Expanding Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's Empowerment Theory: A Response

Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's article entitled "Empowerment Theory for the Professional School Counselor: A Manifesto for What Really Matters" represents an important contribution to the school counseling literature for two reasons. First, it helps to expand a growing knowledge base related to the work school counselors can do to foster the individual and collective empowerment of students from marginalized and disenfranchised groups in the United States (Howard, 1999; Lee, 2001; Musheno & Talbert, 2002; Potts, 2003). Second, Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's article outlines numerous pragmatic intervention strategies that school counselors are encouraged to use to stimulate the healthy development and empowerment of students in these groups. By reflecting on the suggestions presented in their article and implementing the numerous intervention strategies that Hipolito-Delgado and Lee discuss, school counselors are better able to realize new and untapped dimensions of their students' as well as their own personal and professional empowerment. In responding to their article, we hope to build on the two points listed above by (a) offering comments that are intended to extend Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's discussion of the need to foster student empowerment especially among students in devalued and marginalized groups, and (b) providing an alternative theoretical framework that more succinctly captures the comprehensive nature of the authors' proposed interventions. EXPANDING OUR THINKING OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS AND THE HAZARDS OF A NARROW CURRICULUM Hipolito-Delgado and Lee list a broad range of students who come from disenfranchised groups that are in need of attention. This includes "poor children of all ethnic backgrounds; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) young people; and those with disabilities." Although not explicitly stated in their article, we want to illuminate the unique needs of students who come from migrant farm worker families as well. Researchers have not only highlighted the unique strengths and needs of students in this marginalized group, they also have described the ways in which these youngsters are able to realize a greater level of personal and familial empowerment thanks to the tireless efforts of migrant advocates (McHatton, Zalaquett, & Cranston-Gingras, in press). The strategies that migrant advocates employ in this regard are particularly important to consider because these same researchers point out that few school counselors are directing much attention to fostering the empowerment of this devalued group of students. Regardless of the marginalized group of youngsters that school counselors work with or the strategies they implement to foster their empowerment, Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's article suggests that it is essential to expand the learning opportunities these students encounter in the school setting. This point is particularly important in light of the current trend to narrow the curriculum to accommodate the demands of the No Child Left Behind Act. Dillon (2006) has discussed this issue in greater detail by noting the following: Thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush's signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some low-proficiency students, eliminating it. Schools from Vermont to California are increasing--in some cases tripling--the class time that low-proficiency students spend on reading and math, mainly because the federal law, signed in 2002, requires annual exams only in those subjects and punishes schools that fall short of rising benchmarks. The changes appear to principally affect schools and students who test below grade level. The intense focus on the two basic skills is a sea change in American instructional practice, with many schools that once offered rich curricula now systematically trimming courses like social studies, science and art. …