Conflict Stories in Multicultural Counselor Education: A Narrative Inquiry Among Counselors In Training

Open Access
- Author:
- Benoist, Lauren N
- Graduate Program:
- Counselor Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 06, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Dr. Katie Kostohryz, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Dr. Katie Kostohryz, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Dr. Jason Gines, Committee Member
Dr. JoLynn Carney, Committee Member
Dr. Peggy Lorah, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Multicultural Counseling
difficult dialogues
counselor education
narrative inquiry
pedagogy
conflict
intercultural maturity
transformative learning - Abstract:
- A multicultural counseling class brings both challenges and rewards for its instructors and students. In particular, research indicates that interpersonal and intercultural conflicts are present despite understanding the important perspectives that students might offer (Burton & Furr, 2014; Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo & Rivera, 2009b; Sue, Rivera, Capodipulo, Lin & Torino, 2010). The focus of this study was to illuminate this perspective in order to understand the conflict experiences that occur in multicultural counseling classes with master’s counseling students. The purpose of this research was to provide insight about the retellings, characteristics, and meanings of conflicts that students experience by using narrative analysis. King and Baxter Magolda’s model for intercultural maturity (2005) and Mezirow’s (1978) transformational learning theory provided a conceptual framework and influenced the data analysis. Several findings emerged from this study. While each participant had uniquely distinct conflicts, qualitative analysis materialized thematic linkages across them. Three overarching domains surfaced in the horizontal analysis between stories: Class expectations, types of conflict experiences, and transformation. Conflict experiences were also categorized with three integral themes: intercultural, intracultural, and institutional. The final domain, transformation, articulated the residues of conflict experiences: the generation of new meanings. Findings demonstrate the diverse and distinct quality of stories of master’s level students who experience conflict in their multicultural counseling class as they navigate the complex tasks of professional identity development. Because not every student experiencing conflict articulated new meanings, further research may be needed about the factors of conflict experiences that foster transformation.