Use of Photovoice in Processing Race-Based Topics in a Multicultural Counseling Course

This phenomenological study assessed master-level students’ experiences of using photovoice, a creative learning activity, in a race-based multicultural counseling course. Students were asked to engage in weekly written reflections regarding a course-related photographic image, with the goal of more deeply processing cognitive and affective reactions to the course. Data analyzed included focus groups, student written responses, and photos. Findings indicated use of photovoice as a means for processing cognitions, which allowed students to deepen learning by extending a racialized lens outside of the classroom. Students also indicated use of the tool to process emotional reactions at various stages of the course, allowing learners to creatively and visually express feelings as they surfaced.     

Using Popular Film to Teach Multicultural Counseling: A Constructivist Approach

The use of popular film as an experiential teaching tool in multicultural counselor education has been well documented. However, existing research has been limited. The purpose of this study is to implement a unique pedagogic intervention using popular films and to study how counseling students experience the activity as part of their multicultural counseling training. The researchers utilized the popular films Crash and Precious to stimulate student dialogue and reflection on topics pertaining to race, culture, privilege, and social justice. The findings indicate that popular films, when implemented in conjunction with reflective learning activities, are effective in promoting students’ multicultural and social justice counseling competencies. Participants reported that the pedagogic activity was effective in bringing to life the multicultural course concepts and stimulating difficult but necessary conversations about race, ethnicity, privilege, and power. Finally, implications of this study could further inform the field of multicultural counselor education.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
John Ryder, Interpreting America: Russian and Soviet Studies of the History of American Thought
Maria Pia Lara, Moral Textures: Feminist Narratives in the Public Sphere     

PHILOSOPHY IN FRAGMENTS: CULTIVATING PHILOSOPHIC THINKING WITH THE PRESOCRATICS

Abstract: This article presents a strategy for introducing Presocratic thought to students in a manner that is both engaging and relevant. The first section addresses students' reactions to the claim that the Presocratics were the first philosophers. The second section considers how the fragmentary state of Presocratic thought does not hinder its comprehension. The third section proposes a classroom exercise for testing the scientific merits of each of the Presocratic theories. The final section proposes the use of a mock trial as a means of applying the materialist approach introduced by the Presocratics to contemporary debates about free will and determinism.     

Toward kuleana (responsibility): A case study of a contextually grounded intervention for Native Hawaiian youth and young adults

As a minority ethnic group, Native Hawaiian youth and young adults face an array of issues associated with colonization, such as persistent structural discrimination and the loss of land and indigenous ways of knowing. They are also at risk for a wide range of negative behaviors, including interpersonal violence, suicide, substance use, and juvenile delinquency. This article explores how community youth development, critical pedagogies, and Hawaiian epistemology can help Native Hawaiian young adults cope with such issues. It begins with a brief discussion of critiques on conventional youth violence prevention programs. To address these critiques, three bodies of literature are introduced: 1) community youth development, 2) critical pedagogy, and 3) community epistemology. Data were derived from a single case study of a community-based youth program. The program, located in an impoverished, rural community in Hawai'i, entailed running an organic farm. Seventeen participants were involved in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Utilizing critical indigenous qualitative research, a content analysis of the interviews was conducted to build a working conceptual model. Preliminary findings suggest that a program with key processes of community youth development, critical pedagogies, and Hawaiian epistemology may serve as a vehicle for health and wellness, thus preventing a host of negative behaviors, such as violence. Based on the findings, a critical contextually based approach to violence prevention that focuses on providing opportunities for Native Hawaiian young adults to take an active participatory role in promoting health is proposed.     

PHILOSOPHY AS EMPIRICAL EXPLORATION OF LIVING

This essay describes an approach to designing a course in philosophy as a way of life (PWOL) around a set of immersive “spiritual exercises” through which students might examine their desires, engaging students in a process of testing their own experience against philosophical theories and theories against their own experience. These are used to tie together the units of a course covering classical Western and Eastern philosophical traditions, and to supplement traditional philosophical analysis of texts and arguments with ways of exploring what it might be like to live as a Platonist, Stoic, or Confucian. The essay details several exercises, engages perspectives on PWOL from Pierre Hadot and John Cooper, and addresses the question of how to assess immersive exercises.     

Relational Strategies for Teaching Multicultural Courses in Counselor Education

Multicultural courses pose several challenges for counselor educators. This article presents a rationale for using a relational approach to teaching multicultural courses and includes 3 classroom activities based in relational pedagogy and relational-cultural theory. By using a relational approach, counselor educators can encourage students to become more engaged, more self-motivated, and more willing to take risks in the pursuit of learning inclusive, competent, and culturally aware counseling practice. Los cursos multiculturales presentan varios retos para los educadores de consejeros. Este artículo presenta un razonamiento para el uso de un enfoque relacional en la enseñanza de cursos multiculturales e incluye 3 actividades para el aula basadas en la pedagogía relacional y la teoría relacional-cultural. Mediante el uso de un enfoque relacional, los educadores de consejeros pueden animar a sus estudiantes a estar más involucrados, motivados y dispuestos a asumir riesgos en su esfuerzo por aprender una práctica de la consejería que sea culturalmente inclusiva, competente y consciente.     

Examining Relationships Between Physicians and Their Patients: A Psychoanalytic Model

This is a study of a group of physicians' reflections about their communication with patients. Using an applied psychoanalytic framework for self-inquiry in groups, the authors summarize their findings and provide a model for others to use. They describe their method of conducting and studying three physician groups. The authors identify six essential dynamics within groups and illustrate the dynamics with examples of physician reflections. They summarize further their observations about the composition, dominant themes, and phases of development for each group. The intent of the self-inquiry groups—to clarify physicians' habits and thought patterns about patients—is upheld in the report's conclusion, in which the authors report participants' evaluation of their learning experience. Recommendations are made for analysts to apply the model in work with general physicians.     

Examining Biases and White Privilege: Classroom Teaching Strategies That Promote Cultural Competence

This article will discuss in-depth how a variety of effective classroom teaching strategies have been employed to assist White counseling trainees in developing a non-racist White racial identity (i.e., by examining biases and exploring privilege) thereby increasing cultural competence. Specifically, this article will address the utility of implementing classroom teaching strategies that promote both cognitive understanding and affective processing of biases and White privilege for White trainees. It will outline the efficacy of specific didactic (e.g., lecture, videos, discussions, readings) and experiential (e.g., small group interviews, journaling, autobiographies, modeling) in creating a non-racist White racial identity, thereby promoting cultural competence.