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Culturally Competent Consultation in Schools: Information for

School Psychologists andSchool Personnel

"The greatest distance between people is not space. The greatest

distance between people is culture." Jamake Highwater(Native American

choreographer, author and lecturer, 1932-2001

A! America"! !chool! #ecome increa!ingl$ diver!e, !chool p!$chologi!t!

and educational per!onnel %ace the challenge o% providing !ervice! that

enhance the mental health and educational competence o% all children& 'n

order to !ucceed with thi! challenge, !chool p!$chologi!t! and the team!

the$ work with mu!t under!tand the wa$! in which cultural and lingui!tic

dierence! in)uence how a child view! and interact! with hi! or her

environment, including how children learn and #ehave in !chool&

*ver the cour!e o% an$ given !chool $ear, a !chool p!$chologi!t ma$ #e

a!ked to con!ult with !chool per!onnel and+or parent! o% culturall$ or

lingui!ticall$ diver!e !tudent! on i!!ue! !uch a! the lack o% academic

progre!! o% a limited-ngli!h procient !tudent, or the #ehavioral

di.cultie! o% a !tudent who recentl$ immigrated to thi! countr$& /iven the

growing diver!it$ in the && !tudent population, and the %act that the

maorit$ o% !chool p!$chologi!t! are not culturall$ or lingui!ticall$ diver!e,

it i! imperative that !chool p!$chologi!t! utilie culturall$ competent

practice! when providing !chool-#a!ed con!ultation !ervice!&

chool p!$chologi!t! #enet %rom under!tanding how communication#reakdown! ma$ inter%ere with developing and maintaining a po!itive

rapport with other! %rom diver!e #ackground!&

't i! imperative that !chool p!$chologi!t! recognie when cultural cla!he!

are re!pon!i#le %or the #reak down in communication and activel$ work to

re!olve the!e i!!ue!& Several studies suggest the attentiveness and

responsiveness of the consultant to racial issues, and not the

consultant's race, determine ratings of consultant eectiveness

and multicultural sensitivity (Ingraham, 2000!  4hi! mean! that all!chool p!$chologi!t! and !chool per!onnel, regardle!! o% cultural

dierence!, can increa!e their eectivene!! a! con!ultant! through

learning and integrating culturall$ competent principle! into their practice&

 4he %ollowing in%ormation will help !chool p!$chologi!t! and the team!

the$ work with to provide eective and culturall$ !en!itive con!ultation&

5enition!

• Culture: 6An organied !et o% thought!, #elie%!, and norm! %orinteraction and communication, all o% which ma$ in)uencecognition!, #ehavior!, and perception!6 ('ngraham, 2000, p& 327&

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8aria#le! that in)uence an individual"! culture include race,ethnicit$, language, age, gender, !eual orientation, !ocioeconomic!tatu!, educational attainment and level o% acculturation&

• Consultation: 6A method o% providing preventivel$ orientedp!$chological and educational !ervice! in which con!ultant! and

con!ultee! %orm cooperative partner!hip! and engage in areciprocal, !$!tematic pro#lem-!olving proce!!&&&to enhance andempower con!ultee!, there#$ promoting !tudent!" well-#eing andper%ormance6 (:in! ; rchul, 2002, p& ooker 4& Ba!hington (Co!t-Divil Bar author,

educator, and leader, 1?7

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Don!ulting !chool p!$chologi!t! mu!t under!tand the culture o% the !chool

and the !chool a! a !$!tem& 4hi! involve! developing an awarene!! o% the

!chool in term! o% attitude! and #elie%! a#out culturall$ and lingui!ticall$

diver!e children (ope ; 4rue!dell, in pre!!& Don!ultant! mu!t al!o

under!tand that policie! and norm! within the !$!tem ma$ have a direct

in)uence on the Eualit$ and t$pe! o% !ervice! provided to !tudent!&

Dulturall$ and lingui!ticall$ diver!e !tudent! are o%ten provided multiple

!ervice! that are delivered acro!! program! and !ta in !chool! (e&g&,

ngli!h language learner! ma$ receive ngli!h a! a !econd language,

#ilingual education, and #ilingual !pecial education !ervice!& 'n order to

eectivel$ coordinate !ervice deliver$, an under!tanding o% how tho!e

!ervice! are delivered mu!t #e developed !o that con!i!tent intervention!

