Culturally Proficient Educational Practices

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Culturally Proficient Educational Practices

• Secretaries Session
• District School Board of Niagara
• Randall B. Lindsey
• October 5, 2007

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Session Purposes

• Engage in conversations and activities about the
  impact and influence of race, culture, ethnicity,
  language, sexual orientation, socioeconomics, and
  class on our interactions with community members
• Introduce cultural proficiency as a means for
  secretaries to become effective in cross-cultural
  interactions with community members
• Be aware of the role of secretary as the face
  of the school for those new to the community

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In honor of

• Terry Cross

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A conversation about . . .

• What do you do and why?
• In what ways does what you do influence or
  impact the students of DSBN?
• With a partner, talk about your role and the
  impact or influence you want to have on this
  educational community.

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Whats in a name?

• Form stand-up groups of 3.
• Tell your name story.
• How do you experience your name?
• How do you think others experience your name?
• I will model with my story.
• What have you learned from this activity?

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Cultural Perceptions

• Engage in the activity
• Select a partner that you do not know well.
• A and B?
• A shares her perceptions about B (next slide)
• B responds to those perceptions
• B shares his perceptions about A
• A responds to those perceptions

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Share Your Perceptions How do you think your
partner would respond?

• Country of family origin and heritage
• Languages spoken
• Interests or hobbies
• Favorite foods
• Preferred types of movies, television programs
• Preferred types of music
• Pets, if any, or favorite animals

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Cultural Proficiency

• Is an inside-out approach
• Is about being aware of how we work with others
• Is about being aware of how we respond to those
  different from us

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Cultural Proficiency is

• A mind set to guide school board members and to
  build their confidence a paradigm shift in
  thinking
• The use of specific tools for effectively
  describing, responding to, and planning for
  issues that emerge in diverse environments
• A way of becoming and growing as a member of this
  community

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What do you care about?

• Name 5 things that you care about in DSBN.
  These things describe the essence of you . . .
• Share with one other person
• Cross off one of the 5 so that only the pure
  essence of you remains
• Cross off another item
• Talk with your partner about how what you care
  about matches with the stated values of this
  educational community?

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Name 5 things - debrief

• What did you notice as you wrote your list?
• What did you notice as you shared your list?
• What did it feel like to have to cross items
  off your list?
• What did you learn about your colleagues?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• What conclusions can you draw about members of
  this group?

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Proficiency

• Downward Spiral Conversation

Incapacity
Pre-Competence
Destructiveness
Blindness
Competence
Upward Spiral Conversation
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Essential Elements for Effective Practice

• Assess Culture
• Value Diversity
• Manage the Dynamics of Difference
• Adapt to Diversity
• Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge

• The Essential Elements of cultural proficiency
  provide the standards for individual behavior and
  organizational practices

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Cultural Proficiency helps us to move FROM
TOLERANCE FOR DIVERSITY TO
TRANSFORMATION FOR EQUITY Destructiveness -
Blindness Precompetence
- Proficiency

• Focus on them and their inadequacies
• Tolerate, assimilate, acculturate
• Demographics viewed as challenge
• Prevent, mitigate, avoid cultural dissonance and
  conflict
• Stakeholders expect or help others to assimilate
• Information added to existing policies,
  procedures, practices.

• The focus on us and our practices
• Esteem, respect, adapt
• Demographics inform policy and practice
• Manage, leverage, facilitate conflict
• Stakeholders adapt to meet needs of others
• Information integrated into
• policies, procedures, practices.

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Words often used to describe some groups and
implied terms for others

• Inferior
• Culturally deprived
• Culturally disadvantaged
• Deficient
• Different
• Diverse
• Third world
• Minority
• Underclass
• Poor
• Unskilled workers

• Superior
• Privileged
• Advantaged
• Normal
• Similar
• Uniform
• First world
• Majority
• Upper class
• Middle class
• Leaders

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Thinking about Change

• If you don't like something change it if you
  can't change it,change the way you think about
  it.
• - Mary Engelbreit

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3.2.1 Reflection

• 3 things I learned/affirmed from todays
  session
• 2 questions I take from todays learning
• 1 action I will take as a result of todays
  learning