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African American Students Transitioning To High School

By Dr. Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy for American School Counselor Association

The process of transitioning from middle to high school involves a new environment and new roles and behaviors for students (Reyes et al., 2000). These include increased student body size and heterogeneity; changes in school day structure; more teachers with a variety of teaching styles, rules, and expectations; higher stakes grading; and stricter school policies. Research shows that a student’s grades, self-esteem, and sense of academic efficacy are likely to decline after the transition to high school (Fuligni, Eccles, Barber, & Clements, 2001). In addition to academic demands, beginning high school students may also become distracted by the increased complexity of social interactions that are fostered within the high school environment (Newman et al., 2000). Peers emphasize fitting in and belonging, and this can be a great source of pressure and anxiety for many students (Isakson & Jarvis, 1999). Also, due to the increase in the number of students, the high school environment can become a more anonymous setting than the middle school environment. For example, students who were top scholars and athletes in middle school may experience role loss when they arrive in high school (Newman et al.). Although a slight drop in grades and other adjustment difficulties may surface post-transition, the long-term outcomes following transition are largely determined by the ability of the student to cope with and manage change in the new environment (Isakson & Jarvis). A limited number of studies have examined the effect that the transition process has on the academic adjustment and achievement of minority students. Reyes et al. (2000) tracked eighth grade students from urban, minority, low-income backgrounds beginning in their final year of middle school through their transition to high school and up until their expected time of high school completion. They found that although the minority students who eventually graduated from high school and the minority students who dropped out of high school both showed a decrease in grade point average following the middle-to-high school transition, the students who dropped out of school showed a sharper decline in grades and attendance in the ninth grade. In a study of African American high and low performing ninth grade students, Newman et al. (2000) found that post-transition high achievers had greater notions of what was needed for them to be successful in high school and had more friends that were supportive of academics when compared with low achievers. The low performing students seemed to fall into three distinct categories: (1) students who were struggling with the fact that ninth grade was harder, (2) students who were distracted by the social aspects of the new environment, and (3) students who were showing a disconnection from school altogether (e.g., low attendance, not completing schoolwork). African Americans and Transitioning African American students face unique concerns that can impact their social development and academic lives. In addition to navigating the developmental milestones of adolescence and the transition to high school, these students may have to deal with negative academic perceptions and stereotypes based on their ethnic group that can be displayed blatantly or subtly by other peers and teachers (Kao, 2000; Ross & Jackson, 1991). In addition, these negative stereotypes may have also been internalized by these students and have undermined their ability to achieve. A developmental process that can have a major impact on transitioning to high school is the process of ethnic identity development. In middle school, many students are beginning to explore their identity by considering who they are and what makes them unique individuals. For ethnic minority students, this exploration usually involves considering who one is ethnically similar and dissimilar (Tatum, 1997). This process is important to the overall development of African American youth because it is implicated in the psychological adjustment of adolescents, including the development of a positive self-image and a sense of belonging (Phinney, 1989). McMahon and Watts (2002) report in their study that a greater sense of ethnic identity was significantly related to higher levels of cognitive decision-making, direct problem solving, seeking understanding, and positive cognitive restructuring in African American adolescent students. In turn, these attributes that are related to a higher sense of ethnic identity may also contribute to a more successful transition into high school. One factor that can impact ethnic identity development and transitioning to high school is the racial composition of the new school. French, Seidman, Allen, and Aber (2000) examined racial identity over the process of transitioning to high school as it was related to the level of racial congruence (match in race between the student and both the student body and school staff). The researchers found that a change in the racial congruence of the new environment was salient for the identity development of African American students. In other words, moving from a school in which one was part of the racial majority to a school where one is a racial minority impacted the group esteem and identity exploration process for African American students. It has also been noted that cultural attitudes towards achievement in school can impact an African American student's motivation to excel. Ogbu (1991) states that many inner city students do not associate academic achievement with being African American and therefore seek to affirm their racial identity by not putting forth maximum effort in school. Oyserman, Harrison, and Bybee (2001) investigated the relationship between racial identity and academics in a sample of African American eighth graders. It was found that students who viewed achievement as a part of being African American showed higher levels of academic efficacy. In other words, those students who included doing well in school as part of what it means to them to be African American had a greater sense that they could achieve in school. Kao (2000) also found that high academic achievement was equated with "acting White" among Black high school students. Actions that indicated a student was "acting Black" were usually seen as completely opposite to "acting White" and included images of low academic achievement. Implications for School Counselors Given the critical nature of the transition period for minority adolescents, it seems fitting that school counselors be cognizant of this process and include supports for students who are challenged by transitioning. For instance, school counselors might develop support groups for minority students who are entering high school. Likewise, middle school counselors may develop support groups for minority students before they enter high school. The goals of these groups would be to familiarize students with their new school's culture, to process feelings regarding the transition, and to discuss their identity in relationship to the new school. Also, school counselors should hold parent education sessions for minority parents of ninth grade students. These sessions would include information about the transition process and how they can support their students' achievement and development during this process. And lastly, it is critical for school counselors to share knowledge of minority students' transitioning process with other educators in the school. With increased knowledge, educators may be more able to provide not only the support that these students need but also additional programming that can enhance these students' academic and social development in high school. For instance, ninth grade students may be required to participate in peer mentoring with an older student. Or, ninth graders may be required to participate in student-teacher conferences as a means for students to have access to an understanding adult who is willing to discuss such issues as fitting in, peer pressure, and the new school culture. References French, S. E., Seidman, E., Allen, L., & Aber, L. J. (2000). Racial/ethnic identity, congruence with the social context, and the transition to high school. Journal of Adolescent Research, 15, 587-602. Fuligni, A. J., Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., & Clements, P. (2001). Early adolescent peer orientation and adjustment during high school. Developmental Psychology, 37, 28-36. Isakson, K. & Jarvis, P. (1999). The adjustment of adolescents during the transition into high school: A short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 28, 1-26. Kao, G. (2000). Group images and possible selves among adolescents: Linking stereotypes to expectations by race and ethnicity. Sociological Forum, 15, 407-430. McMahon, S. D. & Watts, R. J. (2002). Ethnic identity in urban African American youth: Exploring links with self-worth, aggression, and other psychological variables. Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 411-431. Newman, B. M., Myers, M. C., Newman, P. R., Lohman, B. J., & Smith, V. L. (2000). The transition to high school for academically promising, urban, low-income African American youth. Adolescence, 35, 45-66. Ogbu, J. (1991). Minority coping responses and school experience. Journal of Psychohistory, 18, 433-456. Oyserman, D., Harrison, K., & Bybee, D. (2001). Can racial identity be promotive of academic efficacy? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 379-385. Phinney, J. S. (1989). Stages of ethnic identity development in minority group adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 9, 34-49. Reyes, O., Gillock, K. L., Kobus, K., & Sanchez, B. (2000). A longitudinal examination of the transition into senior high school for adolescents from urban, low-income status, and predominantly minority backgrounds. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 519-544. Ross, S. I. & Jackson, J. M. (1991). Teachers’ expectations for Black males’ and Black females’ academic achievement. Personality and Social Bulletin, 17, 78-82. Tatum, B. D. (1997). “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” and other conversations about race. New York: Basic Books. FEATURED RESOURCE: SCHOOL – MAKING THE GRADE This half hour video for teens looks a unique school programs that work ot help students improve their grades, keep them from dropping out, and communicate better with teachers. Originally appearing on PBS, this video is part of the ongoing In The Mix series where teens talk about heir world, their issues, and their concerns -- in their own way. To find out how you can purchase this fast-moving video that will keep teens interested while learning about how to succeed in school, click here! ABOUT DR> CHERYL HOLCOMB-MCCOY Dr. Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy is a faculty member at the University of Maryland in the Department of Counseling and Personnel Services. She is also the chairperson of the Diversity Interest Network for ASCA. ABOUT THE AMERICAN SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION Professional school counselors everywhere share the same vision to support their schools by serving their students. School counselors know that guiding students toward personal and social development leads to improved academic achievement. Through their partnership with principals and teachers, school counselors help prepare today's students to become tomorrow's adults. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) responds to school counselors' unique needs, helping them grow individually as professionals and providing them with real tools to guide their students. As an international nonprofit organization founded in 1952, ASCA has the benefit of foresight and hindsight. It has grown to fit counselors' changing needs through social and educational movements from desegregation to standardized testing. Responding to the needs of counselors as voiced by counselors has enabled ASCA to remain vital and forward-thinking. ASCA serves as the voice of school counselors on Capitol Hill and helps members ensure their voices are heard in state legislatures. ASCA has active government affairs representatives who monitor activities in Congress, the Department of Education and throughout Washington to advocate on behalf of school counselors' interests: funding, certification, student-to-counselor ratios and more. A full-color bimonthly magazine, School Counselor provides practical information and how-to articles to help school counselors help their students and themselves. Each issue has a focus on something school counselors care about, from public relations to grief counseling, as well as departments and columns covering a range of topics. Professional School Counseling is ASCA's award-winning bimonthly academic journal, providing peer-reviewed articles on school counseling theory, research, practice and techniques. The journal and the magazine together provide counselors with the most well-rounded and up-to-date information in the field. For more information, visit www.schoolcounselor.org or call (703) 683-ASCA. LOOKING FOR HANDS-ON COUNSELING TOOLS? Visit the Guidance Channel Shopping Mall! There you will find thousands of resources, many of them national and international award-winners, including reproducible handouts, therapeutic games, multimedia programs, videos, curricula, prevention-awareness items and much more. Be sure to check out our online Childswork/Childsplay catalog, as well as our At-Risk Resources and Wellness Reproductions online catalogs, for innovative tools to address the social and emotional needs of your clients. FOR ADDITIONAL NEWSLETTERS... If you've found The Counselor's Classroom useful and informative, you may also be interested in subscribing to some of our other newsletters. Dr. Playwell's Newsletter is a unique newsletter full of play therapy techniques to help you address the social and emotional needs of children and young adolescents. FYI From Wellness offers practical tips and suggestions for use in the clinic or classroom written by professionals from a variety of disciplines. The Guidance Channel Zine is a monthly online magazine that includes interviews, website reviews, statistics and articles by many national organizations such as the National Association of School Psychologists, the American School Counselor Association and National S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violence Everywhere).

