Professional Counsellors as Agents of Change: Countering Educational Hegemony

With a primary objective of helping the viewer to either gain or deepen understanding of educational hegemony, disproportionality, and equity, Dr. Laura A. Shure defines those terms in the context of the students who become marginalised as a result. Delineating the layers of environment affecting the individual from microcosmic to macrocosmic, Dr. Shure explains the multicultural and social justice counselling competencies that are required for the role of the twenty-first century counsellor. The RESPECTFUL Model and the Relative Privilege and Oppression Chart are discussed as means of assisting both counsellors and student-clients to increase awareness of cultural knowledge. Practices to reduce hegemony are outlined, as well as advocacy actions at student, school/community, and public arena levels.