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Title: Cultural Proficiency: Introduction to the Continuum


1
Cultural Proficiency Introduction to the
Continuum
Stephanie Graham Los Angeles County Office of
Education (562) 922-6410
Graham_Stephanie_at_lacoe.edu
2
Session Outcomes
  • Review the Cultural Proficiency Framework and the
    4 tools
  • Use the Guiding Principles (tool 1)
  • to anchor your work with the Continuum (tool
    2)
  • Review the purposes and the six levels of the
    Cultural Proficiency Continuum
  • Review the paradigmatic shifts along the
    continuum
  • Learn how to use the continuum to facilitate
    personal and organizational transformation toward
    Cultural Proficiency.

3
The Public Schools We Need
You dont have to go very far into the question
of the role of public schools in a democracy
before discovering that moral purpose is at the
heart of the matter. As the main institution
for fostering social cohesion in an increasingly
diverse society, publicly funded schools must
serve all children, not simply those with the
loudest or most powerful advocates. This means
addressing the cognitive and social needs of all
children, with an emphasis on including those who
may not have been well served in the
past. Michael Fullan, The Moral imperative of
School Leadership, 2003
4
So What is Cultural Proficiency

Cultural Proficiency is a set of tools that helps
us lead for Moral Purpose
5
Cultural Proficiency A Set of Tools
  • -For assessing our progress in meeting the needs
    of our customers
  • For articulating and describing our outcomes
  • To help us improve the service we give our
    customers and
  • close gaps between under-served groups
  • -To shape values, policies, and practices at the
    individual and organizational levels that enable
    effective cross cultural interaction and
    communication.

6
The Four Tools of Cultural Proficiency
  • 1. The Guiding Principles
  • Tools to understand the non-negotiable,
    underlying values and assumptions.
  • 2. The Continuum
  • Tool that gives us language for describing both
    healthy and non-productive policies, practices,
    and behaviors.
  • 3. The Essential Elements
  • Tools to develop and coach others to develop
    essential standards of behavior for Cultural
    Proficiency.
  • 4.  Understanding the Barriers to Change
  • Tools to understand and navigate the dynamics of
    cultural status and power, individual
    entitlement, institutional oppression, and to
    provoke alliance for underserved groups.

7
1. The Guiding Principles(The foundation upon
which Cultural Proficiency is built)

  • Culture is a predominant force.
  • Group identity is as important as individual
    identity.
  • Diversity within cultures is vast and
    significant.
  • Each group has unique cultural needs.
  • People are served in varying degrees by the
    dominant culture. (GAPS)

8
What are your equity gaps?
  • What data (hard, observational or anecdotal) do
    you have or can you collect as evidence that
    people are served to varying degrees by the
    policies and practices of your organization?

9
Performance GapsSubgroup API Comparison
10
High School Drop-out Rate (111 of 3,293
Students 2006)
Outcomes and Attainment Gaps
  • African American 9 9 students
  • Asian 1 2 students
  • Filipino N/A 1 student
  • Hispanic or Latino 46 52
    students
  • White (not Hispanic origin) 40  
    44 students
  • --------------------------------------------------
    ---------------------
  • Socio-economically Disadvantaged 37
    41 students
  • English Learners 24 27
    students
  • Students with Disabilities 5 6 students

11
Students Completing A-G Requirements
Course Enrollment Gaps
  • African American 43
  • Asian 64
  • Filipino 55
  • Hispanic or Latino 24
  • White (not Hispanic origin) 42

12
Rigor and Expectations Gaps
Grade 7 Writing Assignment
Essay on Anne Frank Your essay will consist of
an opening paragraph which introduced the title,
author and general background of the novel.
Your thesis will state specifically what Anne's
overall personality is, and what general
psychological and intellectual changes she
exhibits over the course of the book. You might
organize your essay by grouping psychological and
intellectual changes OR you might choose 3 or 4
characteristics (like friendliness, patience,
optimism, self doubt) and show how she changes in
these areas.
Source Unnamed school district in California,
2002-03 school year.
13
Rigor and Expectations Gaps
Grade 7 Writing Assignment
  • My Best Friend
  • A chore I hate
  • A car I want
  • My heartthrob

Source Unnamed school district in California,
2002-03 school year.
14
Opportunity to Learn Gaps
  • The undervaluing and ignoring of students
    cultural experiences, knowledge, learning styles,
    and languages in the teaching process.
  • Insufficient or inadequate access to learning
    supports and technology in and beyond the
    classroom.
  • Missed learning opportunities because of home
    life disruptions, and/or disproportionate illness
    and absenteeism, disciplinary referrals, hunger,
    transience etc.
  • High stakes assessments which are not
    accommodated, cannot accurately measure students
    knowledge or progress and have long term
    negative consequences for some students.

