Abstract
Service-learning provides an experientially-based pedagogical approach that can increase student engagement in the learning environment and promote the development of cultural competency when working with diverse populations. This article reports on the curriculum development of a Latinx mental health undergraduate service-learning course that discussed disparities in Latinx access and utilization of mental health services and used service-learning as a teaching method to increase students’ cultural awareness and skills by putting their knowledge into practice in community-based settings. We provide an overview of the course including specific guidelines for readings, assignments, and group facilitation for future application of this course in Latinx mental health. Students of this course have developed critical awareness of their identities as it relates to their work with Latinxs, and a continued commitment to meet community needs. We briefly discuss challenges in implementing similar ethnically-rooted and service-learning multicultural psychology curriculum.
Introduction
Service-learning courses provide an alternative, experientially-based, pedagogical method that can increase student engagement in the learning environment and promote holistic student development that incorporates academic, personal and civic growth (Bringle et al., 2016; Tinto, 1997). When teaching psychology, students in service-learning courses are exposed to critical issues in their communities and report higher values toward serving others (Bringle & Hatcher, 1996; Bringle et al., 2016). Learning opportunities outside of the academic setting can help students feel more integrated and persist in their academic pursuits, enhance their civic engagement, improve communication skills, and extend their professional skills and performance (Bringle & Hatcher, 1996; Katz et al., 2014; Tinto, 1997).
Latinxs are a population of particular interest and need as they continue to be one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority groups in the U.S., making up approximately 6.5% of the total population (Noe-Bustamante & Flores, 2019). Given these population trends, it is likely that students in psychology and general mental health care fields will work with Latinxs and their families. Latinxs also face particular challenges in accessing and utilizing mental health treatment that are important for students’ understanding of this population. Factors that affect Latinx mental health include multiple cultural and situational concerns such as nativity and immigration (Alegría et al., 2007), ethnic identity (Keyes et al., 2012), language barriers and preference (Alegría et al., 2007; Keyes et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2011), access to health insurance (Vega & Lopez, 2001), and differences in cultural values and belief systems (Anastasia & Bridges, 2015; Villatoro et al., 2014). Service-learning could provide an avenue for undergraduate psychology students to learn about the challenges faced by Latinxs and develop skills to effectively work with this population in a manner that is culturally congruent.
To date, there are few reported curricula that specifically address service and learning of culturally diverse populations and its effect on undergraduate students in psychology. Previous research suggests that service-learning that specifically targets the development of cultural competency can help increase students’ cultural knowledge and awareness of cultural biases and privilege, develop cultural empathy and appreciation of cultural differences, and cultivate skills to intervene at community levels (Burnett et al., 2004; Chao et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2014; Tomlinson-Clarke & Clarke, 2010). We report on the curriculum development of an undergraduate Latinx mental health service-learning course (“Dimensions of Latinx Mental Health”) to increase students’ cultural competency with the Latinx population.
Conceptual Framework: A Critical Post-Colonial Perspective of Latinx Mental Health
For the development of this service-learning course, the authors adopted a multicultural and critical post-colonial perspective to student learning that acknowledged the need to culturally ground psychological theory and practice with an understanding of the legacies of colonialism and oppression experienced by culturally diverse populations in the U.S. (American Psychological Association, 2017; Goodman et al., 2004; Hernández & McDowell, 2010; Ramírez Stege et al., 2020). Colonialism, as described here, is understood as the promotion of a dominant Euro-centered groups’ beliefs, values and cultural practices with the goal of eliminating or devaluing the experiences of indigenous and/or marginalized groups (Hernández-Wolfe, 2013; Hernández & McDowell, 2010). For Latinx populations, the effects of colonialism are experienced based on the histories of their particular countries of origin (colonized by the British, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Portuguese during their imperial ventures) and the experience of migration to the U.S. and exposure to American values and belief systems. Therefore, a critical post-colonial perspective focused on helping students analyze and reflect on the interconnectedness between power, privilege and experiences of oppression of Latinx populations grounded in broader historical, social, political and cultural contexts (Hernández & McDowell, 2010). We also championed the development of indigenous ways of knowing by purposefully centering the experience of spirituality and Latinx values throughout the curriculum.
The specific learning objectives for the Dimensions of Latinx Mental Health service-learning course were to: (a) acquire knowledge and increase awareness of Latinxs as a broad, heterogeneous cultural group; (b) understand social, historical, political, spiritual, and cultural factors that influence the Latinx population; (c) increase awareness of the strengths and barriers in social services for Latinxs; (d) enhance student’s own identity development in relationship to Latinxs; (e) enhance cultural competency and cultural humility in social service skills with Latinxs; (f) increase understanding of the role of social justice and advocacy in mental health; and (g) integrate theories of liberation psychology and ethnopsychology that promote resilience and resistance in Latinx populations.