Next Steps In Diversity

By Paul Kivel for The Bureau For At-Risk Youth

It is important to begin any discussion of diversity by considering how we got to the point where diversity is an issue. After all, we have always been a diverse country. For hundreds of years we have been Native American, African American, Latino/a, Asian American, European American living together, contributing to our culture and history. We have been women and men, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, people with differing abilities, Jews, Christians, Moslems, and Buddhists living together. America has always contained multitudes, but it was only with the advent of the Civil Rights Movement, the women's liberation movement, and various other movements for social change that confronted the institutions of our society on their exclusionary practices and policies that there arose a concern about diversity.

The diversity movement is the result of the struggles of disenfranchised groups for access to decision-making power, and access to resources, safety, and protection from exploitation, violation, and abuse. Diversity is therefore about more than cultural awareness, prejudice, and short term or superficial attempts to address "difference." In other words, the question we should be asking ourselves is not "Can we all get along?" but "Can we all share power?" "Can we all share resources?" "Can we all share opportunity?"

The first step in diversity work is assessment -- determining who has access to power and resources, who is safe and who isn't, who participates and who doesn't. Is your school accessible? The only way to know is to ask a group of people with differing abilities to do an assessment of physical access. Is your school safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students and faculty? You'll have to ask them and do a systematic assessment of the school environment including classroom practices, the curriculum, the composition and retention of the teaching and administrative staff, the impact of tracking, discipline policies, funding, extracurricular activities and other areas of school programming, policies and procedures.

