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Teachers with a classroom full of students from different backgrounds must strive to understand their students in a more holistic way to be able to gain expertise in student counselling techniques. This can be done by including their cultural traditions into their everyday lessons and activities, or even in stories used during counselling sessions so that students feel understood, comfortable, confident and become more focused on learning and trust the teacher at the same time.

Multicultural counselling is an approach to counseling where you as a teacher must understand and take into consideration that the student’s world is different than your own, and for this you need to be aware of the cultural norms of the students and get familiar with them. You need to understand that your students’ cultures play an important role in influencing their personalities, their reactions to certain things and their choices.  In multicultural counselling, the teacher also uses strategies to promote harmony in the classroom by promoting learning of other cultures and teaching healthy social skills in a multicultural setting, providing experiences that enrich the students in ways that are impossible in monocultural classes.

Using different activities and games in multicultural classrooms is an excellent way to foster inclusivity and encourage students to share their heritage and culture. It is also a beneficial way for teachers to involve students in different styles of study to immerse them in their learning. Sharing about oneself within the confines of an activity is often much easier than being asked open-ended questions and put “on the spot.” These activities can then provide a safe space for dialogue and serve as an entryway into more in-depth interactions.

If you are looking to learn more about Multi-cultural Counselling Approaches, you can enroll in counselling training courses for teachers to learn about the correct strategies and approaches that you must be armed with to help your students reach their potentials.