Uplift Toward Hope and Belonging: Blending Secondary College and Career Counseling with Black Student Unions

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 19. Urban Education

Abstract

This paper examines the integration of high school college and career counseling with Black Student Unions (BSUs) to address systemic barriers faced by Black students in educational settings. By blending culturally relevant pedagogy, community cultural wealth, and warm demander pedagogies, as well as fugitive and insurgent pedagogies, the analysis proposes a comprehensive, schoolwide college and career counseling approach that fosters academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. It highlights the crucial role of BSUs as empowering spaces for Black students, offering support and a sense of belonging, while also acting as platforms for critical dialogue and action against institutional racism. The paper draws on theoretical frameworks and examples from the literature and the author's personal experience as a college and career counselor in a Title I school in an urban area in the Southwest to argue for the transformative potential of aligning counseling services with BSU initiatives to create equitable and inclusive educational environments. This approach seeks to not only enhance Black students' college and career readiness but also to nurture their overall development as engaged and empowered individuals within their communities and future careers.

Author

• Silvino Avila Kibuta, University of New Mexico-Albuquerque