Each of these areas should be suspected of being undermined. For example, in terms of racism, national studies continue to show that less money is spent on the education of students of color than on white students, and students of color are disciplined more quickly and more harshly than white students for the same behavior. Tracking systematically channels students of color into lower levels of achievement. The teaching pool is actually becoming more white even though the student body contains rapidly increasing numbers of students of color, and most curricula fail to adequately reflect the contributions and achievements of people of color.

All of these factors have a direct impact on student achievement. Students feel that impact in their daily experiences with each other and with the adults around them. One way to involve students is to engage them in conducting a Days of Respect Survey of students and faculty about the climate at their school. The ERASE Institute in Oakland, CA offers a broad instrument for schools to assess racism using institutional data that is very useful for pinpointing how racism operates in a school or school district.

After conducting an assessment, you will probably find that there is work to do in such areas as: student and faculty attitudes and behaviors, classroom practices, school policies and procedures, curriculum, faculty and staff hiring and retention, training, and school climate. Task forces can be initiated to begin to analyze and make recommendations in each of these areas.

Diversity work does not move forward unless there is strong leadership from the school administration, and substantial participation and commitment from students, faculty, parents, and staff to sustain a long-term process of change in how the school operates.

Other necessary components for serious diversity work include:

• A leadership group, representing all constituencies, that has the power to initiate change
• A process that is systematic and sustained, deep and thorough
• The dedication of adequate resources including money, staff release time, space, administrative support, and technical assistance
• Creating a diverse, multicultural community that is seen as integral to the mission of the school
• The need for students to be involved at all levels of the process
• Specific goals and timetables so that individuals and the institution can be held accountable for achieving the desired goals

Clearly, diversity work in schools is complex, multilayered, multilevel, and multi-issue. This work takes leadership, time, and resources. You can provide the leadership and there is no time like the present. Most schools already have connections through staff, students, parents, and the wider community to the experience, resources, interest, and knowledge necessary to push such efforts forward. There are many books, websites, and consultants to support in-house efforts.

Now is the only right time to begin. Pull together a diversity, multicultural, or human relations committee consisting of teachers, staff, students and parents. Begin or strengthen the process of building an inclusive, safe, multicultural school community in which fairness, justice, and equal opportunity are the norm.

We Need Tolerance Now More Than Ever

By Dr. Kathleen Shea for Living Values Education

On September 11th, at the exact hour of the attack on the World Trade Center, a Miami middle school teacher was at the studio of a local public television station receiving training in a global values education program called the Living Values Educational Program. Like most educators, one of her first thoughts was how best to help her students understand and cope with one of the most horrific events of a lifetime. "I was in the right place at the right time," she says. "I opened the Living Values Activities for Children Ages 8-14, and the first section was on the value of Peace. I walked into the classroom on September 12th, confident that I knew what to do!"

The events of September 11th have given rise to increased incidents of ethnic harassment in schools. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and federally funded Regional Equity Assistance Centers, have all issued memoranda to remind schools about their legal responsibilities to protect the rights of persons in our educational communities. According to Dr. Nancy Peck, Director of the Southeastern Equity Center:

"In an ironic way, this tragedy has provided both a checkpoint and a teachable moment for educators. It is a checkpoint because it has become a barometer of the progress or lack of progress that we have made in valuing differences in skin color, culture, and beliefs. It is an outstanding teachable moment, in that our children can see first-hand the results of the fear that intolerance, oppression, and powerlessness produce. Our children are fearful and very vulnerable at this point, and can easily be led to imitate the inappropriate acts of adults."

However, it`s not just the recent tragedies that make tolerance more important than ever. The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified 602 active hate groups located throughout the United States. As children both in the United States and abroad are increasingly exposed to violence and growing social problems, educators, counselors, and parents are asking for help to turn around these alarming trends. Most feel that part of the solution lies in an emphasis on values.

If Peace Is The Goal, Then Tolerance Is the Method!

Tolerance is a powerful, but often-misunderstood value. There are three levels of tolerance:

Enduring a situation which you don`t like anyway. From long checkout lines and highway gridlock, to physical illness, some situations demand tolerance. Simply enduring only increases feelings of anger, hostility, and pent up stress. Many people see tolerance in only this way!

Finding a way to adapt and deal with a situation; i.e. making some kind of a deal with yourself to take action, so that you don`t feel out of control and victimized by the situation. "White flight" from changing neighborhoods is an example of this. Taking medication for an illness is an action that helps people tolerate pain.

Being open and receptive to the beauty of differences. Through understanding, and with a genuine appreciation for the value of diversity, a person demonstrates tolerance in a practical way. A person has no need to endure or make a deal. As a result, relationships bloom and a civil society is the result.
Diversity Is Our Destiny

By 2025, no racial or ethnic group will form the majority of school students. Even traditionally homogeneous schools are changing. For example, at a single public high school in Annandale, Virginia, there are 2,200 students, speaking 34 different languages, from 72 countries. Each of the 200+ nations on the globe is represented in US schools today!

UNESCO proclaimed 1995 as the "Year for Tolerance." As we reflect on the value of tolerance, the Director General`s words help us to realize why we must promote this value to our children:

"Tolerance is not concession, not indifference. Tolerance is the knowledge of the other. It is mutual respect through mutual understanding. Let`s throw out the old myths and take up the results of current research. Man is not violent by nature. Intolerance is not ` in our genes.` Fear and ignorance are the root causes of intolerance, and its patterns can be imprinted on the human psyche from an early age."

Stressors In The Lives Of Immigrant Children

Significant life changes are always stressful, and can have serious physical and psychological effects, including depression sleep disturbances, and greater susceptibility to illness, substance abuse, and other addictions.

Although most educators born in the United States seldom experience the stress of immigration, they may relate to experiences of relocating to a new city, enrolling in a new school or feeling the loss of cherished friends and surroundings.

