Multicultural experiential learning is defined as “the obtainment of knowledge about multicultural identities and the people within them through experiences within the self or between the self and other that goes beyond conventional classroom learning” (Donley, 2018, p. 5). Multicultural experiential learning gives trainees an opportunity to broaden their awareness of multicultural issues, personally reflect on their worldview, and understand the worldview of individuals from other cultures (Achenbach & Arthur, 2002; Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Bradt, 1997; Brown, 2002). This learning occurs in informal learning environments, such as conferences, religious and member organizations and associations, community events, civic government, and other locations of community engagement for a short period of time. Although short international trips may be considered informal learning by some educators, these trips are not included in the multicultural experiential learning supervision model. Short international trips create more complex learning environments that may make it difficult for individuals to understand and conceptualize systemic issues that impact music therapy clients there. In addition, more research is needed to understand how study abroad and international travel impact exoticism and ethnocentrism in travelers despite mixed findings (Akpovo & Nganga, 2018; Gullekson & Tucker, 2013). Multicultural experiential learning varies according to individual and group identities as well as the interactions they have among one another, their clients, peers, supervisor, and environment (Hawkins & Shohet, 2012). Multicultural experiential learning combines Kolb’s experiential learning theory with traditional multicultural training to create teaching applications (Achenbach & Arthur, 2002; Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Donley, 2018; Kim & Lyons, 2003; Kolb, 2014). Kolb defined experiential learning as the:

Simulations utilized in health professions, such as nursing contain similar teaching concepts. However, they are not usually considered multicultural experiential learning, because simulations commonly occur in formal learning environments. Simulations also offer trainees opportunities to relearn a set scenario in a protected and safe environment (Crawley & Ross, 2017). Unlike simulations, multicultural experiential learning does not provide a chance for trainees to repeat the same experience twice. The process and outcome remain unpredictable (Crowe, 2004). This may be related to the individual’s internal process, their surrounding environment, and other factors. These small changes may produce a different outcome from the one originally anticipated (Bruscia, 2014; Crowe, 2004).

While little evidence-based research exists describing the benefits of multicultural experiential learning, these experiences and knowledge acquired may assist participants in developing cultural humility and cultural empathy (Brown, 2002; Whitehead-Pleaux & Tan, 2017). In turn, these two qualities may further promote continued and advanced cultural competence with lifelong introspective self-reflection (Whitehead-Pleaux, 2019). The next section discusses applications of Kolb’s experiential learning theory in the counseling and music therapy profession and demonstrates ways to teach multicultural competence while merging theory and practice (Achenbach, & Arthur, 2002; Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Donley, 2018; Kim & Lyons, 2003).

Achenbach and Arthur (2002; Arthur & Achenbach, 2002) discussed experiential learning as a pedagogical approach in multicultural counseling. Role-plays were utilized by researchers as multicultural experiential learning exercises, such as Barnga and Bafa Bafa. Barnga is a card game that assists trainees in understanding cultural issues, such as acculturation, culture shock, and language needs. Participants are divided into groups and given a deck of cards and a set of rules (Steinwachs, 1990; Ushida, Hattori, & Takdama, 2010). In addition to rules established by the facilitator, each group has their own set of rules. For instance, each group may have a different trump card that wins. Groups play a short game while only communicating nonverbally with their peers. Afterwards, participants move to play peers in other groups. However, participants now have more difficulty determining who wins and loses each turn, because there are multiple rules at play in each group. Achenbach and Arthur (2002) studied Barnga with graduate students in Canada to understand how students perceived multicultural issues. When participants found the experience less purposeful, experiential learning had less of an impact on multicultural competence and was not translated to clinical practice (Achenbach & Arthur, 2002). Arthur and Achenbach (2002) suggested that emotional responses may assist students in developing competence through gained awareness and reflection. This integration of cognitive and emotional responses is what makes experiential learning unique.

In another experiential learning exercise, Bafa Bafa, participants in two groups embody qualities of a predetermined culture (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002). Then, each group shares their assigned culture with the other group. Gannon and Poon (1997) suggested that Bafa Bafa promoted students’ cultural awareness. In the three multicultural training approaches they researched, they found no differences between integrated, video-based, and experiential learning groups. The researchers, however, reported that participants in the experiential learning group reported higher satisfaction and had more positive responses to the approach. Other examples of experiential learning have included trainees choosing a disability from a list that they would rather live with to ‘uncover perceptions about a “hierarchy of abilities”’ (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002, p. 7), having medical and nonmedical staff role-play the experience of inpatients, and a variety of games (Kim & Lyons, 2003). One of these games is called Step Forward, Step Back, which resembles a modern-day privilege walk (Kim & Lyons, 2003; Ngoasheng & Gachago, 2017).

