school counseling practice, stu-

dents’ and educators’ in-school experiences, and social justice

advocacy through school counseling leadership. Furthermore,

school counseling practitioners and scholars can look to this

model for the purposes of implementing and evaluating their

comprehensive programs, especially as it might enhance

school counselors’ dispositions and practices endorsed by the

ASCA. First, we examine the benefits of SEL programming in

schools and then consider what leadership using SEL con-

cepts would entail.

SEL in Schools

School leadership is an essential ingredient for the thriving of

each person in a school environment (see Epstein, 1995;

Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008; Ross & Gray, 2006).

Reviews of the literature suggest that effective school lead-

ers understand others and can translate these understandings

into specific activities intended to maximize others’ abilities

and relationships (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008).

Many of the specific behaviors of effective school leaders

appear to closely reflect the types of behaviors required of

educators who employ SEL. Consequently, school counse-

lors who embody SEL qualities in their leadership approach

can likely affect the SEL capacities of others; this, in turn,

leads to constructive outcomes associated with SEL activity.

As a general approach to education, SEL consists of sup-

porting children and adolescents such that they might better

understand and manage their emotions, respect the perspectives

of others, create positive and achievable goals, partake in

responsible decision-making, and navigate interpersonal rela-

tionships effectively (CASEL, 2005; Greenberg et al., 2003;

Lemerise & Arsenio, 2000). By increasing students’ social and

emotional functioning through intentional intervention, stu-

dents amplify their internal capacities and reduce aversive

responses to stress that often threaten academic achievement

(Greenberg et al., 2003).

Specific to school counseling, ASCA used SEL-related

outcome studies (and other literatures such as college and

career readiness; e.g., Farrington et al., 2012) to create the

foundation for the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors for Student

Success (2014). The ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors includes

35 standards that identify specific attitudes, knowledge, and

skills demonstrated by students and attributed to school coun-

seling program outcomes. These general guidelines for prac-

tice might lead to more comprehensive and effective school

counseling programs, and adopting the SEL aspects of the

ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (ASCA, 2014) might further

lead to school counselors being perceived and utilized as

school leaders more consistently.

2 Professional School Counseling

SEL and School Outcomes

Meta-analyses of SEL program efficacy have demonstrated

student outcomes such as improved social and emotional skills,

school attitudes, and behaviors, and overall increases in aca-

demic achievement (Durlak & Weissberg, 2005; Durlak et al.,

2011). Findings from these meta-analyses and other empirical

studies provide further support for the reciprocal relationship

between social-emotional skill sets and overall school climate

(e.g., Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2012; Durlak & Weissberg,

2005); as students or educators increase their social and emo-

tional functioning, those functions in turn promote a supportive

environment for students to learn and educators to perform

their duties. Further emphasizing such conclusions is a review

of social-emotional-related literature from fields relevant to

child-based outcomes including risk prevention, health promo-

tion, civic education, mental health, and character education

(Cohen, 2006). Overall conclusions promote outcomes of cre-

ating safe and supportive school systems (Cohen, 2006).

For educators, social-emotional functioning also appears to

have an influence on teaching behaviors, classroom climate,

and professional burnout (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009).

Teachers who are able to regulate their emotions, either inhi-

biting or expressing when and how is most appropriate, tend to

exhibit stronger and more learning-focused relationships with

students (Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2011). As such, SEL appears

to be a necessary, albeit underutilized, ingredient in the total

learning environment for students and educators.

Specific to the practice of school counseling, the Student

Success Skills (SSS) program, a comprehensive intervention

curriculum grounded in SEL foundations, has numerous

empirical outcomes in increasing students’ social-emotional

skills, cognitive factors, and academic achievement (e.g.,

Bowers et al., 2015; Lemberger & Clemens, 2012; Lemberger

et al., 2015). Looking at the impact of the SSS program over

time, researchers found that students increased academic

achievement throughout the school year and identified the

potential long-term effects of SEL programming (Lemberger

et al., 2018). In particular, feeling more socially connected to

others and able to regulate one’s emotions and act on one’s

internal resources can lead to learning and relational outcomes

desired in schools and beyond.