We can only imagine what is like for an immigrant child to cope with the multiple losses of country, customs, extended family or close family, friends, language and familiar sounds. This experience can have a profound impact on the child`s emotional, social and academic environment.

While the histories of immigrant students and their families differ in many ways, all share common characteristics. For each family, immigration is an exceedingly stressful experience, simultaneously offering hope for the future and threatening long-term stability. Following is a list of "risk" factors that may help the school counselor determine how much stress a family or a student may have to cope with.

Choice

While some immigrants come to this country having made a conscious decision to change their lives, others, such as refugees, have no choice. Most in this latter category would have never chosen to relocate, but because of war, persecution or other catastrophic events, they had to leave their countries to countries willing to offer them asylum.

While those independent and resilient adult immigrants who came by choice may have a positive outlook and the motivation and skills to manage the transition to another culture, the dependent children of these families had no input in the decision. Add to this the fact that in some cultures, women also do not participate in these major decisions. Children often feel pulled away from friends and extended families. Their feelings of grief are often overlooked by adults. The results are feelings of powerlessness that negatively affect their integration into their communities and schools.

Preparation and Support

Immigrant students come to American schools not only with a variety of languages, but also with a variety of skills in their native and second languages. Some may have been outstanding students in their countries while others may have never attended a school or may have come from linguistic environments with strong oral traditions. Those students who are well prepared in their own languages will do well in their new environments, while the ones with no schooling or oral tradition cultures may feel overwhelmed by the entire school environment. Some of them may be almost frozen with culture shock.

English Proficiency

Children who come immigrate from countries where English is a major language, such as Guyana or India or countries where English is a strong second language fare much better than students who are not proficient in English. And from this group, children whose alphabet is closer to English, such as Latin or Germanic, will fare better than students who come from countries whose alphabets scripts are very different. These children may feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the prospect of learning a totally new system of written and oral language.

Family Separation

Immigrant families usually come staggered. Often, the husband/father comes first to find a job and home, then he is followed by his wife and children. This may take months or years. In some families, a single mother comes first while her children remain with the grandmother for years. When the children come, they often find a new father in the home and new siblings.

Elizabeth Coelho says that, "family reunification after years of separation is often extremely difficult for parents and children alike. If a family arrives as a unit, all members experience adjustment at the same time. There is a commonality of experience to help bind the unit together. However, if parents and children are adjusting to each other as strangers whom they barely remember, there is an additional stress, one that many immigrant families never fully overcome."

As Burt Hellinger, in his phenomenological family constellation has proven, the harmony and bonding of the extended family is crucial to the well being of the entire family. Most immigrant families that come as a unit, leave behind the extended family and this loss has far-reaching consequences in the social and emotional stability of the newcomers. Immigrant children may be very averse to disclosing their issues and stresses to the guidance counselor or the teachers. This is true mostly when the parents and the students feel misunderstood due to the cultural gap existing between the educators and themselves. Many immigrant students who fall into this category feel isolated, with harmful repercussions to their emotional, social and academic lives.

Environmental Factors

Many families who immigrate to the United States start their lives in large cities and live in apartments. For most of them, apartment life is a new experience contrasting to their open spaces in more rural areas. This transition is a challenge for the families and their children. More often than not, the families are forced to spend more time living in close quarters, thus relationships become strained, becoming another source of stress. Parents worry more about their children`s safety and become more apprehensive about public transportation and neighborhood crime.

Minority Status

One of the most painful experiences for immigrants is the shift from being members of the majority in their countries to adjusting to a minority status in the United States. Children in their countries were able to identify with role models such as teachers, policemen, politicians, etc., who were of the same race and ethnicity as themselves. In the new country, there may be few positive models like themselves, and they may not have many people in a position of authority that look and speak like them. This can impact the motivation, as well as the self-esteem, of the children who often undergo an cultural identity crisis.

Loss of Status

Immigration frequently precipitates significant adjustments in income and social status, as families struggle to secure employment and affordable housing. Coehlo tells that, "Many well-qualified immigrants find themselves forced to take low-paying service or manufacturing occupations where lack of proficiency in the second language is not a problem -- and where they will find little opportunity to improve it. For many, these jobs become a dead end rather than a transition to the kind of employment they expected. Many working adults are emotionally exhausted from the frustration of being trapped in occupations for which they are overqualified and that do not provide the stimulus, challenge, or satisfaction they hoped for. What is worst is that many children may begin to view their parents as diminished; they may also feel responsible for what has happened to their parents, who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their children`s opportunities in the new land."

Power Changes in the Family

One important power shift occurs in the relationship between husband and wife. Many immigrant families come from countries with strong traditional family roles of male and female wherein the husband serves as the breadwinner while the female stays home with the children. In the United States, these roles are often challenged because of financial need, forcing the women to take employment. The families are exposed to different a set of values and power relationships. The men in these families soon begin to feel a diminished sense of self-esteem that may be conducive to feelings of frustration and anger.

The other important power shift happens between parents and children. When teenage children take part-time jobs, they begin to ask for more independence and privileges than they had in their home countries. Also children who acculturate faster than their parents and speak English better act as the translators and go-betweens of the adults and the institutions of the new country. These shifts in power can be another source of conflict and stress as the family adjusts to new roles within the family structure.

The Refugee Experience

Some immigrant students have come from war-torn countries, some have experienced extreme deprivation, violence, and have been victims of or witnesses to atrocities. Most of them have experienced some kind of family separation and have lived in refugee camps for months or years. These traumas add to the upheaval and psychological stressors of many newcomers to American schools.

Very often, these students will exhibit typical symptoms of post-traumatic stress which include: depression, impulsive behavior, explosive episodes, sleep disturbances, self-destructive behavior, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts.

