Practicing What We Preach: Reclaiming the Promise of Multicultural Transition Programming

Abstract

Translating multicultural research and theory into practices that improve transition outcomes for all children especially, youth who come from predominantly culturally and ethnically diverse (CED) communities, remains a substantial challenge for career transition specialists (CTSs) today. The purpose of this article was to consider the state of transition programming for CED youth with disabilities, paying particular attention to the clinical applications of Banks’s dimensions of multicultural pedagogy in addressing inequities in transition programming. In light of this discussion, a set of five research- and practice-based tips for CTSs, special education teachers, and other members of individualized transition teams are shared.

Keywords

multicultural pedagogy transition planning culture

Jamila is a 16-year-old African American student with Spina Bifida who is dominant in languages other than English. Currently, Jamila is fully included in general education classrooms with minimal support from a one-on-one aide and the school nurse. A recent family cultural assessment indicated that even though both of her mothers do not identify with any religion, she identifies as a conservative Muslim woman. Her friend Rebecca on the contrary is a 16-year-old White female student with the same disability and is classified as a native speaker of English. Rebecca regularly attends the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints. Both Jamila and Rebecca together with their families have expressed an interest in transitioning into competitive employment after high school. Specifically, Jamila would like to pursue a career in law enforcement, whereas Rebecca would like to be a full-time youth pastor.

Arguably, Jamila is more susceptible to numerous barriers on multiple fronts based on her racial, gender, cultural, and religious identity in ways that are different from Rebecca’s experiences. For instance, Jamila may experience wage discrimination as is true for many women with disabilities and in addition, face unwarranted scrutiny and suspicion because of her “hijab”—a religious garb worn by some Muslim women. On the contrary, Rebecca is comparatively less likely to be discriminated against based on her racial identity even though she may also face wage discrimination. Even so, it is important to note there is a range of unique resources available to Jamila, such as scholarships for female Muslim students of color; resources that may not be available to Rebecca.

The persistent opportunity gaps in transition programming between young adults with disabilities from mainstream communities and peers from predominantly nonmainstream cultural and ethnic backgrounds have been well documented in the literature and continue to raise concerns among stakeholders. Young adults from predominantly nonmainstream ethnic and cultural communities are often less likely to receive transition programs that comply with Indicator 13 requirements (Landmark & Zhang, 2013), experience better employment outcomes (Trainor, 2008; Trainor, Murray, & Kim, 2014), postsecondary education success (Newman, Wagner, Cameto, & Knokey, 2009), and satisfaction with the transition experience (Geenen, Powers, Lopez-Vasquez, & Bersani, 2003; Rueda, Monzo, Shapiro, Gomez, & Blacher, 2005; Schuster, Timmons, & Moloney, 2003). In response, scholars have presented a range of proposals and offered emerging practice- and research-based evidence that have increased our understanding of how to bridge the gaps. Specifically, experts have advocated for multicultural pedagogies; particularly those that value students’ cultural and ethnic resources as capital to build upon rather than as a barrier to learning (Kea, 2008; Povenmire-Kirk, Bethune, Alverson, & Kahn, 2015; Trainor et al., 2014).

Teachers who have adopted a multicultural pedagogy have the ability to act as change agents in their schools to help narrow the opportunity gaps and encourage more equitable schooling experiences for culturally and ethnically diverse (CED) students (Achola & Greene, 2016; Banks, 2007; Cochran-Smith, 2004; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 2009). More importantly, the multicultural pedagogies appear to have a positive influence on student outcomes. Empirical research in fields other than transition programming provides compelling evidence that multicultural pedagogy positively affects student academic outcomes and intergroup relations (Carjuzaa, 2012; Falbo & de Baessa, 2006; Zirkel, 2008). An extensive review by Zirkel (2008), for example, noted that all five dimensions of multicultural educational conceived by Banks (2007) have a strong, positive impact on the educational outcomes of students of color and improved intergroup relations. In addition, the study found that multicultural educational practices have benefits for the academic outcomes of all students regardless of ethnic backgrounds.