Social-Emotional Leadership Framework

Consistent with SEL as an instructional practice, social-emo-

tional leadership consists of a leader’s ability to be socially and

emotionally adroit and responsive. As defined by Bar-On

(2007), social and emotional intelligence pertains to one’s abil-

ity to “understand and express themselves, to understand and

relate well to others, and to successfully cope with demands of

daily life” (p. 2). Within the context of leadership practices, a

socially and emotionally intelligent leader will exhibit

increased insight into emotional experiences to inform cogni-

tive processes and intentional decision-making, increased

empathy, and ability to regulate emotional experiences

(George, 2000; Riggio & Reichard, 2008). The combination

of social and emotional skills and leadership creates a frame-

work that includes emotional expressiveness, emotional sensi-

tivity, and emotional control, which are then manifest through

one’s social expressiveness, social sensitivity, and social con-

trol (Riggio & Reichard, 2008).

These social and emotional skills contribute to the develop-

ment of goals and objectives, inspiring and collaborating with

stakeholders, generating and maintaining positive climate,

encouraging flexibility, and establishing professional identity

(George, 2000); this is consistent with outcomes identified

within school counseling leadership practices (Dollarhide,

2003; Van Velsor, 2009) and the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors

(2014). In leadership practice, use of social and emotional

skills expressions has been shown to increase workplace

motivation (Groves, 2006; Riggio & Reichard, 2008) and has

positive effects on group climates (Bono & Ilies, 2006). A

meta-analysis of the effect of emotional intelligence on educa-

tional leadership efficacy from 141 studies identified emotional

intelligence as a critical component of effective leadership

capabilities (Mills, 2009). Results call for increased develop-

ment of emotional intelligence as a key disposition for practi-

cing educational leaders and leadership training programs

(Mills, 2009). Considered within the context of school counsel-

ing, school counselors are prime candidates to embrace a

social-emotional leadership style.

Social-Emotional Leadership in School Counseling

Influenced by developments in occupational psychology,

school leaders are now becoming more proficient in cultivating

social-emotional skills in their managerial approach (Riggio &

Reichard, 2008). These changes in leadership activities have

mirrored changes in the demands and expectations in school

cultures. School leaders must be as proficient in supporting

student learning and achievement, as they are protecting stu-

dents and colleagues against the various stressors that threaten

performance. A collateral benefit of this paradigm shift in

schools is a refocusing on the whole person in the school and

the school climate, beckoning back to recommendations made

by Dewey (1916; Dewey & Small, 1897) and other early pro-

gressive educators.

SEL is rooted in ideas and practices commensurate to huma-

nistic counseling (Mayer & Cobb, 2000), which further reflects

the humanistic bases of contemporary school counseling that

focus on amplifying students’ internal resources and develop-

ment (Myrick, 1997). Social-emotional leadership is not a top-

down style of influencing the happenings in school; rather, a

school counselor influenced by SEL is required to apprehend

the experiences of others (social) and deepen these experiences

(emotional) in such a way that one might thrive (learning).

In practice, school counselors are encouraged to engage in

leadership roles and are provided numerous modalities to

achieve a leadership presence within their school system

(Dollarhide, 2003; Mason & McMahon, 2009). However, such

Bowers et al. 3

identified modalities neglect to address concepts of democracy

and the foundational humanistic praxis on which the counsel-

ing profession is founded (see Hansen, Speciale, & Lemberger,

2014). As shown in Figure 1, school counseling leadership skill

sets are essential to promote SEL programming. For the school

counselor to achieve SEL-based school climate change, they

must enhance and embrace specific dispositional skill sets

within their leadership style and make use of democratic dis-

positions, markers of social and emotional intelligence, and

consideration of humanistic counseling praxis. To develop

leadership skill sets that encourage practice and implementa-

tion of an SEL school community, school counselors can find

guidance in self-awareness, self-management, social aware-

ness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Social-Emotional Leadership Dispositions

