From the didactic to the dialectic-intercultural exchanges in contemporary counsellor education

Abstract

Within the context of the growing development of intercultural counsellor education, the question of how different cultures reconceptualize and transform Western counselling theories for their own context is an important one. In this intercultural exchange in education, concepts such as 'globalization', 'indigenization' and 'universalization' have an impact on the education process. This paper briefly explores these terms and movements and then highlights findings from a research project that took place with a group of counselling graduates in Hong Kong examining how they undertook the processes of reconceptualization and transformation. The dialogical process involved in that enabled participants and researcher to co-explore the process of knowledge development within the counselling education field. Implications for counsellor education are highlighted.