Dimensions of Multicultural Pedagogies

Multicultural pedagogy is a multidimensional concept whose scope is often broadly defined. However, researchers have noted the emerging consensus about its aims. A common theme that scholars underscore is that multicultural practices strive to promote equitable access and rigorous academic achievement for students from all diverse groups, so they can work toward creating a more just society. Banks’s (2005) definition summarizes the aims of multicultural pedagogy as follows:

Multicultural education incorporates the idea that all students regardless of their gender and social class and their ethnic, racial, or cultural characteristics should have an equal opportunity to learn in school. Another important idea in multicultural education is that some students, because of these characteristics, have a better chance to learn in schools as they are currently structured than do students who belong to other groups or who have different cultural characteristics. (p. 3)

Banks (2007) highlights five dimensions of multicultural pedagogy including content integration, knowledge construction, equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction, and an empowering school culture. Table 1 illustrates the five dimensions. The current article outlines ways in which transition professionals can implement Banks’s multicultural dimensions to meet the needs of young adults who live in diverse communities.

Table 1.

Dimensions of Multicultural Pedagogy (Banks, 2007).

Dimension	Definition	Application to transition	Example
1. Content integration	The infusion of “ethnic and cultural content” from multiple cultures into the curriculum.	Consider additional transition domains and activities—other than employment, postsecondary education, and independent living.	Include participation in faith communities, ethnic studies courses, minority-owned businesses, HBCUs.
2. Knowledge construction	Teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine the implicit cultural assumptions, within a discipline.	Investigate the implicit cultural assumptions underlying the transition planning process including activities related to key domains such as employment, independent living, and PSE.	Discuss the concept of financial independence as a value underlying planning for postsecondary employment.
3. Equity pedagogy	Teachers use different methods to enable young adults from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural groups to be successful.	CTSs modify their practices so that they use a wide range of strategies and planning techniques.	Use person-family-centered approaches. Use culturally competent paraprofessional to engage families. Use culturally adapted transition plans.
4. Prejudice reduction	Teachers help students form positive attitudes toward people who are different from themselves.	Young adults are given access to transition activities that allow students to interact meaningfully with individuals who come from different cultural, ethnic, age, racial, gender, economic and other social backgrounds.	Male students complete internship activities at a facility that supports women who have experienced domestic abuse.
5. Empowering school culture and organization	Empowering school culture and organization that promotes gender, racial, and social-class equity.	CTS move beyond individual classrooms and focus on the total school culture—examining how to make it more equitable.	CTSs examine resource allocation, school policies, grouping practices, disproportionality in transition outcomes, how families are supported, and decision-making structures.

Note. HBCU = historically Black colleges and universities; CTS = career transition specialist; PSE = postsecondary education.

Research and Practice-Based Tips for Career Transition Specialists (CTSs)

Tip 1: Highlight the Multiple Areas of Overlap Between Disability and Other Markers of Social Difference

Special education professionals in general, often overlook the complexities inherent in the intersections of race, social class, ethnicity, gender, disability, and culture and tend to think of their students of color as belonging to one identity category, usually the identity related to their disability (Irvine, 2012). Instead of focusing on a single identity marker, such as disability, when considering opportunities for diverse content integration, emphasis should be placed on how the different forms of identity markers overlap and intersect to create unique opportunities and set of needs for each young adult with a disability. By identifying the intersections, the CTSs begin to understand why a particular “diversity resource” may be a good fit for one student yet remain inappropriate for another student with similar demographic characteristics.

Because the lived realities of children with disabilities are often shaped by many different factors and social dynamics operating at the same time; an appropriate content for a CED child with a disability, to the extent possible, should also align well with the students’ gender, cultural, language, and other important identities. For example, it may be inappropriate for a CTS to recommend a historically Black college and university (HBCU) for Jamila based on her racial identity without determining whether her identity as a Muslim woman conflicts with practices common in nonreligious HBCUs. To illustrate further, when applying the dimension of content integration in the context of intersecting identities, a CTS may do the following:

Connect Jamila and Rebecca with postsecondary education (PSE) resources available to all individuals with disabilities, as well as resources that are specific to other marginalized groups. Examples include scholarships for all students paired with scholarships for women of color and mentorships for women affiliated with religious groups. In addition, because many organizations that support other marginalized groups rarely consider the needs of individuals with disabilities, it is important to prepare the young women to be ready to advocate for relevant disability-related supports.