Donley (2018) reflected on her experiences as a music therapist and a participant of multicultural experiential learning in a multicultural counseling course. To understand the socioeconomic, sexual orientation, and religious dimensions of diversity, her professor assigned tasks to course participants. These tasks included acquiring a public assistance application, displaying three behaviors that suggested she identified as a different sexual orientation, and attending a prayer at a Muslim mosque. Following each task, the professor facilitated a discussion around the group’s experiences. This case example carries important implications for multicultural training in music therapy. The author’s reflexivity on multicultural experiential learning as a White female therapist may encourage other White females, the majority identity of music therapists, to participate. This may also create more allies for minority music therapists and promote equity in the profession. In addition, the task descriptions and author’s reflexive writing may encourage other music therapists to develop multicultural experiential learning or similar tools for themselves, students, or supervisees (Whitehead-Pleaux, 2019). This would provide a wealth of resources for future music therapists.

Although this case example carries important implications, there are still many unknowns. First, it remains uncertain how music therapists with other intersectional identities perceive this method. It is also uncertain how multicultural experiential learning impacts supervisees long-term (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002). When students perceive this type of learning as negative, their perception may also remain negative post-experience. For this reason, it is possible that multicultural experiential learning may decrease multicultural competency in some students. For instance, in Brushke, Gartner, and Seiter (1993), student views of ethnocentrism increased. Similar results were found in another study where an experiential learning exercise promoted competition instead of cultural empathy (Barak, 1990). This demonstrates the delicate nature of implementing experiential learning. Despite the sensitivity involved, helping professionals must not shy away from this potentially beneficial tool in multicultural training. Instead, organizations and their member clinicians must have an acute awareness and precision of multicultural skills and recognize their responsibilities when implementing and choosing experiential learning exercises (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002).

Organizations have a responsibility to their members and employees as well as their students, interns, and volunteers. These organizations set the directive for professional and advanced competencies, standards of practice, codes and ethics, and policies and procedures. According to the seven-eyed model of supervision, as part of the seventh mode, organizational requirements influence the decisions and direction that supervisees and supervisors pursue together in the supervisory and client relationship (Hawkins & Shohet, 2012). Due to organizations’ possible influence on multicultural competence and multicultural experiential learning in supervision practice, the author researched international music therapy organization and association websites to identify expectations for credentialed music therapists. Music therapy organizational websites were located using the American Music Therapy Association, World Federation of Music Therapy, European Music Therapy Federation, and Google websites. When a music therapy organizational website was in the author’s non-native language, the author utilized Google translate in Google Chrome to identify multicultural issues within their Code of Ethics and Standards of Proficiency. All associations that provided directives on multicultural training and supervision were included in this paper. The author also reviewed the American Counseling Association’s resources, which provided an important guide in a similar article (Donley, 2018). The author was unable to access several websites that were out of date. In a few instances, the author managed to access the website but still had difficulty accessing information without login information. The author emailed organizations that provided contact information.

According to the American Music Therapy Association’s advanced competencies, music therapists are encouraged to “apply knowledge of norms and practices of diverse cultures to the supervisory process” (American Music Therapy Association, 2015a, par. 5). The Canadian Music Therapy Association (2002) stated more generally that music therapists are obligated to “facilitate the professional development of their students, interns, and employees assuring that these persons understand the values and ethical standards of the profession, and by providing or arranging for…opportunities for experience” (p. 17). The European Music Therapy Confederation, which comprises of 44 member associations, addressed equal opportunity and access for clients, trainees, and professionals in its ethical code (European Music Therapy Confederation, 2005). Unfortunately, there were no specific directives on multicultural training and supervision that were able to be located on the confederation or any of their member associations’ websites. Although not specific to multicultural training and supervision, the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists and YAHAT, Israel Association for Creative Arts Therapies (abbreviated for “Creation, Expression, Therapy” in Hebrew) addressed cultural issues more in depth by requiring therapists and members to study, develop, and acquire knowledge of cultures different from their own (Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists, 2005; YAHAT, n.d.). The American Music Therapy Association has followed the American Counseling Association’s lead with a newly revised Code of Ethics (American Music Therapy Association, 2019). Supervisors who want to implement multicultural experiential learning need to review and uphold this ethical code. According to Dileo (2000), “one can go so far as to question whether it is ethical not to include experiential training in the music therapy curriculum” (p. 244) It must also be ethical then to include multicultural experiential training in the music therapy curriculum particularly with practicum and clinical training. See Table 1 below for initial guidance of ethical considerations in multicultural experiential learning.