Social-emotional leadership must be an authentic expression of

the school counselor’s professional and personal identity. Avo-

lio, Gardner, Walumbwa, Luthans, and May (2004) suggested

that authentic leaders are

those individuals who are deeply aware of how they think and

behave and are perceived by others as being aware of their own

and others’ values/moral perspective, knowledge, and strengths;

aware of the context in which they operate; and who are confident,

hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and high on moral character. (p. 4)

This list of authentic leadership qualities appears to reflect

many of the behaviors affiliated with SEL, but even more

encouraging is the evidence that such authenticity translates

into greater leader influence (Avolio et al., 2004). As such,

we theorize that school counselors who embody and share SEL

qualities such as self-awareness, self-management, social

awareness, relational skills, and responsible decision-making

will have a transformative end in schools.

Self-awareness. Self-awareness is a key skill set used across professions, from counselors to chief executive officers. It is

a dispositional quality measured prior to admission to many

counseling programs, taught as a main component in counsel-

ing skills, and underlying foundations throughout each coun-

seling theory. Self-awareness refers to the ability to

continuously self-reflect to enhance understanding of how one

conceptualizes one’s world and one’s holistic experiences in

the here and now (Rogers, 1957). SEL uses self-awareness as a

skill encompassing the ability to identify emotions, maintain

accurate self-perception, identify personal strengths, and

Figure 1. Social-emotional leadership framework for school counselors.

4 Professional School Counseling

maintain healthy self-confidence and self-efficacy. When con-

sidered within the context of effective leadership, the compo-

nents of self-awareness are inclusive of those used to describe

emotional intelligence, which consists of identifying emotions,

identifying thoughts, understanding emotions, and managing

emotions (Salovey & Mayer, 2004). Self-awareness is consid-

ered an ever-evolving process leading to personal growth

through self-reflection (Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, &

Walumbwa, 2005). Self-reflection is also a key component

within the practice of school counseling. School counselors are

encouraged to partake in self-reflective activities to identify

personal beliefs regarding the modality that all students can

benefit from a comprehensive school counseling program

(ASCA, 2012). From there, school counselors are encouraged

to develop a vision for the program. Should the school counse-

lor embrace an SEL comprehensive curriculum, which is con-

sistent with the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (2014), a natural

fit occurs between practicing self-awareness and applying the

remaining social-emotional leadership axioms.

Self-management. When it comes to exercising leadership, socially and emotionally adept leaders must employ practices

consistent with the defining characteristics provided by

CASEL (2005), including the ability to control impulses;

manage stress; exercise self-discipline; maintain motivation

for themselves and their personnel; use organizational skills;

and set realistic, relevant, and achievable goals. Self-

management is a concept frequently employed and considered

an essential skill within managerial settings. Group leaders

have been found to increase productivity among their team

members when using skill sets that increase team members’

ability to self-manage. Individuals can develop self-

management both behaviorally and environmentally; it can

include techniques such as self-observation, specifying goals,

cuing strategies, incentive modification, and rehearsal (Manz

& Sims, 1980). When compared to developing counseling

skills, self-management is a disposition frequently measured

throughout program progression. Within the school setting,

school counselors are an embodiment of self-management

skill sets through implementation of the ASCA National

Model (ASCA, 2012) because they are encouraged to create

realistic and achievable goals for their school systems and

maintain motivation for themselves and other stakeholders

while modeling appropriate expression of emotions.

