Counselor Education Online Curriculum Design: Social Justice Considerations

Drawing from a combined 25 years of experience as faculty, curriculum designers, and leaders in online CACREP-accredited counselor education programs, the presenters share best practices in curriculum design and assessment for online counselor education programs. The frameworks that guide the presenters\u27 approach are the competency-based education model and the backward-design model for curriculum. The importance of a systematic assessment process to support data-driven modifications is discussed and illustrated in a brief example. The curriculum design models are applied in a hypothetical course aimed at promoting and assessing student competency development as social justice advocates

Infusing Social Justice Advocacy into Counselor Education: Strategies and Recommendations

As the counseling profession calls counselors to act as social justice advocates, it is imperative that they are prepared for this role. This places responsibility on counselor education programs to incorporate the necessary training into existing programs. There are strategies for infusing social justice advocacy instruction throughout the existing curricula with reasonable investments of time, energy, and funds. The purpose of this article is to offer practical strategies and recommendations, grounded in critical pedagogy and supported by a growing evidence base, that can be implemented in existing counselor education programs in order to provide a strong foundation for social justice advocacy work