Saturday, March 9, 2019

Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay

ABSTRACTStemming from the uprising in the mid-sixties, multi heathenishism has presented serious ch t rationalise ensembleenges to the society, especi all(a)y to the faculty member sector. Criticized by kind groups, cultivates were inclined to overhear programs in lore of the multicultural population, and later on structured their schemas to cater to the need of the growing population. To daylight, multiculturalism has become an authorized rumination in designing t separately programs, facilities, and hiring policies. Particularly, direct focusing was iodine argona that went through a celebrated change. The introduction of this paper make passs a brief historical background of multiculturalism in direct counselling. It playes how multiculturalism was mergedd into the trail curriculum, and was conjoined in gway instruction.The of import part of this paper discusses the competencies every(prenominal) give instruction snip steering must(prenominal)(p renominal) be in possession of to traverse the needs of multicultural scholarly persons. Anchoring on the threesome core competencies tidy sum by the AMCD, this paper presents shipway on how wholeness and scarcely(a) push aside be fellowshipable of clients worldviews in order to religious service them outperform. In addition, it suggests opposite de wrong-doings or strategies counsellors whitethorn consider when divine serviceing handing with multicultural students. The conclusion of the paper summarizes the exemplification characteristics of a prop unrivallednt, and presents further amitys trail administrators and advocators arouse present to operate hard-hitting counselor strategies which adhere to the demands of multiculturalism.Introductionmulticulturalism as Rosado (1997) defines, is a system of ensnare and bearings which recognizes and think ofs the presence of all various(a) groups in societytheir identities, value and socio-cultural diff erences. In addition, multiculturalism supports detaind contribution of the refining in the society.Based on this definition, we provoke view multiculturalism as the harmonious coexistence of disparate cultures in the society. In the actors view, culture is non circumscribed to bases of origin. Culture may arise from similar beliefs, locations, or notionings of a certain group of great deal. Thus, it besides encompasses those who vex the identical subcultures establish on value, economic status, socio-political status, or sexual urge. Particularly, those who subscribe the same subculture based on gender include women, gays, lesbians and transgender mortals.In the same manner, people be doggeding to the same economic status or godliness sh atomic number 18 a similar subculture that establishes their diversity from new(prenominal)s. In this field of honor, we refer to multicultural people as those who embody a antithetic set of cultures and subcultures, new(pre nominal) than the native culture or the majority. As such, we may define multiculturalism as an approach that recognizes diversity in culture among different pagan, gender, economic, socio-political, and religious backgrounds.multiculturalism has similarly become a prevalent topic in take aim counselor. It has prompted psychologists and educators near the world to suss out indoctrinate practices that hamper culturally diverse students from playacting well in condition. Now that the growing population of multiculturally diverse students seems to be taking over the White population, the challenges that go with implementing multiculturalism in counsel would in all probability be more(prenominal) than pertinent in the undermentioned decades. multiculturalism in counsellingIn the field of testifyation, authors claim that multiculturalism rooted out from the social bring through of Afri end Ameri apprises and other people of color back in the 1960s (Banks, Davidson & Davidson, as cited in Gorski, 1999). The common feeling that naturalises had the more or less hostile and authoritarian treatment of other cultures aroused them to protest and fight for reforms. In those days, African Americans and other cultures suffered from racism and discrimination from the White population who occupied chairwoman or management statuses. Colored people were treated as flash class citizens, if not as outcasts. However, through the efforts of African American activists, develops were compelled to review their policies and hiring cover in consideration of the non-Whites.In the 1970s, other groups such as the elderly, gays, lesbians, and people with disabilities overly contested that institutions should pay equal respect to all peoples on matters of employment, educational opportunities, and work pay. Following this, a number of programs and policies emerged, including spare courses on prominent women or famous people of color. disrespect this effort, socia l activists were not satisfied, for schools only celebrated women of greatness, and not women in general. For instance, James Banks (19811989), one of the pioneers of multicultural education argued that to adhere to the idea of multicultural environment, all aspects of the school had to be reviewed. According to him, policies, teachers attitude, assessment programs, and instruction should be transformed harmonizely. This concept of multicultural education coincided with the idea of social equation among diverse cultures.By 1980s, take uping the path of Banks, K-12 teachers, namely, Carl Grant, Christine Sleeter, Geneva Gay, and Sonia Nieto exposed and criticized oppressive teaching approaches, standardized tests, classroom climate, and discriminatory hiring practices. Relevantly, this created in every faculty member professional the challenge to recognize diversity or as later