Social awareness. Emotional intelligence is composed of spe- cific skill sets that can be measurable and correlated to leader-

ship efficacy, but the context in which emotional intelligence is

used transcends into the social realm. As an SEL skill, social

awareness refers to the ability to take in others’ perspectives,

understand and express empathy, maintain an awareness and

appreciation of diversity, and form respect for others (CASEL,

2005). Within the counseling context, social awareness is

another foundational humanistic core disposition because

empathetic understanding is considered one of the necessary

and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change (Rogers,

1957). Organizational leaders must maintain an awareness of

others to fully understand employee capacity in terms of work-

load and task completion (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee,

2002). Furthermore, empathy plays a crucial role in developing

harmonious work environments. Given the training school

counselors receive, they are among the most qualified individ-

uals within the school system to utilize a social-emotional

leadership model as they identify and develop essential empa-

thy skill sets, beginning at entry into their degree program and

continuing throughout their professional careers.

Relationship skills. Applying emotional intelligence techniques within a social context creates opportunities to build interper-

sonal relationships with others. Effective leaders are only as

strong as the relationships between themselves and their per-

sonnel. The proposal that school counselors should take on the

role of a leader when implementing an SEL curriculum (Van

Velsor, 2009) speaks to school counselors’ inherent strength in

creating authentic relationships with stakeholders. Employing

basic humanistic counseling skills such as congruence, uncon-

ditional positive regard, and empathy (Rogers, 1957) further

promotes the rationale for school counselors to assume leader-

ship roles given their ability to form strong relationships with

school stakeholders.

Responsible decision-making. Within any leadership context, responsible decision-making is a vital practice to ensure the

safety of those being led. SEL skills encompass the ability to

identify problems, analyze situations, solve problems, evaluate,

reflect, and practice within an ethical context toward being a

responsible decision-maker (CASEL, 2005). The ASCA

National Model (ASCA, 2012) encourages the practice of

responsible decision-making within school counseling. School

counselors are most effective within their school systems when

utilizing data-based decision-making, employing skill sets such

as identifying areas in need of support through stakeholder-

based data, analyzing such identified areas to determine most

effective practices to solve problems, and addressing the iden-

tified weaknesses. School counselors use a continuous process

of evaluation and reflection as they reevaluate the effectiveness

of their programming and make adjustments based on out-

comes. Furthermore, school counselors practice from a place

of ethical responsibility as mandated by professional organiza-

tions and legal obligations.

Social-Emotional Leadership Behaviors for School Counselors

Although the literature provides specific steps school counse-

lors can take to implement SEL programs and identifies social-

emotional-related dispositions, researchers have focused less

on the specific leadership behaviors school counselors can use

in practice to become a socially and emotionally competent

leader. We are cautious about suggesting specific and limited

behaviors that might bring SEL to life in schools, but some

Bowers et al. 5

general social-emotional leadership behaviors could serve as

an Archimedean point to changing the school culture. These

behaviors should be considered starting points toward an end

that will always be more manifold and complex because it fits

the particular social-emotional needs of the corresponding per-

son or circumstance.

Affiliative behaviors. With regard to leadership activities, affilia- tive behaviors refer to a focus on the development of personal

relationships and creating a harmonious environment rather than

task completion (Goleman et al., 2002). Through development

of trusting relationships with stakeholders, leaders are able to

receive buy in for their vision. Such leadership modality is espe-

cially effective because employees have a personal stake and

initiative to achieve created goals. Active listening is an essential

counseling skill that school counselors could use to build rela-

tionships and demonstrate an affiliative leadership attribute.

Active listening consists of listening to the content of what

the speaker is trying to say while also listening to the feeling or

emotion behind what is being said, then communicating in turn

that what is expressed is fully understood (Rogers & Farson,

1957). Within the context of social-emotional intelligence and

learning dispositions, active listening enhances relationship

skills, social awareness, self-awareness, and responsible deci-

sion-making.

Visionary behaviors. An effective leader is charged with the task of identifying a vision for the work environment and showing

everyone within that environment how they contribute to

achieving such a vision (Goleman et al., 2002). In terms of

efficacy, visionary leaders who have high emotional intelli-

gence bring about the greatest organizational changes (Groves,

2006). The combination of socially and emotionally intelligent

skills such self-awareness, self-management, social awareness,

and relationship management (Goleman et al., 2002) provides

the visionary leader the ability to effectively express their orga-

nizational goals to their employees in a way that inspires others

(Groves, 2006).

