Topic 14

Topic 14

Holly Tetreault

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Cultural Competence

The Basics

What is cultural competence?

Cultural competence is defined by the expert panel at the Centers for Effective Collaboration and Practice as, “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross–cultural situations.” They further provide an operational definition of, “cultural competence is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, practices, and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services; thereby producing better outcomes.”

So what does this mean for schools?

This tells us that schools have to work together as district, school, and individual teams to meet the needs of our culturally diverse learners. According to Dr. Cathy Kea, Dr. Gloria D. Campbell-Whatley, and Dr. Heraldo V. Richards there are three levels to cultural competence. In their article, “Becoming Culturally Responsive Educators: Rethinking Teacher Education Pedagogy,” they describe the lowest level as exclusive. This means that students are taught about diversity in relation to stereotypes and specific lessons targeted and cultural content. In the second level, inclusive, students are exposed to more diversity in more lessons however it is taught through the same traditional mold. Finally in the transformational level the curriculum has been transformed so that all curriculums across all content areas are integrated to reflect cultural competence.

How does this effect individual students?

As teachers, our job is to make students think about other cultures and embrace them. We are responsible for making all students feel as though they have a place in the classroom environment. As I discussed earlier, this involves creating a classroom environment that is accepting of all students and their cultures. Discussions and activities regarding culture do not stand alone but should be implemented into all curriculums. For students with IEP's there should be specific and explicit accomodations and modifications in place to ensure the child is receiving an appropriate education.

Federal Policies and Legislation

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that individuals cannot be discriminated based on race. It does not however specify how they should be taught or address integrating cultural competence into the curriculum.

There are however many tie-ins to special education in regards to cultural competence.

Additional Resources

The following websites will provide additional information on training available. They also provide additional information on cultural competence.

Passports: Crossing Cultural Borders

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice

Becoming Culturally Responsive Educators: Rethinking Teacher Education Pedagogy

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education

Office of Health and Human Services

Education and Culture: A publication of Purdue University