Intercultural Competence And Cultural Competence

Improved Essays
What is cultural competence and how can it be gained? Intercultural competence is the ability to be sensitive, reflective, tolerant, and efficient during interactions with individuals of different cultures (Behrnd & Porzelt, 2012). Arasaratnam and Doerfel (2005) identify having prior cross-cultural experiences, a global understanding of culture without ethnocentrism, and listening skills that allow one to be proficient in cross-cultural communication as important components of intercultural competence. Intercultural competency is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity for individuals entering and existing in the workforce (Hunt, 2001). Other valuable skills and understandings can emerge as indications of the acquisition of cultural …show more content…
It is important to recognize that participating in any kind of study abroad program does not inherently increase a student’s cultural competence or cultural awareness. Research shows that students who participated in study abroad programs for at least half a year and received cultural awareness training after returning had increased cognitive, affective, problem solving and social intercultural competence in comparison to students who also received this training but did not have a study abroad experience. There was not as great an effect for students before they received training (Behrnd & Porzelt, 2012). Study abroad pre-training programs should include elements such as self-cultural reflection, specific examples of cultural differences and guided deconstruction of them, how to confront, interpret, and resolve emotions evoked as a result of cultural difference, and guidance about how to understand cultural differences as different and not wrong (Johns & Thompson, 2010). It is possible that having a study abroad experience can make cultural training upon return more meaningful as the students would have real life applications to some of the more abstract concepts that are a part of cultural awareness and sensitivity training (Behrnd & Porzelt, 2012). Therefore, it can be argued that students should also take part in re-entry cultural …show more content…
In other cultures, access to inclusive education and other services may be made difficult by a multitude of factors such as lack of teacher training, unfavourable attitudes towards disabilities and other marginalized groups, lack of understanding about what inclusive education is, and an unwillingness to teach students who would be a part of inclusive classrooms (Chhabra, Rama, & Srivastava, 2010; Donohue & Bornman, 2015). Additionally, a culture may have a different definition of inclusive education than one’s own. In the context of education, the notion of inclusion means education for all students inclusive of those in poverty, orphans, individuals with learning, physical, and intellectual disabilities (Chakraborti-Ghosh et al., 2014; Ministry of Education, Namibia, 2013). Having this knowledge before entering into a culture to work or learn is beneficial in order to create programs and offer support that is meaningful and realistic within that cultural context. Specific cultural and contextual barriers must be understood as applying an umbrella assumption of disability in all developing countries and minority cultures is ineffective and inherently wrong (Grech, 2009).

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    According to Ortega et al (2011), a cultural competence framework challenges workers to develop practice knowledge and skills for working across cultures and with respect to cultural and linguistic differences. Some of the essential elements of cultural competence include valuing diversity, developing cultural self-awareness, appreciating the dynamics of cross-cultural interactions, being knowledgeable about within-group cultural differences and demonstrating an ability to develop service delivery that is relevant and responsive to the diverse and complex needs of the individuals, families, social networks, and…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the world becomes more accessible and American society becomes more diverse, possession of cultural competence is becoming increasingly important. The chances of leading an organization or work team in which all members think like you, work like you, and have the same values as you are next to none, and ignoring these differences as a leader leads to dissatisfied employees, low productivity, and even lawsuits. Cultural competence is of utmost importance to anyone whose job brings them into contact with other people, whether coworkers or customers. Cultural competence is broadly defined as having a certain set of values, beliefs, and attitudes that allow one to function and manage well in a cross-cultural setting (National Center for Cultural Competence [NCCC], n.d.). The details of what this looks like vary depending on the field in which one is working.…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Cultural Competence Self-Assessment This paper will examine how to recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power, and how to recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice. By using self-assessment tools such as the Cultural Paradigm Survey and the Project Implicit Attitudes Tests (IATs) the author identified the strengths that she wish to enhance, and the improvement opportunities for the weaknesses that she wish to reduce or eliminate. The author is a 44-year-old African American female attending Edinboro University obtaining her master’s degree after completing her bachelor’s degree late in life.…

    • 1579 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Cultural Competency

    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages

    As a social worker, the idea of being culturally competent is a vital and important one. Many of the clients that we will work with through our careers are going to be different from us in more ways than one. Being able to understand how to appropriately and effectively work with clients who are different than us is a significant part of the profession. Cultural competence also spreads out into being important in regards to the agency an individual works for. Agencies need to make sure that their staff is trained and understand cultural competence in order to serve the client populations to the best of their abilities.…

    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Cultural competence is a term used to describe a set of congruent behaviours that allows individuals or services to work effectively in cross-cultural settings. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) states that ‘cultural competence is the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures’. Educators should put prejudices aside and focus on the underlying principles of cultural competence which are; trust, respect for diversity, equity, fairness and social justice (ACECQA. 2010). Cultural competence challenges educator’s own bias and assumptions and makes them reflect their own world views. Cultural competence is about being aware of cultural differences, acknowledging and understanding them in…

