Week 8 and 9

Week 8 & 9

I found last week’s class assignment very helpful due to the hands on nature applied to critical thinking about the topic.  I find this approach would be helpful to apply to the contents of chapter 4.  Ethical guidelines can seem like a lot of wordy-legal language or common sense; however, discussing them in groups would be helpful.  At the recommendation of a previous professor, I always make a point to read the Legal/Ethical article in the American School Counselor Association publication. I find writings about real cases help prepare me for a decision that may need to be made in a split second where the line between right and wrong becomes blurred.

Chapter 5 integrated what I am learning right now from Multicultural counseling with the Career Theories we have been discussing.  One dimension of analysing theories which some utilize, includes a cultural analysis. For example, a lot of developmental models were based on caucasian participants, and depending on how old the model is, based on men. We touched on that briefly at the start of this course, but I would be interested to go back and look at each theory through a multicultural lens. In some ways I would critique the book for focusing a bit too much on absolutes.  I feel a lot of assumptions lie under the choice of when to use the SOLER technique (Brown, 2012).  Without truly exploring one's assumptions about the world and exploring one's own biases, it could be easy to get caught up in following a rule book of behavior instead of truly taking a multicultural perspective and building a good relationship. I have more praise that critique, but I do think it is important to note that this chapter too has its limits.  

This chapter is balanced by the article by Byars-Winston and Fouad (2006) which focuses on the counselor engaging with his/her own set of assumptions and worldview.  As someone who has been actively engaged in multicultural and anti-racism community work for for over 10 years, I can personally say the journey is never over.  I am still learning ways in which I need to put my biases in check.  I still catch myself saying very eurocentric things under the air of an absolute instead of acknowledge it is simply a cultural perspective,  Byars-Winston & Fouad challenge us grow instead of giving us a list of facts and cultural norms to memorize about various cultures.  I like that this article focuses on the two-way dynamic of the counselor and client instead of just a one directional conversation about change.  

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed). New York : Pearson Education, Inc.

Byars-Winston, A. M., & Fouad, N. A. (2006). Metacognition and Multicultural Competence: Expanding the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model. Career Development Quarterly, 54(3), 187-201.