ERIC Number: EJ773066
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 32
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0380-2361
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Racial/Cultural Identity: Transformation among School-Based Mental Health Professionals Working in Nunavut
Wihak, Christine; Merali, Noorfarah
Canadian Journal of Education, v30 n1 p291-322 2007
Eight non-Aboriginal school counselors, who temporarily lived in Nunavut to provide services to Inuit clients, were interviewed regarding changes in their sense of self and their racial/cultural identity as a result of cross-cultural immersion. They were also engaged in an arts-based exercise where they pictorially represented perceived self-changes. Analysis of counsellors' narratives of their experiences in Nunavut and their art work revealed an increasing awareness of their "Whiteness" and their participation in the colonizing culture. The counsellors also displayed changes in cultural worldview that directly paralleled the socio-centric and ecocentric nature of the Inuit culture, precipitating culturally sensitive counseling practice. (Contains 6 figures.)
Descriptors: Eskimos, School Counselors, Mental Health Workers, Counseling Techniques, Racial Identification, Cultural Influences, Ethnicity, Canada Natives, Self Concept, Cultural Awareness, Personal Narratives, Art Products, Consciousness Raising, Whites, Counselor Client Relationship, Cultural Pluralism
Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE). 260 Dalhousie Street Suite 204, Ottawa, ON K1N 7E4, Canada. Tel: 613-241-0018; Fax: 613-241-0019; e-mail: csse-scee@csse.ca; Web site: http://www.csse.ca/CJE/General.htm
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Counselors
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A