Cultural Competence In Education

Cultural proficiency is seeing the difference and responding effectively in a variety of environments. Learning about organizational and individual culture, in which one can effectively interact in a variety of cultural environments (p. 3). In simple terms in which educators are not only able to effectively work with diverse populations, but also believe that diversity adds positive value to the educational enterprise (Landa, 2011, p. 12).
As a leader or administrator I would conduct a professional development for my staff by using the teaching strategies based from the article “Diversity Toolkit: Cultural Competence for Educators,” located in www.nea.org website. In which I would use Geneva Gaye publication culturally responsive teaching using the cultural knowledge, performance styles, and prior experiences of diverse students

to learn more effective and appropriate for them.

This method teaches through and to the students’ strengths. This kind of professional development training does not occur during a one day training, course, or reading book. The cultural proficiency process takes time and is an ongoing but has to start somewhere (Diversity Toolkits). I would implement the five basic cultural competence skill areas in my professional development for my staff. Each of the basic cultural competence skill are individualized based on schools, educational system, and educators. The skill areas consist of (1) Dynamics of differences in which one knows how to respond to a cross-cultural communication that has or can go wrong situations. (2) Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge and Adapting to Diversity in which institutions and educators can step to institutionalizing cultural knowledge that can better serve and adapt to diversity and diverse populations. (3) Valuing Diversity instills educators to respect and accept cultural backgrounds, differences, values, traditions, customs, and ways of communication. (4) Knowledge of

Students’ Culture is based on previous knowledge done by educators about their students’ culture, so behaviors of the students could be understood in their suitable cultural context. (5) Being culturally Self-Aware is shaping educators’ to have a sense of where they fit and who they are in their community, society, family, and school; in which the sum total of an individual’s beliefs, experience, values, sills, interests and knowledge (Diversity Toolkits).
I am going to list some resources that I would implement in my staffs professional development. (1) The Bridging Cultures Project features on-going meetings, workshops, and trainings in which teachers work with non-dominant cultures children (Landa, 2011, p.29). (2) The Focus On Series resource which prepares briefs on public education issues which contains concrete strategies to address the issues and added resources for school personnel. (3) C.A.R.E.: Strategies for Closing the Achievement Gaps resource is a guide based on NEA training helping educators reflect on causes of student achievement and explore way to improve students’ academic success using research-based strategies relating the language, economic, and cultural students’ differences. (4) Language, Culture, and Community in Teacher Education book will be used to prepare teacher candidates on how to work with the linguistically and culturally diverse communities from which their students come from. (5) Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators resource in which shapes a teacher’s ability to focuses on the psychological and social factors ability to work with students from backgrounds different from their own. This research involves five prospective educators from diverse communities in which they each believes with help teacher effectively work with students from culturally diverse communities (Cultural Competencies, 2008, p. 4).