The+Process+of+Becoming+Culturally+Competent

= The Process of Becoming Culturally Competent = Developing cultural competence is ultimately a process of self-awareness process; a continuous journey, both professionally and personally. If we intend to be competent in our primary intention of serving the community, we must recognize that society is multi-cultural. We must develop skills to aid us when we encounter cultures other than our own, and we must realize that our various experiences with other cultures will contain both similarities and differences. It is important to be aware of this complexity. Thus cultural competency is being able to relate to both the inherent humanity and the specifics of culture. One way towards becoming cultural competent is to use generalizations without stereotyping. We recomend testing the generalizations and be aware of deviance. You want to know about that person’s culture, not to learn or make generalizations but to have specific knowledge and hypothesis. Cultural competence is acquired by being open and flexible to: We are serving a diverse community. With a one size fits all perspective, some communities will be not served. If we want to be effective with all people, whose responsibility is it? Is it the institution's or the communities’ responsibility to adapt to one way of doing things? We within our public contract must be open and flexible to create a product that is comprehensive and relevant. And just as it is important to have knowledge about culture, it is just as important to develop cross-cultural skills. Many different fields have been developing cross-cultural skills, including medicine, business, and education. Some of the strategies from these fields are universal and can be applied to museum education. Several different individuals and agencies in these various fields have outlined specific steps to follow when trying to become culturally competent. Below we have included some models for your perusal (see links below). There is often overlap between the different system of steps; ultimately each individual will have to find or develop a process which will work best for their particular situation.
 * Cultural generalization: Tendency of a majority of people in a cultural group to hold certain values and beliefs, and to engage in certain patterns of behavior
 * Cultural stereotype: Application of a generalization to every person in a cultural group; or, generalizing based on only a few people in a group
 * What you can learn about people
 * What you can uncover about yourself as you learn
 * What you can learn from differences

=**THE MAKING OF A CULTURALLY COMPETENT COUNSELOR**=

=7 CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS FOR BUSINESSES TO MASTER SOCIAL MEDIA=

** Works Cited and Additional Resources **
 * Culturally Proficient Instruction, A Guide for People Who Teach
 * Robins, Kikanza Nuri, et al., // Culturally Proficient Instruction, A Guide for People Who Teach //, Corwin Press, 2001.
 * A Developmental Modal of Intercultural Sensitivity
 * Bennett, Milton J., // A Developmental Modal of Intercultural Sensitivity. < // []>.
 * []
 * Diversity Training University International (DTUI)
 * []
 * Intercultural Development Research Institute (IDR Institute)
 * []
 * The Making of a Culturally Competent Counsellor
 * Pedersen, Paul B., “The Making of a Culturally Competent Counsellor.” < __[]__>.
 * Multicultural Counseling Competencies: Individual and Organizational Development
 * Sue, D.W., et al. // Multicultural Counseling Competencies: Individual and Organizational Development //, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 1998.
 * National Center for Cultural Competence
 * []
 * Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, International Association for Cross Cultural Psychology
 * []
 * Seven Cross-Cultural Skills for Businesses to Master Social Media – Where Cross-Cultural and Social Media Skills Meet
 * King, Cindy, “Seven Cross-Cultural Skills for Businesses to Master Social Media – Where Cross-Cultural and Social Media Skills Meet.” <[]>.
 * Study of Availability and Effectiveness of Cultural Competency Training for Teachers in California.
 * []

=BACK TO CULTURAL COMPETENCE=