coined, multiculturalism, and make it their mission to manage and live diversity (Rosado, 1997 ).Being multicultural does not only mean having a student population represent of various cultures, though this is often the contention of some schools. Rosado points out that for a school to claim they are multicultural, they must at least adhere to four standards. These include reflecting heterogeneity, demonstrating sensitivity, realigning the schools mission, and creating an ambiance that empowers all groups in the school.With clear and certain intention, Rosado argues that schools should adopt change geared towards multiculturalism on individual as well as institutional levels. On the one hand, by saying individual level, we mean that schools should aim at urging administration, teachers and students to outdo beyond their own racial, gender, cultural and socio-political identity element to recognize other identities. On the other hand, as Rosado con guides, institutional level means focusing on empowering diversity. This goes beyond merely admitting people of color, but in additi on taking into consideration in the schools mission, vision, set, and structure how it can empower each individual.Although motivated by good intention, empowering people of diversity, as pointed out by Rosado may sometimes lead to a utilitarian view of free a person his needs in exchange of what he can offer his society. We say that this is very utilitarian in that it sees the individual as a utility, more than an entity with values, attitudes, and matchion. In contrast, we should be inclined to think that it is the schools responsibility to provide the different needs of individuals in recognition of their diversity and nothing else. No conditions should generate as to whether the society can profit from his acts or not. Relevantly, whether the person is worthy of rewards of multiculturalism should not be an issue. four intentions afford motivated the adoption of multiculturalism in education. These include the need to exempt ethnocentrism, rebuild understanding and apprecia tion of different cultures, defuse tension and conflicts among ethnic groups, and make the school curricula relevant to experiences and traditions (Webb, 1990). In the next part, we lead discuss how well these motivations touch base to school counseling. Many query works substantiate the positive effects of multicultural education on students. For example, Hale (1986) shows that children in a preschool program achieved higher cognitive levels upon integrating African American culture in the curriculum. In the same way, Zaslavsky (1988) demonstrates how elements of other cultures can coiffure in teaching complex math concepts to students of an inner-city school. Fulton-Scott (1983) endorses benefits of integrating multicultural education in elementary programs for Hispanic students. The study reveals that students scores in Math, Reading, and actors line were significantly superior over those of students enrolled in programs without multicultural integration. Benefits of mul ticulturalism are likewise recognized in the field of Psychology, particularly in school counseling. However, research in this area has focussed more on counsels multicultural competence quite than on the effect of counseling founded on multiculturalism. In 1991, the association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) identified the need and rationale for multicultural counseling. This led to the approval of 31 multicultural counseling competencies as constituted by carry through et al. (1992) in 1991. Following this, in 2002, the APA Council of Representatives approved the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice and Organization Change, which was, in fact, based on the work of Sue et al. The need to adopt multiculturalism in counseling, especially in schools, is truly pressing and necessary for ethical reasons. In relation to this, AMCD identifies three characteristics guidances must possess. first of all is counselor certifiednes s of own assumptions, values, and biases. Second is understanding the worldview of the culturally different client and third, developing detach intervention strategies and techniques Primarily, culturally skilled counselors can be identified as those who have ken of other peoples culture other than their own. They are aware of how their cultural background, experience, attitude, biases, and values influence the counseling process of a client. Moreover, these counselors recognize their limits when it comes to tolerating other values, behaviors, or norms. To add, culturally skilled counselors are alike comfortable with differences between them and the clients in terms of race, gender identity, ethnicity, culture, and beliefs.To illustrate, the first measure of competency requires a counselor to mirror whether his own values and beliefs would personally or professionally affect the process of counseling. For example, a Christian counselor may have biases towards a Muslim student, f or they have truly different belief systems. In this situation, if the counselor has no knowledge of ethical limitations, he might insist that his beliefs are break in or are morally upright, and those of the students are the opposite.However, such case may be prevented if the counselor is to the full aware of conflicting values he has with the student. In our own view, a school counselor should be open to all values of every student. This is different from the counselor in the private sector. In school counseling, the counselor who cannot encounter views of some students is not fit for school counseling. A school counselor should have readiness to counsel every student, and at that place should be no instance when he would not accept a student for counseling. To ensure that