The status of multicultural education for camp staff members in American Camping Association accredited resident Girl Scout camps in the United States

Author

Katherine McLendon Hartsfield

Date of Award

5-2000

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management

Major Professor

Mary Dale Blanton

Committee Members

Joy DeSensi, Susan Smith

Abstract

Our nation's population is growing more diverse. Several industries have already turned to multicultural education as a method of preparing for these demographic changes. Many park and recreation professionals believe camp programs to be environments that can encourage appreciation for diversity. In order to ensure that organized camp programs foster multiculturalism, it is essential that we prepare the camp personnel to accept, understand, and appreciate diversity themselves. This can be accomplished by implementing multicultural education into staff training. Although we have seen an increase in multicultural education in many workplaces, it has not been determined how prevalent it is within organized camps.

It was the purpose of this study to determine the status of multicultural education training for staff members in American Camping Association accredited resident Girl Scout Camps In the United States. Research questions included:

1. Have residential camp programs implemented multicultural education into staff training for camp personnel?
2. Who prepares and leads the multicultural education training for camp personnel and when does it take place?
3. What are camps including in their multicultural education training and what aspects are the most effective for staff in a residential camp environment?
4. What are the camp director self-reported benefits camp personnel receive from multicultural education training?
5. Is the racial/ethnic make up of the resident camper population associated with whether or not multicultural education training is implemented?
6. Is the racial/ethnic make up of the camp staff population associated with whether or not multicultural education training is implemented?
7. Is there a significant difference in the status of multicultural education training between the four regions of the United States?

The participant population included camp directors of American Camping Association accredited, resident Girl Scout Camp throughout The United States,representing 194 camps total. The participants completed a questionnaire developed by the researcher specifically for this study.

The results of the study indicated that a majority of the camps, 95.5% had already implemented multicultural education training for their staff members. Only 4.5% of the participating camps did not. Camp administrators led the training during pre-camp staff training,and reiterated the training when an issue involving diversity arose.

Acceptance of differences and cultural awareness were identified as the most commonly implemented aspects of multicultural education training. Understanding of cultural differences and identifying differences as an asset were noted as the most effective areas stressed during diversity training. Finally, cultural awareness and group cohesion were recognized as the greatest benefits received by staff from this type of training. The number of camps that had not yet implemented multicultural education training was too small to conduct a statistical testing.

Recommendations based on the results of this study Include further research with the Girl Scout Organization to develop more In depth diversity training, to extend multicultural education programming to the campers, and to actively recruit campers and camp staff representing a more racially diverse population. Further research Is recommended targeting other forms of diversity as well as non-Girl Scout Resident Camps (YMCA, Campfire Boys and Girls, church camps, private camps, etc...). It Is recommended that the American Camping Association create an additional accreditation standard requiring Implementation of diversity training. The ACA should develop training and/or materials to assist camp administrators in Implementing multicultural education training,and also to devise an evaluation tool for current multicultural education training to verify their level of effectiveness.

Recommended Citation

Hartsfield, Katherine McLendon, "The status of multicultural education for camp staff members in American Camping Association accredited resident Girl Scout camps in the United States. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2000.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/9333