Cultural Competence

Cultural competence, operationally defined, 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 (Davis, 1997). Cultural Proficiency in education is the level of knowledge-based skills and understanding that are required to successfully teach and interact with students and to work effectively with colleagues from a variety of cultures by holding all forms of cultural difference in high esteem. The only key to embrace the culturally diverse classrooms and schools is to learn about cultural competence, practice it, and institutionalize it to serve the diverse students, their families, …show more content…
The are; (i) Valuing diversity, (ii) Having the capacity for cultural self-assessment, (iii) Being conscious of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact, (iv) Having institutionalized culture knowledge, and (v) Having developed adaptations to service delivery reflecting an understanding of cultural diversity. These five imperative elements contribute to an institution’s ability to become more culturally competent, if they are manifested at every level including policy making, practice, and administrative (Cross, et. al, 1989). In the developmental and ongoing dynamic process of cultural responsive interventions to achieve cultural competence, an administrator must strive hard with a long-term commitment. The researcher Denboba (1993) suggests that cultural competence requires a comprehensive and coordinated plan that includes interventions on levels of: i) policy making; ii) infra-structure building; iii) program administration and evaluation; iv) the delivery of services and enabling supports; and v) the