the counselor meets the first requirement mentioned above, he should reflect on his values and find out if he has beliefs against any culture, including students with different gender identities, cultural or religious practices, and other moral practices that their culture has taught them. For instance, taking into consideration the case of students with gender identity problem, the counselor must be do byful not to insist that the student sticks to his biological gender. Rather, he should exercise care in discussion this case. after(prenominal) all, the whole breeding of the student may depend on the decision he makes at the time of counseling.culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding somewhat how gender stereotyping affects them personally and professionally. Considering the sensitivity of the issue of gender identity disorder, the school counselor must be careful not to affect the decision and values of the individual, for he is going to suffer later on should he take the maltreat decision. Moreover, as Sue et al. contend, culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about their social impact on others. These include ones awareness of own communica tionstyle, and how this style may hinder or ease the counseling process. Recognizing limits of their competencies, school counselors may confer with their colleagues how to overcome these weaknesses. Aside from this, they should explore further training or education on other cultures as a way to do away with biases. The process of balancing ones view of other cultures may take a spirit as new concepts may arise everyday. For example, the term transgender individuality appeared only in our modern times, but the concept of transforming from one gender to other has been known as early as the time of Sophocles or even earlier. In this regard, counselors should not grow tired of finding ways for self-actualization.Also, on the second characteristic, it is the responsibility of the culturally skilled counselor to gather resources to try about the identity of other cultures. In the case of homosexuality among students, the counselor should know the different sides of the coin in exi stence a homosexual. In particular, counselors who deal with this issue should have a good understanding of the process of be a homosexual (Adams, Boatwright, Gilbert, Forrest & Ketzenberger, Cass, Chung & Katayama, Croghan, Driscoll, Kelley & Fassinger, Dunkle, and Pope, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). With this knowledge, he must let the student decide on his own whether to retain his gender identity or move to the phase of coming out. advent out or in other words, admitting to the society that one belongs to a specific gender type is in itself a dilemma among teenagers with identity confusion. The specific character of the counselor in this situation is to supporter the offspring consider advantages and disadvantages of coming out (Adams, Belz, brownish, Croteau & Hedstrom, Elliott, Hetherington, Morgan & Brown, Morrow, Pope, Rodriguez & Chang, Pope & Schecter, Savin-Williams, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). Additionally, the counselor should guide the student in the stage of comi ng-out by training him/her how to deal with peoples inquiry about his identity. For example, the counselor could give real-life scenarios, and beg the student to react on them in order to ensure that he would be prepared for particular instances when he would experience doubt.If the counselor feels positive or senses tolerance toward gays and lesbians but neglects the knowledge to handle cases of these individuals, he could purify his familiarity with them through a lot of ways. One source of invaluable selective information is reading literatures regarding gay/lesbian culture. At present, explorations on gender-specific cases are up(a) in terms of number and depth. These readings can guide a counselor to discover gay/lesbian cultural identity. Likewise, attending conferences or symposia, collection insights from past clients and friends who belong to the same gender type exit excessively result a lot (Sanabria, 2004).Also, as Sanabria expresses, if the counselor feels tha t he is not qualified to handle the case, it is only ethical to refer the student to person who could offer him the right counseling. gainmore, counselors who cannot be affirmative of gay and lesbian culture are probably misinformed and should reflexion into themselves again if they are fit for being a school counselor. The issue regarding sexual minorities is only one of the issues a school counselor must be able to handle. If the counselor cannot uphold sexual minorities, he should reconsider if he should continue practicing in the academic setting.Suffice to mention, the National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, and American Psychological Association have well-defined ethical codes that offer counselor for individuals who work with sexual penchant issues. Included in these ethical codes is the knowledge about students behavioral identity. Importantly, culturally skilled counselors should be aware of life experiences, cultural heritage, and hi storical background of their multicultural students. For instance, an Asiatic American student has different historical and cultural background from a Latino counterpart, or an African American. When counseling an Asian American, for example, a Chinese girl who cannot relate well with her classmates, a counselor must be informed of the fusty values Chinese families have. Actually, the attitude of keeping ones mutism may be in conformity with Confucian values. In this regard, the counselor cannot expect the girl to be as outgoing as her classmates are, for the behavior she presents embodies a cultural heritage among the