Ideas To Support Immigrant Families In The Schools

• Create welcome signs in the native languages of the families and place them in visible places in the school.
• Assign a coordinator of Immigrant Affairs to be responsible for the reception of the immigrant families and the training of the school staff.
• Train the secretaries and other clerical staff to welcome parents appropriately.
• Know your cultural brokers: people who are completely bilingual and bicultural.
• Provide basic information about the length and the structure of the school day, the school calendar and what the student needs to bring to school.
• Be sure that all the information you present verbally is given to the family in printed form. This can be accomplish by giving them a "Welcome Booklet" in the family`s language.
• Create a Welcome Center in the school where immigrant parents can receive basic information and referrals.
• Provide the student with a "starter kit" of materials, including pencils, colored markers, ruler, eraser, notebook, picture dictionary, etc.
• Introduce the family to the grade teacher, the guidance counselor, the student "ambassador" from the same class.
• Form parent support groups. Topic for these groups can cover academic requirements, student rights and responsibilities, after-school programs, scholarship programs, health information, and other community resources.

Ideas To Support Immigrant Students In The Classroom

Creating a supportive and welcoming environment will assist the new immigrant students to a better transition and adjustment. Here are some suggestions for educators:

• Pronounce the student`s name correctly.
• Introduce the students to the class by telling what country and what language they speak.
• Translate and explain important announcements to newcomers.
• Every class should have an "ambassador," whose role is to be a "buddy" to the new students. These ambassadors should be trained to speak English slowly, to have patience with the newcomers, and to help them with everyday school needs.
• Incorporate multicultural images and expressions in the classroom and in the counselor`s office. Use key phrases with special meanings from the native language of the students.
• Hold a class celebration on the birthdays of cultural heroes and special national days.

Immigrant children come from many different backgrounds and have undergone many stressful experiences by the time they arrive at our schools. School counselors and educators can assist by identifying the causes of stress of these children and providing the necessary support systems to help them make a successful transition into their new culture.

REFERENCES

Coelho, E.: Social Integration Of Immigrant And Refugee Children, in Education. Second Language Children, Fred Genesee, editor. 1994.

Kagan, S. Beyond Language: Social And Cultural Factors In Schooling Language Minority Students. Evaluation, Dissemination And Assessment Center, Calfornia State University. 1986

The Complexity Of Multicultural Counseling

By Cristina Casanova M.A.; M.Ed. for GuidanceChannel.com"Culture controls our lives.
Culture is not something outside ourselves, but,
rather, an internalized perspective
that combines the teachings of every significant
person or group we have experienced
read about, or heard about and from whom we have
Learned something."
-Paul Pedersen,1993

As the American population becomes more and more diverse, counselors will need, more than ever, to have a strong multicultural foundation in their counseling practice. Pedersen (1994) states that "counselors who disregard a client's cultural context are unlikely to interpret a client's behavior accurately. The same behavior across cultures might have a different interpretation, just as different behaviors might have the same interpretation. Therefore developing multicultural awareness is essential for all counselors to accurately interpret the meaning of cultural similarities and differences."

Although counselors can choose to ignore the influence of culture in the client's life, the fact is that culture is now and will always continue to influence a client's behavior with or without the counselor's awareness.

What Do We Mean by Culture?

Webster's Dictionary (1989) defines culture as "the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group." This definition of culture is broader than the narrow one that limits its meaning to ethnographic variables such as nationality and ethnicity. This definition includes:

• demographic variables such as age, gender, and place of residence
• status variables such as social, educational and economic levels
• affiliation variables that may be formal memberships or informal affiliations

Every element in the full range of demographic, status, and affiliation aspects works in similar ways as in ethnographic categories to shape a person's identity.

Multiculturalism makes us as look both at how we are the same and how we are different at the same time. Pedersen says that "each cultural perspective is unique, but each perspective also shares overlapping features with each other group like overlapping fish scales. We can best understand the cultural perspective by focusing one eye clearly on the part that is shared and the other on the part that is unique in a cross-eyed, but accurate perspective."

The Complexity of Culture

If you were asked to depict your culture, you might find the question vague, and might encounter some trouble in finding a comprehensive answer. If instead, you were asked what part of your culture influenced a particular choice in your life, like choosing a partner or a career, the task may still be difficult but less vague.

One way the counselor can appreciate the complexity of culture is by looking at the thousands of culturally-learned identities, affiliations, and roles all people assume at one time or another.

One of the complex tasks of the multicultural counselor is the identification of multiple perspectives within and among their clients. To understand the client, the counselor has to perceive the problem from the multiple viewpoints of the client’s culturally learned roles.

Multicultural counselors must consider the following in order to effectively work within the cultural context of their clients...

It is necessary for counselors to identify conflicting, culturally-learned viewpoints between the client and counselor.

Goldstein & Michaels's research on empathy in counseling established the significance of distinguishing between different viewpoints during counseling interviews. Counselors should not presume that one culture's viewpoint is right and another one is wrong. The multicultural perception requires the counselor to understand that two points of view can be right within their own cultural context.

Counselors must recognize that clients themselves may have multiple and possibly conflicting viewpoints.

The Behavioral counseling approach research conducted by Tanaka-Matsumi & Higginbotham indicates that the same person may take on different culturally-relevant roles or identifications, in different circumstances. In fact, this inner role conflict may be the very reason why the client is seeking counseling.

The behavior of clients must be analyzed within the context of the client's culture.

The capacity to take another's perspective has been an important technique in gestalt therapy and mediation. This capacity is also essential in getting an accurate clinical picture. However, the greater the difference in cultures between the counselor and client, the more challenging it will be for the counselor to accurately interpret the client's cultural perspective.

Counselors must listen and gather information without interrupting the client until all aspects of the conflict or problem are culturally understood.

Ivey (1989) underlines the importance of empathic and careful listening which will assist counselors to endure silence and to stay away from judgments until all perspectives of a culturally different client are understood.

It is important for multicultural counselors to refrain from offering simple solutions to complex issues and to validate the complexity of a client's cultural context.