Include an annual transition goal on personal safety training for the two women. Young women, and especially women with disabilities, are susceptible to gender-based violence and harassment in college campuses (Bonomi, Nichols, Kammes, & Green, 2017).

Explore HBCUs, predominantly White institutions and Hispanic Serving Institutions. HBCUs have been described as “hidden gems” that are often absent from conversations about strategies to promote career readiness for diverse students and high-need communities (Banks & Gibson, 2016). By offering these opportunities, the CTS also engages in prejudice reduction because the students have an opportunity to interact with individuals who are different from them.

Tip 2: Begin With Assets in Mind

An asset-based perspective allows practitioners to identify opportunities available in diverse communities, especially resources indigenous to specific individuals, families, and communities by shifting the focus to strengths. Instead of designing the transition plan around the students’ areas of growth, practitioners using the asset-based framework highlight how students can benefit from the variety of resources, talents, strengths, and opportunities available within their families and communities. The asset-based perspective likely leads to knowledge construction particularly when the transition team members engage in deeper conversations about the indigenous resources, focusing on why the resources are important. For example, because Jamila speaks multiple languages, during the individualized transition-program meeting, the transition team may dialogue about the need for Jamila to explore employment opportunities for individuals who speak multiple languages alongside options available to monolingual citizens. In this meeting, team members have an opportunity to discuss, investigate, and determine the implicit assumptions and implications for the different career options leading to a better understanding.

In addition, the CTS demonstrates appropriate content integration by recognizing that language is an important expression of Jamila’s culture; one that positively affects future employment options for her. The opportunity is here for practitioners to expand the repertoire of postschool options for CED students beyond the typical transition practices.

The core design of the transition plan starts by foregrounding assets, talents, and opportunities available for students. In the case of Jamila, these include, professionals in her faith community (female police officer in her mosque), other local law enforcement officers of color, parents, and extended family (cousin). Likewise, Rebecca is able to benefit from an employment opportunity that is centered around her faith community in addition to support from her family. By starting with assets, CTSs gain access to an extensive inventory of diverse content to be integrated in the transition plans. A point to consider is that while religious identity is a central feature of the home discourse for many CED youth, the secular context of public schools, including hostile attitudes regarding spirituality, may present an obstacle to the explicit attention to matters of religious identity and faith.

Tip 3: Diversity-Informed Resource Mapping

CTSs often conduct community-mapping exercises to identify public and private resources relevant to the needs of their students. Commonly, a needs assessment is done to identify resources that apply to a wide range of students, and from there, a plan is created. This is by far the most common community mapping practice, and where most of the mapping efforts are directed. An alternative starting point is the diversity-informed mapping—the targeted mapping of personal, local, and institutional assets of a community relevant to the needs of CED students and their families. What is different about the diversity-informed resource mapping is that it is an intentional process that seeks to identify assets tailored to diverse students and their families. Such resources may include minority-owned businesses, minority advocacy groups, Hispanic serving universities, HBCUs, and CED professionals who offer mentorship. A diversity-informed approach to resource mapping is effective because it expands the catalog of options for CED students by recognizing the existing “invisible” resources. Accordingly, transition professionals must aim to acquaint themselves with indigenous assets and restructure resource mapping to produce more consonance between the cultural and ethnic elements of the student, family, community, and school by creating new relationships with relevant community partners. Diversity-informed mapping illustrates equity pedagogy wherein the practitioner modifies strategies to create additional opportunities for CED learners. Table 2 illustrates an example of a diversity-informed resource map relevant for Jamila and Rebecca.

Table 2.

Diversity-Informed Resource Map.