Other music therapy professional organizations should consider including more specific language in their ethical codes and competencies to encourage members and future clinicians to integrate multicultural training with supervision practice. Currently, the music therapy literature offers only a few models and best practices for this integration (Norris & Hadley, 2019; Swamy & Kim, 2019; Whitehead, 2019). Multicultural experiential learning is an approach that may assist trainees and professionals at all levels of supervision to become more competent in multicultural skills. Through this approach to multicultural training, supervisors can adapt traditional supervision models derived from colonialist ideals (Comte, 2016; Estrella, 2001).

Although several music therapy associations and organizations lack multicultural training language in their code of ethics or standards of practice, they describe responsibilities of the supervisor, which are critical to the implementation of multicultural experiential learning (American Music Therapy Organization, 2015b; Australian Music Therapy Association, 2014; Canadian Music Therapy Association, 2002; New Zealand Music Therapy Association, 2012). The following sections of organizations’ resources are just a few that apply:

Supervisors and university program directors must responsibly consider aspects of this multicultural training tool before implementing with trainees. One of these considerations is that multicultural experiential learning must align with competencies and advanced competencies (American Music Therapy Association, 2013; American Music Therapy Association, 2015a; Arthur & Achenbach, 2002). According to Hardy (2017), supervisors also have the option of aligning multicultural experiential learning with multicultural topics, such as family, gender, religion, sexual orientation, race, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality to name a few.

Supervisors also fulfill extensive and multiple roles in multicultural experiential learning. According to Vasquez (1992), supervisors model ethical practice through their expertise and training. At a minimum, it is recommended that supervisors take two advanced level courses and participate in any multicultural experiential learning exercises prior to presenting them to their supervisees (Vasquez, 1992). Each year, the University of the West of England holds an advanced level course on supervision training one day a month. This supervision training includes multicultural issues, educational factors in supervision, and ethical and professional requirements that apply to participants’ contexts (University of the West of England, 2019). One example of a potential multicultural experiential exercise that the author located on the British Association for Music Therapy website was the Céilí & Gala Buffet, which is offered during their upcoming 2020 conference (British Association for Music Therapy, n.d.). The event includes a buffet supper and Irish dancing with a live band and caller. This traditional form of Irish dancing dates back to the 1500s (https://www.ceilidancing.com/, n.d.). These advanced level courses and experiences provide settings for critical and higher conceptual level of thinking. Murphy (2019) wrote that supervisors’ ethical responsibilities include having the knowledge of cultural complexities in supervision and clinical practice and creating an exploratory space for dialogue on cultural complexities and differences.

Supervisors also model cultural humility and cultural empathy. According to Whitehead-Pleaux & Tan (2017), “Cultural competence comes from a place of humility, genuine interest, and seeking to understand how another person’s culture influences their worldview and the way in which they live their lives” (p. 273). The supervisor assumes these qualities recognizing that they cultivate and stem from cultural competence (Whitehead-Pleaux & Tan, 2017). Other beneficial skills for the ethical practitioner include multicultural counseling and group processing for when strong feelings and emotions arise in the supervisory process (Donley, 2018; Hardy & Bobes, 2017). In addition to these requirements, the supervisor supports and validates the supervisee’s experience by creating and holding a safe space (Feiner, 2001; Hardy & Bobes, 2017). Supervisors remain transparent about expectations with supervisees that multicultural experiential learning is voluntary and will not affect their performance evaluation or grade (Dileo, 2000). The supervisor’s responsibility does not include the overseeing of the supervisee’s participation in multicultural experiential learning. Instead, an overall evaluation of the supervisee’s multicultural competency may be completed for gatekeeping purposes if later deemed necessary (Forinash, 2000). The supervisor also helps supervisees to develop sustainable practices in multicultural learning by first setting a foundation and allowing the supervisee to explore outward from the initial safety net that was introduced.

Supervisors must consider other roles as well, such as teacher, counselor, consultant, and cultural facilitator (Dileo, 2001; Feiner, 2001; Hardy & Bobes, 2017; Neufeldt, 1999; Stige, 2001). The supervisor balances these roles to address the unique supervision needs of the trainee (Stige, 2001). In the roles of teacher and therapist, the supervisor guides difficult dialogue with the supervisee or supervisees. This allows supervisees to learn these skills through a professional and personal process, which supports Dileo’s (2001) intention for supervision. Supervisors may also need to fill the role of consultant for supervisees who have a greater awareness of their cultural identity and multicultural issues. These may be supervisees from underrepresented or marginalized groups who have faced oppression. In this role of consultant for multicultural training, the supervisor can enter into an alliance with the supervisee (Neufeldt, 1999; Swamy, 2011). This alliance encourages a greater displacement of power to the supervisee and more opportunity for supervisors to seek cultural humility (Forinash, 2000; Neufeldt, 1999; Swamy, 2011; Whitehead-Pleaux & Tan, 2017). When supervisors act as the “listening coauthor” and “not-knowing listener” as titled by Stige (2001, p. 164–166), power can shift to the supervisee who begins formulating independent conclusions from their own knowledge and developing independent reflexivity. Validation is vital for the student, especially after the student forms conclusions following their first multicultural experiential learning task. This validation will support them in their lifelong multicultural learning process (Donley, 2018; Orozco et al., 2014).

