Multicultural Awareness

1
Multicultural Awareness

• Cultural Definitions versus Stereotypes
• APA Division 16 Guides for working with diverse
  students

2
Providing Psychological Services to Racially,
Ethnically, Culturally, and Linguistically
Diverse Individuals in the Schools

• ROGERS, INGRAHAM, BURSZTYN, CAJIGAS-SEGREDO,
  ESQUIVEL, HESS, NAHARI, and LOPEZ

3
Six Major Domains of Service Delivery

• Legal and Ethical Issues
• School Culture, Educational Policy and
  Institutional Advocacy
• Psychoeducational Assessment and Related Issues
• Academic, Therapeutic and Consultative
  Interventions
• Working with Interpreters
• Research

4
Legal and Ethical Issues

• Know the legal precedents and case law.
• Know legislation that protects civil rights
• Know about immigration laws, residency,
  citizenship, and migrant families.
• Know legislation and litigation regarding
  bilingual education and (ESL) and the
  effectiveness of bilingual education/ ESL
• Are advocates for culturally diverse youths
• Know to provide school-based services that will
  positively impact student growth.

5
Meyer v. Nebraska (1923)

• Supreme Court Decision
• It is the parents duty to educate their child.
•  It is a violation of the 14th Amendment to
  forbid the teaching of foreign language in the
  school.

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Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Supreme Court Decision
• Racial discrimination in public education is
  unconstitutional.
• Rights to students are embedded in due process
  and equal protection under 14th Amendment

7
Hobson v. Hansen (1967)

• Supreme Court Decision
• Schools cannot discriminate on the basis of race
  or socio-economic status
• de facto segregation by race and class, it
  should be clear that if whites and Negroes, or
  rich and poor, are to be consigned to separate
  schools the minimum the Constitution will
  require and guarantee is that for their
  objectively measurable aspects these schools be
  run on the basis of real equality

8
Mills v. District of Columbia (1971)

• Supreme Court Decision
• All children are to be provided
  publicly-supported, alternative educational
  services if necessary for them to be educated.
• Though all seven children were African American,
  this case represented all children with
  disabilities, not just minority children with
  disabilities

9
Guadalupe v. Tempe (1978)

• U.S. Court Of Appeals, 9th Circuit
• Schools must provide bilingual-bicultural
  education to students based on rights give in the
  Civil Rights Act and the Equal Education
  Opportunity Act.
• Only applied to 9th Circuit area schools (because
  is not a Supreme Court decision)

10
Johnson v San Francisco (1971)

• U.S. Court Of Appeals, 9th Circuit
• Schools are prohibited from planned segregation
  of minority students as well as acts resulting in
  unplanned segregation.
• de jure segregationnot statutorily but
  manipulation of student attendance zones, school
  site selection and a neighborhood school policy,
  created or maintained racially or ethnically  

11
Lau v. Nichols (1974)

• Supreme Court Decision
• Children must receive instruction in their
  primary language if they cannot meaningfully
  participate in an English-only classroom.
• students who do not understand English are
  effectively foreclosed from any meaningful
  education.

12
Diana v. State Board of Education (1970)

• Diana addressed overrepresentation of non-English
  speaking students in M.R. classrooms.
• When first tested, her I.Q. (in English-only) was
  30.
• When re-tested, her I.Q. (in her native language)
  was 80.
• Result Testing must be done in the childs
  native language.

13
Aspira v Board of Education (1976)

• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New
  York Court Decision
• Hispanic students and their parents are entitled
  to bilingual education of some sort when needed
  for the child to be educated.
• Lau v. Nichols provided these rights and the
  Board of Education in New York was found in
  contempt for not following through.

14
Hudson v. Rowley (1982)

• Supreme Court Decision
• States need not provide additional services above
  and beyond those needed to adequately meet the
  childs educational needs.
• Sign-language interpreter not to be provided for
  a deaf student who is receiving an adequate
  education (based on school records) to meet her
  educational needs

15
Larry P. v. Wilson Riles (1987)

• 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
• 15 years to resolve
• Moratorium placed that all IQ testing for
  purposes of placement was not allowed.
  Moratorium was lifted on all but testing for
  mental retardation.
• IQ tests cannot be used in California to place
  children in classes for mental retardation
  because of perceived racial discrimination on the
  tests.

16
Plyler vs. Doe (1982)

• Prohibit public schools from denying FAPE to a
  child regardless of immigrant status.
• Undocumented students are required to attend
  school.
• Schools are PROHIBITED from communicating with
  INS without a court order/ subpoena.

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History Parents Rights

• Before legislation litigation many schools
  forbid students with disabilities from attending
• Most early attempts to educate disabled children
  were from White parents, minority parents were
  still trying to get an equal education for their
  children.
• Parental advocacy for their children took place
  in the form of litigation and lobbying

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History Minority Parents

• Prior to desegregation, minority families were
  considered active in their childrens schools.
  Many felt unwelcome in their childs new schools.
• Minority parents advocated for their children to
  receive an equal education by arguing against
  segregation (intentional and de jure).
• Many felt that this segregation continued by the
  overrepresentation of their children in SPED
  placement

19
Group Project NASP Ethics

• Go to the ethics section of the NASP website.
• http//nasponline.org/standards/2010standards.aspx
  
• As a group, determine which ethical guidelines
  are described that specifically apply to school
  psychologists.
• Be prepared to present these to the class.

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School Culture, Educational Policy
Institutional Advocacy

• Take a proactive stance to enhance the quality of
  services provided to all individuals
• Work toward increasing institutional
  understanding and acceptance of culturally and
  linguistically diverse individuals
• Inform and educate school staff about cultural
  and behavioral patterns of culturally and
  linguistically diverse populations
• Families need to be informed of their rights and
  are meaningfully engaged in the discussions
  affecting their children.