Consistent with the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2012)

and using the SEL dispositions, school counselors assess the

school system and, from there, create a foundation for estab-

lishing their school counseling curriculum. This process

includes introspection on behalf of the school counselor and

self-reflection to identify personal beliefs about how students

could benefit from a school counseling program. These insights

provide the groundwork for a vision statement in which the

school counselor articulates their vision for the school and

identifies related student outcomes. If school counselors are

to become leaders within their school systems, they must

employ such basic SEL skills toward leadership activities to

effectively promote their vision and work toward achieving it.

Democratic behaviors. A democratic leader calls upon others within the system to generate ideas. The approach requires

leaders to work as a team, collaborate with others, and use

communication skills to manage conflict (Goleman et al.,

2002). Furthermore, democratic leadership also entails the dis-

tribution of responsibility, empowering group members, and

assisting in the decision-making process (Gastil, 1994). Such

approach works best in combination with affiliative leadership

because the environment must be harmonious for collaborative

efforts to be effective (Goleman et al., 2002).

Within the context of education, democratic leadership is

thought to model essential skill sets to students; this promotes

student behaviors leading toward becoming responsible and

engaged participants in a democratic society (Cohen, 2006).

School counselors are constantly encouraged to take a demo-

cratic approach to positioning themselves within the school

because power is not typically distributed by way of the school

counselor. However, leadership skills and styles are not neces-

sarily confined by the defined distribution of power but based

on the dispositions and behaviors exhibited.

The combination of democratic, visionary, and affiliative

leadership behaviors, assumed through the SEL skill sets, pro-

motes leadership capabilities that achieve transformational

leadership. In reviewing the extant managerial and leadership

literature, school counselors are the most qualified and capable

to take socially and emotionally intelligent dispositions as a

practical guide for enhancing related leadership styles to imple-

ment a congruent SEL framework.

SEL and Social Justice for School Counselors

Positive social conditions in school are essential ingredients for

learning and other educational outcomes (Cohen, McCabe,

Michelli, & Pickerai, 2009). The idea that hospitable social

conditions are necessary in education settings serves as the

bedrock for both the SEL (e.g., Elias et al., 1997; Greenberg

et al., 2003) and social justice literatures (e.g., Bell, 1997;

Williamson, Rhodes, & Dunson, 2007). That these two related

literatures rarely mention or cite the other is surprising. In fact,

certain SEL concepts have been critiqued as potentially hege-

monic in that they either romanticize the personal and social

hardships of students or they inadvertently and erroneously

infer that children from marginalized communities are

unequipped with SEL capacities (Ris, 2015). This conflict

illustrates the delicate nature of social-emotional experience:

On one hand, SEL is suggested to be a set of internal capacities

associated with personal and social success, while on the other

hand, for SEL competencies to thrive, the social environment

must be favorable and just. Considered together, the person and

the environment must harmonize for either SEL or social jus-

tice to occur, at least in an optimal manner.

To impart social-emotional leadership opportunities while

neglecting the disparate social conditions within and across

schooling environments is paradoxical. School counseling

leaders must advocate for the most hospitable and equitable

conditions possible in a school (see Bemak & Chung, 2005).

Students who experience persistent marginalization are less

likely to experience social belonging in the school and their

emotional motivational qualities might also be hindered

6 Professional School Counseling

(Walton & Cohen, 2007). As such, school counselors must

advocate for equity and cultural responsive throughout the

school environment to elicit the types of SEL experiences

possible for all students.

In an equitable schooling environment, SEL leadership must

be distributed between all the participating members of com-

munity including school counselors, students, educators, and

other stakeholders. School counseling leaders must be cautious

that they are not simply proselytizing SEL values that are not

relevant to individuals within the school environment. Social-

emotional school counseling leadership includes drawing out

and prizing the social-emotional capacities of all players in the

school because they are most relevant and meaningful. In this

way, the greatest type of school counseling leadership pro-

motes the school counselor distributing and sharing in leader-

ship with all members of the school community. By

distributing the responsibility for SEL leadership, the school

counselor makes SEL dispositions and behaviors socially and

emotionally relevant to others.

