Multicultural supervision competency development in a technical college setting

Term

2012

Capstone

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

Abstract

This dissertation is a qualitative case study that explored a description of multicultural supervision competency development coming from the students' personal and professional perspectives after completing the multicultural supervision certificate program from Dakota County Technical College. The purpose of the study was to ask graduates to describe their developmental process of multicultural supervision competencies, and to illustrate the application of multicultural supervision to their particular work related experiences. Their views were analyzed through the Ancis and Ladany (2001, 2010) supervisor multicultural competence framework. This was primarily a qualitative study using case study methodology, but it also included the use of focus group interviews and a survey. The study indicated that the multicultural supervision certificate program provides specific conditions for learning which were described as non-traditional with a non-linear instructional style which welcomes students' active participation in an active, integrative, and inclusive learning environment. Regardless of the students' cultural background, they develop a feeling of a unique group identity where it is safe to express who they are and to expose their cultural biases, worldviews and stereotypes. Participants' responses indicate a personal transformation, and describe this process as moving from ignorance to multicultural awareness, moving from an old-self to a renew-self, moving from unawareness to acceptance, moving from fear or shyness to a feeling of comfort in a family-like atmosphere, moving from a very small world to a larger multicultural world, from being closed-minded to open-minded. Today's global community and increasingly more diverse workplace environments demand the formation of supervisors who possess multicultural supervision competencies to effectively navigate through the challenges of supervising people in the XXI Century. It is relevant to create classroom environments and instructional styles that will facilitate the self-discovery process and knowledge construction required to develop a lifelong learning approach to multicultural supervision competency development.

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