Education Commons^™

Developing Counseling Students’ Multicultural Competence Through The Multicultural Action Project, Carlos Hipolito-Delgado, Jennifer Cook, Elaine Avrus, Erica Bonham

Carlos P. Hipolito-Delgado

The Multicultural Action Project (MAP) is a cultural immersion project that requires counseling students to engage with diverse cultural com- munities on 3 levels: observation, information seeking, and action. To ascertain if participating in MAP improved the multicultural competence of graduate counseling students, the authors conducted an evaluation in which narrative analysis was used to examine the experiences of 3 graduate counseling students who participated in MAP. Through their narratives, the participants reported increased knowledge, awareness, and skills. The importance of sustained contact and interpersonal re- lationships in improving student learning outcomes is discussed and recommendations are provided.