Course Format and Structure
The Dimensions of Latinx Mental Health course was a one-semester, 15-week undergraduate service-learning course developed and implemented by the authors to train students who aspired to work with Latinx populations in psychologically-based helping professions. It was cross-listed with Counseling Psychology and the Chican@ and Latin@ Studies departments at a large Midwestern predominantly White institution (PWI). This course was developed in part as a response to increasing social needs within a rapidly growing local Latinx population in the Midwest (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2018).
The course was first developed using Arredondo and colleague’s (2014) comprehensive review of culturally responsive counseling with Latinxs. Additional readings were added every week to increase students’ engagement in a critical analysis of their own positionality in working with the Latinx population. The course instructors promoted a cycle of learning: 1) lectures provided theoretical frameworks that included cultural, spiritual, linguistic and historical knowledge of the weekly topic on working with Latinxs; 2) assignments were aimed at increasing students’ self-reflection; 3) service-learning activities engaged students directly with the Latinx community; and 4) students were asked to “bring back” their reflections to class to process as a group where theory, practice, and self-knowledge were integrated.
Service-Learning
The instructors developed partnerships with multiple local agencies that provide mental health-related services to the predominantly immigrant and Spanish-speaking Latinx population in a Midwest city. These sites included schools, community centers, community mental health clinics, and a violence prevention agency. Students were allocated to various 3 to 4-hr-a-week positions in which they served as tutors, psychoeducation instructors, and group co-facilitators. At the beginning of the semester, students could review the catalog of service-learning activities and were matched to the different sites depending on the student’s interests and the site’s needs. Site supervisors and students had to review and sign a contract that stipulated the hour and activity expectations required. Students were also required to provide hour logs signed by their site supervisor, mid-semester and end-of-semester evaluations, to ensure they were meeting expectations. The course instructors also conducted check-ins and site visits as needed to ensure the site partners were satisfied with students’ engagement. Additional support such as off-campus transportation was also provided by a university-based service-learning center.
Review of Course Curriculum and Assignments
Readings and media
The first 5 weeks of the course were dedicated to providing theoretical frameworks to increase student’s self-reflection and broad understanding of Latinxs. Themes of the first third of the course included historical and sociopolitical background of Latinxs in the U.S., histories of migration and colonization, acculturation, models of ethnic and racial identity development, models of academic persistence, and the role of cultural values such as familismo, respeto and simpatía in treating Latinx individuals and families (see Ramírez Stege, 2021, for the Open Science Materials of a class sample schedule). Readings and media stories facilitated discussion about how student’s own cultural and familial values influenced their relationship to the Latinx population. Additionally, we utilized on-campus resources and invited guest speakers to discuss their work with Latinxs. For example, we asked a local faculty and researcher, Dr. Carmen Valdez, to discuss her development and implementation of a family-based intervention for Latina mothers with depression (Valdez et al., 2013).
The second third of the course (Weeks 6–11) was focused on providing broad theoretical knowledge on counseling Latinx populations using social justice frameworks rooted in liberation psychology. At this stage of the course, students were asked to integrate self-reflection with a critical reflection of their practice at different service-learning sites. Some readings included Chávez and colleague’s (2016) theoretical framework on liberation psychology and humanistic values to promote social justice in counseling, Comas-Díaz’s (2006) Latino healing framework, and Prilleltensky’s (2012) reading on the influence of conditions of justice/injustice in the development and maintenance of individual and collective wellbeing. Other media resources included APA training videos of multicultural psychologists in practice (Cervantes, 2010) and watching the movie También la Lluvia (Gordon et al., 2010) that is based on a true story to discuss the legacies of colonization in Latin America.
The final third of the course was devoted to discussing the role of spirituality and indigenous healing when working with Latinx populations. Some readings included Hoogasian and Lijtmaer’s (2010) article on integrating curanderismo (Mexican traditional or indigenous healing) in psychotherapy, Viladrich’s (2006) research on the use of herbs by Latino healers in New York City, the use of folk healing in Mexican American populations (Lopez, 2005), and frameworks on Mestizo spirituality (Cervantes, 2010). Instructors also discussed a podcast on indigenous healing used in the U.S. (Hellerstein, 2014). Dr. Thomas Chávez from the University of New Mexico was video-conferenced into class to discuss research and practice in curanderismo and its relationship to mainstream psychological theories (Chávez, 2016), and another guest speaker, Steve Pereira, facilitated an in-class demonstration of a traditional limpia (cleansing).