and !upport! can #e implemented acro!! program!&

Consultees

chool p!$chologi!t! mu!t not onl$ !trive to increa!e their own

knowledge, !kill!, and o#ectivit$ a! the$ relate to working with culturall$

diver!e population!, the$ mu!t al!o encourage and in!pire individual! and

the team! the$ work with to do the !ame& 4he !pecic goal! %or con!ultee

learning and development ma$ var$ depending on whether the con!ultee

i! a teacher, %amil$ mem#er or admini!trator&

Teachers: 't i! vitall$ important that teacher! and other !chool per!onnel

#egin to recognie and decrea!e the tendenc$ to lter perception!

through !tereot$pe!, overempha!ie culture, or take a color-#lind

approach ('ngraham, 2000& *ne wa$ con!ulting !chool p!$chologi!t! can

help !chool per!onnel grow in thi! area i! to point out inaccurate

perception! that are held a#out the child or %amil$& For in!tance, a teacher

ma$ comment that a !tudent with limited ngli!h procienc$ i! not

making !u.cient reading progre!! #ecau!e no#od$ at home i! reading to

the !tudent& Domment! !uch a! the!e impl$ that the %amil$ doe! not want

to help the child, when in %act it ma$ #e that parent! %eel uncom%orta#le

reading to the child due to lingui!tic dierence! or do not under!tand the

teacher"! epectation! %or working with the child at home& 'n ca!e! !uch

a! the!e, !chool p!$chologi!t! and teacher! can work together to nd

creative wa$! that %amil$ mem#er! can #ecome more involved in the

child"! educational eort!&

Families: Don!ultant! !hould help %amilie! gain the knowledge and !kill!

the$ need to #e a proactive %orce in the educational !ucce!! o% their

children& *%ten %amilie! want to do more to help their child !ucceed in

!chool #ut lack !pecic knowledge regarding how to help or have had

negative eperience! with !chooling he

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e or in their home culture that make them more likel$ to avoid home-!chool colla#oration& 'n addition, %amilie! o%ten need in%ormation to help#ridge the gap #etween home and !chool in term! o% academicepectation!, homework, and philo!ophie! a#out !chool-home interaction&Familie! who have newl$ immigrated to the && al!o ma$ need !pecicin%ormation a#out the educational !$!tem and the di!trict"! !tandard!#e%ore %ull$ under!tanding how to work with the !chool to #e!t help theirchild&

 Administrators: Don!ultant! periodicall$ con!ult with admini!trator! on!$!temic i!!ue! related to cultural diver!it$& 4raditionall$, !chool !ucce!!ha! #een dened in term! o% a Bhite, middle cla!! norm and !tudent!who!e realitie! dier %rom thi! norm are generall$ reEuired to makeadu!tment! to achieve educational !ucce!! (ee, 2001& Bhen culturall$diver!e !tudent! are not meeting !chool norm! on a regular #a!i!,con!ultant! !hould help admini!trator! look %or !$!temic #arrier! !uch a!policie!, norm!, and communication pattern! that ma$ #e inter%ering with

a high Eualit$ education %or all children& *ne wa$ to overcome the!e#arrier! i! to implement pro%e!!ional development eperience! %orteacher! and other !chool per!onnel on culturall$ competent practice!&Another potential intervention i! to colla#orate with admini!trator! andcommunit$ !takeholder! on oint initiative!& For in!tance, culturall$diver!e individual! %rom the communit$ could come into the !chool a!tutor!, cla!!room pre!enter!, a!!em#l$ !peaker!, or epert! %orpro%e!!ional development work!hop!&

