Intensive Faculty-led International Multicultural Courses: Understanding the Perceptions from Students and Improving the Quality of Course Delivery by Faculty

Abstract

Graduate programs in counselor education have historically offered the on campus multicultural course to increase students' diversity knowledge, skills, and cultural self-awareness in order to satisfy state, national and international accreditation mandates. This article analyzes the self-reported perceptions and experiences of 21 master's level counselor education students who participated in an intensive faculty-led international course (IFLIC) as an alternative format to the traditional on campus multicultural course. The pedagogy and curriculum of the IFLIC format is cemented on current multicultural international methodologies of instruction. Subsequently, it presents an in-depth analysis of students' perceptions of their acquisition of multicultural concepts and skills, as well the role of the course's curricular and instructional components in their multicultural learning outcomes. It offers a set of recommendations based on the research findings for academic/educational/faculty developers in higher education with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of international higher education. And, it provides delivery strategies for international programs seeking effective implementation of short-term faculty-led international courses (IFLIC).