community cultural immersion: building transformative relationships in your school annie racicot,...
TRANSCRIPT
Community Cultural Immersion: Building Transformative
Relationships in Your School
Annie Racicot, School Counselor, Shuksan Middle School
Kalie Dotson, School Counselor Intern, Shuksan Middle School
Lucy Lewis Purgason, School Counselor Educator,
Western Washington University
Learning Objectives:
• I can identify potential community partners and build effective partnerships.
• I can explain the importance of continued cultural competence in my practice as a school counselor.
• I can describe how my cross-cultural experiences in my community inform my work as a school counselor.
• I can describe ways to use self-reflection after participating in cultural immersion activities to promote deeper understanding of cultural awareness, knowledge and skills.
Diversity in Our State • 1 in 5 students in the state of Washington identify as
Latino(a) (OSPI, 2014)
• Over 2,000 refugees annually resettling in Washington state (Schoolsoutwashington, 2008)
• Large numbers from Somalia, Russia, Burma, Iran
• Our state is home to speakers of dozens of languages
(OSPI, 2014)
• Number of students speaking:• Spanish (61, 558)• Russian (4,150)• Vietnamese (3,592)• Somali (2,260)
Exploring Our Cultural Identity
• Star Activity:
1. On each point of the star write something that defines who you are.
2. Tear off the point on the top.• Reflection Questions:• What did it feel like to have to tear off one of your star’s
points?• How does this activity connect to the experiences of our
students?
Cultural Competence In Action: SDSU Diversity Pledge
I Pledge…
To embrace the diversity of all individuals respecting such attributes as their sex, gender, race, ethnicity, age, class, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic status, religion, physical ability, mental ability and expression.
To strive toward social justice for all people in order to create and sustain a safer, more productive, and inclusive campus environment.
To refrain from using derogatory terms or statements that are harmful and disrespectful to others.
To not contribute to stereotypes or make generalizations about individuals but rather to use my own experiences and interactions to better understand and embrace all people.
To educate myself about cultures other than my own.
To engage in and contribute to the diverse world around me.
To actively honor this pledge within my everyday life.
ASCA Standards Related to Multicultural Competence
• I-B-1h. Demonstrates multicultural, ethical and professional
competencies in planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating the comprehensive school counseling program.
• I-B-1c. Articulates the school counseling themes of advocacy,
leadership, collaboration and systemic change, which are
critical to a successful school counseling program.
• I-B-2. Serves as a leader in the school and community to promote and support student success.
Research Related to Cultural Immersion and Multicultural Competence
• Counselors in training often report a lack of preparedness in working with students from diverse backgrounds (Holcomb-McCoy, 2005)
• New emphasis on “pushing beyond the classroom walls” and directly applying multicultural knowledge to real world settings (Collins & Pieterse, 2007)
• Experiential education helps connect multicultural theory to practice (Chung & Bemack, 2002)
• Cultural immersion helps increase counselor’s perceived ability to work with diverse clients and helps bring awareness to biases and assumptions
(Barden, Mobley, & Shannonhouse, 2014)
Diversity at Shuksan Middle School
White (53.1%)Hispanic (26.2%)Asian or Pacific Islander (10%)Black (1.6%)American Indian or Alaskan Native (1.4%)
61.5% Free and Reduced Lunch
7.7% Transitional Bilingual
Building Authentic Community Partnerships
• Surveying students, families and staff to understand needs
• Building relationships with Community Partners to help meet these needs
• Building from community strengths
• Welcoming Community Partners to your school: Community Family Night, 21st Century Grant, Western Washington University Partnership
• Addressing barriers:
-transportation, childcare, work schedules, languages spoken
Community Cultural Immersion • Inside Shuksan Middle School
• Multicultural Club (MCC)• Community Family Nights• ELL Parent Nights• AVID Family Nights
Outside the School • Volunteering at Resurrecion Summer Program with
Migrant students in Mount Vernon• Volunteering at Sterlin Meadows afterschool
program in Bellingham• Volunteering at Club de Lectura at Alderwood
Elementary School
Background on the Community Cultural Immersion Experience
• Summer Immersion Program• Partnership between Resurrecion Summer Program and Salud
Language School
• Resurrrecion Summer Program• Program for Migrant Students in Mount Vernon ages 4 to 14• Program focuses on literacy and building community
• Salud Language School• Teaches Spanish Classes to community members in Whatcom
County• The Summer Immersion program combines volunteering in the
morning with afternoon Spanish immersion classes
Multicultural Club• Activities
• Crafts, ethnic foods, field trips, movies, teaching from mentors, music, cultural and team-building games
• Organized by countries • Students teaching about their own culture
• Cultural conversations• Occur organically
• Small group or large group sharing
Multicultural Club • Creating a safe environment
• Students feel comfortable sharing• Changing from a Latino mentoring club into a
Multicultural Club with a global emphasis• How did this happen?• Cultural allies
• Projects/Activities • Masks• Scandinavian ornaments• Russian dolls
Quotes from Students and Photos
“I come to MCC to learn about other cultures and
my family’s culture”
“I love the art activities!”
“I like to learn about new foods!”
Time to Reflect“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love, and to be greater than our suffering.”
~ Ben Okri; Nigerian Poet & Author
• Please share in groups of two –three what you want to take back to your school from today’s workshop.
Thank you so much for being here..
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at:
Resources
• www.partnershipschools.org
• www.brycs.org
• www.avid.org
• http://www.schoolsoutwashington.org/documents/Cultural%20Profiles.pdf