Minority Populations and Traditional Counseling Programs: Some Alternatives

Racial and ethnic minority group members are now recognizing the need for relevant counseling services. Many counselor education programs, however, have not addressed this issue. While some counselor educators support the need for innovative counselor training programs for those who expect to work in pluralistic settings, others believe that traditional programs can meet the needs of all populations. This article describes why counselor training incorporating the needs of racial and ethnic minorities is needed and provides four models: (a) the separate course model; (b) the area of concentration model; (c) the interdisciplinary model; and (d) the integration model, which may be used in program development and implementation.     

Normalisation: An analysis of aspects of special educational needs

An exploration of the governmental policy, prison works, and its attendant recidivism provides the general opening. The 1944 Education Act is then taken as furnishing the medical model of personal handicap and deficiency which informed special education at an early stage. The Warnock Report's attempt to shift considerations to educational grounds is examined with a particular focus upon the ensuing definition of special needs and its legacy in legislation following the 1981 Act to the present. Foucault's concept of normalisation is the basis for analysis of the normative elements in the main features of the national curriculum and testing. This latter together with aspects of the 1988 Education Reform Act are examined with regard to their impact upon special educational needs. The conclusions are that 'education works' and the rediscovery of the medical model of personal deficiency.