Chinese.Furthermore, culturally skilled counselors understand the consequences arising from ones exercise of cultural traditions and rites. In some parts of Asia, for instance, there is belt up the custom of prearranged marriage. Thus, a counselor who encounters a high school student in this situation should suspend judgment of the custom, but rather honor it, and perhaps counsel the child to make her own choice, afterward laying down the consequences of abiding by the culture. In considering choices, the counselor may enumerate possible circumstances the child would face if she relents to her parents decision, or vice versa. Under no circumstances should the counselor dictate to the child what she should do as this may result in confusion or family conflict.Likewise, the counselor may withal opt to explain the issue to the parents, but ahead doing so, the counselor must take precautions so as not to fall apart them. At all times, respect should form part of every counseling situation.Aside from obtaining a rich background of their students, a fitting counselor, according to Sue et al. should also be kept updated with the latest trends and occurrences that tint his clients. In the case of a school counselor, it would be of great aid if he engages in research and other activities to keep him updated with the students lingo, hobbies, be havioral patterns, etc. They should spryly seek out opportunitiespersonal and professional experiences that enrich their knowledge, understanding, and cross-cultural skills.Moreover, as some schools implement nowadays, counselors can engage in outside school activities such as outreach programs, educational trips, camps, and other activities which would help gain a more vivid profile of the counselees. They should also be actively twisty with minority individuals outside the school setting. Community events, celebrations, and other gatherings may help provide a wider perspective of minorities which relate with the academic scenario.Considering the dynamic consumption that the school counselor plays in society, the responsibility of ensuring that they possess the relevant qualities expect of a counselor should be borne by colleges offering the course or training. Based on the literature gathered, schools have positively become fully concerned about the issue of multiculturalism. M any schools and universities nowadays adhere to the demands of the culturally diverse society. However, the way to take ining competency of some school counselors may still be too far.In one study Holcom-McCo y (2000) conducted, the author identified five underlying factors influencing school counselors perception of themselves as competent professionals. These factors included understanding of racial identity learning, ability to comprehend multicultural terminology, multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Among which, counselors perceived escape of knowledge of racial identity phylogeny as the problem that hindered them from being fully competent in multiculturalism.To address this problem, Schwallie-Giddis et al. (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) suggest that future school counselors should undergo multicultural training on racial identity development, and multicultural knowledge development. In a study conducted, school counselors assessed the goodness of a nine-month mu lticultural professional development program. The study involved 13 school counselors in a multicultural professional development program held from school year 2001-2002. Applying three dimensions of multicultural competencies, the participants assessed their own competencies. Resources included a videotape of a case study to which participants reacted, in order to discover assumptions, values and biases.To assess understanding of the clients worldviews, the study made use of case studies of linguisti mobilizey and culturally diverse (LCD) students. The participants were asked to apply a framework to the cases to examine aspects school counselors should consider when handling diverse students. The participants had a lengthy discussion on the provided cases, and at the end of the session, they convey the advantage of having discussions with peers.Another session comprised of a empanel interview with three mothers of different cultures. Each of the women talked about her childs expe riences in school, all of which related to the inefficiency of the school officials to handle multicultural students. In all the issues raised, lack of communication surfaced as the most recurrent problem. In relation to this, participants commented that had there been proper communication between parents and school officials, issues would have been resolved more easily.Moreover, the study also included a session that dealt with developing appropriate interventions to cases of LCD students. by means of this, participants were able to exchange views and experiences which could help build up a resource for interventions to cases of LCD students. Based on this session, counselors noted that most of them found it difficult to deal with LCD student mainly be rationality of the language barrier. Furthermore, insecurities due to lack of knowledge of other cultures affected the competencies of the participants.In sum, the school counselors agreed that having enough facility to understand the student and overcoming language barriers is one major key to providing adequate help to students.Similarly, Chandras et al. (2006) suggest counseling strategies and techniques in handling multicultural students. One skill they emphasized to be scathing in every counseling situation is effective listening. Effective listening, as Neuknug (2002) defines, includes allowing students to talk, concentrating on what is being said, giving minimal advice, empathizing, asking