15
Reflection
  • I can describe ways that some groups are served
    well and some are marginalized by the dominant
    cultures in society.
  • I can describe ways that some groups are served
    well and some are marginalized by dominant
    cultural groups in my organization?

16
2. Cultural Proficiency Continuum
  • helps us understand and describe how some groups
    are under-served and some groups are well served
    in schools and in society.
  • We can use the continuum to help us gather more
    data about our gaps and to push us toward
    desired Culturally Proficient values, polices,
    practices and behaviors.

17
Cultural Proficiency Continuum
  • While the four tools of Cultural Proficiency
    flesh-out our understanding of the model, the
    CULTURAL PROFICIENCY CONTINUUM is the skeleton
    which upholds the framework.

18
The Continuum
  • There are six points along the cultural
    proficiency continuum that indicate unique ways
    of perceiving and responding to differences.
  • Cultural destructiveness
  • Cultural incapacity
  • Cultural blindness
  • Cultural pre-competence
  • Cultural competence
  • Cultural proficiency

19
Cultural Destructiveness
  • See the difference stomp it out
  • Eliminating or denigrating other peoples
    culture or aspects of culture.
  • Examples
  • Genocide or Ethnocide
  • Exclusion laws
  • No support for differences that impact
    performance / success
  • Please! You cannot act Black at this school.
  • If we could only get rid of those trailer park
    kids our scores would be higher.
  • My kids do group work like Hispanics dig a
    ditch One works while the others stand around
    and watch.

20
Cultural Incapacity
  • See the difference make it wrong
  • Believing in the superiority of ones own culture
    and behaving in ways that disempower anothers
    culture
  • Examples
  • Disproportionate allocation of resources to
    certain groups
  • Lowered expectations Blaming the others for
    lack of success
  • Expecting others to change or get-over it
  • These kids cant handle a regular classroom Put
    them somewhere else until they are ready to
    learn in this classroom.
  • The law says the Christmas tree is not a
    religious symbol, so we are justified in putting
    one in the front office, even though some
    students/parents are not Christian.
  • Why do you think those kids are low? Their
    parents dont care about education.

21
Cultural Blindness
  • See the difference act like you dont
  • Acting as if cultural differences do not matter
    or as if there are no differences between/among
    cultures
  • Examples
  • Discomfort in noting difference
  • Beliefs/actions that assume world is fair and
    achievement
  • is based on merit
  • I dont see color in any of my kids I treat all
    kids the same.
  • Every child can achieve achieve success. They
    just need to take advantages of the
    opportunities available.
  • We should focus on how we are the same, not how
    we are different.

22
Cultural Precompetence
  • See the difference respond to it inappropriately
    or inconsistently
  • Recognizing the limitations of ones skills or an
    organizations practices when interacting with
    other cultural groups
  • Examples
  • Delegate diversity work to others, a committee,
    people of color
  • Quick fix, packaged short-term programs
  • Making curriculum accommodations once in awhile
    for some groups but not others
  • Roberto, we have assigned you to work with the
    Latino parent committee.
  • February is coming up soon, what should we do
    for Black History Month?

23
Cultural Competence
  • See the difference understand the difference
    that difference makes
  • Interacting with others using the five essential
    elements of cultural proficiency as the standard
    for behavior and practice
  • Examples
  • Advocacy for under-served groups
  • On-going education of self and others
  • Supporting, modeling and taking risks in support
    of under-served groups
  • The honors students don't need all of these
    resources as much as as our underperforming
    African American and Latino students who
    continually get less of everything. I am here to
    to whatever it takes to help the students most in
    need.
  • I see you are frustrated about teaching our kids
    from diverse backgrounds, but your frustration
    simply has not been my experience. May I share?

