Building Multicultural Awareness of Self and Others Through A Group Discussion Experience

Abstract

The importance of teaching and learning about multicultural issues was explored. The author contends that along with the increasing need for multicultural awareness, there is an increasing need for experiential exercises to effectively gain this awareness. The literature was reviewed and shown to support the necessity for both of these important issues. The growing need for counselor training programs to incorporate experiential teaching methods as well as the traditional teaching methods was also explored. Potential risks to clients whose counselors are not multiculturally aware were elaborated upon. The limitations of traditional teaching methods for multicultural learning were discussed. The importance of combining traditional methods with experiential learning was explored. In particular, using a group format as a method for enhancing understanding and awareness was discussed. A study was run to measure the effectiveness of a group discussion experience on increasing the multicultural awareness of MBA students with a concentration in international business. Results were shown to support the effectiveness of the group format. Strengths, limitation, and recommendations for future research were also elaborated upon.