Students' Internal Reactions to a One‐Week Cultural Immersion Trip: A Qualitative Analysis of Student Journals

Abstract

The authors investigated the experiences of counseling students on a 1‐week cultural immersion trip to New Mexico. Students' journals were analyzed, using the open coding procedure from grounded theory. Five major categories emerged that reflected students' internal reactions to the experience. The findings and their instructional implications are discussed. Los autores investigaron las experiencias de un grupo de estudiantes de consejería durante un viaje de inmersión cultural a Nuevo México de 1 semana. Se analizaron los diarios de los estudiantes, usando el procedimiento de codificación abierta de la teoría entrañada (grounded theory). Destacaron 5 categorías principales que reflejaban las reacciones internas de los estudiantes a la experiencia. Se discuten los resultados y sus implicaciones instructivas.

Effectiveness and Relevance of Training for International Counseling Graduates: A Qualitative Inquiry

“…Open coding is an effective method for identifying, labeling, and categorizing participants' responses and experiences (Ishii et al 2009) from the data corpus. Thus, for this study, we gathered and analyzed the data through various methods including document analysis (e.g., interview transcripts), analysis of demographic information, and conducting one-on-one semi-structured interviews (see Appendix).…”

“…Open coding is the process that researchers use when examining the text of the data (e.g., transcriptions of interviews) for salient categories of information supported by the text (Corbin and Strauss 2008). In grounded theory, qualitative data are systematically collected and analyzed to generate an explanatory theory (Corbin and Strauss 2008;Creswell 2007;Ishii et al 2009). Researchers are encouraged to be flexible and creative when using grounded theory methodology (Corbin and Strauss 2008).…”

International Cultural Immersion: Assessing the Influence of a Group Intervention on Intercultural Sensitivity for Counselor Trainees

“…CI requires facilitators to create a safe environment in which counselors can challenge their existing worldviews and assumptions (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002;Barden & Cashwell, 2013;Paige et al, 2009). Group facilitators often engage trainees in educational group discussions regarding the larger socio-political-historical context of the communities in which trainees are immersed, and cultural values, beliefs, practices, and so on that individuals have encountered in the field (Alexander et al, 2005;Ishii et al, 2009), affording trainees a greater breadth and depth of understanding about the cultural context in which one is immersed. In addition to understanding content, CI positions trainees to experience being a culturally diverse "other," illustrating the struggles for minority clients and underscoring the influences of culture on behavior and the need for helping professionals to be culturally sensitive (Chung & Bemak, 2002).…”

“…Debriefing in a group format is vital to process the strong emotions triggered by CI (Chung & Bemak, 2002). Without effective group process, trainees may retreat to previously held ethnocentric views to make sense of new ideas and feelings (Chung & Bemak, 2002;Goodman & West-Olatunji, 2009;Ishii, Gilbride, & Stensrud, 2009) which can negatively impact trainees and their interactions with community members (Hui, 2009).…”

Fostering intercultural understanding through secondary school experiences of cultural immersion

“…Boylan & Munsch, 2007;Harrington & Brasche, 2011;Nuby, 2010) and university student programmes such as study abroad (e.g. Ishii, Gilbride, & Stensrud, 2009;Plante, Lackey, & Hwang, 2009). Most studies to date have involved university-aged students or teachers rather than school-aged students.…”