Section II: Culturally Competent Consultation "cross Pro#lem$Solving Stages

 4he pro#lem-!olving proce!! i! the e!!ence o% con!ultation and t$picall$%ollow! ve !tage! (:in! ; rchul, 2000& Fir!t, a !trong colla#orativerelation!hip i! e!ta#li!hed& econd, the pro#lem i! dened in clear,conci!e, and mea!ura#le term!& 4hird, goal! %or intervention aree!ta#li!hed and the intervention i! de!igned& Fourth, the intervention i!implemented& Fi%th, the eectivene!! o% the intervention i! monitored andaltered a! nece!!ar$& Dultural i!!ue! ma$ emerge during an$ o% the!e!tage!& 4he %ollowing point! were adapted %rom heridan (2000 unle!!otherwi!e noted&

Establish a Cooperative Partnership

• A ke$ a!pect %or creating a !trong partner!hip i! developing amutual !en!e o% tru!t and re!pect, which reEuire! valuing culturaldierence! and viewpoint!&

• 't i! important to develop a !en!e o% !hared owner!hip& 4hi! ma$ #e

di.cult %or individual! who!e cultural #ackground ha! taught themto de%er to authorit$& For in!tance, Hi!panic parent!, due to theirre!pect %or authorit$, o%ten have di.cult$ colla#orativel$participating in the educational deci!ion making proce!! and

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!ometime! go along with !ugge!tion! the$ do not agree with or donot %ull$ under!tand (Dorrea ; 4ul#ert, 1993&

• Bhen colla#orating, take into con!ideration how parent! %romdiver!e culture! view colla#oration in !chool!& Carent! ma$ denecolla#oration dierentl$ ranging %rom cooperating to #ecoming %ull

deci!ion-making partner! in the proce!! (ope ; 4rue!dell, inpre!!&

Problem Defnition & Analysis

• 't i! vitall$ important to not allow cultural dierence! to #e

con!trued a! the pro#lem& However, cultural dierence! mu!t #erecognied and acknowledged during the pro#lem denition !tage!o that appropriate intervention! can #e developed&

• =ecognie that dierence! in value! ma$ in)uence the perception o% 

the pro#lem #ehavior and that a traditional viewpoint that thepro#lem re!t! within the child ma$ cau!e di!com%ort& Avoid la#elingor categoriing deciencie!& 'n!tead, %ocu! on !pecic #ehavior! andre%rame the pro#lem a! a 6mi!match6 #etween the child, home and!chool&

•  4he con!ultant and con!ultee mu!t look at the learner"! cultural andlingui!tic #ackground a! well a! their educational #ackground& Foreample, within an in!tructional contet, the con!ultant andcon!ultee !hould look at the deliver$ o% in!truction within a

multicultural contet and eamine whether the learner ha! the#ackground knowledge reEuired to complete the ta!k (ope ; 4rue!dell, in pre!!&

• Bhen working with %amilie! who are not procient in ngli!h, allowadditional time to communicate through interpreter! to determine%amilie!" concern!, prioritie! and re!ource! (ope, 2000&

• 't i! important to recognie that the #ehavioral !crutin$ o%ten

reEuired in data collection ma$ #e viewed a! an inva!ion o% privac$in !ome culture!& Don!ultant! !hould openl$ di!cu!! the contri#utiondata make toward identi%$ing the pro#lem in conci!e andmea!ura#le term! and adu!t the data collection proce!! to alignwith a particular %amil$"! view when po!!i#le&

• Finall$, recognie that a con!ulting !chool p!$chologi!t"! attempt! to!el%-monitor their action! ma$ #e !een a! inappropriate& Bhile acon!ulting !chool p!$chologi!t ma$ wi!h to acknowledge a lack o%cultural knowledge or potential #ia! related to the ca!e, thi!in%ormation ma$ not #e well received #$ tho!e who %rown on !haringperceived weakne!!e! out!ide o% one"! %amil$&

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Goal and Intervention Development 

• Dultural dierence! ma$ lead to mi!matched goal! andepectation!& *er !chool per!onnel and parent! opportunitie! todevelop goal! that compliment one another, $et at the !ame timeare con!i!tent with their pre%erred goal!&

