Cultural competence is effectively connecting, cooperating, and building meaningful connections with individuals from diverse cultural upbringings. People’s cultural background encompasses their beliefs, practices, and behaviors within various social groups. Developing cultural competence is an ongoing journey that spans a lifetime. It includes enhancing self-awareness, acquiring the skills to engage warmly in diverse settings, and advocating for others. It surpasses mere tolerance, indicating a willingness to overlook dissimilarities. Instead, it involves acknowledging and appreciating diversity through our words and deeds across all circumstances.
What is Cultural Competency?
At Ottawa University’s Human Services program, we highlight the significance of grasping Cultural Competency. If you’re considering a Human Services career, it’s vital to realize that diverse cultures come with special histories and backgrounds. In social work, having cultural competence means recognizing these distinctions when aiding people seeking help. The core of Human Services is forming a strong link between the worker and the person they’re assisting, built on understanding and respect. This shared comprehension is important, and cultural competence plays a major role in achieving it. It ensures that everyone is treated kindly and thoughtfully, a crucial step in the process.
Why is Cultural Competence Important?
Cultural competence promotes recognizing and embracing variations in looks, actions, and culture. You’ll meet many clients with different backgrounds in this line of work. Even students from diverse areas will likely encounter fresh cultures in Human Services. As our cultural competence grows, we learn to value our clients’ experiences more. It helps us understand and respect their unique paths.
How to Increase Cultural Competence
Individuals pursuing a career in Human Services should consistently enhance their cultural competence. While some entering this field might initially feel confident in their understanding of these ideas, it’s important to recognize that cultural competence is a skill that demands ongoing growth and improvement.
Cultural Humility
Being culturally competent means being polite to everyone and ignoring our biases. Yet, we can only know some things about some cultures. So, it’s okay to admit we’re not experts. Always ask questions, knowing we will only partially understand some clients’ cultures. Respect shows when we ask and listen. In Human Services, listening is stressed. Cultural humility comes from listening, not guessing about cultures. By admitting what we don’t know and being open to listening, we go beyond cultural competence to cultural humility. It means valuing and learning from others’ stories and backgrounds.
Self-Awareness
Social workers show they value their own culture and others. Self-awareness means always checking and improving ourselves (Tervalon and Murray-Garcia, 1998). Seeing our town’s power and privilege is tough, and we often struggle. Ottawa University’s Human Services classes help students know themselves better, staying fair with clients. These skills are crucial for helping different ethnic groups in the U.S. Knowing our biases is important. In Human Services, we must realize we see others through our experiences like gender, race, money, religion, etc. Our clients have their views too. If we understand and accept this, we’ll be kinder and more caring when helping others.
Education
A key rule from the National Association of Social Work (NASW) to improve cultural competence is to keep learning. In Ottawa University’s Human Services courses, students learn how to work with clients and groups in diverse social service places. They look at the plan, skills, understanding of problems, and the latest ways to help people. It helps them be good at their job and understand different situations.
Improved academic outcomes for students
Students who feel safe and supported by teachers do well in school. Cultural competence helps teachers see how their actions affect students’ grades and behavior. For instance, if a teacher pays attention to one student’s interests but not another’s, it might seem unfair. It can make the second student feel alone and upset. All students take part more. When teachers know how students like to learn, they make lessons that interest everyone. Fewer punishments for minority students. Sometimes, minority students get punished more than white students, even for similar things.
Better social and emotional well-being for students
Culturally competent teachers know they might have biases that affect how they treat students. They also understand that their cultures can influence where and how students learn. So, these teachers change the way they teach to fit different cultures.
They also respect all students’ cultures and know how these differences can impact learning. It makes classrooms where everyone feels accepted and important.
Because of this, students feel happier and do better in school both socially and academically.
Cultural competence can help teachers to
1. Teachers with cultural competence understand what students from different backgrounds believe and value. It helps them make lessons that respect all kinds of students.
2. Teachers who understand cultures can be friends with students and their families. It helps everyone trust and like each other, so school goes well.
3. Cultural competence helps teachers teach in ways that work for all students. These ways respect different cultures and make learning fun.
4. Cultural competence helps teachers see and stop their wrong ideas about different cultures. It helps teachers treat all students fairly and nicely.
Impact of Cultural Competence on Students
Cultural competence has a big impact on students in school and how they get along with others. When teachers know about different cultures, students from all backgrounds are more likely to:
- Students who feel their teachers care about their culture do better in school. Being culturally competent helps teachers make a classroom that respects every student’s culture.
- If students feel like they fit in at school, they also feel like they’re a part of their school and community. Cultural competence helps teachers create a class where everyone feels like they belong.
- When teachers use ways of teaching that respect different cultures, students learn better and get good grades. These ways make learning interesting and make sense to students.
- When teachers talk about and fix wrong ideas about cultures, students start thinking more carefully about cultural issues. It helps students become smarter about cultures and ready for a world with many different people.
- Cultural competence helps teachers make school a better place for everyone, regardless of their origin.
Conclusion
To sum up, cultural competence is significant, especially for educators and individuals in Human Services. It involves comprehending and valuing diverse cultures, and aiding teachers in creating an inclusive school environment, regardless of students’ origins. Knowledge of varied cultures enhances students’ academic performance and well-being. Cultural competence requires acknowledging our limits and embracing opportunities to learn from others, fostering environments where everyone is appreciated. Ultimately, cultural competence contributes to a more welcoming and comprehensive global community.
