”What skills are required of a professional counselor

in the encounter with different cultures”

MULTICULTURAL MEETINGS OF

PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE

Tools for adult counselorsin the Nordic countriesThis material is a compilation and editing of mapping and dis

NVL 2013

© Nordic Network for Adult Learning

www.nordvux.net

This publication has been financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers through the strategic means of NVL.

This material is a compilation and editing of mapping and discussions in collaboration with NVL Network Adult Guidance Counselors with different background, working in insti-tutions and organizations in Denmark, Fin-land, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Sweden. The work has been carried out dur-ing 2011.

Based on the above issues, discussions and questions have been raised and are aimed at reflecting on the counselor`s training and development of multicultural competence.

SUMMARYMulticultural guidance requires, of the professional counselor, a deeper reflective insight about themselves, their own culture, their own values, knowledge about the world and its terms and conditions. More so there also requires the ability to put this knowledge into the conver-sation and guidance methodically.

Approach and attitude out of every diverse counse-ling situation into the guidance situation are crucial, in terms of what turns out of the counseling

Counselors possess cultural competence fromawareness of themselves, from their commitment and intuition

Specific methods and models for multicultural guidance are lacking

Awareness and commitment

Knowledge and understanding

Skills and ability

The compilation of responses based on the discus-sions can be summarized in following headings:

INTRODUCTIONADULT GUIDANCE IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF

LIFELONG LEARNING, BOTH IN A NORDIC AS WELL AS IN AN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE.

THE NORDIC NETWORK for adult guidance has as its primary mission to identify, investigate and reflect on the professional skills of adult counselors and op-portunities to upgrade their skills for developing the field of guidance.

THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURES, the mobility in the labor market, increasing skill require-ments that are hard to define and structural changes in the world makes great demands on the counselor in the meeting with the individu-al. A necessary starting point in these situations is to raise the awareness of their own cultural background, their values and their own posi-tion on how learning takes place.

THE AIM OF THIS WORK has been to gain a deeper knowledge of the Nordic counselors’ practical experience and understanding of what multicul-tural guidance is for them and how to handle these meetings methodically.

GUIDANCENVL uses, in this paper, the definition of guidance which OECD and CEDEFOP use in the OECD publication Career Guidance; A Handbook for Policy Makers (2004 p 11).

MULTICULTURALISMCulture itself is a neutral term that includes a group`s col-lective experience and the characteristics of that particular group.

BACKGROUND

CULTURE DICTATES what we do, how we do and why. Culture is a mechanism we use to dis-tinguish between “us” and “them”, usually with “we” as the norm. Any problems with culture arise when different cultures meet.

EACH INDIVIDUAL creates a unique cultural synthesis in her own life. She carries within her, the ability to prioritize herself as an individual or herself as a social being. Which tendency dominates in an individual is determinate by both personal factors such as preferences and lifestyle, as well as social factors, cultural heritage and community structure (Sjögran, A 1993:18).

MULTICULTURAL GUIDANCE AIMS to be able to see the differences and similarities between people, and to be able to highlight to the individual and society, the development potential and usefulness (Ringström 2009).

THE MULTICULTURAL GUIDANCE ASSUMPTIONS are that people are similar, yet different, and that the differences can be explained by, among other things, Cultural Differences.

The definitions above have made it easier in the network to continue with some general ques-tions that have since been followed up by more specific questions prior to the forum discussions.

Is the Multicultural Guidance specific?

Requires Multicultural Guidance specific skills of the counselor?

MULTICULTURAL GUIDANCE

In order to get a reflective comparison based on the questions the forum groups have discussed about the Network has decided to use some of the research results that Launikari and Puukari (2005) have found.

Launikari and Puukari have, in their research, come up with a framework of competencies required for a qualitatively satisfactory guidance, to be imple-mented in the meeting of different cultures.

BELOW you can find the headlines which make up the framework of the Multicul-tural Guidance according to Launikari and Puukari.

The guidance counselor should have awareness of their own values

The guidance counselor should have a prior understanding of the worldview that the applicant from a different culture has.