Ivey (1989) found that the most frequent mistake new counselors made was that of giving a "premature solution" to their client's problem. This is even more of an issue in multicultural counseling when it is crucial to understand the issues from multiple cultural perspectives.

Counselors need to help clients learn to accept ambiguity and not ask clients to resolve the dissonance in favor of one culture or another.

The ability to tolerate ambiguity is now considered in the counseling literature as one of the most important skills of the multicultural counselor. The significance of each event will be composed of both positive and negative elements that have to be explored and understood in all their culturally complex ways.

It is crucial for counselors to understand and respect the values of collective cultures.

Ivey (1989) stated that traditional American counseling is biased towards an individualistic point of view. The individual's well-being is of utmost importance. But in collective societies, the welfare of the group may take precedence over the needs of the individual. The multicultural counselor's challenge is to balance the welfare of the client by examining the collective forces that impact the person and helping the client balance his needs and that of his group.

Counselors must be aware of how changing a client's feeling of power will affect his or her sense of well-being.

Power is an important factor in life and one that is culturally defined. Good multicultural counseling monitors whether the process of counseling diminishes or increases a client's power.

In order to provide accurate and worthwhile insight, counselors must understand their clients' cultural perspective.

Most theories of counseling emphasize a series of skills such as interpretation, reflection of feeling, and reflection of meaning to derive accurate insights. A multicultural counselor's accurate insight of the client's situation requires a high degree of awareness, knowledge and skill in the multicultural context.

A multicultural counselor is able to identify various support systems within a client's culture.

In many cultures family and social support systems are the preferred mode of counseling for the client. The multicultural counselor is aware of such systems and uses them appropriately to help the client achieve his/her goals.

Paul Pedersen says that "culture provides a unique perspective in which two persons can disagree without one being right and the other being wrong when their arguments are based on culturally different assumptions. It becomes possible for a counselor to identify common ground between two culturally different people whose expectations and ultimate goals are the same even though their behaviors may be very different." Multiculturalism gives the school counselors a valuable key for understanding both themselves and their clients. We can no longer ignore culture; to be unaware of our own learned assumptions as well as those of our clients is not consistent with the standards of good and appropriate counseling practices.

REFERENCES

Goldstein, A. & Michaels, G., Empathy: Development Training and Consequences, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1985.

Ivey, A.: Counseling and Psychotherapy: Skills Theory and Practice, Prentice Hall, 1989.

Pedersen, P.: A Handbook for Developing Multicultural Awareness, American Counseling Association, 1994

Tanaka-Matsumi, J. & Higginbotham, H.: Behavioral Approaches to Counseling Across Cultures, in Pederson, P. Counseling Across Cultures, University of Hawaii Press, 1989.

Disability Bias: A Parent's View

By Tom Kinney for Attainment Company, Inc.

When a child is identified as having special needs, a subtle, seismic shift occurs in his life and the lives of his family that will continue to vibrate for some time. A process of estrangement between the family and the system -- represented by the school but extending beyond it -- is initiated, and, in some ways never ends. At its worst, it can set a pattern of chronic low self-esteem, low expectations and a lingering feeling of separation -- not being part of the fabric of school in general and society at large. It is the most personal of experiences and one that will change you and your child forever. If you are able to stay the course, however, you and your child can survive and thrive.

I remember the first time my daughter was shunned. Though it was 20 years ago, the wound is as fresh and raw as if it were yesterday. She was in kindergarten and she was invited en masse to a birthday party along with the rest of the kids in her class. When I went to pick her up, and told the hostess mother whose parent I was, I got "The Look" -- i.e., "Oh, you're her parent?" I was ushered to a separate room were she was shooting pool by herself. She seemed okay, and except for "The Look," nothing was said, but it was disturbing nonetheless. No attempt was made to explain her segregation and I was too stunned and saddened to ask. It was a dark portend of things to come.

Friends did not come easily to her, although she was a delightful, empathetic, naturally outgoing kid. Why was this so hard for her? I don't think we'll ever know -- some combination of genes and circumstances, perhaps. It seemed as though she exuded some kind of social aroma that was immediately discernible to her peers, and apparently also to nonfamily adults, that we -- her parents -- couldn't sense. Some things just "are the way they are" and the best way to get a headache is to worry them to death for no purpose. But, of course, that didn't stop us from trying.

We tried furiously to compensate. On those occasions when she was able to lure someone over to play with her or for an overnight, we pulled out all the stops, trying to engineer a peak experience that would so impress the visiting child that she couldn't resist coming back again. The harder we tried, the worse we failed.

Lesson #1

While the temptation to socially engineer friendships for your child is irresistible, you can't "make friends" for her. It doesn't work that way. Loneliness, while hard to watch from a parental perspective, provides a valuable learning experience and teaches kids to rely on their wits for self-entertainment. As long as they have your support, it won't crush their spirit. (Though at times it's hard to convince yourself of this.)

As elementary school progressed, the ostracism became institutionalized. She played softball for a season and although I coached her at home and she could drive the ball farther than anyone else on the team, not one fellow player spoke to her once all summer and we let her quit at her request after the last game. She played on a basketball team for several years (we made her stay the course this time), and we went to every practice and game and watched stoically as every other player studiously avoided talking to, touching, or throwing the ball to her. She had one good game where she scored a bunch of points and we thought maybe it would put her over the hump, but by the next week it was forgotten as though nothing had happened.

By first grade she was identified as having a learning disability. She had an especially hard time with reading. I vowed to read to her each night and have her read to me until she got over the hump. We read nightly for about five years, until she outgrew it. We went through a small library of classic children's books, but it didn't help an iota. It did, however, give her a love for classic stories, which she now pursues through a large movie collection, and it was a wonderful time for both of us. But it had zero impact on her reading abilities.

Lesson #2

Enjoy the process of helping your child for its own sake, whether or not it has a significant impact. Treasure the contact. Many of the movies in her collection are filmed versions of books we read years ago, because she sought them out.

