Abstract
Transgender youth, marginalized at much high rates than their cisgender peers, are present in elementary schools and in need of support. School counselors have an ethical responsibility to advocate for marginalized students, including transgender youth, yet very little is known of this phenomenon at the elementary school level. The study described within aims to understand the experiences of elementary school counselors engaging in advocacy action for transgender youth. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with seven participants to explore their experiences related to the phenomenon of engaging in advocacy action for transgender youth in elementary school. Hermeneutic analysis was utilized to analyze and interpret participants’ described experiences. As a result, the five emergent themes of: (a) collaborative advocacy and balancing interests, (b) uncertainty and navigating the unknown, (c) resolving conflict and overcoming obstacles, (d) considering the advocacy context, and (e) beyond the job: “more than a nine-to-five" collectively answer the question: ‘What are elementary school counselors’ experiences engaging in advocacy action for transgender youth in elementary school?'. These themes interact to describe and illuminate the studied phenomenon, informing the future advocacy efforts of elementary school counselors (and counselor educators) for transgender youth.
Author Information
Melissa Anne Brennan, Our Lady of the Lake University, United States
Paper Information
Conference: PCE2023
Stream: Counselling
This paper is part of the PCE2023 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Brennan M. (2023) Elementary School Counselors’ Experiences Engaging in Advocacy Action for Transgender Youth ISSN: 2758-0962 The Paris Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 755-768) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2023.64
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2023.64
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