Service Learning for Counselors: Integrating Education, Training, and the Community.
01 Sep 2005-The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development (Blackwell Publishing Ltd)-Vol. 44, Iss: 2, pp 158-167
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe service learning and experiential education, foundations of service learning in counseling, roles of service-learning in counselor education, and applications for professional counselors.
Abstract: Service learning integrates classroom instruction with community service to augment learning. This method of instruction facilitates humanistic counseling skills by enhancing counselor awareness and knowledge of unique needs and strengths of diverse peoples while promoting personal, social, civic, and professional responsibility. This article describes applications of service learning for counseling students and professionals. ********** Service learning and community service are important components of higher education (Montrose & Ross, 2000). Service learning is a structured learning experience that facilitates the acquisition of awareness, knowledge, and skills while promoting a commitment to personal, social, civic, and professional responsibility. It is a form of experiential education that directly involves the participant in the phenomena being studied (Kendall, Duley, Rubin, Little, & Permaul, 1986). The purpose of this method of instruction is to increase understanding of concepts studied in a classroom environment by providing students with opportunities for direct exposure to problems, issues, and strengths of communities. Service learning also emphasizes the development of positive and collaborative relationships. Community service, although closely aligned with service learning, differs in a significant way. Community service is volunteer work that aims to contribute to the welfare of others and to provide benefit to an organization and/or a community. However, community service does not require a structured learning process or linkage to an academic curriculum, nor does it require a focus on mutuality and collaboration. Community service may have educational benefits (e.g., teaching students to be socially responsible); however, it does not allow for structured time to process what students experience during service activities or for use of skills acquired in the classroom in real-life situations (Burns, 1998). In this article, we describe service learning and experiential education, foundations of service learning in counseling, roles of service learning in counselor education, and applications for professional counselors. In addition, we provide examples of service-learning curricular programs. SERVICE LEARNING AND EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION Service learning is an instructional activity or strategy designed to achieve various learning objectives, yield outcomes integrated in the context of learning, offer applied learning opportunities, and provide communities and participants with the opportunity to work together on the basis of the tenets of collaboration, inclusion, mutuality, and cooperation (Bums, 1998; Ward & Wolf-Wendel, 1997). Service learning emphasizes working with the community rather than for the community. Didactic instruction, case examples, technology, and other training methods are less capable of actualizing the principles of mutuality, equality, and community that are the basis for service learning (Burnett, Hamel, & Long, 2004). Service learning is a form of experiential education that enables students to acquire multiple competencies (Kendall et al., 1986). Kolb (1984) described experiential education as a learning strategy that enables participants to develop affective or emotional competencies through concrete experience, improve perceptual or awareness competencies through reflection, develop symbolic or abstract competencies through practice in conceptualization, and enhance behavioral or action abilities through testing theoretical constructs in practice. Combining the principles of service learning with the theoretical foundations of experiential education provides an avenue for bridging the theory--practice gap in the training of students and the continuing education of professionals. FOUNDATIONS OF SERVICE LEARNING IN COUNSELING This service-learning model emphasizes the development of a community-centered perspective, enhancement of counselor self-awareness, utilization of peer learning, and promotion of contact between groups (Burnett et al. …
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, a timely conceptualization of how public and societal fears related to COVID-19 may contribute to unique mental health disparities and the presence of race-based trauma among Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders residing in the United States is presented.
Abstract: Following the outbreak of COVID-19, reports of discrimination and violence against Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have increased substantially. The present article offers a timely conceptualization of how public and societal fears related to COVID-19 may contribute to unique mental health disparities and the presence of race-based trauma among AAPIs residing in the United States. The relationships between media, increasing rates of xenophobia and sinophobia, and racial discrimination are provided. Next, the deleterious effects of race-based discrimination on the emotional and physical well-being of people of color and Indigenous groups (POCI) and AAPIs are described. Finally, the article identifies the clinical implications of counseling AAPI clients, encourages a decolonization of current trauma-focused interventions, and presents specific strategies to heal race-based trauma in AAPI client populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
100 citations
01 Oct 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe an action research evaluation of a service-learning advocacy project implemented in doctoral-level and masters-level classes in a CACREP-accredited counseling program, which involved students working together to develop public policy guides related to the 2008 Presidential election and to plan and implement an event designed to inform the public about policies relevant to sexuality, career issues, and mental health.