Weekly journals or reflection posts
Students completed weekly journals or online posts in which they reflected on the particular topic discussed in class and its relation to their service-learning experience. These reflections were posted on the course website and later discussed as a group as part of the weekly class instruction. Students were also asked to post comments on their peers’ reflection posts. Students were encouraged to engage in dialogue through the use of critical content while highlighting and sharing their stories, AND presenting counter narratives to dominant student experiences at a predominantly White institution (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
In-class presentations
Students had to complete a total of three in-class presentations. The first presentation was aimed at increasing students’ awareness of their cultural identities and how those influence their interaction with Latinxs. To capitalize on current trends, the instructors developed the assignment: “#MyRacialEthnicIdentity presentation” in which students were asked to identify one or multiple hashtags that capture who they are and how they identify. For example, the first author identifies herself with “#Cholugringa” which symbolizes both her Mexican and American bicultural experiences. Students provided a 5- to 10-min presentation in class describing why they chose a specific hashtag(s), and considering how their experiences within their family, community, intersecting identities, and across racial and ethnic groups influence their racial and ethnic identity, what factors contribute to their worldview, who they feel most comfortable around, and what experiences influenced their identity development within their own racial and ethnic group. The instructors of the course provided their own #MyRacialEthnicIdentity narratives to role-model for students how to successfully complete this assignment.
The second in-class presentation facilitated students’ self-reflection on the prominent role of spirituality and spiritually-based coping in Latinxs populations. Students were asked to present in class a spiritual artifact (object) of their choice and share its significance in their life. The spiritual artifact had to reflect how students nurtured their spirit. Instructors subsequently facilitated an in-class discussion on the role of spirituality at individual and community-based levels to address well-being.
The third in-class presentation was a group-based project in which students were asked to conduct a “social justice organization audit.” Students had to choose an organization they were interested in (often the one they were conducting their service learning), provide a definition of social justice (based on peer-reviewed literature), and discuss how the chosen organization embodied and worked toward social justice, including possible challenges they face. As a foundation, students were asked to read Vera and Speight’s (2003) seminal article on the role of counseling psychologists in developing multicultural competence and working toward social justice, and Goodman et al.’s (2004) article on the feminist and multicultural principles that can help counseling psychologists engage in social justice work.
Final emerging professional identity paper
Students had to complete a final paper in which they integrated their experiences and concepts learned throughout the course. Students were asked to address their personal reactions to material and discussion throughout the course, practical service-learning experiences, and reflect on how these course elements impacted their professional development. Throughout the paper, students were asked to address the following dimensions: 1) awareness of their own cultural values and biases and how these relate to working with Latinxs; 2) knowledge on the influence of their cultural heritage and social identities in working with Latinxs, including the influence of discrimination, racism, stereotyping, and other systemic forms of oppression; 3) discuss skills they developed to understand and effectively work with Latinxs; and 4) reflect on their goals at the beginning of the course and describe goals for the future. See Ramírez Stege (2021) for a full review of all course assignment guidelines.
Other Essential Course Components
Guest lecturers, particularly Latinx-identified professionals, were also a major component of the course. As previously mentioned, instructors invited Latinx faculty and former Latinx students of the service-learning course to discuss their experiences doing community-based research with Latinxs. The service-learning site supervisors were also invited to speak to class about their experiences working with Latinxs and to increase exchange with other students not working at their sites.
Attendance and participation were essential given the importance and emphasis on in-class discussion. Students were asked to notify the instructors in advance if they were unable to attend class as each unexcused absence would result in point deductions to their grade. Students were asked to: (a) arrive to class on time and prepared (having read the materials and/or completed their assignments); (b) be respectful, open, and constructive; (c) and to refrain from using technology in a disruptive or distracting manner. The instructors and students also created “community agreements” on the initial day of class to set the tone for the quality of their engagement.
The instructors strived to provide an open and brave space (Cook-Sather, 2016) to increase student learning and build a community-focused culture within the classroom. Students were asked to courageously share their lived experiences and how it related to their work with Latinxs. The instructors also explicitly addressed that silence could be misinterpreted as judgment or disengagement. Therefore, weekly group discussions started with brief “check-ins.” In our experience, even students who were less vocal would participate increasingly more as the semester unfolded, in part because everyone was expected to provide a brief update in class. This type of engagement was also facilitated by a smaller class size. Therefore, we do not recommend an enrollment of above 20 to 25 students for this type of course to ensure a high quality of student engagement both in class and at their service-learning sites. Finally, the instructors of this course used their lived experiences as Latinxs, in clinical practice, and research expertise to model the type of engagement required of students in the classroom. For the final day of class, the instructors brought food to engage in an informal de-brief of students’ overall experience, talk about next steps in their academic careers, and future mentoring opportunities for those interested in pursuing graduate school.
Student Experiences
The Dimensions of Latinx Mental Health course has been taught every Spring semester since 2013. This course has recruited predominantly Latinx undergraduate students or students who have some connection to the Latinx community (e.g., through families, friends, school), are pursuing a certificate in Chican@ and Latin@ Studies, and are interested in a future career in a helping profession such as counseling, social work, nursing, and medical school.