24
Cultural Proficiency
  • See the difference respond positively.
  • engage and adapt monitor for closing gaps
  • Esteem culture Know how to learn about ones
  • own and the organizations culture(s) Interact
  • effectively comfortably in a variety of
    cultural
  • groups
  • Examples
  • Interdependence
  • Personal change and transformation
  • New friends and relationships
  • Alliance for groups other than ones own
  • Especially as African American stakeholders, we
    need to be allies in support of the needs of the
  • English Learners and their parents.
  • I really cant teach my students well if I
    dont understand and confront how I, myself,
    might be
  • under-serving them. Just because I dont intend
    to under-serve them, doesnt mean I dont

25
Sticky Activity -Applying the Cultural
Proficiency Continuum to our work
  • Materials needed 3 x 3 or 3 x 5 post-its 6
    pieces of chart paper,each headed with one of the
    levels of the continuum.
  • Procedure Facilitator reviews each of the first
    three levels of the continuum, pausing after each
    overview to give individuals or teams an
    opportunity to record examples of that level.
    Participants post their stickies. Facilitator
    repeats the process for the second three levels,
    allowing participants to post their stickies when
    the overview is complete. Facilitator may use
    this prompt Think of something that you have
    actually heard or witnessed during your
    professional tenure that sounds like this level
    of the continuum.
  • Discussion Any number of discussion questions
    will help participants debrief this activity.
    Possible prompts What was easy or hard about
    doing this activity? What stands out for you
    as you look at this continuum with all of your
    contributions? To what extent are some of the
    practices on these stickies still occurring in
    classrooms, schools or in your district?

26
Continuum Self Assessment Activity
  • From Culturally Proficient Coaching by Lindsey,
    Martinez and Lindsey
  • Cultural Destructiveness - I can describe how
    cultures that are different from mine are
    negated, disparaged or restricted by
  • Cultural Incapacity - I can describe how my
    cultural values and beliefs can be elevated and
    how cultures that are different from mine can be
    suppressed by
  • Cultural Blindness - I can describe how I
    might/do act to not recognize or acknowledge
    differences among cultures by

27
Continuum-Self Assessment Activity
  • From Culturally Proficient Coaching by Lindsey,
    Martinez and Lindsey
  • Cultural Precompetence - I can describe how my
    lack of knowledge, experience, and understanding
    of others culture(s) limits my ability to
    interact with or serve people whose culture(s)
    are different from mine by
  • Cultural Competence - I can describe how I use
    the essential elements as standards for adapting
    my behavior by
  • Cultural Proficiency - I can describe my
    constructive experiences and the ways I show my
    advocacy in a variety of cultural settings by

28
Insights about the Cultural Proficiency Continuum
Downward Spiral Conversation
Pre-Competence
Proficiency
Incapacity
Competence
Destructiveness
Blindness
Upward Spiral Conversation
29
Changing Paradigms
TO TRANSFORMATION
FOR EQUITY Pre-competence, Competence,
Proficiency Respect and seek differences
and seek to understand them Focus on the
self and ones and responsibility to
serve the needs of others Anticipate,
manage, leverage, facilitate
conflict Adapt to difference Ensure access
to opportunity and support for success
Demographic data sought and used to inform
policy and practice which are integrated
across the system
  • FROM
  • TOLERANCE FOR DIVERSITY
  • Destructiveness, Incapacity, Blindness
  • Seek and value tolerance, commonalty and
    similarity
  • Focus on them, their differences, deficits
    and need to assimilate or acculturate
  • Prevent, mitigate, avoid cultural dissonance
    and conflict
  • Expect others to change Ensure
    access/opportunity but not support
  • Demographics viewed as a challenge Ad-hoc
    policies, practices may be developed

30
3. The 5 Essential Elements Transforming
Standards of Behavior
  • VALUE difference more than commonalty.
  • ASSESS aspects of cultural identity to understand
    gaps. (Ours and others Group membership and
    group status.)
  • LEVERAGE and manage the dynamics of conflict.
  • USE cultural knowledge to change, adapt to and
    develop the self and/or the organization to
    better serve others.
  • ENGAGE others on the journey and integrate and
    institutionalize Cultural Proficiency into our
    every day behaviors, work and work policies.
    Across the system integration (curriculum,
    instruction, assessment, professional
    development, recruitment and hiring,
    parent/community engagement).

31
4. Understanding Barriers to Cultural
Proficiency
  • Educational Equity and Social Justice require
    individuals who have a sense of their own agentry
    as well as a sense of social responsibility
    toward and with others and the society as a whole.

32
Understanding our Role in Oppression
  • While oppression is reproduced in the
    institutions and structures of society,
    individuals and the groups of which they are
    members also play a role in its operation and
    maintenance.

33
Social/Cultural Group Membership
  • A group of people who share a range
  • of physical, cultural, or social characteristics
    within one of the categories of social/cultural
    identity.

