The Hidden Curriculum: How Cultural Silencing Shapes Supervision

• In Event: Advancing Equity and Cultural Responsiveness in Counselor Education and Practice

Abstract

Clinical supervision is not neutral. Beneath its formal structure lies a hidden curriculum—unspoken norms and silences that shape the development of counselors, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. This paper explores how cultural silencing, racialized expectations, and implicit biases influence supervision experiences. Drawing on critical pedagogy, womanist thought, and narrative therapy, participants will examine the emotional and cultural labor often demanded of supervisees navigating racialized or colonial dynamics. The session offers a liberatory framework rooted in ancestral wisdom, storytelling, and cultural humility to reimagine supervision as a space for authenticity, resistance, and whole-self presence. Participants will leave with practical tools to identify and interrupt hidden curricula in their roles as supervisors, educators, and advocates for justice.

Author

• Zoya A McCants, St. John's University