Cultural Competence Group 2 Notes

Nickie Carter, Amanda Bautista, Krista Evers, Ali Palmer, Sarah Conkey
LC1, January 30th, 2010

Cultural Competence Jigsaw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_competence

~ Guiding children towards awareness about their personal attitude, knowledge, and skills towards culture.

Key Elements of Our Article
• Referring to Cultural Competence as the interactions we have with people of different cultures.
• Diversity Training University International (DTUI) gives four elements for developing cultural competence:
o Awareness: know your own personal reactions to differences in people.
o Attitude: Training in cultural competence helps to create positive attitudes within yourself to allow your biases to evolve.
o Knowledge: being aware of labels of society and cultures and knowing what is current.
o Skills: practicing cultural competence by always being conscience that it is relevant and present.
• Cultural competence is a pressing issue today due to the History of American Ethical practices. Originally, the US was made up of predominantly white Northern European cultural attitudes. As the US grew over the centuries, cultural diversified through immigration from other countries, and people continue to struggle with understanding all the differences between cultures.
• The role of US Educators is forefront for bringing diverse groups of Americans together within our larger US society.



What is Cultural Competence?
~ Cultural Competence is the foundation of positive relationship in our global community. Processing CC is to know and understand one’s own culture, background, and biases explicitly. Further, one needs to openly invite knowledge and traditions different from their own. By understanding one’s own culture and being open to embrace differences from other groups, only then will effective communications and interactions be exchanged across cultures.

What are some practical approaches for better understanding how to promote Cultural Competence in Education?
• Providing visuals to children that are derogatory examples of other’s cultures that are assimilated into society, ie: “land o lakes” and “Redskins” sports team. Starting a class discussion around examples seen in the community/society.
• Personal Cultural Heritage Appreciation—ancestral projects/family trees.
• Appreciating Culture: group projects, visual aides, research to celebrate different cultures and world views. Exploring student’s personal heritage as well as introducing new cultural knowledge.
• Cultural and/or tradition sharing: Show and tell where students bring in items and create a lesson around their visual aide.


What are some specific ideas for how I can develop cultural competence in my practice and with my students?
• Create a safe environment where students feel comfortable to share their personal experiences, traditions, and cultures.
• Be open and willing to understand the differences in your student’s cultures; this serves to be a role model for acceptance and understanding for the other students.
• According to DTUI developing cultural competence comes through four elements: Awareness, Attitude, Knowledge, Skills

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES RELATED TO OUR ARTICLE:

First, the more concise flow chart one:
http://www.unc.edu/courses/2006ss1/nurs/292/001/cross.gif

Second, the more in depth one:
http://www.d.umn.edu/sw/culturalcomp/Cultural%20Competence%20Conti.htm