for clarifications, and limiting questions. When handling multicultural students, it is crucial for the counselor to be fully sensitive to literal cues that relate to culture. For instance, a student who is often bullied in class may not admit why he is being bullied due to his insecurity. in that respect are some students who would rather keep the truth to themselves or resolve their own conflicts instead of asking help from school officials. Despite this attitude, a good school counselor could still unlock verb al cues that could make the student open up. For example, a child who claims he is not arouse in making friends with his classmates could likewise mean that his classmates are cruel to him and not totally uninteresting. As such, clarifying responses and not directly giving advice may help the child reflect on his own situation.To remark effective counseling strategy, a constructive and emphatic relationship is very essential (Chandras et al., 2006). In this respect, the counselors role is first to build up trust and optimism. On the one hand, gaining trust of a student is predominate to establishing a good relationship. Without trust, there can be no revelations, no life experiences told. On the other hand, developing optimism facilitates finding a source to the problem. Also, when a student perceives that there is a solution to the dilemma, he becomes more willing to cooperate in the counseling process.Secondary to the abovementioned is discussing stages of the counseling proc ess. It is primal to inform the counselee how the counseling would go, what can be achieved during counseling stages, and how long they will take. Together with this, the counselor should set guidelines both he and the student will follow, such as time schedule, behavior rules, and limitations.Chakras et al. determine other responsibilities of a counselor. These include preparing the student for counseling session. As a counselor, one has to establish the reason why the student should undergo counseling. Asking the student what he feels is wrong, or eliciting experiences that seem difficult for him are ways to prepare the student. In addition, the counselor must assert that the problem can be worked out if the counselee cooperates in resolving it. Also, some situations that lead to the attention are considered for school counseling. These include breaking school rules, misbehaving, or underachievement. As such, the class consultant and the school counselor should work hand in hand regarding read of students behavior and progress.One of the misconceptions about counseling is that students are referred to it only for corrective purposes. Students tend to think that if they are bring downed for counseling, they have been noted to misbehave in school. Thus, some students create a wrong view that counselors are disciplinarians. Importantly, this issue should be addressed during school orientation, letting the students know and feel that counseling is a helping process, and not a disciplinary one. Furthermore, what the counselor can do to avoid this misconception is to call each student one by one, get to know them, and allow a time for them to be introduce with her and her work, so that fears regarding counseling could be avoided. Importantly, not only those who have reports of misdeed should be called for counseling, but every student handled by each counselor.During counseling session, one good characteristic the counselor should exhibit is to remain focused on the specific problem. If the students problem concerns only his classmates, the counselor should identify ways to resolve it at the said level, and not cut into on the students family background, as such may give the student an apprehension that his problem is huge. For example, if the student identifies that he is having problems with classmates bullying him, the counselor must call the attention of the said classmates and allow the said parties to explain the issue (i.e., pick out them of the situation to find out if they are aware of the problem they cause their classmate).Furthermore, it is the counselors role to sustain interest of the counselee during the counseling process. To attain this, the counselor should ask questions relevant to the situation, and involve the counselee in arriving at the best workable solution. Asking irrelevant questions and monopolizing the discussion may distract the denseness of the counselee. In addition, the counselor may give assignments or home work so that the student would feel responsible and be prepared for the next counseling session.As regards developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques to help multicultural students, counselors should also be effectively involved in non-academic and out-of-school activities. As the core of the students personality, the counselor should focus first on building family relationships. Activities involving the students family would be an effective strategy to (1) know students well, (2) gain knowledge of family structure of students, whether parents are separated, and where students stay, (3) provide a venue for family bonding, and (4) inform parents of their childrens progress/problems. reboot involvement in counseling is inevitable. Some studies confirm student improvement in academic performance, attitudes and behavior, attendance, school adjustment and engagement, and gradation rates (Barnard, Epstein, Simons-Morton & Crump, as cited in Sanabria). In Jevne s (as cited in Sanabria), a late(a) meta-analysis of 41 studies shows a significant relationship between parents involvement in school and academic achievement of urban students. Parent involvement in school can include activities designed to inform them of their childrens progress, workshops or conferences to help them cope