The Program is Rooted in Social Justice and Antiracist Principles
Antioch University has launched a new low-residency degree program: an MA in School Counseling. The program, which will begin in Fall 2024, is available to students living anywhere in the nation, and it aims to address the school counselor shortage by training a new generation of school counselors whose practice is rooted in social justice and antiracist principles. The program prepares students to seek licensure/certification as school counselors, and if chosen and depending on state regulations, meet the requirements to apply for clinical licensure broadening their career profile and job opportunities.
The MA in School Counseling emphasizes four critical areas in the work of school counselors: leadership, collaboration, advocacy, and systemic change. It prepares students to provide culturally responsive services addressing the academic, social/emotional, and career development needs of K-12 students through a social justice and advocacy lens. The program is offered in a low-residency format, with courses offered online throughout the semester as well as students and faculty converging for two week-long, in-person residencies per year, which are each held on an Antioch University campus.
“Our goal is to support school counseling students in providing culturally responsive services to address the academic, social/emotional, and career development needs of their students while advocating to remove barriers embedded in K-12 education,” says Syntia Dietz, PhD, School Counseling Program Director. “Rooted in anti-racist principles, our program is tailored to prepare the next generation of school counselors in understanding their roles as social justice advocates.”
This CACREP-aligned program begins with courses introducing the student to the counseling profession while also learning and practicing counseling skills and techniques. It is designed to be a full-time, 40-month program, with students entering in the fall semester. Students are required to complete 60 credit hours of academic and clinical courses, including core counseling courses, four specialty courses focused on children and school counseling, and 600 internship hours in school settings. Students can apply and complete their program remotely and conduct their clinical work locally within their communities. The program has been approved by the Ohio Department of Education.
“Emerging school counselors will obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to critically examine and dismantle systems of inequity and oppression in order to increase access, opportunity, and advancement for historically marginalized K-12 students,” says Dietz. “Our leadership team and program faculty are a diverse group of counselor educators, licensed professional school counselors, with various experiences in the field, and we are all passionate about social justice, antiracism, and advocacy.”
