The population of Malaysia consists of many ethnic groups.

Based on the 2010 census, Malaysia listed in the 43rd place, of most populated country. Logically, our educational institutions are catering students who come from racially and culturally different background. Moreover, there are large number of students in school who in fact coming from a multiracial family. As what we often heard, multiracial individual associated with having an identity issue which usually made them isolated from the major racial group. In any school, counselor and the administration team held a huge responsibility to ensure school environment are adequately accommodating students needs regardless all the differences that may be exists among them. Counselor on the other hand is specifically needs to implement strategies so the counseling services are effectively delivered. Some of the steps which can be implemented are as below;
i.

Counselor ought to be aware of their own personal feeling towards multiracial individual. Before any other steps implemented, this is what supposed to be given attention by every counselor in school. What referred by their own feeling is the opinion or sentiment counselors might held against multiracial individual or in other words, an attitude such as bias, socio-centrism, prejudice and the like. These attitudes must be confronted and set aside for it could interferes as how counselor dealing with multiracial students. With such attitudes, our justification is more likely influenced by our self-preferences rather than clear conscience. These attitudes mentioned also known as a powerful barrier to critical thinking. Among the effort counselor put to accomplish this step is that they also need to realize their own cultural values. Even maybe the counselor themselves does not possess multiracial background, still, there are values taught upon them and normally they are expected to upheld those values, so do the multiracial students. This also helps counselors to develop a better understanding of what actually the situation they are facing.

ii.

Counselor should educate themselves regarding multiculturalism.

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Apart from previously stated step, counselors also need to prepare themselves with sufficient information to aid them during any counseling services. Being located in a school with multiracial students demand counselors to acquire certain knowledge and skills to enable them to attend to wide range of culturally different students. Theres a lot of way as how counselors could enrich their knowledge and also building up what is called as multicultural competencies. Multicultural competencies refer to a combination of knowledge and awareness of various skills with which to serve ethnic minority clients (Chao, 2006). These competencies are the factor that plays a role in accomplishing a smooth running of counseling services upon the individual concerned and indirectly results a satisfaction on a clients end. The commencement of counselors profession is not supposed to halt their effort from continuously learning. In fact, counselors ever-increasing amount of knowledge will become stock-in-trade along their career path. Besides, as population in this country racially and culturally diversifying, a lot of information comes to be obsolete and soon updated. For counselors, all the knowledge or information necessary can be gained through reading, attending workshop, seminar or conference or through a sharing session with fellow counselors or better, through a talk with multiracial family itself. Even theres a belief about how multiracial individual prefers not to talk about their racial heritage (Harris, 2003), Kerwin and Ponterotto (1995) stated that when multiracial individuals are approached in a genuine and caring manner, they do not mind such inquiries and may associates this interest with acceptance and support (qtd. in Harris 2003). Dealing with clients is basically following the same procedures, yet it cannot be denied that ones characteristic also influenced by their cultural background. That is why counselor needs to identify students basic information and determine the best way to approach them in order to deliver an effective counseling service.

iii.

Treat multiracial student as individual first.

Multiracial or not, it is counselors responsibility to treat anybody whom they give their service to as individual. In other words, counselor ought to communicate with client through interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication occurs when we interact with another person as a unique, authentic individual rather than as an object or an It (Beebe et al. 4). According to philosopher Martin Buber, this kind of relationship is called an I-Thou relationship in which there is true dialogue happen. The communicators developed an attitude toward each other that is honest, open, spontaneous, nonjudgmental and based on equality rather than superiority. This step is strongly related to previously stated step about how counselor should avoid practicing bias or any of the similar attitudes. As a school counselor, one cannot choose who they want to give their service as each and every one of the student deserves to be treated without favoritism. Regardless their different cultural background, client needs must be attended to fairly. Effectiveness in counseling service will not be produced if counselor hastily made a prejudgment about their client in advance.

iv.

Actively promoting cultural diversity among the students and teachers. Along with school administration, counselor has a responsibility to actively promoting culturally competent school environment (Nelson and Bustamente, 2009). Multicultural school often related to the segregation among the students automatically based on their racial group. This phenomenon can leads to the presence of gap in between these groups. Major group often has the control, whereas the minority tends to be isolated or worse, ill-treated by the others. In order to create an adequate environment for every student, such issues must be wiped out from the school compound because, as long as ethnocentrism exists, school is not a pleasant place for some peoples. Promoting cultural diversity should be started within the individual itself towards a larger scale. That means counselor of all people must be aware of their own perception on multiculturalism. Counselors cannot simply encouraging other people to embrace the cultural diversity around them as a unique blessing if they, themselves
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negatively perceive it as a problematic phenomenon. Together with school administration, counselors responsibility is to narrow the gap between students racial group and spread the awareness to everyone. This way, counselor could become a bridge that connecting one group to another. It is important for students to know that no racial group is superior to the others. And even one is belongs to a major racial group, it is not an approval for them to belittle whoever outside the group. By accomplishing this step, healthy culture within the school compound are more likely to be produced. It can be observed through the close relationship among students and teachers despite the racial difference. Sense of acceptance also apparent if everyone practicing respect and tolerance to the other. To nurture these conditions, promoting cultural diversity can be made through awareness program that involve any particular group or simply everyone. As a conclusion, there is still a lot of method as what counselor could do to improve their counseling competencies, especially the multicultural competencies as discussed throughout this essay. However, counselor active role in promoting cultural diversity is acting only as leverage whereas the one who really responsible to open their own mind and embrace this unique blessing is each and every one of us. Our ability to set aside any unhealthy attitude towards multiculturalism would produce a school with an exceptional environment in which students regardless any differences can get an access to the exemplary schooling process.

References

1. Beebe, Steven, Beebe, J. Susan & Redmond, V. Mark. (2005). Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others, Fourth Edition. (Boston: Allyn & Bacon). 2. Chao, R. (2006). Counselors multicultural competencies: Race, training, ethnic identity, and color-blind racial attitudes. In G. R. Waltz and R. Yep (Eds.),VISTAS: Perspectives on counseling 2006 (pp. 73-76). Alexander, VA: American Counseling Association. 3. Nelson, J., & Bustamante, R. (2009, February 11). Preparing Professional School Counselors as Collaborators in Culturally Competent School Administration. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m19617/1.2/