Reflections of the journey toward cultural proficiency

Lessons Learned

I learned two valuable lessons from conducting my interviews:  1) there can be a significant difference on particular topic depending a person’s cultural experiences and 2) in general, people are willing and comfortable talking about sensitive topics such as race, religion or faith, ableness etc.  

I interviewed a couple of family members for this project.  While interviewing them was fascinating, I was more impressed by the stark differences of perspectives on issues such as gender roles, religion, education, etc.  I was really struck by this because I also had some areas that were very different from my family members.  Logically, I suppose I know that but I guess I expected something different when I looked at my own family members and all of our experiences.  This reinforced the message that Dr. Lindsey shared in class: “There is diversity among groups.”

Next Steps

At Monarch School, there is much work to be done in the area of cultural proficiency.  I believe we need to continue having discussions about race and the achievement gap but we also need to include other components of culture.  Although my current school site serves students experiencing homelessness, we do not currently offer formal training on how to effectively work with people from this socioeconomic group.

When I think of our school’s work, I truly believe we are committed and dedicated to serve our students.  However, commitment and dedication may not be enough if we are not reaching stages of cultural competence or proficiency.  Specifically, I want to look closer at how to best serve our students and their families.   Jonathan Kozol wrote a book titled Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America.  In the next month, I will read this book and assess the possibility of using it as a book club with our staff and board members.  It is critical we change our paradigm from “our kids are underperforming and how can we ‘save them’” to recognizing that our students have so much to contribute and valuing and using those resources they bring.  Equally important will be to advance on the cultural proficiency continuum and identify areas where we are not serving our students effective.  We need to become more self-accountable.