Social-Emotional School Scholarship and Program Evaluation

By using social-emotional leadership framework within

their practice, school counselors are better able to focus

their program on SEL and gain support for a comprehen-

sive program. In practice, school counselors can utilize the

ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (2014), which are grounded

in SEL research (Farrington et al., 2012), as a modality to

measure outcomes of their leadership efforts. Furthermore,

Bowers and Lemberger (2016) suggested that school coun-

selors can utilize constructs associated with SEL as mod-

erators for research and program evaluation, particularly

when considering the effects of interventions with students

or other members of the school community. They sug-

gested that SEL and other humanistic counseling behaviors

consistent with SEL might be effective means to elicit

participation in research and program evaluation, there-

fore, improving the quality of practice and deepening the

likelihood that the school counselor will be perceived as a

vital school leader.

Part of the SEL leadership model includes collaborating

with teachers, administrators, and guardians about the deliv-

ery and evaluation of SEL evidence-based programs. As a

collaborative effort, research and program evaluation trans-

mutes from a largely self-serving and protective venture (for

the school counselor or school system) into a mutually bene-

ficial process between various stakeholders. Leadership is

extended beyond in-school activities; using any of the SEL

leadership dispositions and behaviors in research and program

evaluation brings new life to the successes. For example,

school counselors can elicit help from collaborators to inter-

pret results or suggest new approaches to practice. A hallmark

of SEL is one’s ability and willingness to be self-reflective,

responsive, and adaptable to self and others. Integrating SEL

leadership tact into research and program evaluation therefore

enhances the school counselor’s ability to be affiliative,

visionary, and democratic.

The ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (ASCA, 2014)

describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students need

to achieve academic success, college and career readiness,

and social-emotional development. School counselors can

use 35 standards to assess student growth and development,

guide the development of strategies and activities, and cre-

ate a program that helps students achieve their highest

potential. By aligning initiatives at the district, state, and

national levels with the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors,

school counselors are in a stronger position to advocate for

students to be taught the critical SEL skills and strategies

that reflect the district’s local priorities. Furthermore, these

skill sets that can be used for the purpose of measurement

can be considered within the context of the school counse-

lors’ leadership capabilities.

Conclusion

School counselors are ideally positioned to infuse SEL values

and practices in a school. School counselors are trained to be

responsive and accommodating to the complex needs of chil-

dren and adults. School counselors perform various duties that

are in unique proximity to diverse audiences in and even out of

schools. But most important, school counselors are trained to

be as supportive as they are enterprising—the most essential

qualities of a constructive leader.

School counselors are trained to be as supportive as

they are enterprising—the most essential qualities

of a constructive leader.

The leadership approach of school counselors must keep the

delicate balance between responding to the complex needs of

others and one’s own priorities and capacities as a school

leader. Fortunately, SEL is a unique theoretical approach that

implicitly requires the practitioner to maintain integrity to their

own social-emotional experiences while supporting those of

others. As a leadership approach, this complexity will most

likely deepen relationships and, therefore, lead to improved

school counseling practices and outcomes.

Authors’ Note

Hannah Bowers and Matthew E. Lemberger-Truelove contributed

equally to this work as first authors, and authorship is listed

alphabetically.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-

ship, and/or publication of this article.

Bowers et al. 7

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Author Biographies

Hannah Bowers, PhD, is an assistant professor in counse-

lor education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton,

FL, USA.

Matthew E. Lemberger-Truelove, PhD, is an professor in

counseling and higher education at the University of North

Texas in Denton, TX.

Greg Brigman, PhD, is a professor in counselor education at

Florida Atlantic University.

10 Professional School Counseling