is valid. It is helpful to remember that bias among naive and privileged students can be the product of generalization based on limited information. Thus, these students might not actively endorse biased beliefs; they merely have not taken the time to question them. Faculty members can use instructional strategies to promote questioning to inspire students to reexamine their beliefs. Professor Malcom did this to some extent; however, he missed helping Anne question whether assimilation is the desired goal for ethnic communities. What is it in Anne’s experience that leads her to believe that a loss of one’s home culture in favor of U.S. culture is best?
Students from marginalized communities are often frustrated by their experiences in multicultural counseling courses and typically do not experience gains in multicultural competence from such courses (Chao et al., 2011). Perhaps this is because students of color feel tokenized, as if they are expected to educate their more privileged peers (C. A. Baker et al., 2015). Like Bell, students of color describe frustrations with surface-level discussions of diversity, desiring more depth and breadth (Seward, 2014). To engage students from marginalized communities, Hipolito-Delgado et al. (2017) called for counselor education faculty to broach differences in ways that foster a sense of inclusion.
To promote the learning of students from marginalized communities, it is helpful to include considerations of sociopolitical power and oppression. This moves discourse beyond cultural values and difference and toward the social construction of power and privilege and the perpetuation of oppression through education, politics, and culture. This approach can promote the sociopolitical development of all students, increasing their critical consciousness and the need for social action to facilitate the liberation of oppressed communities. For students like Chris, this will clarify the fact that multicultural counseling is not simply about respecting opinions but about being an advocate for social justice.
Growth Can Be Challenging
Every human has a right to physical and emotional safety. However, there is a difference between safety and comfort—a point Professor Malcom attempted to convey to Chris. Growth occurs through disruptions of existing schemata, often as a result of questioning previously held beliefs. This notion is exemplified in cultural identity models that describe encounters or experiences in which dominant ideology is challenged and the reality of cultural complexity comes into focus (Hipolito-Delgado, 2009). These growth encounters are cognitively and emotionally uncomfortable, as one is forced to reconcile new information and the realization that previously held beliefs were incomplete. It is unrealistic for students like Chris to expect to experience growth in cultural competence while maintaining a sense of comfort.
In the case, addressing Anne’s comments can be uncomfortable for Anne, Professor Malcom, and the class; this is probably why the remainder of the class period was tense. Still, faculty members need to be intentional about addressing bias and microaggressions through classroom activities, readings, and discussion (Hipolito-Delgado et al., 2017). When bias goes unaddressed, students from marginalized communities can feel alienated and unwelcome (Haskins et al., 2013). Thus, the comfort of privileged students is maintained at the expense of students from marginalized communities.
Engaging in critical conversations around bias presents a learning opportunity. Students can more deeply question their beliefs, learn how their words and actions impact others, and experience how to engage in conversations about difference. Professor Malcom did a good job of asking Anne to think more deeply about her biases. However, he might have used this as an opportunity for the class to engage in a deeper conversation about racial bias and sociopolitical opportunity. This may have allowed the class to investigate the origin of biased thoughts and the role of dominant discourse and propaganda in furthering bias. In addition, Professor Malcom might have invited students from marginalized communities to share their thoughts and feelings, allowing them to process their emotions. Although such a conversation might have been uncomfortable, Professor Malcom could have better attended to the needs of all students in his class.
Rethinking Multicultural Counseling
Multicultural counseling courses are typically taught from a group-of-the-week perspective, in which each week a new cultural community is the focus of learning. This approach can lead to generalization and reinforce bias by treating cultural groups as monoliths. Instead, Vontress (2009) encouraged a conceptual approach that honors the distinctness of individuals while attending to key concepts such as degree of acculturation, collectivism and individualism, emic versus etic diagnosis, and the need for autoplastic versus alloplastic interventions.
I encourage faculty members teaching multicultural counseling to promote dialogue and authentic intergroup contact in their courses. The great Brazilian educator Paulo Freire (1970) argued for a problem-posing education that relies on discussion to disrupt educational hierarchies and promote critical thinking skills. Such an approach may not seem natural, as students have become accustomed to being lectured to throughout their education. Professors must create conditions to foster dialogue by eliminating lecture and allowing classes to be guided by questions. I set this tone at the outset of my multicultural classes through an activity that entails lyrical analysis of a punk rock song (see Hipolito-Delgado, 2016); this activity also serves as a metaphor for unpacking assumptions and aids in practicing critical questioning. Although this will not eliminate bias in the classroom, it will create expectations and help students develop the skills needed to process incidents when they occur.
Authentic intergroup contact is also vital for diminishing bias (DeRicco & Sciarra, 2005) and increasing cultural competence (Hipolito-Delgado et al., 2011). To this end, Hipolito-Delgado et al. (2011, 2013) argued for a cultural immersion project, the Multicultural Action Project (MAP), as a method to promote intergroup contact and increase the cultural competence of counseling students. For the project to be meaningful, extended contact between groups is required, marginalized groups should not be expected to educate more privileged parties, and counseling students should provide services with and on behalf of the marginalized group. The MAP would be useful for aiding Anne in better understanding the experiences of communities of color. It would also provide Bell with the depth and breadth of experience she desires; it might also challenge her to engage with a cultural community with which she has less experience.
Considerations for Faculty From Marginalized Communities
Faculty members from marginalized communities are often expected to be the voices of diversity in counseling programs. Counselor educators from marginalized communities are often expected to teach courses and serve on committees related to diversity and social justice—yet this can be a risky proposition. Faculty of color typically receive worse course evaluations than their white male peers, and courses that explore issues of diversity and inclusion also tend to yield worse teaching evaluations (Perry et al., 2015). Given that Professor Malcom is a person of color and is teaching a course on diversity it is likely that he will receive worse course evaluations. This is one reason why his mentors advised him against teaching multicultural counseling. Because course evaluations are typically considered as part of promotion and tenure, Professor Malcom should be concerned about how low marks might impact his professional advancement. I am not suggesting that faculty from marginalized communities not teach multicultural counseling if it is an area of passion and expertise for them. However, I am cautioning counselor educators to consider how being a member of a marginalized group and teaching a course on diversity might negatively impact their course evaluations and hurt them in terms of attaining tenure and promotion.
Conclusion
The challenge of balancing the learning needs of students is not easily resolved. My hope here was to provide insights into the needs of students from more privileged and marginalized backgrounds, suggestions on engaging in critical conversations and rethinking multicultural counseling courses, and considerations for faculty from marginalized communities. In addition, I hope to have provoked thoughts about the experience of students and faculty from marginalized communities in counselor education programs.
Reflection