Most students who have taken this course describe it as unique in the context of a predominantly White Institution (PWI). For the first time, students of color (mostly Latinxs) found themselves in a welcoming classroom where they were a majority compared to their White counterparts and where incorporating their own cultural knowledge was an active part of the learning experience. Students were asked to reflect on their own indigenous family-based healing practices and found unexpected connections in their lives. This learning fostered an awareness of the shared struggles and resilience students experienced in parallel to the broader Latinx community. Students of color reported that this course also helped facilitate coping with racism and discrimination they had experienced on campus. However, students also recognized the relative privileges other identities held, such as citizenship status and educational attainment, when working with the local predominantly recent migrant Latinx community. Guest lecturers, who were Latinxs themselves, also provided role modeling for students who could envision themselves in similar positions in the future. For non-Latinx identified students, this course was usually an eye-opening, humanizing, and humbling experience hearing their peers’ stories, witnessing, and working toward mitigating Latinx community concerns in their service. This was unlike other classes in which they may learn about inequity but not experience it in “real life.”
The service-learning experiences in the course provided insight into the importance of access to mental health resources for Latinxs and needed skills to work with this community. Students developed flyers, workshops, and outreach presentations in addition to their weekly responsibilities to bridge the gap between non-Spanish-speaking providers and the predominantly Spanish-speaking Latinx community. Many students continued service at their sites even after the course ended through additional volunteering or involvement in paid positions. This has strengthened the relationship between instructors at the university and the community service-learning sites as the service commitment and pipeline of volunteers has continued over multiple years.
Implementing Similar Curriculum
We found that we were able to create the necessary “cultural ambience” (Gloria & Pope-Davis, 1997) by providing a course rooted in Latinx narratives, Latinx and Chicano history, liberation psychology, critical race theory and multicultural psychological theory, and taught by Latinx instructors in a Chican@ and Latin@ studies cross-listed course. Instructors would also benefit from building connections among university and community-based Latinx scholars and practitioners who enrich the class through guest lectures. This highlights the importance of diversifying the faculty who are available to teach students from their own expertise and practice with Latinxs. A key aspect of this course was learning about one’s community in community. Non-Latinx students were also invited into understanding Latinx community concerns by recognizing that they had a stake in facilitating social action and change.
Culturally responsive teaching is essential to provide meaningful learning experiences to underrepresented students of color (Banks, 2008; Gay, 2002; Pappamihiel & Moreno, 2011; Wiggan & Watson, 2016). Part of the success of the course was building a learning community that used cultural scaffolding to role-model and integrate students’ lived experiences in course material and social action (Banks, 2008; Gay, 2002). Therefore, instructors must be prepared and skilled to meaningfully facilitate the intellectual and emotional reactions involved in multicultural training (Rogers & O’Bryon, 2014). In this course, cultural humility (Owen et al., 2014) was an action: students and instructors suspended their “expert” role to build knowledge from their lived experiences (personally and at their service-learning site) and consider how those fit (or not) with broader psychological theories. This will likely be more effective if instructors are also aware and able to navigate how their own intersecting identities will influence student engagement. Additionally, students who are in higher standing (e.g., juniors or seniors) and have foundational knowledge of psychological theory and practice will be best equipped to critically engage with the material.
Finally, instructors who are already embedded within the local Latinx community or who actively work to build connections with community partners will be more effective at understanding the community needs and how students may best fit those needs. Time can be another significant challenge when facilitating meaningful service-learning experiences. Therefore, it can be helpful to have an additional teaching assistant who can coordinate and facilitate expectations between students and community partners. This course relied on the ongoing partnership with the university’s service-learning office who funded the development of the course, provided resources to students such as transportation to and from their community partner sites, and additional teaching support to help coordinate service-learning experiences.
Conclusion
This course was developed to increase students’ cultural competency working with Latinxs through the gradual development of awareness and knowledge of themselves as cultural beings and of Latinxs as a broad and heterogeneous group, using traditional didactic and experiential service-learning teaching strategies. However, a secondary purpose for this course emerged: helping Latinx and students of color connect with their cultural identities and develop a greater sense of civic responsibility toward reducing mental health disparities among the broader Latinx community. Thus, this course may also facilitate the retention and development of undergraduate Latinx and students of color through integrating a multicultural and critical post-colonial perspective (Hernández & McDowell, 2010). These findings confirm the importance of what Yosso (2005) described as “cultural wealth,” which promotes reframing cultural experiences and values often seen as deficits by Eurocentric standards, as strengths and tools for resilience and empowerment. Through the knowledge and awareness gained in this class, students used their own understanding of their culture and identity as a tool to effectively intervene with the Latinx communities they served.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research received financial support through the Morgridge Center for Public Service Grant at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
