Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Praxis Paper
Javier Rodriguez
Northern Illinois University
PRAXIS PAPER 2
Theoretical Model
Approach. This model focuses on an approach that uses a person’s culture to address
the issues that women and other marginalized individuals mostly encounter. This theory
their ideas about what people of a marginalized class go through. It also values the idea
that in order to understand what a person of color who is suffering from mental health
issues is going through. You must be open to learning their traditions, values, and
cultural background. By understanding a person’s culture, one can internalize what this
person is going through and get a better understanding of what they are going through.
one described. I believe that in order to understand a person, you must be able to
understand them through a culturally competent lens. In many cases, the typical college
student is not eighteen, White, and part of the middle/upper-middle class anymore.
More and more students of color are attending colleges and universities at much higher
rates than before. Many of whom come from a marginalized background and hold their
culture and multiple identities near and dear to them. As future student affairs
Theoretical Assumptions
Along the lines of this approach, I believe that there are some theoretical
assumptions that align with my own beliefs. The first assumption is contact; this
assumption describes the notion that in order to be successful with a client and be open
with them to make changes, you must have direct contact with the individual that
increases the likelihood of changes in both the client and counselor. This assumption is
important when working with students because it allows counselors to get more
The second assumption that aligns with my values includes empathy. This
assumption describes the way in which counselors try and literately feel what the client
values because it offers an opportunity to get a better understanding of your client and
need the connection and trust of a person in order to open up. As future student affairs
professionals we should be empathetic to students and not just go through the motions
of sessions.
The third and final assumption is the assumption of congruence. This assumption
states that in order to be a successful helper you must be able to be real and genuine.
In other words, you must be self-aware of your role as a helper and as an individual.
You must also be aware of how your perception of yourself and your lived experience
are connected. It is essential in understanding clients when they come to you for help.
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My reasoning for using these assumptions is because they all focus on the
individual person and seek to get a deeper understanding of what the client is going
through. Through these assumptions, counselors are able to understand people of color
and other marginalized individuals. The theory emphasizes the idea that in order to
understand a person you must approach their issues with an understanding of their
cultural identity. Culture is one identity of a person, and these assumptions help
Latino working in student affairs, I often find myself in the presence of students of color
and other marginalized individuals seeking my guidance. I can see the reason for them
coming to me was due to the identity I poses as a person of color and marginalized
multicultural/feminist approach. The reason they go well together is because this theory
looks at the identity of a person through a deeper more personal and cultural lens.
These assumptions are important to have because they allow you to get a deeper
Limitations
Some limitations to this theory pose very damaging realities for students of color
and for student’s affair professionals. On the one hand this framework is relevant
especially if you are working with student of color and other marginalized groups.
However, to fully grasp and understand this theory is a constant challenge and may not
always yield the results one may seek. Due to the current way in which counseling is set
up, this theory is relatively new and has not been tested to often or at all. For this
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reason, it is limited to those who make it their priority to understand and grasp the
concept. For professionals who are unaware of the struggles that students of color and
other marginalized classes face, they may find themselves fighting an uphill battle in
terms of understanding and actually putting the theory into practice. This theory is
difficult to grasp because unless you are actually a person who shares the identity of a
marginalized group, it may not seem very important to you to actually learn and
understand.
there is some good research out there on the matter, it is not efficient enough to
conclude that this theory actually proves successful when put into practice. Some
colleges and universities are still using outdated research methods to try to help
students of marginalized identities. Due to the lack of research and the fact that this
theory is relatively new, we may not see it utilized often or even at all.
Application
Although this theory may not have enough research behind it to prove
successful, it does work in my case. As future student affairs professional, I have used
this theory in a number of ways. I use it to advocate, educate, and understand the
students I work with. For me this is important because I am one of the only people of
One instance I have attempted to use this theory in real life is when I am
advocating for students. I consider myself an advocate for the undocumented student
population. The group on campus referred to as DREAM Acton NIU is a group that
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advocates for social justice and immigrant rights. This is especially important because
as a person of color and a Latino I have made efforts to spread awareness of immigrant
rights and the safety of our undocumented students on campus. I advocate by attending
rallies and meetings discussing immigrant rights and coming up with ways to help
due to their marginalized identity I make it a priority to let the rest of my office and other
departments know. When members of White Europa, a national hate group were going
around posting flyers about them and their organization, many students were fearful.
They were scared that they would come to campus to spread messages of hate. When
I made it my goal to educate my bosses and other colleagues, so that they knew exactly
whom these people were and how they are using scare tactics to discourage a
both students and my colleagues on issues of discrimination tie into this theory because
lens.
The last and final application I use this theory for within student affairs is to
understand and get others to understand individual’s cultural identity. When our office is
conducting Homecoming royalty, we used to identify gender specific winners (i.e. King
and Queen). More recently, we have moved to gender nonspecific winners and just call
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them Homecoming royalty where gender does not matter. This was a difficult topic for
me to understand, and it was just as difficult for the students which whom I worked with.
However, I made it my goal to try to understand the transgender community and sought
information from those who were well aware of this group and the culture they poses.
Utilizing the information, I was able to educate my students enough for them to
understand and grasp the dynamics of the transgender culture. This was an important
task for me and it ties into the theory of Multiculturalism/feminist because in order for me
to help the students I work with, I must be able to educate and understand the cultures
myself.
Conclusion
meaning of individuals through their cultural identity. By using their identity, counselors
and student affairs professional can get a deeper understanding of the issues and
injustices they face. Understanding these identities can help professionals reach their
students and become very affective counselors. Limitations for this theory include lack
of resources and research on the subject. This can prove problematic because of the
increase in students of color and other marginalized groups attending college. If their
cultural identity can not be understood then how can student affairs professionals and
counselors help them? I use this theory often to approach my students, and I believe
that it is an effective theory because it highlights a group of people that are not always