The development of group healing storytelling model in multicultural counselling services in Indonesian schools: Examination of disciplinary cases

Introduction. Discipline is a form of behaviour reflecting responsibility in a person and is essential to be applied to students. However, in reality, many students commit disciplinary violations at school. Therefore, social care teachers must provide innovative services to eliminate disciplinary violations. One such example is the narrative storytelling model presented in the form of healing stories, which can be applied to develop knowledge, feeling, social skills, and appreciation. Storytelling can play a very helpful role in counselling because stories reflect cultural laws, ethics, as well as in governing daily rules behaviour and guide decision-making.Aim. The current research is aimed to demonstrate group healing storytelling model in multicultural counselling services in schools for disciplinary case management.Methodology and research methods. This research methodology is based on the ADDIE (Analysis Design Development Implementation Evaluations) model. The participants of this study were 60 students at Muhammadiyah Palangkaraya Senior High School (Palangkaraya, Indonesia). The research instruments for the verification of group healing storytelling model in multicultural counselling services involved front group discussion (FGD), questionnaires, and Likert scale to examine student discipline data.Results and scientific novelty. The present research provides group healing storytelling model based in multicultural counselling services by applying aspects of local culture in Indonesia, namely ‘Huma Betang' (local culture in central Kalimantan, Indonesia). The authors developed a narrative storytelling model consisting of objectives and intervention stages. The strengths and weaknesses of this model were analysed. Based on the data analysis, this model can be used to improve disciplinary behaviour. The results of statistical analysis show that disciplinary behaviour has increased after the provision of healing storytelling services.Practical significance. Based on the research results, the authors recommend this model for disciplinary case handlers. This model is also effective to integrate the components of socio-cultural context in curriculum planning. The present model is easily to accept because it has the uniformity with the culture of counsellee. However, it is limited to a cultural context, so it will be complicated to implement it in a different cultural environment.

Acculturation Challenges Faced by Malaysian Muslim Students Studying Abroad

Every year, thousands of Malaysian students are sent to study abroad by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) which causes several underestimated stress, especially those faced by the Muslims. This qualitative study aimed to explore the challenges of acculturation among Malaysian Muslim students studying abroad. The researchers adopted a phenomenological design approach to develop in-depth understanding of the topic. The six respondents in the study were former Malaysian students studying in Australia, the United States of America, South Korea, India, Jordan, and the United Kingdom. The respondents were interviewed, and the interview protocol guided the interview until the data reached saturation. The data obtained were analyzed in stages, starting with descriptive coding, topic coding, analytical coding, and themes identification. This process was done using Atlas. ti 8 software. The main findings highlight two research themes: the challenges to expose Islamic identity and practicing the Islamic lifestyle. Findings also suggest that Malaysian Muslim students should consider improving Islamic knowledge as it reflects the impressions of other religions on Muslims as a whole. This study’s findings are important for the student sponsorship and student welfare section of the university in providing an appropriate counselling program for international students dealing with acculturation issues. We also suggest that future research explore acculturation challenges to identify the holistic need of the multicultural counselling service.

Psychometric Properties of the Multicultural Counselling Competence Training Survey-Revised (MCCTS-R): Application for Counsellor Trainees in Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the translated and adapted Multicultural Counselling Competence and Training Survey-Revised (MCCTS-R) for its use in measuring perceived multicultural counselling competence among counsellor trainees in Malaysia. This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 208 counsellor trainees from local universities. They were chosen through cluster random sampling. The drawing procedure was done using a fishbowl method. At the time of data collection, the counsellor trainees were at the end of their counselling internship in various organisations around Klang Valley and East Malaysia during the study. Based on the factor analysis, the three-factor structure, which was the same as the original version, was confirmed with 20 items retained. For reliability, internal consistency and construct reliability were evaluated and confirmed. The finding showed that internal consistency was α = .952 and construct reliability was .882. In addition, MCCTS-R was found to have good construct validity based on the corrected item-total correlation value, which varied from r = .533 - .756. The convergent validity value obtained from the confirmatory factor analysis was .714. Overall, the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the adapted MCCTS-R were all confirmed in this study. The high reliability and good validity indicate that MCCTS-R can successfully be used by counsellor trainees across gender and ethnicity. The findings can be a starting point for multicultural counselling to gain greater focus from the counselling academia and professionals as it gives a mere reflection of counsellor trainees perceived multicultural counselling competence.

EXPLORING COUNSELLORS’ UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTICE OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELLING IN MALAYSIA