As a child with a learning disability, she was loosely lumped in with children who were emotionally disturbed, cognitively disabled and physically challenged, as well as with students with autism and ADD. This became her default peer group, "The Speds," or "LDs" as some teachers still refer to them. Much of their time was spent in self-contained (read segregated) classrooms which mostly served to set them apart from their "typical" (today's proper PC usage) peers who soon come to see them as undesirable social partners. Coupled with the fact that special needs children often struggle with social skills anyway, the newly identified child soon finds herself a virtual persona non gratis in her own school district. This, of course, varies hugely from child to child based on variables such as parental involvement, the child's own personality, the degree of disability, and other factors. It isn't true of every child.

Lesson #3

My family struggled through all of this in an excellent school district in Wisconsin, always first or second (along with Iowa) among all American public schools when rated by state. Chances are your district will have it even less together. Only relentless and courageous advocacy will get you and your child through the special education system.

Before long, her immediate support group began to include a number of children with emotional disabilities, and she began to mimic their behaviors. School personnel, too often unable to make the distinction between innate and situational behavior began to treat her as if she was an EBD child. EBD children, who are often of above average intelligence and without doubt the most feared and disliked among any school subgroup by the staff, can be charismatic and influential. A common myth, not always untrue, is that they come from dysfunctional families. Before long, your family will be thought of as such because your child is mimicking the behaviors of their children. In fact, EBD kids are woefully underidentified, underserved and deserve an article of their own (which I won't get into here), except to make it clear that I'm not trying in any way to denigrate them. The point is, once your child is in special ed, she forms a new peer group that may have certain defined, destructive tendencies, and you'd better be ready for it.

Lesson #4

This is a tough one. What do you do when your child begins hanging with a destructive crowd? On one hand, you're so happy to see anyone accept him that you're hard pressed to say no. We decided to give each child a chance, but monitored closely and attempted to make direct contact with the parents. If they are unavailable or seem to dodge your efforts to connect, that tells you all you need to know. Make sure that child's home is a safe place for your child to be before you allow him to go there -- or confine their out-of-school interactions together to your home where you have some control.

Her birthday was an annual drama that we dreaded above everything else. She would start planning for it days after the previous one, which was always a guaranteed failure. She would make out lists of all the kids she would invite (virtually all of whom we knew wouldn't come), what they would do, how they would celebrate, the fun they would have. The contrast between her boundless optimism and the inevitable disaster of it all was heartbreaking. One year, as child after child declined, I found her in tears one day, begging a girl over the phone to come to her birthday party. That was probably the lowest point for us. It threw me into a silent rage I can still vividly access two decades later when I think about it.

By middle school, it had begun wearing on her, visible in her affect -- even at a distance. I have some photos taken around that time that I still can't look at. Her hair is greasy and matted, parted carelessly, with no expression whatsoever on her face. A school psychologist around this time told us she was the most depressed kid she'd ever seen. Bear in mind, this is a naturally ebullient child. What had happened, and what could be done about it?

Neither of these questions had easy answers. Looking back now, I'm not sure the answers themselves are all that meaningful. If pressed, I would say this: She had problems connecting with other kids before she was identified. Her deficit reading skills made school hard, got her identified, and consequently reinforced her segregation in the special ed ghetto. There she cohorted with kids with emotional disabilities, some of whom had some serious issues, and she empathized with them and vice versa. After several years, she had taken on the outside look of their inside problems. The difference, I believe, was that these weren't her issues, her problems, but she presented as though they were. For other adults working with her, they saw the affect of an EBD kid.

Lesson #5

Inform yourself and keep your own counsel. While it's important to communicate with and work with school personnel, from the homeroom teacher to support staff, like the school psychologist, bear in mind that nobody knows your child better than you do. Don't let them tell you WHO he or she is.

I could schedule an entire season of "movies of the week," about her subsequent misadventures, one episode at a time, from drug and alcohol experimentation to sexual acting out, to involvement with the law and so forth, but at some point things actually began looking up. I eventually got her hooked up with a community "youth center" for round kids who didn't fit into square holes and it gave her an improved default peer group that she was able to grow into. Things at school slowly got better and she was able to find a sort of alternative, misfit crowd that acted out mildly (mostly by way of dreadful clothing selections, which I guess is harmless enough) but steered clear of major mischief. By the end of high school, she had more friends than the average kid and had really come into herself. That was seven years ago and that continues to be the case. She's lived responsibly on her own, has gainful employment, and is liked and respected at work.

Having said that, however, she hasn't gone on to college, says she never will, and she's still angry and resentful when the subject of school comes up. She still suffers from chronic low self-esteem. The first cut is the deepest. Those early school experiences don't go away. It's true for all of us and she'll have to learn to deal with it.

The following things have become clear to us as parents only over time:

• It didn't matter so much WHAT we did as THAT we did -- we tried. Trying -- doing something, anything -- gave us hope and it gave us something to do besides worry and mope. It gives you a stake in the process.
• Your child will see and appreciate your effort no matter how much he acts like he doesn't. Later in life he will express this to you.
• While your special ed child may look and act like others who don't have support at home, in the long run that support makes all the difference in the world and starts to become apparent after high school. However, this is a distinction school staff often can't make, and you will get lumped in with the "bad" parents. Deal with it but don't accept it.
• It's better to encounter life problems when you're young and flexible (as painful as it is for us to sit by and watch) because you're able to develop coping strategies that last all your life. Our darling girl has developed tremendous empathy for those who struggle in life and is a compulsive good Samaritan.
• Conversely, kids who have smooth sailing early on often hit rough waters later in life and are less able to cope with them when they do occur. Take solace that your child is learning lifelong coping skills.
• Emphasize strong social skills...kids with academic deficits can make up a lot of ground with good social skills, because adults respond so well to good social skills and see so little of them. Our daughter is the social skill champion of the world.
• Put your ego on hold and make a complete nuisance of yourself at school, staff responds to squeaky wheels...be nice -- but obnoxiously persistent.
• Don't get hung up on the "whys" of your child's problems. When you're in the middle of dealing with his issues, you will experience a pressing need to "find the reasons"...as if there were some single, traumatic or dramatic source that can be cancelled out by sheer knowledge of its existence. Let it go. Some things "just are." Deal with the symptoms.

