Social Justice Pre-Practicum: Enhancing Social Justice Identity Through Experiential Learning

Abstract

The counseling profession calls counselors to engage in social justice advocacy and charges counselor education programs to prepare students for this work. While most counseling programs promote social justice knowledge through a single course and infusion model, there remains a standard practice in providing students with experiential opportunities in advocacy to improve their learning. A qualitative study used a focus group methodology to examine the effectiveness of a social justice pre-practicum in the development of a social justice identity with counseling students. The study examines whether participation in a social justice pre-practicum reinforces a personal connection to and a broader understanding of social inequalities and advocacy work, as well as encourages more engagement in systemic advocacy in current employment. The purpose of this article is to encourage counselor education programs to equip students with real-life experiential opportunities in advocacy work by adopting a similar social justice pre-practicum course in their curriculum.