Online Counselor Education by Carl J. Sheperis Randy Joe Davis

Author:Carl J. Sheperis, Randy Joe Davis [Carl J. Sheperis, Randy Joe Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Human Services, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Counseling & Guidance
ISBN: 9781483359441
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2015-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Raising Consciousness

Not long ago, my daughter, who is in the fifth grade, came home from school and shared that one of her classmates called her a “slave.” Immediately, my mind needed to know the cultural demographics of this classmate. I needed to know if the classmate was Black or White or Latino perhaps; I needed to know if her classmate was a male or female. For some reason, my mind was not able to reconcile any strong parental advice without these variables. So in my best counselor voice, I asked my daughter to share the race and/or ethnicity of the accused classmate.

“He’s White,” she shared pensively, “Why?”

Driven unconsciously by my own internalized racial discourse, I replied, “Well, tomorrow … you go to school and tell that White boy …”—my daughter swiftly interjected and confidently asserted, “Mom! I’m not racist.” Taken aback by her budding cultural intuitiveness, I asked, “… well what did you do?” Her response, “I told him that it makes sense that he’s not doing well in Social Studies; slavery was abolished in 1865.”

I am grateful to my daughter for this lesson. It has allowed me to become more aware of how my own culturally informed biases impact my perceptions of others every day. This awareness is the vehicle by which consciousness is raised. When our consciousness evolves, we begin to develop the tools to more critically examine other aspects of our cultural worldview.

Fortunately, this experience is commonplace for many people. We are all afforded opportunities in our daily lives to take note of how culture (i.e., race, gender, sexual expression, religion, varying abilities, etc.) influences our experiences with others. Consequently, counseling researchers have formed consensus around the proposition that awareness is the foundation upon which multicultural counseling competency (MCC) is built (Cates, Schaefle, Smaby, Maddux, & Beauf, 2007; Mollen, Ridley, & Hill, 2003; Ponterotto, Gretchen, Utsey, Rieger, & Austin, 2002; Spanierman et al., 2010). As empathy is the heart of the counseling relationship, awareness is the soul of empathy that allows our relationship with clients to deepen in meaningful ways.

Yet still, the question remains, “How can you make a focused effort toward cultivating cultural awareness in your graduate program? How can you translate these experiences into consciousness-raising for your counseling practice? Your professors are tasked with utilizing the virtual platform as a vehicle for eliciting the critical dialogue and internal vigilance that fuels MCC. The goal for online counseling instructors then is to leverage the distinct benefits of the virtual environment to engage counseling trainees in consciousness raising learning activities. While it may seem that traditional face-to-face classrooms are exclusively ideal for these experiences, virtual classrooms offer a sense of anonymity that can serve as a “safety net” for you. Similar to being able to say something in a text message that would be almost impossible to say in person, consider how you can use your online environment to develop meaningful expressions and explorations that might be difficult to initiate otherwise. While your online classroom will have

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