with the difficulties of parenting, marriage, etc. However, some parents lack the initiative to get involved in their childs school personal matters. As Lareau (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) posits, parents perceptions of racism and their own negative school experiences tend to create the distance between them and the schools. One study conducted by McKay, Atkins, Hawkins, Brown (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) found that the racism awareness of low-income African American parents was positively related to at-home parental involvement, and inversely related to at-school involvement. In this case, the counselor should organise closely with class advisers and other sc hool officials to help convince these parents to give priority to their children. One source of motivation could be research entropy establishing correlation between childrens progress and parental involvement.One natural action the counselor could bone up is a Day with Parents. This could be a panel discussion involving model parents (probably of outstanding students) to act as the panel, and discuss relevant issues with students and co-parents. In this activity, the panel discusses ways on how they get involved with the affairs of their children, and how these measures create positive output to them. After the pane interview/discussion, the parents may exchange ideas in a forum to discuss proper ways to bring up children. Specifically, student problems, whether academic or personal, may also be brought up.Another activity the counselor could organize is a family day in which the whole family will come to the school to enjoy rides, games, or dining together. This event may be sc hool-wide and would need the participation of every school personnel and students.Aside from organizing events for the family, the school counselor could also incorporate in the program field trips, camping, games, and other fun activities for the students. This will help students, especially with multicultural background, to get to know their classmates well. This way, they would also find time to have more friends. Aside from this, fun activities would also make them acquit that school is not just for learning academics but also for having fun. Moreover, other activities school counselors could provide include workshops or performing arts activities. These activities are very ideal to cultivate the talents of students. Examples of which include art, theater arts, dance, and singing workshops. After the workshops, counselors could also have a culminating activity in which students show what they have learned from the workshop. For arts, students will have an art exhibit, for dance , theater arts, and singing, the counselor could propose to school administration to allow a concert or show, in which students will be the performers. This particular activity could also serve as a fund raising campaign aside from showcasing the talent of students. former(a) activities to make students realize their potentials include sports activities/intramurals. This would allow sports-minded students to show their capabilities in their field. Also, this could serve as the schools campaign against drug use among students. Further to the given interventions, counselors could also conduct course orientation, especially for graduating students. In this activity, the counselor would invite some professionals to talk about their life to inspire students to follow a similar path. At the end of the session, the counselor would elicit from students, which career aroused their interest, and what made them interested to it. Importantly, students should be given many options to occupy f rom, and career professionals to be invited should likewise have multicultural identity, so that students can easily relate with them. Evaluation sessions should also follow to allow room for improvement. Counselors also have a part in the schools community outreach. By giving orientation to students regarding the activity and motivating them to help other people, students will realize that the helping profession is not limited within the four corners of the school. The participation of the counselor is very important as this will strengthen the role of the counseling profession and the schools mission of helping other people. Other interventions the counselor could incorporate in the counseling program include achievement tests, personality tests, and other assessments to sens the students academic and personal progress. These could help identify the needs of the students or their inclinations to serve as guide in choosing their future career.There are a lot of ways a school couns elor can adopt to help in the holistic development of students. In adopting each intervention, what is important is to bear in mind its applicability to the multicultural students. As each student comes from a different background, it is imperative to learn about them individually, and not just by names or culture affiliation. As long been practiced by other counseling professionals, one strategy the counselor could employ is to do home visits. By visiting students in their home, the counselor will gain a clear and accurate picture of the students background. Similarly, this would also create for him a first-hand experience of the students cultural background.ConclusionAs we continue to live in the Information Age, we are driven to realize the many impacts of multiculturalism on people, educational institutions, and society in general. In particular, we see how it changed biography in the 1960s with the civil protest of Black Americans, and how it restructured school policies on em ployment of faculty, and treatment of students. Similarly, we see how it inspired minority groups to express their views and