August 2006
Cultural Competence
Cultures clash at school and in the classroom. These clashes may be based on social class, race, ethnic background, or religious beliefs. To be effective, school personnel must address these differences and how they impact learning. Thus, the Article of the Month focuses on cultural competence.
Two articles are selected for your consideration. These two articles, by no means, are the final word on dealing with cultural differences. However, they do offer two perspectives.
The first article is based on research in social class. Entitled The Workings of Class: How understanding a subtle difference between social classes can promote equality in the classroom – and beyond, this article explores the concept of individualism and how different perspectives of that concept leads to different interpretations of life and thus different behaviors. It appeared in the Stanford Social Innovation Review in the fall of 2005. Click on the link below to read a PDF file of the article:
The second article was written by a former teacher and appeared in Educational Leadership Online, a publication by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) (http://www.ascd.org/). This issue is entitled Helping All Students Succeed. The article, “The Violence You Don't See,” tells how one teacher looked into the lives of her students, thus gaining a better understanding of their strengths and creating an environment in which they not only could learn but wanted to learn. Click on the link below to go to Educational Leadership Online:
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.459dee008f99653fb85516f762108a0c/
Click on Summer 2006: Helping All Students Succeed. Then click on the article The Violence You Don’t See.
The Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health (http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/) publishes a quarterly journal called Focal Point. The Fall 2002 edition features several articles that address “Assessing and Addressing Cultural Competence” (http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFPF02TOC.php).
A helpful resource is offered by the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) http://cecp.air.org/cultural/default.htm. It discusses the following topics:
What is cultural competence?
Why is cultural competence important?
What does the research say?
What are others doing?
How is cultural competence integrated in education?
How does cultural competence differ from cultural sensitive/awareness?
How does cultural competence benefit children?
Where can I find more information?
Who should be involved?
Another helpful resource is The Jigsaw Classroom (http://www.jigsaw.org/). This website describes the cooperative learning technique of the jigsaw classroom based upon the research of Dr. Elliot Aronson at the University of California in Santa Cruz. According to Dr. Aronson, the “cooperative learning technique…reduces racial conflict among school children, promotes better learning, improves student motivation, and increases enjoyment of the learning experience.”