As school counsellors, we are trained in professional ethics and ethical decision making. Though these skills are handy in the counselling room, they can also have great benefits for our larger school community. In a time of short staffing, limited training, and large workloads, being an advocate for professional ethics in simple and respectful ways is needed. This article intends to reflect on my personal growth as a professional ethics advocate and share a few tips and tricks to help other school counsellors advocate and model professional ethics outside of the counselling room.
Introduction
In the daily grind of school counselling, observing ethical obligations can take a lot of energy. Yet, when we look at professional ethics to encourage values and build a positive school climate, we can fulfill a unique role as agents of constructive change in our schools. In this article, I hope to reflect on perceiving professional ethics in a positive light and how we can use our knowledge and skills as school counsellors to contribute to positive school climate through the little ethical interactions of every day.
The gift of professional ethics
The more I reflect on the ethical values we uphold as school counsellors, and the more I engage in ethical decision making based on models like that of Truscott & Crook[1], the more I learn to see ethics and ethical decision making as gift. By gift, I mean as the metaphor suggests, a tangible, positive thing or idea which benefits our life in some way when we unpack it, use it, and share it with others. Seeing professional ethics as a gift reminds me in the moments of daily grind that the work of school counselling – when done ethically – builds values and a positive school climate through leadership and positively sharing high standards of care.[2] In the words of Truscott and Crook “…ethical deliberation can be an activity of self-understanding, self-reflection, and self-formation. Every choice we make both reveals our current desires and habits, and influences our developing self.” [3] In my work as a counsellor in academic training, changing how I view ethics helped me see the benefit not only for students, but for myself and with my colleagues. I now believe that sharing our expertise as school counsellors around professional ethics is beneficial for the entire school team.
In school counselling, we navigate the waters of ethical decision making with our students and colleagues daily. Often, we are making ethical decisions throughout the day at a rapid pace, where we almost need to pause to give ourselves time to think. In my own journey as a school counsellor, I seriously underestimated at first just how many ethical decisions we make in a day, and how rapid we sometimes need to make them. This fact is not to say we are doing things fast to cut corners, not even close. We work in a fast-paced environment a lot of the time, and we need to have the skills to keep up. The models of decision making which we learn in professional ethics classes help us succeed. Thus, taking the time to master one or two models of ethical reasoning is beneficial for us and for our colleagues in education. For example, in my own work I use and share with colleagues the Truscott model of Listen, Feel, Think, Act.[4] This model allows me to reflect about the present context, acknowledge my emotions, biases and beliefs, seek guidelines, evaluate critically many courses of action, all while being rapid and maintaining a collaborative process. Remember, our knowledge and training are things we can share with our colleagues in our meetings, personal conversations, and in the break room. Some of our colleagues in education do not have the same training or live in a context where ethical decision making is developed regularly. Sharing our processes, our training, our values and how we make our own ethical decisions are simple ways we can contribute to our school’s ethical development. This sharing in turn, can help build up positive school climate as Wulan and Sanjaya suggest.[5]
“The quality and character of school life…School climate is a situation or atmosphere that is built in the school and felt by all school members…”.[6] Since ethical values and decisions increase the quality of school life, our work to share our ethical expertise respectfully with our team will help build a positive school climate. Therefore, do not be afraid to share your wealth of ethical knowledge outside of the counselling room. If we become mini leaders of positive ethical change, we can motivate our colleagues who may benefit from our training and experience just as we benefit from theirs.
Ethical tension points in a school counselling
While it is true we have ethical strengths as school counsellors, sharing those strengths can lead to tension when two sets of ideals or perspectives clash in a situation or interaction. Tensions when hearing negative comments or labels from colleagues about a student that influences interventions. Tensions with administrative attitudes that focus on the finances, human resources, results, and other things which can clash with ethical values such as an emphasis on the quality of support, empathy, informed consent, and proceeding at the student’s pace of growth. Tensions around proposing courses of action rooted in ethical values such as human dignity, informed consent, and confidentiality, yet the final decision ends up becoming not what we expect from an ethical standpoint. These tensions are real for many of us, but I like to think that they are not a barrier to ethical care. We can address these ethical tensions through strategies such as communication, open and goal-oriented conversation, and setting boundaries. In these moments, we have an opportunity to engage in respectful conversation, challenging and questioning where we need to, but always in a manner which respects our school team and builds collaboration. For those of us who like some simple tips, here are three which we can employ daily to respond to moments of tension:
- Empathy. Remember that our colleagues in education are human beings too. They also are most likely overworked, tired, and experiencing stress from trying to manage classrooms, students, schedules, and work-life balance. Remembering empathy helps us to receive our colleagues in education similarly as we do our students, with empathy, understanding, boundaries, and compassion.
- Scripts. Just like our counselling skills courses where we learn the basic scripts of what to say and what not to say in session. We can try developing our own scripts to use in meetings and with colleagues that promote ethical values and decision making. For example: “I am concerned our decision-making process is not incorporating _____ ethical value which is important in this situation for ______ reason. Can we work together to find a solution which takes into consideration _____ value”.
- Positive ethical outlook. Sharing a positive and wholesome perspective about ethics goes a long way to building ethical results and understanding in our school team. When advocating or sharing matters of ethics in school, remember that we can share the positive reasons and values as to why we recommend the decisions we make, as well as the legal and ethical guidelines which guide our decisions and perspectives.
Conclusion
School counselling plays a role in supporting and caring for students. However, as school counsellors we have more to offer and contribute to our schools than just our counselling skills. As professionals trained in professional ethics, we can play a role in promoting ethical decision making. Through our encouragement of ethical values in our thoughts, words, and actions, we help to build a positive school climate. Hopefully, this article spurred some reflection on how we can be advocates for ethical development in our schools and with our colleagues.
[1] Truscott & Crook, 2021, p. 22-40.
[2] Wulan & Sanjaya, 2022.
[3] Truscott & Crook, 2021, p. 38.
[4] Truscott & Crook, 2021, p. 25-38.
[5] Wulan & Sanjaya, 2022.
[6] Wulan & Sanjaya, 2022.
Bibliography
Truscott, D., & Crook, K. H. (2021). Ethics for the Practice of Psychology in Canada, Third Edition. University of Alberta.
Wulan, R., & Sanjaya, W. (2022). Developing positive school climate for Inclusive Education. Journal of Education for Sustainability and Diversity, 1(1), 54–66. https://doi.org/10.57142/jesd.v1i1.6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Justin Bertrand, M.Div. is a counsellor in academic training at the high school level as well as a part time student in the MA in counselling & spiritual care program with McMaster Divinity College. He has over ten years of experience in various counselling settings and is passionate about offering adolescents compassionate and professional care.