Transition domain	Resource	Description	Primary category	Supports (examples)	Contacts	Sample transition activities
PSE	AAUW	Nonprofit organization that advances equity for women/girls through advocacy, education, and research	Female students At-risk youths	Campus safety: sexual assault: legal advocacy	Website: www.aauw.org/ Phone: 202.785.7700 Email: connect@aauw.org	With the support of her parents, Rebecca will register for the campus safety workshop organized by AAUW.
Employment	SF LGBT Center	Nonprofit organization serving the LGBTQ population of San Francisco and nearby California communities	LGBTQ	Employment programs Immigration Counseling Mentoring Cultural programs	Website: http://www.sfcenter.org Phone: 415 865-5,522 Email: AlbertoL@ SFCenter.org	Jamila will volunteer at the SF LGBT center to learn more about more about community dialogues between law enforcement and the LGBTQ community.
Adult/independent living skills	Financial literacy and education commission	Government agency that offers support relevant to financial literacy	Broad range of groups	Financial literacy	Website:http://www.mymoney.gov Email: OFE@treasury.gov	Rebecca will take the online money quiz to assess her knowledge of the five financial principles.

Note. PSE = postsecondary education; AAUW = American Association of University Women; SF= San Francisco; LGBTQ = lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning.

Tip 4: Use the Assessment Process to Promote Knowledge Construction

One of the most important things CTSs can do to promote knowledge construction is to use the assessment process as an opportunity to dialogue with families and students about assumptions and rationale for transition-related activities. When administering transition assessments, CTSs need to consider not only the relevant information to be gathered, but also how to use the assessment process to listen to students and families and explain the rationale for the transition process in terms of anticipated outcomes and cultural assumptions underlying the activities. For example, when completing the family cultural assessment for Jamila, the CTS has the opportunity to dialogue with her family about the benefits of a career in law enforcement as well as implications of her faith in terms of opportunities and potential conflicts. In this discussion, the CTS and family may determine that a career in law enforcement has a number of benefits for Jamila including stable income, opportunities to serve marginalized communities, and health care benefits. In addition, the team may examine assumptions associated with employment in law enforcement, such as self-sufficiency and adherence to hierarchy in relation to the five pillars of Islam.

Tip 5: Use Consultation Strategies to Create an Empowering School Culture

CTSs are expected to consult with high school special education teachers and other personnel involved in transition planning to meet the demands of a wide range of students across multiple settings. This responsibility offers CTSs an avenue to contribute toward creating an empowering school culture that promotes gender, racial, and social-class equity. It is important for transition specialists to devote attention to providing effective consultation and leadership by coaching other transition personnel on how to implement multicultural pedagogy in specific classrooms in addition to consulting with administrators to create supportive policies. Such consultations may focus on a range of topics, including how to support young women of color and young adults from faith communities in public schools. The problem-solving and performance feedback (Kampwirth & Powers, 2016; Kratochwill, Elliott, & Stoiber, 2002) consultation models are but two examples of effective models that can be adopted.

Final Thoughts

The question of how to implement multicultural pedagogy in ways that affect student transition outcomes is of primary importance for many transition professionals. As illustrated above, the five dimensions of multicultural pedagogy provide a framework upon which transition specialists can enhance equity for both Jamila and Rebecca in three important ways. First, practitioners can use the framework to expand the repertoire of transition services and postschool options for the students by foregrounding student, family, and community assets, such as multilingualism, extended family, and institutions indigenous to diverse communities (e.g., HBCUs and minority owned businesses). Many of the unique assets and talents within diverse communities are rarely acknowledged in mainstream approaches to transition planning. Second, the practitioners anticipate and address specific barriers unique to CED youth with disabilities, such as religious and wage discrimination, sexism, abelism, and racism. More importantly, using Banks (2007) dimensions, the practitioners influence the overall school culture to promote systemic reforms necessary to sustain long-term change.

It is possible, however, that not all multicultural strategies work in all contexts. A range of factors including the desire for schools, teachers, and families to adopt a comprehensive approach to multicultural pedagogy in transition planning may influence overall success. It should be noted that variations in contexts and the diversity within cultural groups warrant diverse approaches, strategies, and procedures to effectively implement multicultural pedagogy in transition planning. Even more, there is a substantial potential for further development of multicultural pedagogy in transition planning, both through its alignment with other research-based practices and its appeal among a growing number of transition professionals seeking to improve the postschool outcomes of CED learners. School personnel are challenged to fully adopt and implement multicultural pedagogy by building the school’s capacity for delivering comprehensive, culturally relevant transition programming through targeted and sustained professional development activities.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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