Where is Waldo?! Challenging our Approach to Equity in Counseling
Presenter Name(s)
John Nwosu
Target Audience
Middle
Secondary
Independent
Counselor Educator, Supervisor
Post-secondary/Admissions
Abstract
How are Waldo and equity related? “Where is Waldo?” presupposes that Waldo exists. We tend to assume the opposite when it comes to bias and discrimination. We want to believe that “those things" don’t happen "here" even in the face of disparate outcomes. In this experiential session participants will explore topics designed to reduce discrimination: udpates in multicultural and social justice counseling competencies, implicit and explicit bias research, structural marginalization, and tools for increasing equity.
Description
How are Waldo and equity related? “Where is Waldo?” presupposes that Waldo exists. We tend to assume the opposite when it comes to bias and discrimination. Kids of all ages invest considerable time and patience searching for Waldo, but in the age of colorblindness we fail to search for bias and discrimination with a similar level of commitment often because we don’t believe they exist in our space. Both public and private institutions in our society continue to reproduce disparate outcomes with respect to race, gender, and other marginalized group statuses. We now know more about bias than ever before. The data, contributed from many fields of study, suggest that biases are pervasive - we all have them - and have a significant impact on our interactions and outcomes.
In this interactive session participants will explore topics designed to identify and reduce discrimination. We’ll first discuss the difference between equity and equality and take a brief look at the most recent multicultural and social justice counseling competencies. We’ll then use experiential learning activities to explore theories of implicit and explicit bias and also take a look at findings from recent reserach. Participants will then learn about structural marginalization. Next they will engage in group activities designed to help them learn about tools and strategies for identifying and reducing structural bias in their own setting. Participants will be provided with resources for further steps on how to increase equity in their system.
After this session participants should be able to:
- Explain major shfits in the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (2015)
- Explain what implicit and explicit bias are and how they are different
- Discuss different levels and types of marginalization
- Discuss strategies and tools for reducing structural bias in counseling systems
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