The guidance counselor should recognize the cultural limitations of the use of tradi-tional methods and develop appropriate mediation techniques.

RESEARCH

The representatives in to the Network have gathered a number of adult counselors (approximately 10-15 partici-pants in each group represented) on several occasions, to reflect on, and discuss previously prepared questions.

In order to answer the ques-tion “Requires Multicultural guid-ance specific skills of the coun-selor?” The network chooses to clarify the definition of what guidance is about generally:

As previously mentioned the Network uses the general definition of Guidance from a European perspective, OECD, Career Guidance: A Handbook for Policymakers (2004 p 11).

Guidance, in practice, the actual encounter between the counselor and the guid-ance seekers, can be defined as a negotiation about the individual´s opportunities, terms and conditions for belonging to the society in the most respectful way as pos-sible. In this encounter, in this negotiation, specific skills based on the individual and the situa-tion are required.

FORUM DISCUSSIONS

The individual

Guidance

Society

QUESTIONS FOR THE FORUMGROUPS

TO DISCUSS

What is a cultural competence? 1

How do I define my current cultural competence?2

Where does my cultural competence come from?

In what situation am I aware that I use my cultural competence?

What do I do when I use my cultural competence?

Which method have I experienced most successful in the counseling situation?

What support do I need and by whom, to further develop my cultural competence?

What literature in the field can I recommend others to take note of?

3

4

5

6

7 8

PROCESSING

The notes from the same forum discussions have been compiled afterwards.

Based on the answers the counselors provided the network could deduce certain themes or interpretations. These were later used to systematize the experiences and perceptions of what multi-cultural guidance is and what is required of the counselor.

From this material three main headings were found which can be interpreted as consistent with the analysis model below:

Awareness and commitment

Knowledge and understanding

Skills and Abilities

To get an overview of the results, we have chosen to illustrate this by using the analysis model from Scotland, used to ensure the quality of guidance (QAA Scottish benchmark Career Guidance statement (2007) see fig.

AWARENESSAND

ENGAGEMENT

COMPETENCES

SKILLSAND

ABILITY

KNOWLEDGE AND

UNDERSTANDING

OUTCOME

After processing the forum discussions in the rep-resented countries, the network discussed to what extent the results reflected the knowledge and experience of the network’s representatives.

The representatives of the network agreed that the results are only representative of the discussions held at the stated forums, but they can reinforce the experience, the ideas and the knowledge network members possess.

The result can also be said to reflect the results Launikari and Puukari have found in their research, which reveals that the counselor should have an awareness of oneself, having an understanding of the operating environment and relevant skills for the task.

The use of the outcome could be reflective in nature, basis for further discussion or action oriented.

Below are the results obtained based on the aforementioned main headings and prac-titioners perceptions of how best to develop their skills.

AWARENESS AND ENGAGEMENT

To appreciate the other person as an indi-vidual and representative of their culture

To be humble

To respect and to be interested in other cultures and to be curious

Being open and willing to meet another person

High level of awareness of their own backpack

Finding new dimensions of themselves as counselors

Being able to restructure their own values and to be vigilant of their own “shadow sides”

The guidance counselor must be balanced within their own culture

VOICE: …”Guidance needs to be seen in relation to the individual`s habits, potentials and possibilities to make choices from the available options and opportunities”.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Needs to possess basic facts about society, culture and the possible options for the counselee

VOICE:

Recognize barriers in employment and education, both formal and informal

Know about the environment where diversity is looked upon as a resource

Building on a broad definition of culture and diversity

A focus on individuals in their environment

You must tolerate the unknown and the unstructured

Cultural competence changes in time

Both the guide and the guided are part of their own culture

Cultural competency is insight, understanding and foresight.

The meeting is more important than the culture

…”the counselor´s cultural competence shows in the individual person´s way of making choices among the possibilities and options offered”.