Abstract: This article describes an action research evaluation of a service-learning advocacy project implemented in doctoral-level and masters-level classes in a CACREP-accredited counseling program. The project involved students working together (a) to develop public policy guides related to the 2008 Presidential election and (b) to plan and implement an event designed to inform the public about policies relevant to sexuality, career issues, and mental health. The qualitative action research evaluation of the project focused on students’ perceptions of the project throughout its implementation. The results indicate that the project holds value for student learning and service to the community, although students may vary in their perceptions of the project. The authors conclude with future directions for research and counselor education.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effect of pre-practicum service learning (PPSL) on student counselors' overall development and comparisons of PPSL and practicum training.
Abstract: Prepracticum service-learning (PPSL) was investigated through a qualitative case study of a counselor education program. Participants were PPSL instructors, coordinators, and alumni of the selected program. As it relates to the counselor education program under study, this article illustrates perceived effects of PPSL on student counselors' overall development and comparisons of PPSL and practicum training. Implications for counselor education are addressed.
34 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the sexual orientation-related content of 60 school counselor preparation programs across 22 U.S. states is described, including the percentage of curricular time devoted to sexual orientationrelated topics, the specific sexual orientation related topics addressed, and the locations of sexual orientation -related curriculum within programs (e.g., foundations, methods and fieldwork/practica).
Abstract: The sexual orientation–related content of 60 school counselor preparation programs across 22 U.S. states is described. The findings include the percentage of curricular time devoted to sexual orientation–related topics, the specific sexual orientation–related topics addressed, and the locations of sexual orientation–related curriculum within programs (e.g., foundations, methods, and fieldwork/practica). The research also investigated any relationship between sexual orientation–related curriculum and faculty demographics and Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) accreditation. Findings and recommendations are addressed in light of CACREP and American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards.
29 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: The Multicultural Program Development Pyramid as discussed by the authors is a five-tiered framework outlining stages of multicultural counseling training (MCT) program development, which is intended to serve as a guide to help program developers formulate their own unique MCT programs.
Abstract: The Multicultural Program Development Pyramid is a five-tiered framework outlining stages of multicultural counseling training (MCT) program development. The pyramid is intended to serve as a guide to help program developers formulate their own unique MCT programs. The pyramid lays out a path of critical choice points in MCT development, beginning with the generation of an explicit philosophy of training and proceeding through the stages of identifying training objectives, selecting instructional strategies, choosing from among several proposed program designs, and evaluating the program. Use of the pyramid encourages the critical examination of a full range of choices at each stage. Implications of the pyramid for current MCT, the scientist-practitioner model, and the future of MCT research and development are discussed.
257 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the service-learning model used in a multicultural counseling course and the feedback received indicated service learning enhanced multicultural counseling knowledge, increased examination of cultural bias, increased community feelings of support, and resulted in a powerful learning experience for participants.
Abstract: Service learning integrates classroom instruction with community service to enhance learning. This article describes the service-learning model used in a multicultural counseling course. The feedback received indicated service learning enhanced multicultural counseling knowledge, increased examination of cultural bias, increased community feelings of support, and resulted in a powerful learning experience for participants.
Servicios de aprendizaje integra las intruciones en la aula con el servicio de la comunidad para mejorar el aprendizaje. Este articulo describe el uso del modelo de servicios de aprendizaje en un curso de terapia multicultural. La respuesta acogida indica que el servicio de aprendizaje mejoro el conocimiento de terapia multicultural, aumento de examinacion de la parcialidad de cultura, y el aumento de apoyo de comunidad, y resulto en una potente experiencia de aprendizaje para los participantes.
131 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that cross-cultural contact was important in the development of multicultural counseling competencies (MCCs), and that the greater the prior crosscultural life experience, the higher were students' MCCs measured at the beginning of a multicultural counseling course.