Before introducing the multicultural experiential learning tool, supervisors should evaluate the supervisees’ strengths, needs, level of supervision, and competencies. Supervisees who are willing to listen and participate are the most desired. It is also helpful for supervisees to already have a working knowledge of the cross-cultural and multicultural literature. Supervisees in their first practicum, the beginning of their internship, or a new professional position may not be the best candidates for participation. These phases are more likely to be filled with transition and readjustment while the trainee develops their identity and foundation within the profession. Supervisees identified with severe professional competency problems are encouraged to address priority competency areas first (Hsiao, 2014). Then, the supervisee may reenter the multicultural learning process (Hadley & Norris, 2016). Supervisees with problematic behaviors may benefit if they experience “discomfort with various types of diversity in clients” (Dileo, 2001, p. 34). Supervisors must carefully evaluate supervisees in this instance to measure potential gains for that individual as well as risks to others.

In some cases, such as with the Canadian Association of Music Therapy (2002), music therapy students and supervisees are required to uphold the same responsibilities as credentialed music therapists. Within this and other associations, the supervisor remains responsible for the professional obligations of their supervisee (American Music Therapy Association, 2015a; Canadian Music Therapy Association, 2002). The supervisor also needs to communicate these responsibilities and guide the supervisee to the appropriate resources.

Multicultural experiential learning can be utilized at different times in training and program curriculums to meet the unique supervision needs of trainees (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Feiner, 2001). Although it is unclear when it would be most effective to introduce to trainees, multicultural experiential learning addresses a need for the continuation of multicultural competence (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Donley, 2018). Bernard (1994) suggested “supervision is not an appropriate place for an awareness of multicultural dynamics to begin-not for the trainee, and especially not for the supervisor” (p. 160). Bernard’s suggestion is valid, but multicultural ethical issues may arise due to a lack of multicultural competency. During these cases, supervisors must take immediate action for remediation (Bradt, 1997). Because Bernard’s (1994) statement remains unclear to the supervision type involved, certain types of supervision may be more appropriate than others. This may include pre-professional supervision, internship supervision, professional supervision, group supervision, and peer supervision. Multicultural experiential learning may have positive implications for the majority White female workforce in music therapy (Hadley & Norris, 2016). Using a parallel process in supervision, multicultural experiential learning could develop competence in the supervisor and supervisee, especially when didactic models of multicultural training may not be as effective alone (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Dileo, 2000; Forinash, 2001; Kim & Lyons, 2003).

Two examples of multicultural experiential learning are found below that may be modified to meet the needs of supervisees in individual, peer, group, or self-supervision. The first multicultural experiential learning exercise may be a great starting point for supervisees or supervisors who may be new to multicultural training. This experiential learning facilitates awareness of the supervisees’ and supervisors’ cultural identity and its relationship to other individuals in their context.

Directions

Using Hardy and Laszloffy (1995) as a resource, the supervisee will design their own cultural genogram that defines their culture. The supervisee will record any responses they find meaningful including thoughts and feelings they have in creating their genogram. The supervisee has the option of sharing their cultural genogram with their supervisor. Following the creation of a cultural genogram, the supervisee is encouraged to attend a cultural event in their community or a neighboring community that represents an aspect of their cultural identity. Following this cultural event, the supervisee is encouraged to attend a cultural event in their community that represents a culture identity different from their own. Cultural events may include festivals, concerts, and marches. The supervisee should keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings in reflection of these experiences to promote their cultural competence.

After the supervisee has gained an awareness of different aspects of their cultural identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, the following exercise may be beneficial in encouraging an awareness of the supervisee’s spiritual and religious identity. This exercise could be helpful for supervisees working with individuals of different spiritualties and religions. It can be modified accordingly.

Directions

The supervisee will attend a service at a Muslim mosque. It is up to the participant’s discretion to choose how they want to participate within the service. The supervisee must practice cultural empathy while in attendance and maintain an awareness of unearned advantages they hold in connection with this dimension of diversity. The supervisee may find it helpful to conduct their own research prior to their attendance of a religious service that is outside their own spiritual and religious identity. Following the experience, the supervisee will reflect on the experience by sharing their thoughts and feelings while attending. The supervisee will utilize the following prompts as a way of processing the experience:

According to Hardy and Laszloffy (1995), there may be limitations to these experiential learning exercises for some individuals. For instance, some family systems are extensive in some cultures. Some trainees may also not have the ability to trace their cultural background due to adoption, immigration, or other historical events, such as the transatlantic slave trade.