Background and Purpose: In order to make counselling meaningful and culturally relevant, it is essential for counsellors to have a practical counselling model that is context-specific and matches the needs and values of the population of that specific culture. Hence, the present research aims to explore professional counsellors’ understanding and practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia. Methodology: This study adopted a complementarity mixed-method research design using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gauge the different features of multicultural counselling competency. Findings: Malaysian professional counsellors, as a group, perceived themselves to be multiculturally competent. The most challenging cases encountered by Malaysian counsellors were (a) counselling culturally challenging clients (i.e., culturally different clients), (b) counselling culturally challenging issues/problems (culturally sensitive and complicated issues/problems in Malaysia), and (c) managing personal challenges (dealing with personal cultural and social issues in counselling). Thematic analysis also revealed three emergent themes to describe how Malaysian counsellors engage with culture and diversity in counselling and these themes broadly resembled the three stages of the general counselling process: pre-counselling, during counselling and post-counselling. Contributions: This research adds to the multicultural counselling literature by generating knowledge regarding the understanding and practice of multicultural counselling in the local socio-political context. Education and training organizations should recognize the critical importance of infusing multicultural counselling education into all subjects and training programs in counsellor education programs and training of novice counsellors in order for it to be seamlessly incorporated into counselling practice. Keywords: Culture and diversity, Malaysian counselling, multicultural counselling competency, multicultural counselling practice, multicultural counselling understanding. Cite as: Mohd Jaladin, R. A., Simmonds, J. G., Greenway, P., & Barkatsas, T. (2021). Exploring counsellors’ understanding and practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 323-350. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp323-350

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLORS’ PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELLING IN MALAYSIA: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Background and Purpose: The contemporary status of multicultural counselling field in Malaysia is ambiguous as there is limited research in this field. Even though Malaysia is deemed as a multicultural nation, there are still some issues and concerns with regards to the understanding and practice of multicultural counselling. Hence, the present research aims to: (a) explore the definitions of the term ‘multicultural counselling’ as perceived by professional counsellors; (b) identify the dimensions of multicultural competence as perceived by counsellors’ community sample; (c) identify the characteristics of a multiculturally competent counsellor; and (d) explore the most challenging cases or anecdotes experienced by professional counsellors when counselling culturally different clients in the local context. Methodology: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were employed to gather 22 professional counsellors’ reflections on lived counselling experiences and their perceptions of multicultural counselling concepts. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data, but with some adaptation to suit the functions of NVivo 9. Findings: Several themes and categories emerged based on four probing topics (understanding of multicultural counselling, definition of multicultural competence, characteristics of a multiculturally competent counsellor, and challenging multicultural cases). Contributions: The results seem to suggest that Malaysian counsellors need to continuously engage in professional development training and to actively seek practice opportunities with culturally diverse clients. The education sector and local professional bodies for counsellors also need to better train and educate pre- and in-service counsellors in order to become multiculturally competent practitioners. Keywords: Counsellor education and training, Malaysian counselling profession, multicultural counselling, multicultural counselling competency, professional counsellors. Cite as: Aga Mohd Jaladin, R., Simmonds, J. G., & Joseph, C. (2020). Professional counsellors’ perceptions and experiences of multicultural counselling in Malaysia: a qualitative study. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(2), 261-281. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp261-281

Forgiveness among Javanese Ethnic Students: A Mountainous, Highland, Lowland, and Coastal Culture Background Comparison

It has been repeatedly documented in the scientific literature that culture plays an important role in forgiveness. However, research of mountainous, highland, lowland and coastal culture related to forgiveness was rare. The goal of this study was to describe the comparison of forgiveness among Javanese ethnic students who had been raised in mountainous, highland, lowland, and coastal culture background. Forgiveness Scale developed to obtain the data was adapted from TRIM and has been tested for its reliability and validity using the Rasch model. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis (H) test, and Mann-Whitney (U) posthoc test were used to analyze the data. The result showed an insignificant difference in forgiveness but showed a significant difference in lessen-avoidance motivation. This finding had practical implications in multicultural counselling, especially in promoting forgiveness to various counselees. For a more comprehensive understanding, further research in forgiveness motives is required.

MULTICULTURAL COUNSELLING WITH THE TECHNIQUE OF PARABLE A DIACOGNITIVE ANALYSIS

The study aimed to increase cultural awareness through multicultural counselling services using the technique of parable. The parable used in the study was the parable of the Good Samaritan, while the method applied in the study was the diacognitive analysis method (dialogue, position, and cognition). Research results have shown that a counsellor who uses a parable technique can make a counselee have multicultural awareness. A counsellor must have data and information relating to the opposition of ethnicity and religiosity. A counsellor should have cultural considerations, cultural knowledge, cultural understanding and cultural competencies. Moreover, most importantly, the counsellor has the compassion to the counselee, because, through „compassion‟, there will be a shift from self-independent to self-interdependent, that is to "be there-for-others".

Development of a continuous professional development training module based on multicultural counselling competency for professional counsellors in Malaysia

The aim of this study was to develop a continuous professional development training module based on multicultural counselling competency for professional counsellors in Malaysia. The research methodology comprised three phases: (i) training need assessment using survey method, (ii) module design and development and (iii) module evaluation using an experimental design. First, the Multicultural Counselling Competency Survey-Malaysian Counsellor Edition questionnaire was used to collect data from 116 professional counsellors from various work settings. The results clearly indicated the need for continuous professional development training to enhance counsellors’ multicultural counselling competency. The development of the training module adopted Sidek’s model, a Malaysian-based framework for module development. The developed training module was then evaluated for its effectiveness through analysing its content validity and reliability. Results revealed that the training module scored high content validity value of 77.2% (0.77) and satisfactory reliability level (alpha Cronbach’s coefficient value of 0.75). The overall findings of the present research imply that the continuous professional development training module is necessary for enhancing multicultural counselling competency of Malaysian professional counsellors.