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School Culture, Educational Policy
Institutional Advocacy

• Examine individual referrals w/in the context of
  the systemic patterns of how ethnically diverse
  students are treated at that school.
• Rule out systematic factors as the cause of
  problems before doing an evaluation or
  intervention directly with the student.
• Provide interventions to help schools that
  inappropriately identify diverse students.
• Help develop primary interventions to aid all
  learners in the school.
• Help link diverse families to the school.

22
Psychoeducational Assessment Related Issues

• Assessment is a comprehensive process which
• impact of socio-cultural, environmental,
  political, experiential and language-based
  factors
• may or may not include standardized testing
• Consider cultural sources of information about
  students and search for culture specific
  confirming data.
• Acknowledge the impact of second language/culture
  acquisition on the cognitive and socio-emotional
  development

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Psychoeducational Assessment Related Issues

• Psychologists have expertise in conducting
  informal and formal language assessments and in
  differentiating a language disorder from second
  language acquisition
• Psychologists have expertise in assessing the
  students biculturalism
• Psychologists incorporate cultural and linguistic
  information in written reports

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Psychoeducational Assessment Related Issues

• Understand the limitations and pitfalls
  associated with the prescribed use of
  standardized instruments not normed or validated
  with the population being served.
• Well versed in the psychometric properties of all
  instruments that they use.
• Able to adapt existing assessment tools when
  necessary and report any deviations from
  standardization.
• Keep abreast of new an better versions of tests
  devised for diverse students.

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Academic, Therapeutic and Consultative
Interventions

• Know research regarding the impact of cultural,
  ethnic and linguistic factors on the academic
  achievement of diverse students
• Understand the needs of diverse children in terms
  of curriculum and instruction.
• Develop expertise in multicultural counseling.
• Demonstrate an awareness of an individuals
  worldviews and sociopolitical experiences
  including the negative effects of racism,
  oppression and stereotyping.

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Academic, Therapeutic and Consultative
Interventions

• Consider involvement of trained interpreters,
  community consultants, extended family members.
• Implement culturally sensitive approaches that
  are researched and acceptable to the child or
  family
• Demonstrate culturally sensitive verbal and
  nonverbal communication skills.
• Aware of own cultural background and biases
• Knowledge of minority family structures,
  hierarchies, values and beliefs.

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Academic, Therapeutic and Consultative
Interventions

• Understand relocation and migration and its
  effect on children and families.
• Understand the process of acquiring a second
  culture and its impact on the development and
  adjustment.
• Understand the impact of poverty on physical and
  mental health.
• Aware of different responses to interventions
• Understand the specific coping skills and support
  systems available to culturally diverse children
  and families.

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Working with Interpreters

• Psychologists seek the services of interpreters
  only when necessary and when other alternatives
  have been sought out but are not available.
• Work with trained interpreters familiar with the
  students culture and regional area of origin.
• Know how to train interpreters when needed.
• Knowledge of the skills needed by qualified
  interpreters
• Aware of problems inherent in the process of
  translation.

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Working with Interpreters

• Knowledge of the psychological impact of using
  interpreters during assessment and intervention
  activities.
• Knowledge and skills in interviewing and
  assessing individuals through interpreters.
• Examine data obtained through interpreters with
  extreme caution and acknowledge the limitations
  of such data.
• Assessment results obtained through interpreters
  are described as such and are reported
  qualitatively.

30
Research

• Informed about quantitative and qualitative
  research techniques.
• Consider the social, linguistic and cultural
  context in which research takes place
• Psychologists work to eliminate bias when
  conducting research.

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Research

• Insure that the informed consent of all research
  participants is secured and has been elicited in
  the language the family is most comfortable with.
  
• Skilled in program evaluation to determine the
  appropriateness and adequacy of instructional
  programs specifically aimed at diverse youngsters.

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Cultural Definitions Vs. Stereotypes
33
Stereotypes

• Stereotypes are considered to be
• Group concept of one social group about another
• Often used in a negative or prejudicial sense
• Frequently used to justify discriminatory
  behavior.
• May express folk wisdom about social reality.
• Stereotype production is based on
• Simplification
• Exaggeration or distortion
• Generalization
• Presentation of cultural attributes as being
  'natural'.

Wikipedia, 2006
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Cultural Definitions

• Should be scientifically based.
• Represent many (but probably not all).
• Provide a general idea of a culture
• History
• Beliefs
• Daily Lives
• Norms
• Are objectively determined and reported (neither
  positive or negative)

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Psychs Need to Know

• How families are organized in different cultures.
• Educational systems in other locations.
• What recent events may cause distress in a child
  or family.
• Languages spoken by the child.
• Gestures, greetings, etc.
• Views toward healthcare or psych services.
• Anything else on Div. 16 Guidelines

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CultureGrams

• You can get much of the information that you need
  from Culture Grams (www.culturegrams.com).
• At UNLV we access Culture Grams by
• http//www.library.unlv.edu/search/eralpha.phpC
• Note Not all that you need to know can be
  accessed here. Sometimes you will need alternate
  sources.
• Natives from that Country
• Current Newspapers
• Literature Reviews, etc.

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Discussion Project CultureGrams
Use at least one of these scenarios to discuss
information on CultureGrams in terms of
psychological, family, and educational issues.

• Scenario 1
• You have a female child from Peru
• Scenario 2
• You have a male child from Saudi Arabia

• Scenario 3
• You have a female child from Canada
• Scenario 4
• You have a male child from Chad