Enhancing Cultural Proficiency: Key Strategies for Transformation

1. Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency: Behavioral Competencies ELPS 715 Leading Change Through Cultural Competence

2. Six Points of the Continuum Cultural Destructiveness Cultural  Blindness Cultural  Competence Cultural Incapacity Cultural Precompetence Cultural Proficiency

3. Behavioral Markers-Uses • Essential Elements enable deeper exploration of values behaviors, policies & practices along the continuum • Allows basis for establishing competencies in performance appraisals, • Objectives in school Improvement plans • Framing core values • Designing & developing staff development and training

4. Essential Elements of CP • Assess Culture; Name the differences • Value Diversity: Claim your differences • Manage the Dynamics of Difference: Frame the Conflicts caused by differences • Adapt to Diversity: Change to Make a Difference • Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge: Train about differences

5. Assess Culture • Recognize how your culture affects the culture of others • Describe your own culture and the cultural norms of your organization • Understand how the culture of your organization affects those with different cultures

6. Value Diversity • Celebrate and encourage the presence of a variety of people in all activities • Recognize differences as diversity rather than as inappropriate responses to the environment • Accept that each culture finds some values and behaviors more important than others

7. Manage the Dynamics of Difference • Learn effective strategies for resolving conflict, particularly among people whose cultural backgrounds and values differ • Understand the effect that historic distrust has on present day interactions • Realize that you may misjudge others’ actions based on learned expectations

8. Adapt to Diversity • Change the way things are done to acknowledge the differences that are present in the staff, clients, and community • Develop skills for intercultural communication • Institutionalize cultural interventions for conflicts and confusion caused by the differences

9. Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge • Incorporate cultural knowledge into the mainstream of the organization • Teach the origins of stereotypes and prejudices • For staff development and education, integrate your systems information and skills that enable all to interact effectively in a variety of intercultural situations

10. Six Points of the Continuum Cultural Destructiveness Cultural  Blindness Cultural  Competence Cultural Incapacity Cultural Precompetence Cultural Proficiency

11. The Paradigmatic Change in CP • Defined as the transition between cultural blindness and cultural precompetence • A shift in thinking occurs when we turn our attention from our interpretation of the behavior and motivation of others to an introspective look at our own behaviors and values • An examination of individual and district policies usually occurs soon thereafter • “Moving from the paralysis of cultural blindness” to empowerment with examining our own practices and behaviors

12. Tolerance versus Equity • Adapting the CP approach to impact the student achievement gap • Devised by 9 superintendents/districts in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties • A graphic summary representing how the five essential elements can work as transformative change: • MOVING FROM TOLERANCE FOR DIVERSITY TO TRANSFORMATION FOR EQUITY

13. Leverage Points for Change Tolerance for Diversity Transform for Equity Precompetence, competence, and proficiency: Focus is on OUR PRACTICES Assessing one’s own cultural knowledge; demographics- used to inform policy & practice Valuing Diversity: Esteem, respect, and adapt • Destructiveness, incapacity, & blindness: Focus is on THEM • Assessing one’s own cultural knowledge; demographics are a challenge • Valuing Diversity: tolerate, assimilate & acculturate

14. Leverage Points (cont’d) Tolerance for Diversity Transform for Equity Dealing with Conflict: manage, leverage, & facilitate Adapting to diversity: system wide accountability for continuous improvement Integrating cultural knowledge: Information integrated, changes to policies & practices, procedures • Dealing with Conflict: prevent, mitigate & avoid • Adapting to diversity: • System wide accountability for changing needs • Integrating cultural knowledge: adding information to existing policies, practices

15. Summary-Standards • Five essential elements become the five standards leaders use to develop the organization • Standard 1- Assesses Culture • Standard 2- Values Diversity • Standard 3- Manages the Dynamics of Difference • Standard 4- Adapts to Diversity • Standard 5- Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge