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2007). At the same institution referenced above, the high degree of "sameness" with which all students were treated precluded the concept that a student might be struggling for cultural reasons -- i.e. preconceived notions regarding the subject matter that differed from what was being taught, etc. This in essence led to blaming the victims of cultural incompetence -- or at least cultural blindness -- for problems that were largely inherent to the system and beyond the students' grasp to even perceive, let alone understand and articulate to authority figures.
There are many suggestions that could be made in order to help this institution -- and the many others that are presumably like it around the country -- move in the right direction, towards increased cultural competence and away from the ill-conceived notions of complete equality and essential similarity that amounts to cultural blindness. The most effective solution, however, is simple training and practice with the concepts of cultural competence and the specific behaviors that demonstrate and evidence its presence in an institution (Kennedy et al. 2007). Starting out by acknowledging and listing differences that exist in the student population and in the administrative and educational staff resources that exist at the institution is an excellent first step in beginning to acknowledge and affirm the cultural potential of the school, rather than actively trying to ignore it (Kennedy et al. 2007).
After such identification and acknowledgement...
It is only through an actual and subjective knowledge of other cultures, attempted form the other cultures perspectives, that truly culturally competent behaviors and attitudes can be developed. Doing so will almost automatically suggest changes to instructional and administrative approaches and interventions that will then be highly specific to the institution and the cultures represented therein, while leaving room for continual growth and adjustment.
References
Kennedy, E.; Bronte-Tinkew, J. And Matthews, G. (2007). "Enhancing cultural competence in out-of-school time programs." Child trends: Research to results. Accessed 23 March 2010. http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2007_01_31_RB_CultureCompt.pdf
Olsen, L.; Bhattacharya, J. And Scahrf, A. (2006). "Cultural competency: What it is and why it matters." California Tomorrow, Lucille Packard foundation for children's health. Accessed 23 March 2010. http://www.lpfch.org/informed/culturalcompetency.pdf
Seattle Public Schools. (2009). "What is Cultural Competence?" Accessed 23 March 2010. http://www.seattleschools.org/area/equityandrace/culturalCompetence.xml
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