34
Cultural Membership and the Role We Play in
Oppression
  • Social/Cultural Identity
  • Social/Cultural Status

Individuals are privileged or oppressed on the
basis of social/cultural group IDENTITY and
STATUS.
35
Common Social/Cultural Groups
36
Social/Cultural Group Identities
37
Social/Cultural Group Identity
  • For each of the social/cultural identity
    categories listed on the next page, please
    indicate your specific group membership in the
    membership column.

38
Social/Cultural Group Identity
39
Social/Cultural Group Identity
Discuss with a partner What questions were
raised for you in trying to identify your
social/cultural identity and group membership?
40
Social/Cultural Group Status
What do you notice about how social/cultural
groups are arranged in the next slide? What do
the groups in each column have in common?
41
Social/Cultural Groups Identity
42
Social/Cultural Group Status
  • Some groups and individual are victims or targets
    of injustice and oppression, and other groups and
    individuals are agents who reap the benefits of
    illegitimate privilege by virtue of their social
    group membership.

43
Target
  • Member of social identity group(s) that is/are
    disenfranchised, exploited, and victimized in a
    variety of ways by agents (oppressors) and
    agents' systems and institutions.
  • Adams, Bell, and Griffen. Teaching for Diversity
    and Social Justice,1997

44
Agent
  • Member of a dominant social group(s), privileged
    by birth or acquisition, who knowingly or
    unknowingly exploit(s) and reap(s) unfair
    advantage over members of target groups.
  • Adams, Bell, and Griffen. Teaching for Diversity
    and Social Justice, 1997

45
TARGET
AGENT
?
?
EMPOWERED
ALLY

T
ARGET
46
Social/Cultural Group Status
47
Cultural Group Status and Role in Oppression
48
Multiple Identities
  • Many people are likely to have both agent and
    target identities, adding another level of
    complexity to our attempt to understand the
    dynamics of cultural power.
  • Adams, Bell, and Griffen. Teaching for Diversity
    and Social Justice, 1997

49
Social/Cultural Group Status

For each of YOUR social/cultural identity group
memberships listed on the next page, indicate
whether you are a target or an agent of
discrimination for that particular group.
50
Cultural Group Membership Status Profile
51
Social/Cultural Group Profile - Identity
Status
52
Aspects of My Cultural Identity
53
Aspects of My Cultural Status
54
Cultural Identity Profile Questions
  • 1. For which membership groups it is easy for you
    to identify your status? For which membership
    groups is it more difficult for you to identify
    your status?
  • 2. When you look at your overall profile, what
    surprises you?
  • Which cultural membership groups are you most
    aware of on a daily basis? Which are you least
    aware of?
  • Which aspect of your cultural group identity and
    status would you like to learn more about?

55
Ally
  • A member of the agent group who rejects the
    dominant ideology and takes action against
    oppression out of a belief that eliminating
    oppression will benefit both agent and targets.
  • Adams, Bell, and Griffen. Teaching for Diversity
    and Social Justice, 1997

56
Cultural Identity Profile - From Agent to Ally
  • Who are the identifiable targets on your campus?
    What are they targets of? What does it look like
    when they are being targeted?
  • 2. Who (what) are the obvious and subtle agents
    of discrimination on your campus? What does this
    agentry look/feel/sound like?
  • What are some ways that you can demonstrate
    alliance for targeted individuals and groups?
    How can you challenge other agents to become
    allies?
  • What are some ways you can teach alliance for
    targeted individuals and groups?

57
Pushing and Pulling to the Right Side of the
Cultural Proficiency Continuum
Trying to provoke movement ( our own or
others) from the left side to the right side of
the continuum requires us and others to have a
Moral Purpose, a vision for societal and
educational equity. Such a vision pulls us to the
right side of the continuum. Understanding the
role we play in perpetuating societal and
educational inequity and our desire to shift
from agents to allies pushes us there.
58
The Burning Platform
  • But first people need to understand that the
    conditions that fuel the many educational gaps
    faced by too many children has created an
    untenable situation.
  • As citizens in a democracy we should be
    outraged.
  • We are standing on a platform of outcomes that
    are most undemocratic and immoral.
  • This is our burning platform.

59
The Burning Platform
  • Jumping off the burning platform is an
    individual choice.
  • You cant push people off the platform, but you
    can use the tools of Cultural Proficiency,
    especially the Continuum, to raise their
    consciousness that it is indeed a burning
    platform, and that they are in danger of being
    consumed by their own complacency.

60
How might you use knowledge or insights gained
today to deepen your work with Cultural
Proficiency?
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