Abstract: Cross-cultural contact was found to be important in the development of multicultural counseling competencies (MCCs). The greater the prior cross-cultural life experience, the higher were students' MCCs measured at the beginning of a multicultural counseling course. MCCs measured at the end of the course were significantly higher than MCCs measured at the beginning of the course. Theme analysis of students' journals suggested that cross-cultural contact, a major component of the course, was important in MCCs's development.
Este estudio explora la relacion entre el contacto intercultural y el desarrollo de competencias de consejeria multicultural en un curso basado en este entrenamiento. El contacto intercultural resulto ser importante en el desarrollo de las Competencias de Consejeria Multicultural (CCMs). Estudiantes con altos niveles de experiencias interculturales en sus vidas previas al curso, tuvieron altos resultados en las CCMs medidas al fin del curso. Las CCMs medidas al fin del curso fueron significativamente mas altas que las CCMs medidas al principio del curso. Analisis de los temas en los diarios de los estudiantes sugiere que el contacto intercultural, un componente principal de este curso, fue importante en el desarrollo de las CCMs.
96 citations
71 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The "missionary ideology" that currently underlies much of the service-learning movement is mostly the result of a series of decisions intended to 'do good things' for others, and so the movement does not directly acknowledge what those others, particularly communities of color, might have to offer as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The 'missionary ideology' that currently underlies much of the service-learning movement is mostly the result of a series of decisions intended to 'do good things' for others, and so the movement does not directly acknowledge what those others, particularly communities of color, might have to offer, the authors say. It's time to change that. THE ETHIC of service is deeply rooted in American society. But what exactly is that society? And whom do we see as productive, contributing citizens? In our efforts to answer these questions, what are we to make of the contributions of communities of color? Has the field of service-learning evolved into a white-dominated movement, driven by a missionary zeal? In this article, we explore the complex phenomenon of service-learning from a multicultural, multiethnic perspective. We have framed our exploration in the form of questions that we hope readers will reflect on. We believe that, if this nation is serious about diversifying the leadership and control of service-learning, then all of us must seriously consider who is doing what, to whom, and for what reason. Alexis de Tocqueville noted more than 150 years ago that the America he chronicled was sharply divided along the lines of race. And the experiences of successive groups of immigrants have demonstrated clearly that dividing lines have been set down with regard to ethnicity as well. Consider, as just one egregious example, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited the entry of immigrants on the basis of nationality. Nor have the issues that divide us been resolved to this day. In 1993, when President Clinton called for a 'color blind' nation as a strategy to build positive race relations, his approach was widely criticized and consequently dropped from his conversations about race in America. Because these issues are still current in our society, we feel we must ask the question, Service for what and to whom? Carol Maybach found that students who are taught the value of providing service to the community are often made to focus on the cause of an intervention; the effects are rarely studied. Indeed, worthy service projects are often described solely as the pursuit of a good cause. We have ignored the effects of service and the voices of the recipients of service for so long that we generally don't even notice that we are doing so. How, then, do we know that the service provided is both needed and judged to be effective? Our critique is not about placing blame, however. Maybach goes on to argue, 'It is crucial to understand that the majority of servers most likely do not intend to oppress in the process of service; they do not intentionally set out to exploit others for the purpose of their own growth.'1 Multicultural/Multiethnic Perspectives on Service Service projects that transcend the racial and ethnic divisions in America do exist. Indeed, the notion of service has been a core value in most American communities, particularly in communities of color. For example, the National Indian Youth Leadership Project (NIYLP) has demonstrated that service-learning is grounded in the methods of learning and education of indigenous peoples. This project focuses on key values common to Native Americans, such as family, service to others, spiritual awareness, challenge, meaningful roles, recognition, responsibility, natural consequences, respect, and dialogue. 'Service to others,' McClellan Hall wrote in 1991, 'has been highly valued in Native American cultures from the earliest times. Cultivating the spirit of service and generosity provides young people with an opportunity to transcend self-centeredness, to develop genuine concern for others, and to put into action positive attitudes and skills.'2 Indeed, service to others is a natural extension of the traditional sense of communal responsibility among Native Americans. Recent program models operated by the NIYLP have reflected deepening levels of understanding and connection with native traditions. …
66 citations