Multicultural Competence of School Psychologists For more than two decades, school psychology has known about the necessity for, and importance of, developing multicultural competence (Fouad & Arrendondo, 2007). From research, ethics, and practice standards, school psychologists and other school personnel have been aware that an effective school professional is multiculturally competent and able to make sense of students’ sociocultural, socioracial, and sociopolitical backgrounds that present themselves within a classroom setting. Multiculturally competent professionals are informed as to which environmental, academic, and community factors combine to support all students’ learning and development across ages and abilities. Twenty-first century American schools are changing in dramatic ways partly because of shifting demographics in rural and urban communities and in public and private educational institutions, as well as among students who are homeschooled. These changes have produced a new generation of multilingual, multiracial children with racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic differences; multiple learning styles; native language learning; and changing family constellations. Some of today’s learners also come from families with multiple and/or generational family traumas and dysfunctions. These challenges and the shifts in student enrollment demographics are creating new demands on schools’ teaching and learning services.
America now is a very culturally diverse nation; most of the minority and immigrant population lives in cities, which indicates that the public school classrooms in urban areas are full of versatile cultural identities. According to the 2000 Census record, minority and immigrant populations has grown in increasing numbers, and most of those people live in urban areas and attend public high schools; also, the level of residential segregation still remains as high as in 1990, which proposes new problems for immigrants and minorities. Monocultural schools are very rare and the global society is very multicultural; it is very logical to prepare students in schools to enter this diverse society (Le Roux 48). Teachers are largely responsible
The story provided an excellent discussion of the many issues that surround race in schools, it centered on the topic about whether integrated schools were more beneficial than segregated schools. This book focuses on young children in the early grades, listening to parents and racial integration. The author wanted to find the truth that is surrounding multicultural classrooms from those that are involved in it. This book includes many side stories, which serve to explore the concepts, and displays them in a clear way; it also added depth to the book. This book was well written and shows all sides of multicultural education. It does not take one side in particular and it encourages people to explore multicultural education in a new light.
Read the articles “Applications in Social Justice Counselor Training: Classroom Without Walls” and “The Multicultural Workplace: Interactive Acculturation and Intergroup Relations” and review the APA Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations prior to considering the following scenario.
Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).
Immigrant students are among the fastest growing populations in American public schools. “The lives of secondary level immigrant students are extremely complex because they undergo change in many dimension in their lives at once. Not only are they grappling with obvious cultural and linguistic differences, but they must learn the institutional culture of school in order to be successful” (Pam McCollum, Ph.D. and Juanita García, M.A.) When students immigrate at school age, some of them go through the transitioning process with little to no issues. However, there are many who face issues in regards to cultural adaptations and social interactions. As David B. Tyack states in his text, ‘The One Best System,’ “challenges like Americanization of
It is essential for educators, counselors, and school administrators to be multicultural competent to successfully provide services to diverse students and their diverse background (Barden & Greene, 2015). Studies have reported that Hmong students experience challenges in school when their teacher have limited knowledge or lack interest in learning the students’ racial and cultural background (Thao, 2003). For this reason, it is beneficial for educators, counselors, and school administrators to learn about the Hmong history and its influence on ethnic, cultural values and traditions, and linguistic identities to have a better understand of how to assist the needs of Hmong students. Historians has argued that “it is only through
America’s schools are challenged to meet the academic and interpersonal needs of all students regardless of culture, race, or ethnic background. Hawley and Nieto (2010) claim that race and ethnicity significantly impacts students’ learning in their article, “Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity” (p. 66). They contended that educators should be “race and ethnicity -responsive” to effectively understand the challenges students from diverse races and cultures face (Hawley & Nieto, 2010, p. 66). Moreover, the article noted that schools should have practices in place that promote an inclusive, supportive, and enriching learning environment for all students including students from different races and ethnicities.
Hays, D. G., & Erford, B. T. (2014). Developing multicultural counseling competence: A systems approach (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
The American population is becoming more and more diverse due to the rapid growth in immigration and the birth rates between diverse groups in the United States. The continued growth in the numbers of individuals and families from diverse backgrounds challenges counselors’ ability to meet the needs of a growing and diverse society. Multicultural competence is a key factor in enabling counselors to be effective with clients from different cultures. Multicultural competence means to approach the counseling process from the context of the personal culture of the client (Sue, Arrendondo & McDavis, 1994; Sue & Sue, 2007). In order to be effective when working with people with diverse cultural backgrounds, the American Counseling Association has
Over the course of this spring semester, I have spent 40 hours volunteering at numerous locations. These locations include Lumpkin County, Interactive Neighborhood for Kids (INK!), the 2016 Science Olympiad, the Science Workshop, South Hall middle school parent nights and also field trips on the Gainesville Campus. As I observed at these locations and events, there is a great diversity of students, not only ethnically but learning styles, behaviors, motivation for success. There was also an array of age, gender, exceptionalities, socio-economic status (SES), cultural backgrounds along with many different educational aspects. I also had the privilege in some of these locations to witness parent involvement and reactions, which I think is very important in the education of students. In this class, we learned about educational psychology and how to incorporate it into our teaching, classrooms and even outside of our classrooms. I chose to discuss exceptional learners, student diversity and assessment. There are many factors that make a student care for education and furthering their education. I feel through the locations I was able to observe and the content of the course has helped me to find ways to better engagement for my classroom as a future educator. Hall County is where many of my observation hours were completed and also the county in which the University of North Georgia – Gainesville campus is. Hall county is populated by forty-seven percent of Caucasians. Hispanics
In the article “The relationship between mindfulness and multicultural counseling competence” the authors Ivers, Johnson, Clarke, Newsome, and Berry wanted to examine the implications of the association between Mindfulness and Multicultural Counseling Competence (MCC) on counselor’s education and practice. They describe MCC as the effectiveness of a counselor when providing therapy to a client from a different culture. A counselor who seeks information about other cultures is known to have multicultural knowledge, which will help him/her acquire multicultural awareness at the time of treating a client.
The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then
Fostering cultural awareness in children has many benefits that contribute to the overall development of children. Educators encounter challenges that may include academic pressure, collaborating with diverse families, and meeting the needs of the students. This paper examines theoretical perspectives using a longitudinal study. The study examined the experiences of children ages 3.5 to 5.5, by using their everyday experiences of race and ethnic diversity in their classroom setting.
During the late 1960’s, America had entered into a period of cultural definition especially with the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement. Although the term “multicultural education” had not come into play yet, the idea that the U.S needed to reexamine their efforts of educating diverse groups was emerging. During this time inequality especially among minority groups in comparison to the white dominant culture became a social issue (Banks 1999). Before the arrival of this reform multicultural education was displayed in the classroom as having minorities adapt to the predominant culture. Teachers during this time felt it would be more beneficial for minorities to adapt. However, many parents of these minorities begin to argue that the