130฀ Counselor฀Education฀&฀Supervision฀•฀December฀2010฀•฀Volume฀50 Pedagogy ©฀2010฀by฀the฀American฀Counseling฀Association.฀All฀rights฀reserved. A Grounded Theory of Counselor Educators Integrating Social Justice Into Their Pedagogy Melissa A. Odegard & Linwood G. Vereen The฀topic฀of฀social฀justice฀has฀received฀considerable฀attention฀in฀the฀ counseling฀ literature;฀ however,฀ little฀ empirical฀ research฀ exists.฀ This฀ grounded฀ theory฀ study฀ examined฀ 4฀ counselor฀ educators’฀ process฀ of฀ integrating฀social฀justice฀constructs฀into฀their฀pedagogy.฀Data฀analy- sis฀revealed฀4฀primary฀experiences฀that฀emerged฀in฀the฀participants’฀ descriptions฀of฀their฀integration฀of฀social฀justice฀into฀their฀pedagogy.฀ Implications฀for฀counselor฀educators฀and฀future฀research฀are฀presented.฀ Considerable฀attention฀has฀been฀given฀to฀social฀justice฀in฀the฀coun- seling฀literature฀(e.g.,฀Constantine,฀Hage,฀Kindaichi,฀&฀Bryant,฀2007;฀ Kiselica฀ &฀ Robinson,฀ 2001;฀ McWhirter,฀ 1991;฀ Ratts,฀ D’Andrea,฀ &฀ Arredondo,฀2004).฀The฀increased฀focus฀on฀social฀justice฀is฀fueled฀by฀ societal฀ concerns,฀ including฀ the฀ increasing฀ gap฀ of฀ wealth฀ between฀ the฀rich฀and฀the฀poor฀in฀the฀United฀States฀(Collins฀&฀Yeskel,฀2000),฀ disparities฀in฀public฀education฀(Kozol,฀1991),฀and฀unequal฀access฀to฀ resources฀that฀have฀affected฀those฀who฀are฀marginalized฀in฀society฀ (Smith,฀Baluch,฀Bernabei,฀Robohm,฀&฀Sheehy,฀2003).฀These฀concerns฀ highlight฀the฀need฀for฀research฀that฀assists฀counselor฀educators฀in฀ integrating฀social฀justice฀into฀their฀pedagogical฀practices฀to฀enhance฀ counselor฀preparation฀(Ratts,฀2006).฀Arredondo฀and฀Toporek฀(2004)฀ asserted฀that฀research฀is฀needed฀that฀examines฀the฀utility฀of฀incor - porating฀social฀justice฀principles฀into฀clinical฀work.฀These฀assertions,฀ as฀well฀as฀the฀increased฀focus฀in฀the฀literature,฀challenge฀counselor฀ educators฀to฀consider฀how฀to฀pedagogically฀engage฀trainees฀to฀oper - ate฀as฀counselors฀committed฀to฀social฀justice.฀ For฀this฀study,฀we฀deined฀ social justice฀as฀a฀process฀of฀acknowledging฀ systemic฀ societal฀ inequities฀ and฀ oppression฀ while฀ acting฀ responsibly฀ to฀eliminate฀the฀systemic฀oppression฀in฀the฀forms฀of฀racism,฀sexism,฀ heterosexism,฀classism,฀and฀other฀biases฀in฀clinical฀practice฀both฀on฀ individual฀and฀distributive฀levels฀(Crethar,฀Torres฀Rivera,฀&฀Nash,฀2008;฀ Rawls,฀1971).฀Counselors฀committed฀to฀social฀justice฀in฀their฀clinical฀ practice acknowledge฀unearned฀power,฀privilege,฀and฀oppression฀and฀ how฀they฀can฀negatively฀affect฀the฀mental฀health฀and฀well-being฀of฀clients฀ (Ratts฀et฀al.,฀2004).฀Sue฀(as cited in฀Romero฀&฀Chan,฀2005)฀suggested฀ Melissa A. Odegard and Linwood G. Vereen, Department of Counseling, Idaho State University. Melissa A. Odegard is now at Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, Southeast Missouri State University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Melissa A. Odegard, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, Southeast Missouri State University, One University Plaza, Mail Stop 5550, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 (e-mail: modegard@semo.edu).