    • 213 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cultural competency is an expectation of all human service professionals. Define this concept and discuss its relevance to practice. Chenoweth & McAuliffe share the broad definition that culture is comprised of the ‘knowledge, beliefs, customs and values in a given society’ (2015, Chapter 9) meaning that culture goes beyond simple connotations of race and ethnicity, to how we define our sexual orientation, our gender, our religious beliefs and even our disabilities. Cultural competency is widely regarded as an essential component within the human service provision and social work practice for this very reason, due to the wide variety of different cultures within our present day society, our acceptance and understanding of varying cultures…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Early Childhood Exclusion

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Introduction. This literature review has been written in regards to the importance of inclusionary practices and inclusion for children with disabilities and their families within an early childhood education environment. Two of the research articles used are from New Zealand, one from Taiwan and one from Spain, they range from 2009 until present day.…

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ms. Jones and Ms. DeBarge exemplify a common attitude at Anderson University. Both girls wanted to travel and learn, and they agreed that they learned more than they expected. Traveling to another country or overseas takes a student out of the realm they are accustomed to and gives them a new perspective. “Anne Combs, a senior majoring in Spanish and English as a New Language (ENL) education. Anne said of being immersed in a new culture, ‘I have always felt encouraged to only be friends with Christians, but God spoke to me through studying abroad.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On Wednesday, March 2, 2016 I attended a Building Cultural Competency Workshop (BCCW), which was held at the Festival Highlands room at James Madison University. This event brought together multiple Health and Behavioral Science majors (Social Work, Nursing, etc.) in order to discuss cultural competency in our own lives. This workshop brought the HBS majors together in order for us to learn from one another how we can work effectively in cross-cultural situations, including in our workplace and on our campus. While there, we had speakers discuss different topics on cultural competency.…

    • 1269 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The self-evaluation artifact for the cultural competence project provides a schematic diagram for analyzing my strengths, challenges & growth opportunities to become more culturally competent in regards to providing pharmaceutical care. A series of 3 parts were completed to further my understanding of various cultures and their impact in providing patient-centered care. The first 2 parts entailed watching a series of provider perspective videos and writing reflections in regard to questions being asked. The third part of this project is the completed self-evaluation artifact sheet that represents my view and improvements that need to be made moving forward in order to be more culturally competent. This project was assigned by Dr. Christine…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cultural competency is the ability to have an understanding of different cultures points of views and world knowledge. It is important to realize that although people will strive to have cultural competency, it will always be something we are moving toward, not something we can have completely for all cultures. Furthermore, people must understand how their own culture can change their view of other people and create biases that may not be noticeable without this culturally competent awareness. Being open to and learning about how other people view and experience the world and events in it is essential to cultural competency and a necessary part of working with others (Lee, 2006). As counselors, cultural competency is even more notably essential.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Reflective Paper on Cultural Competence Introduction To stay in multicultural country like Canada there are different people from different background. Culture also refers to tradition and values of the person, individual culture is influenced by many factors, such as race, gender, religion, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and life experience, culture competence is very important to maintain therapeutic nurse-client relationship. Canadian nurses association believes that cultural competence is the application of knowledge skills, attitudes or personal attributes required by nurse to maximize respectful relationship with diverse population of Clint and co-workers. The nurse is responsible for responding appropriately to the client’s cultural expectation and needs.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    «We are all different, but we respect each other and our cultures. » Study abroad programs offers student help to start exploring a new culture by walking historically important road or visiting monuments and showing landmarks. Student do group bonding were they all have to participate.…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the first few months, students experience many culture shocks, but eventually, students get used to it. However, we do feel different and uncomfortable living in different countries. Sometimes students are discriminated because of our races and ethnic groups. The aspect is, we tend to be with people who have the same culture or similar which substantially undermines the purpose of studying abroad. If international students have some problems or questions, students often ask people who can speak the same language or share similar feelings and customs.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Inclusive education is meaningful when it is thoroughly embedded in our understandings about community and communality; both reflective of, and creative of inclusive ideals within society (Thomas, 2013). Success for inclusive education is more than recognising inclusion about people with disabilities or special learning needs; it is about participation within learning (Booth, 1999). Education around inclusion needs to start within the university courses to train this and the next generation of teachers about the importance of inclusive education, not simply an optional course, but an entire philosophical mind-set espoused throughout the entire teaching course; one that has an immediate relevant application within a classroom. The discourses of disability need to be critically examined, and the voices of those affected by them need to be heard. It is after all these voices that convey the…

    • 2039 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays