Ben Burns EDUL 635

Cultural Proficiency
Culture is everywhere. Each one of us brings our own unique set of values, beliefs, and customs
into each interaction we have everyday. Often we share values, beliefs, and customs with others who are
similar to us, but not always. As individuals, we have a responsibility to not "treat the book by its cover"
and avoid stereotyping. The ability to not only be mindful about our own culture, including our
subconscious beliefs and prejudices, but to also be educated, inclusive, and celebratory of the differences
across cultures of others as it relates to achieving the goal of an individual or organization is known as
cultural proficiency. As educators, we have an even greater responsibility than the average individual
because the work that we do shapes life trajectories for the next generation. It is imperative that we are
culturally proficient so that we can create a sense of belonging, a culture of hope, instill in our students
grit and resilience, and work to reverse the subtle yet profound privileges that threaten to destroy any
chance at equity.
There are five essential elements to consider when working towards becoming culturally
proficient (Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell, 1999). The first essential element is to celebrate diversity. This
goes beyond understanding differences between individuals and cultures, to a world view that no one way
is better than the others and that diversity is something to be embraced and celebrated because of the
power it has to teach us about the world. The second essential element is the capacity for self-assessment.
In order to fully appreciate another person's culture and background, we must first understand and
appreciate our own, especially how our innate prejudices and beliefs might influence how we act towards
others or how those prejudices and beliefs might encourage others to act towards us. The third essential
element is managing the dynamics of difference, specifically being conscious of the power dynamics
inherent when cultures interact. It is unavoidable that there will be discrepancies in terms of power when
majority and minority cultures interact. A truly culturally proficient individual will not only recognize
this, but they will develop the skills to successfully navigate potentially contentious situations to work
towards neutralizing these dynamics in the interest of progress. The fourth essential element is

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adaptations to service delivery, curriculum, and instruction that reflects an understanding of cultural
diversity. This includes reflecting on whether or not our curriculum, instructional practices, classroom
management practices, and broader institutional practices are taking the diversity of the school population
into account. Finally, the fifth essential element is institutionalizing cultural knowledge and resources.
Transferring these first four elements from initiative to engrained practice will take many years of
mindful and intentional work.
The path towards cultural competence has been defined to have several stages, or phases, that can
be represented on a continuum (Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell, 2003). The least culturally proficient stage,
Cultural Destructiveness, is actually very damaging. Individuals in this stage actively seek the
elimination of other people's cultures. Slightly less damaging, individuals in the Cultural Incapacity stage
believe their own culture to be superior, and seek to discredit any differences. Individuals in the Cultural
Blindness stage either pretend not to notice differences, or indicate that the differences don't matter. Most
individuals are likely in the Cultural Pre-competence stage, where they are aware of the differences, but
are unable to respond adequately. Individuals in the Cultural Competence stage understand the difference
that diversity makes and are responding using some of the essential elements. Finally, in the Cultural
Proficiency stage, individuals respond effectively and with affirmation to differences. Understanding
these stages can help us identify not only where we are, and how we might be able to progress towards
full cultural proficiency, but also others.
While educators may not be formally responsible for teaching students everything they will need
to know about life before turning 18, because of how society is presently constructed, a students success
in their school years, or lack thereof, profoundly impacts the trajectory of the rest of their life. While
there are certainly some things beyond the control of the educator, there is so much more we could, and
should, be doing to serve all students. The problem is usually not that education is failing, but quite the
opposite in that it is overall successful: school works out pretty well for the majority of students. This is a
problem because there is often little incentive then to make the difficult changes that would be required to

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make school successful for all students, particularly students from a diverse cultural, racial, linguistic,
ability, or socioeconomic background. As Jim Collins now famously put it, Good is the enemy of great.
Working towards cultural proficiency as an individual, or even better, as a school community, is
essential in taking that step from good to great: going from a place where students whose background is
that of the majority culture are successful, to all students are successful. One way in which cultural
proficiency accomplishes this is by creating a sense of belonging for all students, but especially the
students traditionally marginalized. The students whose parents have the resources for them to participate
in sports, whose parents have the time to attend school plays, whose religious beliefs line up with the
breaks in the school calendar, and who can read the signs posted around the school, have always felt a
sense of belonging with their school. By implementing some of the essential elements of cultural
proficiency, including valuing diversity and integrating our newfound understandings into our curriculum,
instructional practices (including behavior management), and general school policies, we can help all
students to have a sense of belonging in their school.
When students feel a sense of belonging, they generally begin to engage more in the academic
and behavioral goals and expectations being presented to them. Continuing with those same essential
elements of cultural proficiency will next lead to creating a culture of hope. We sometimes dont
recognize or acknowledge it, but so many students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds develop
preconceived notions about their future, and these notions are all too often more pessimistic and begin
earlier than we would even think. This is also part of the reason why so many students are unable to
provide an answer when asked about their future: no one has helped them visualize what their future
could be. In fact, many people have probably told them, if only subtly or subconsciously, that they are
not capable of the type of future everyone else gets. Cultural proficiency then, is absolutely essential to
make sure that all students are able to have hope; able to visualize a better future than what has been their
past.
A sense of belonging is great and having hope for a better future is better, but those things will
not keep adversity at bay. Even the students with the greatest sense of belonging and hope will

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experience lots of adversity along their educational path, whether related to academics, or more external
factors. A culturally proficient school and educators will not only get students started down the right path
by fostering belonging and hope, but they will help prepare them to finish strong by instilling in them the
grit and resiliance required to persevere. Angela Lee Duckworth has pioneered much of the present
research on grit and defines it as the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term
goals (Duckworth et al., 2007). Her research clearly indicates grit is one of the most important
characteristics related to success. Through the effects of culturally proficiency, we can help all of our
students, but especially those that will naturally face more adversity, to develop the ability to think and
plan long-term, and to persevere because they feel like they belong to a community that supports them
and they are hopeful about their ability to control and achieve positive outcomes in their lives.
In addition to valuing diversity and embedding culturally responsive practices into our
curriculum, instruction, and institutions in general, it is essential to engage in genuine self-reflection and
to manage the power dynamics inherent to interactions between cultures. White privilege is a term that
has been thrown around a lot, probably too loosely. And similarly to cultural proficiency, many people
mistakenly feel more knowledgeable about white privilege and all that it entails than they truly are.
Having a full understanding of white privilege, and the inherent privileges subconsciously given to the
majority in terms of other attributes such as religious preference and native language, will help shape the
type of future we want for all students in two important ways. First, the open-minded disposition required
to contemplate, understand, and act upon such a taboo topic will make possible full cultural proficiency
and all that that entails. Second, we cant begin to fix a problem we arent aware of, or one that we dont
understand. Once we have a solid understanding of white privilege and how it can shape the life
trajectories of individuals and families, even generations ahead of time, then will we be in a position to
begin to work towards eliminating these privileges, and introducing equity into our education system, and
society as a whole.
We know that all students show up on the first day of kindergarten coming from innumerable
different backgrounds. We know that many of those students are already set up to be successful in the

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current system simply because of those backgrounds. Likewise we know that some students are already
set up for failure. But, we also know that all students show up on the first day of kindergarten excited to
be at school and eager to learn. By valuing diversity, engaging in critical self-reflection, being conscious
of power dynamics between cultures, and working to institutionalize our cultural awareness into our
curriculum, instruction, and general policies, we can begin to create schools where all students have a
sense of belonging, all students have hope for the future, all students are gritty and resilient in the face of
adversity, and all students achieve at high levels. Cultural proficiency is an absolutely essential part of
taking our schools from good, to great; from all kindergarteners excited about learning, to all high school
seniors excited about learning.