Teaching Multicultural Practice Skills in Asynchronous Online MSW Programs

Overview: Emerging resources offer specific tactics for practicing anti-racism yet there are minimal resources that provide concrete strategies on how to translate these techniques into teachable skills via asynchronous online programs. This presentation will engage participants in activities on how to infuse multicultural practice skills within their implicit and explicit curricula.Proposal text: Background & Rationale
Existing mental health systems in the United States do not meet the needs of non-dominant racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual minorities as it relates to the onset, digression, and maintenance of mental health issues (Alang, 2019; Burgess et al. 2007; Briggs et al., 2011). Multiple factors contribute to mental health disparities and adverse health outcomes among these groups due to a range of factors such as inaccessibility of high-quality mental health care services, discrimination, cultural stigma surrounding mental health care, lack of awareness about mental health, and cultural stigma surrounding mental health care (APA, 2022). As social work educators, we are tasked with filling the gap in services to marginalized populations through training social work students in best practices in working with culturally diverse groups.

CSWE and NASW, through their policies, are committed to addressing diversity including anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, and anti-racist practices which have been discussed at length in the literature (CSWE, 2022; NASW, 2021; Ramsundarsingh & Shier, 2017). Historically, social work programs had focused on developing awareness and sensitivity, and there is now recognition of the importance of concrete action in addressing these issues (Copeland & Ross, 2021).

This workshop will engage participants in activities around infusing anti-oppressive practices within the implicit and explicit curricula. Regarding the explicit curriculum, we will focus on a diversity course as well as how we infuse the material throughout the entire program. In addition, we will talk about how anti-racist/diversity concepts, ideas, etc. are taught in the implicit curriculum in the following areas: diversity committee, student advisory board, faculty advising, and the student mentoring program.

Learning Objectives
-Discuss strategies for cultivating an anti-oppressive online learning environment.
-Apply anti-oppressive practices to case scenarios, which can then be used to develop a more cultured, inclusive, and diverse curricula.
-Identify best practices for teaching multicultural practice skills in relation to anti-oppressive practices.

Teaching Methods
Presenters will begin by sharing an overview of the strategies and techniques, both in the explicit and implicit curricula, that they have incorporated into their own asynchronous online program. The workshop will then transition to a series of interactive activities centered around:

-Guided Instruction – Presenters will provide examples of existing techniques that were scaffolded within their online program and will then engage participants in developing examples to use within their own programs.

-Case Based Learning – Participants will be divided into small break-out groups to brainstorm ideas and strategies related to multicultural practice skills that they can implement in their own programs.

-Directed Discussion – Presenters will engage participants in an interactive question and answer discussion specific to growing and maintaining an anti-oppressive learning environment.

At the end of this workshop, each participant will have an action plan that includes specific techniques and strategies on teaching and implementing antiracist and multicultural practice skills suited to the needs of their program.