SKILLS ANDABILITIES

Being empathetic

Ability to facilitate participation and context

Being able to hear/listen

To ask relevant questions

To see the context and overall picture

Balancing diversity

Being aware of resources and opportunities

To concretize context

Being action- and activity oriented

Being able to use visualizing material

Being able to inform and create mapping materials

Using the group

To have knowledge about validation and the validation process

VOICE: …” when you forget who you are talking with, then you are culturally competent”

COUNSELORS PATH TODEVELOP THEIR COMPETENCE

Using life experience

Broadening their perspectives

Through media

Through reflecting meetings

Through education

Through deep thinking

Through structured gatherings with colleagues

Through colleague tutoring

Taking part in new research

QUOTE: ”BEFORE HE BECAME A MIGRANT HE WAS A HUMAN BEING!” Shahamak Rezaei, Ph.D, Associate Professor. Roskilde University

TO REFLECT FURHER ON

Guidance counselors should be more attentive to the relationship between guidance – education – information

WE ARE ALL, EACH ONE, A CULTURE IN ONE OR ANOTHER SENSE, WHICH ENCLOSES US OR EXCLUDES US.

Be aware of the balance between the personal, the intellectual, the cultural and intuition

Be mindful of the importance of their own cultural identity

We all aim for a membership in the group and in the community. Meeting individuals in a guidance situation is an act of balancing listening and attitude of respect and ethics.

The guidance model (see fig below) may be seen as a basic model for the considerations the counselor should do before each meeting.

Be aware of understanding versus categorization, the ethical dimension.

MULTICULTURALCOUNSELING MODEL

STORY

the applicant

Guidance APPROACHREPRESENTATIONS PREJUDICESTHEORY/PRACTICETOOLS

WHO AM I?WHAT CAN I?WHAT DO I WANT?WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE FOR ME?

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

ACT

COUNSELOR

GOAL

REFERENCE LITERATURE

CEDEFOP (2009) Panorama series;164 Practioners

European Qualification Framework (2008) The Concept of Competence

INRP – (2007) Service de Veilles scientifique et technologi-que, la letter d`information nr 25

NVL (2008) Aspects on Workinglife Knowledge in Nordic Adult Counseling

OECD (2004) Council of the European Union

The European Training Foundation (EFT) (2009) On Demand: Career Guidance in Europe

QAA Scotland (2007) Scottish subject benchmark state-ment, Career Guidance

ELPGN Tools No 1 (2011) Lifelong Guidance Policy Deve-lopment: An European Resource Kit

ELPGN Concept Note No 1 (2011) Flexicurity, Implications For Lifelong Career Guidance

ELPGN Concept Note No 3 (2011) Career Management Skills, Factors in Implementing Policy Succsessfully

IAEVG/AISOP (2003) Competencies for Educational and Vocational Guidance

Launikari M, Puukari S (2005) Multicultural Guidance and Counseling

Lorentz H, (2006) Interkulturella perspektiv: pedagogik I mångkulturella lärandemiljöer

Ringström A-C, Vägledning i validering. Valideringsdelegationen RAPPORT 2005/13.5

Sjögren A, (1993). Här går gränsen

Denmark: Mette Werner Rasmussen, Jobcenter Köpenhamn

Finland: Carola Bryggman, Regionförvaltningsverket i Västra och Inre Finland

FaROE ISLANDS: Hanna Jensen, Studentaskúlin og HF-skeiðið í Eysturoy

Greenland: Beth Krogh, Center for Vejledning i Grønland

Iceland: Arnheiður Gígja Guðmundsdóttir, Education and Training Service CentreAnna Sigurdardóttir, Svan ehf

Norway: Ingjerd Lorange, Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning, Vox

Sweden: Ann-Christine Ringström, Malmö högskola

Åland: Johan Tronestam, Ålands arbetsmarknads- och studieservicemyndighet

NVL: Pirkko Sartoneva, koordinator, Medborgarinstitutens förbund MiF

Website: http://www.nordvux.net/tema/aktuella-tema/vagledning

MEMBERSHIP IN THE NORDIC NETWORK OF ADULT GUIDANCE COUNSELING 2012

”Vilken kompetens krävsav en professionell vägledarei mötet med olika kulturer?”