PROMOTING MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE

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PROMOTING MULTICULTURALCOMPETENCE

• Tools for Transition Professionals
• Lauren Lindstrom, Jim Martin, Audrey Trainor
• DCDT Conference
• October 18 20, 2007

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LAY OF THE LAND

• An intro
• Professional development strategies and training
  tools
• Lauren Lindstrom staff training
• Jim Martin student directed planning doctoral
  training program
• Audrey Trainor HRCD activities
• Wrap-up/Lessons learned

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WHAT COLOR IS A ZEBRA ?

• It is claimed that white people in the US
  generally consider the zebra to be a white animal
  with black stripes,most Africans consider it to
  be a black animal with white stripes. (Berlitz,C.
  ,Native Tongues.New YorkPutnam,1982)

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WHO ARE WE?
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WHY FOCUS ON DIVERSITY?
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WHY FOCUS ON DIVERSITY?

• Changing demographics in public schools
• Need for professional development and staff
  training
• Cultural values influence transition

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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DIVERSE?

• Youth who are
• African American
• Native American Indian
• Latino
• From low income families
• As well as
• Youth who speak English as a second language
  and/or have undocumented or immigrant status.

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HOW CAN WE PROMOTE MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE?

• Increase awareness and skills of existing
  transition personnel
• Recruit and support development of new
  professionals from diverse groups
• Get involved in advocacy efforts!

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STAFF TRAINING TOOLS

• TRAINING NEEDS
• General cultural information
• Strategies for at risk youth
• Language information
• Working with immigrant families
• Community supports

• Diversity Survey
• Teachers/Admin.
• Transition Specialists
• VR Counselors

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SELF ASSESSMENT TOOL

• Purpose of the instrument
• Training activities
• Results

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TRANSITION SCENARIOS

• Review scenario
• How did you find your own perspective and biases
  emerging through your discussion and reactions?
• What can we learn from this activity?

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STUDENT DIRECTED TRANSITION PLANNING

• Purpose
• To increase student involvement in transition
  planning discussions
• U.S. Department of Education grant to develop
  lessons and research their effectiveness
• Infuse best practices for reaching the largest
  number of students including those who are
  culturally and linguistically diverse

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All lessons and associated materials can be found
atwww.ok-ahead.org/test/index.html
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Transition Planning
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SDTP Lessons
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Input Circle
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Student-Directed Summary of Performance

• Rather than just give SOP when students
• leave
• Use Student-Directed SOP to frame transition plan
  and place for transition assessment information
• Incorporates all transition assessment
• Academic, vocational, social, living
• Teach students to develop and present own SOP
• Provides framework for exit meeting
• Information flows into planning document and
  process

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Lessons learnedso far

• Familiarity with the lessons
• Making transition education a priority
• Teacher training and experience
• Sufficient time for students, teachers, and
  families to engage the lessons and activities
• Determining where to teach SDTP within the
  curriculum

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SOONER SCHOLARS

• Need to recruit, prepare, graduate, and place
  African American, Hispanic, and Native American
  special education teachers into higher education
  professor positions.
• Produce new assistant professors with an advanced
  understanding of secondary transition and
  self-determination concepts with a focus of
  research and teacher prep of students from CLD
  groups.

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Shortage of Special Education Faculty

• Enrollment in doc programs decreased by 30 past
  two decades
• Insufficient to meet need (Smith, 2003)
• About 30 of faculty searches failed due to lack
  of qualified candidates (Sindelar Rosenberg,
  2003).
• 83 of new Ph.D. Caucasian, 7 African American,
  6 Hispanic, and 1 Native American

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Change Across Time

• In the 1960s about 85 of doctoral graduates
  became higher education faculty members
• Today only about 35 go into higher education
  (Pion, Smith, Tyler, 2003)
• Part-time doctoral students less likely to choose
  higher ed positions

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Oklahoma Profile

• 11 higher ed programs offer special education
  licensure
• Two did not fill positions due to lack of
  qualified applicants
• Of the 30 or so sped faculty in OK, 5 are African
  American and 1 is Native American
• None focus on transition

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Need Role Models to Prepare Next Generation of
SPED Teachers

• Increased numbers of self-determined African
  Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans in
  leadership positions are needed to counter the
  disproportional representation of students who
  are CLD with disabilities in special education,
  and to address these students poor postschool
  transition outcomes.

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Traits Related to Going Into Higher Ed

• Desire to become college professor
• 2 to 5 years teaching experience
• Full-time student
• Bachelor in special ed
• Complete doctoral degree in 4 years or less
• Not having to relocate

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Sooner Scholars Details

• Six Sooner Scholars
• 4 Native American
• 2 African American
• Specialized Classes
• Transition Seminar
• Self-Determination Seminar
• Associated Transition and SD Research

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Sooner Scholar Details

• Recruited students nationally
• 25,000 annual stipend
• Tuition and fee waiver
• Conference attendance

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DOCTORAL TRAINING PROGRAM AT OU SOONER SCHOLARS

• ORIGINALLY A DOC STUDENT CONCEPT

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OUR SPACE

• If you are neutral in situations of injustice,
  you have chosen the side of the oppressor.  If an
  elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and
  you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not
  appreciate your neutrality. 
• Bishop Desmond Tutu

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HUMAN RIGHTS AND CULTURAL DIVERSITYCOMMITTEE

• Audrey add information (and more slides) here

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WRAP UP

• How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a
  single moment before starting to improve the
  world. 
• Anne Frank