Educators as the Gatekeepers: Promoting a Race Informed, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Human Service Professionals

Abstract

Within the social work and human service professions, a practitioner’s ability to engage with and assess the needs of marginalized clients can be a high-stakes proposition. If biases and cultural misunderstandings exist during the client engagement and treatment process, vital services such as domestic violence counseling psychotherapy, substance abuse treatment, and elder care can be compromised. The purpose of this chapter is to examine master’s level social work students’ self-perceived “readiness for practice” with diverse populations. Readiness for practice was assessed by two-course assignments: (1) “critical reflectivity assessment” and (2) development of a “cultural competence work plan.” Results revealed that most students overestimated their ability to work with diverse populations at the onset of instruction. However, at the end of the course, students were able to analyze their beliefs and assumptions about diverse, marginalized populations; analyze the concepts of power and privilege as it is manifested within society; and articulate a plan for continued knowledge and skill development beyond the classroom setting.

Citation

Avant, D.W., Houston, D. and Nesbitt, L. (2020), "Educators as the Gatekeepers: Promoting a Race Informed, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Human Service Professionals", Puckett, T. and Lind, N. (Ed.) Cultural Competence in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 28), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 113-127. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000028012