School Consultants as Agents of Social Justice for Multicultural Children and Families

Abstract

This article discusses some of the social justice issues that multicultural students and families encounter that are directly relevant to school consultation practice. The issues include culturally fair education, fair expectations of the child from the family and school, fair assessment, evidence-based intervention, and evaluation of responsiveness to intervention for culturally/linguistically diverse (CLD) students. A case study is provided that illustrates how an ecological framework is useful in understanding the challenges multicultural children face and what consultants can do to promote social justice. Consultants are encouraged to (a) diligently increase their own multicultural competency; (b) actively consider the social, economic, environmental, political, and cultural contexts of consultation; (c) be mindful of school-specific social justice issues in consultation practice; (d) promote fair collaboration between the school and CLD families; and (e) advocate for just treatment for CLD children.