With 20\20 hindsight, here's some things we did that turned out to be helpful:

• Get a handle on the IEP process. You can really make it work for you, but it requires your attention to it.
• Never miss an IEP meeting and be outspoken at them, but also listen and respect school staff, they get too little of that.
• Make your child attend at least every other IEP with you and talk to, not around, her at the IEP.
• Get your child involved in a youth group that caters to different kids who also were left out of the school social hierarchy, if one is available. Many communities have "all ages" dances and DJ shows in community buildings where there is at least minimal supervision.
• Back off your parental impulse to give constant advice to your child and pick your spots...use "teachable moments" to get through.
• If humanly possible, don't let your child fall behind a grade. Every year they are held back drastically increases the probability of their not graduating.

I tend to think that as hard as all this is on the child, it's almost harder on the child's parents. Every child has his own hurdles in life unique to him that he will have to deal with. You can't pad his every fall. I'm convinced that much of that is genetically predetermined. Looking at my two girls, I think that had they been raised by wolves in a cave in Tibet, they would still be essentially who they are. Here's what I've come to believe: Parents take too much credit for their children's successes and too much blame for their failures. I know a couple who have two kids, now adults: one a great success, one a complete failure. They vacillate between taking all the credit and all the blame. It doesn't seem logical to me. Let go a little on both ends, give your child a little more credit and yourself a little less blame.

And here's the funny part...all things considered, in terms of where our daughter is at today, I wouldn't trade a minute of it.

The Path To Inclusion

By Camille Jackson for Tolerance.org

Creating an atmosphere of inclusion should always be a priority for schools, but for many of us, it can be a perplexing task. Although teacher diversity is at an all time low, our student population is becoming more and more diverse.While we want to create an inclusive classroom for both teachers and students, there`s been little discussion on how to do that.

How do we make sure that all students feel valued, respected and represented in the classroom?

Recognize The Need For Change

In Teaching to Transgress, famed author and professor Bell Hooks writes, “If the effort to respect and honor the social reality and experiences of groups in this society who are nonwhite is to be reflected in a pedagogical process, then as teachers – on all levels, from elementary to university settings – we must acknowledge that our styles of teaching may need to change.”

Begin With Respect

According to Dr. Irwin Blumer, the department chair at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education, while multicultural education helps students to live and work in a diverse world, it cannot be implemented in a superficial way. A multicultural curriculum must feature more than just “heroes and holidays.” As elementary school principal Shawn McCullough says it must move beyond “a sombrero in the front office and taco Tuesdays.”

Once respect has been established, Blumer says it can lead to “open and honest discussion about race and racism in this country -- a topic we tend to shy away from.” Christine Rose of Students and Teachers Against Racism explainsin her paper, The Indian Student in Public Education, that when Native history is not included in history class, “Native people are denied closure, as well as the respect and encouragement to succeed in mainstream academics.” She explains that ignorance of these issues can lead to blaming the victim, instead of fostering compassion and understanding. She also encourages multicultural educators to be respectful of and sensitive to the cultural differences, learning styles, and the desires of Native parents, as well.

Talk About It

Ongoing dialogues throughout the year help administrators, teachers, and students speak openly and honestly about respect, the social climate and how to break down barriers in their schools. The Southern Poverty Law Center sponsors Mix It Up, a national campaign to identify, question, and cross the cultural boundaries that separate groups of people. Each year on November 16, the Center coordinates a national event during which students and faculty make new friends by sitting at a different table for lunch. Not only they break down social boundaries, but cliques, and isolation, as well.

According to Beverly Daniel Tatum, President of Spelman College in Atlanta and author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (Basic Books, 2002), professional development courses can help teachers to address the issue. “In order to increase teacher comfort, we need to talk about [race] -- and not in a blaming way," says Tatum. "We are all the products of our socialization. The idea is to help people, in a constructive way, look at what messages they got growing up…It’s important to be able to say we all have participated in reinforcing the cycle [of racism] and we all try to interrupt it.”

Integrate Multiple Voices

It’s important for educators to ask why the accomplishments of people of color have been missing from the classroom. So many voices have been muted over the years. Tatum says it’s inevitable for teachers who look at a subject area in an inclusive way to run into racism. But when you include them in the classroom, your students will find your lessons, and the world, much more multidimensional.

Make A Commitment

As principal of Georgia’s Gainesville Elementary School, McCullough has molded his school into one of the highest performing majority Hispanic schools in the country, a remarkable accomplishment considering 93% of the student body is impoverished. McCullough attributes his school’s success to the teachers “fundamental commitment to each child’s success and professional accountability.” Whether it means working until 7 p.m. or holding parent/teacher conferences on a Saturday evening when parents are home from work, the school staff is there.

Gather Resources

Teaching Tolerance, a publication of the Southern Poverty Law Center targets teachers looking to make sense out of a multicultural curriculum. The magazine offers teachers tools for educating diverse classrooms and promoting equity and justice. By visiting the Teaching Tolerance website, teachers can order classroom activities, kits and handbooks, and curriculum on subjects ranging from the civil rights movement to respecting physical differences.

Take Responsibility

Principal McCullough, a national keynote speaker on diversity issues, says extraordinary challenges, like incorporating multiculturalism in the classroom, require extraordinary people. Having a multicultural curriculum is not about what activities you do or about having a diverse staff, he says. It’s about responsibility -- and not just for teachers. All educators have a responsibility to challenge the status quo. Blumer adds “a principal has to be skilled enough, knowledgeable enough, and some would say, courageous enough, to get the issues on the table.”