First Advisor
Dr. William H. York
Date of Award
Spring 6-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology and University Honors
Department
Psychology
Language
English
Subjects
school counseling, school psychology, rural, Indigenous, Indigenous pedagogy, education
Abstract
Indigenous students are a huge population that are not fully supported by the school psychology field. This is primarily due to cognitive imperialism and the focus on a Western monoculture in education. This has led school psychologists and counselors feeling underprepared and lacking the tools to work with Indigenous students and as a result these students are harmed academically and in terms of their mental wellness. This essay opens with a literature review of scholarship on school counselors working with Indigenous students. To improve relations, I suggest implementing more culturally focused interventions. Unfortunately there is a lack of research on Alaskan Natives/Native Americans living in rural contexts. It is common for students in rural schools to have itinerant counselors that can’t support them the way a full time counselor could. To fill in the gap left in the field of school psychology, another literature review is conducted on those in education attempting to implement Indigenous pedagogy in the classroom. Finding parallels between the goals of the two discourses, this thesis argues that itinerant counselors can still be helpful to their Indigenous students by using their skillset to support teachers in creating and implementing a curriculum with a focus on Indigenous pedagogy.
Recommended Citation
Greene, Donovan, "School Counseling with Indigenous Students in Rural America: The Role of a Counselor in Supporting an Indigenous Pedagogy Based Curriculum" (2026). University Honors Theses. Paper 1866.