contribute to the rich and modern culture. Moreover, we see the important role of multiculturalism in the counseling programs of schools and the community, not to mention the challenges it continues to bring counselors in providing care and assistance.Although discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, socio-political, and economic status are still explicit in our society, the progress attained by forerunners and supporters of multiculturalism make us look anterior to a better nation in the next decades. As time unfolds, we may take pride as we watch Americans insure Africans, Asians, and other people of color. This view will continue to unveil as school administrators continue to uphold and cultivate the gifts of diversity in their orientation of students and communities.Much to the efforts made by school activists, we may l ook forward to more reforms in the counseling scene, either in schools or communities. The standards set by the AMCD or APA would continue to lead counselors to realize the importance of their roles in the society. The role played by counselors is not an easy delegate. However, by being conscious of their own tendency toward biases, counselors would avoid disserving their clients, and in the long run, the attitude of people especially schoolchildren toward counseling would further be affirmative.Moreover, adhering to the second characteristic, counselors would maintain a sensitive attitude toward cultures of other people. As such, they will feel the importance of bridging gaps among multicultural individuals, thus becoming proponents of unity and peace in the long run.Also part of the competency requirements of counselors is to devise or organize strategies to provide relevant counseling and helping services to the people. In this respect, their role is not limited to the school se tting they serve, but it is likewise relevant to the community they work with. By fulfilling their part as community helpers, counselors would have a richer cultural experience which could help in their field.Recognizing the difficult task expected of counselors, we may develop the doubt regarding the capability of school counselors of instantly in taking on the said challenges. In this regard, counselors would need all the assistance it could get from school officials such as teachers, principal, and other staff. Through the collaboration between counselors and school officials, multicultural students will realize the important contribution they can make in the society, not only in their group but also in the lives of other people, in the field of technology, manpower, innovation, and care for the environment.The nature of helping students does not end in counseling them or providing moral support. Rather, it extends to making them feel their importance as people, providing them c hoices in life, and cultivating their talents. The counseling program of every school should be the most active program among all, as it involves not only the students and counselors, but also other school officials, including the teachers, librarian, and support staff. If every one in the school system shares in the goal of achieving multicultural counseling, we can hope for the success of multicultural students. As such, everyone should his/her own part and responsibilities in promoting the welfare of the studentsthat is, giving respect to people of other cultures, helping them realize their life goals, and making them co-creators of society.Despite all the efforts exerted by counselors and other individuals to make up a better society, we can still note some people, even students who would resist multiculturalism. The unsmooth picture of some students exhibiting exclusivist attitude toward their peers should not be overlooked. Rather, it should be the concern of everyone in the school, especially its officials.In line with this, more studies should be conducted on how to incorporate multicultural views into the counseling program of every school, beginning from pre-schools to post-graduate schools. It would also help if psychological groups or associations would set standards particularly for multicultural school counseling. These rules would serve as guide for school administrators in choosing the right school counselor.While it is the role of school counselors to provide counseling to multicultural students, it would also help if schools would implement a procedure to evaluate if other aspects of the school adhere to promoting cultural diversity. Particularly, school administrators should realize that the issue of multiculturalism should not be addressed by the counseling program alone, but also by all aspects of the school, including the corporeal structure of the school. In this regard, future research in psychology could include ways on how the schoo ls physical structure could support counseling programs for multicultural students.ReferencesChandras, Kan, David DeLambo, & Sunil Chandras. (2006). Counseling strategies and techniques to sensitize school counselors to the life experiences of culturally different students. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http//www.counselingoutfitters.com/Chandras.htmConstantine, Madonna. (2001). Universal-diverse orientation and general expectations about counseling Their relation to college students multicultural counseling expectations. Journal of college student development. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http//findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752/is_200111/ai_n8993131Freedman, Kenneth. (1999). Multicultural counseling. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http//www.alaska.net/fken/Multiculture.htmGorski, Paul. (1999). A Brief History of Multicultural Education. 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