| dc.description | The purpose of these two presentations was to highlight some of the outcomes of an Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded research project designed to answer the following questions: 1. How well are graduate counsellor education programs doing in preparing practitioners for working in multicultural contexts and addressing social justice issues? 2. What are the most influential learning contexts, processes, or activities in the development of multicultural counselling and social justice competency?
The two presentations funded through this A&PDF award focused on the critical incidents in development of multicultural counselling and social justice competency identified by three groups of research participants: graduate students, counsellors, and practicum supervisor. One of the central differences across the groups was that, unlike current counselling students, most counsellors and practicum supervisors had little or no training in these areas as part of their graduate education. They were educated in a context and within a particular theoretical model that did not embrace the importance of cultural diversity to counselling in the way most programs currently do. They developed competence through their interactions with diverse clients, their own self-study, and consultation with others in the field. Current students, on the other hand, had considerable exposure to multicultural issues in their programs and noted, in particular the importance of experiential, consciousness-raising, and applied practice learning activities. However, their learning experiences seemed to impact attitudes and knowledge more profoundly than specific skill acquisition. In particular, they noted deficits in skills for advocacy and other forms of social justice action. Students also noted that most of their learning emerged from one course on multicultural counselling, rather than being integrated across all courses.
There are a number of important implications of this research, particularly given the increased support in the counselling literature of both the need and the ethical imperative of competency in these areas:
1. Current practitioners and practicum supervisors may lack competency in these areas, unless they have been exposed to, and motivated towards self-study, by the cultural diversity of their clients.
2. These existing practitioners and supervisors are role models for new practitioners and practicums students, which suggests that continuing education and professional development opportunities may need to be provided to match their awareness and competency to current professional expectations.
3. The importance of exposure to diverse clientele during graduate counsellor education training also suggests that university programs may need to take a more active role in both ensuring appropriate role modeling and diversity of clientele in student practicum placements.
4. There is a need to increase learning opportunities that foster the development of skills competencies for multicultural counselling and, more particularly, social justice action.
5. The integration of theory and practice and the infusion of multicultural and social justice competency development across all courses in graduate counsellor education programs offer the best hope of optimizing student competency development.
These presentations have now been published in the following journals:
Collins, S., Arthur, N., Brown, C. (2013). Counsellor and practicum supervisor critical incidents in the development of multicultural and social justice competency. International Journal of Social Sciences, 2(2), 16-32.
Collins, S., Arthur, N., Brown, C. (2013). Critical incidents in graduate student development of multicultural and social justice competency. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2(9), 105-115. doi:10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p105 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | In many countries, counselling psychology has increasingly attended to the diverse needs of clients within multicultural societies. In North America, emphasis has been placed on nondominant populations, whose experiences of discrimination, cultural oppression, and social, economic, and political marginalization, have a significant impact on psychosocial wellbeing. Counsellors are expected to engage in social justice action, with or on behalf of clients, to effect change in organizations, communities, or broader social systems. The purpose of this study was to examine how well counsellor education programs in Canada are preparing counsellors for both multicultural counselling and social justice. Most research has focused on curriculum content; less attention has been paid to how that content is taught and the efficacy of those learning processes in facilitating competency. The critical incident technique was used to solicit examples of effective and less effective learning processes from graduate students. The qualitative data was analyzed to isolate, cluster, and relate emergent concepts; a critical lens also highlighted missing constructs. The most common learning contexts were the multicultural counselling course and the applied practicum. Four themes emerged that reflect current research: fostering of self-awareness, application of theory to practice, engagement of affect through experiential exercises, and exposure to diversity. Infusion of multicultural and social justice competency throughout curricula is also widely advocated, but was reflected in only four percent of the critical incidents. Engagement in social justice roles and activities was also missing. Enhancements to both curriculum content and process are required to support the social justice agenda. | en |