• plore the po!!i#ilit$ o% a mi!match #etween common #ehavioralintervention! and the con!ultee"! acceptance o% tho!e procedure!&For eample, a teacher and !chool p!$chologi!t ma$ wi!h toimplement a #ehavioral plan in the home and !chool that include!rein%orcer! %or appropriate #ehavior, #ut the parent!, due to culturaldierence!, di!agree with the u!e o% rein%orcer!& 4hi! interventionwill not #e !ucce!!%ul unle!! all partie! reach a compromi!eregarding the u!e o% rein%orcer!&

• =ecognie that !ucce!!%ul implementation o% an intervention i!

linked to the match #etween the de!ign o% the intervention and thecultural realitie! o% the home and+or !chool& Don!ideration! !uch a!time and material re!ource! mu!t #e taken into account duringintervention development in order %or the intervention to #e!ucce!!%ul&

Intervention Implementation

•  4reatment integrit$ will #e maimied i% the intervention"! goal! andplan are developed in a culturall$ !en!itive and cooperative manner&

• Cro#lem! with implementation ma$ #e linked to unidentiedvaria#le!& ven care%ul, culturall$ competent con!ultant! will!ometime! overlook an implementation #arrier that i! linked to acultural or lingui!tic dierence& Bhen intervention! are not #eingimplemented according to plan, potential #arrier! !hould #e openl$eplored&

Intervention Evaluation

• 't i! vitall$ important to en!ure con!ultee! do not %eel udged

negativel$ i% goal! are not met& 'n!tead, acknowledge that the goal!have not $et #een met and collectivel$ con!ider #arrier! totreatment !ucce!!, and whether !trategie! !hould #e modied or i%new intervention! !hould #e de!igned and attempted&

• At the conclu!ion o% the con!ultation, work to e!ta#li!h !$!tem! o%!upport that will help !u!tain intervention !ucce!! over time& 4hi! i!particularl$ important when working with %amilie!& Familie! !hould#e le%t with the !en!e that the$ are a colla#orative partner with the!chool in the education o% their child and that their input will #e

valued in the %uture&

Summary

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/iven the growing diver!it$ o% the && population, it i! imperative that!chool p!$chologi!t! and other educational pro%e!!ional! engage inculturall$ competent practice!& 4hi! i! particularl$ true during theprovi!ion o% con!ultative !ervice! #ecau!e the outcome o% a !peciccon!ultation and the !trength o% the relation!hip! e!ta#li!hed can havepro%ound implication! %or a child"! pre!ent and %uture !ucce!! in !chool& Alleducational !takeholder!, including !chool per!onnel, parent! andcommunit$ mem#er! working in the !chool!, have a re!pon!i#ilit$ toeamine and increa!e their cultural competence !o that our eort! meetthe need! o% all o% our children&

%eferences

Dorrea, 8& '&, ; 4ul#ert, >& (1993& Dolla#oration #etween !chool per!onnelin !pecial education and Hi!panic %amilie!& Journal of ducational and

!sychological Consultation, , 273-2e!t practice! in !chool con!ultation& 'nA& 4homa! ; J& /rime! (d!&, +est practices in school psychology  Gth ed&,pp&

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Cromoting Dultural 5iver!it$ and Dultural Dompetenc$@ el%-A!!e!!mentDheckli!t %or Cer!onnel Croviding ervice! and upport! to Dhildren and 4heir Familie!@http@++www&na!ponline&org+re!ource!+culturalcompetence+checkli!t&a!p

 uthors:

aren /. 0ui1ens, M is a doctoral student in the school psychology progra* at the 2ni%ersity of Maryland and a &33-&334 intern at 0#!(ead5uarters. Mary +eth lot6, !h7, 0C#! is 0#! 7irector of 87!ro1ects and Technical ssistance.

$e%iewer:

*ilia C. /ope6, !h7, 0C#! is an ssociate !rofessor of #chool !sychology,and Co-7irector of the +ilingual !sychological and ducational #upportCenter, 9ueens College, C20.

&200, ational "ssociation of School Psychologists, )0 *ast+est -y! .02/ ethesda, 1 2034,---!nasponline!org,phone ()04 567$0270, fa8 ()04 567$0276, 99 ()04 567$466

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