This document outlines five steps for implementing culturally competent strategies in the classroom. It begins by defining cultural competency as "the ability to successfully teach students who come from cultures other than your own." It then lists five individual cultural competence skills and five action steps teachers can take to get started with cultural competency. The steps include acknowledging differences between people, admitting personal biases, respecting different cultural styles, examining texts for biases, and becoming aware of students' cultural learning styles.

1. FIVE STEPS TO IMPLEMENTING
CULTURALLY COMPETENT
STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM
Andrea Dardello, PhD
Assistant Professor of
English
Frederick Community
College

2. DEFINITION OF CULTURAL COMPETENCY
“the ability to successfully teach students who come from
cultures other than your own”
--Jean Moule in Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators

3. FIVE INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL
COMPETENCE SKILLS
1. Being aware of and accepting the fact that we are
different, as opposed to the same
2. Being aware of one’s own biases and prejudices
3. Being aware of different cultural styles, including
communication styles and values
4. Being aware of the cultural specificity from which
theories and texts are taken
5. Being aware of cultural learning styles and the need to
adapt one’s teaching style to fit how students learn

4. THIS IS SOME PEOPLE’S REACTION WHEN THEY HEAR THE
WORDS “CULTURAL COMPETENCY.”

5. UNDERSTAND THAT CULTURAL COMPETENCY
DOES REQUIRE INNER WORK.

6. AND THE WORK IS ONGOING….

7. BUT HERE ARE 5 ACTION STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO
GET STARTED:

8. STEP 1: ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT AS
OPPOSED TO THE SAME. THIS STEP:
makes us aware of the other person’s reality.
makes us open to hearing the other person’s reality.
challenges the assumption that a preferred reality is
the only legitimate one.
validates other’s experiences.

9. STEP 2: ADMIT THAT WE ALL HAVE BIASES AND
PREJUDICES.
This simple admission helps to usher out shame, blame, and guilt
and allows for authentic conversation.
 Each of us has a preferential lens with which we view the
world.
 None of us is immune from bias:
“[N]early everyone born and raised in the United States
inherits the racial biases of the society.”
(Sue, et al. “Racial Miccroaggressions in Everyday Life”)

10. STEP 3: RESPECT DIFFERENT CULTURAL STYLES, INCLUDING
COMMUNICATION STYLES AND VALUES, BY NOT IMPOSING VALUE OF
ONE OVER THE OTHER.
Observe without judgment and allow others to
express how they feel while leaving the
conversation open.
While one person might value subtlety, indirectness, and withholding
strong emotions, another might prefer being direct, passionate, and
open with their feelings.

11. STEP 4: CLOSELY EXAMINE THE TEXTS YOU USE FOR BIASES:
Who are the “experts” of the texts chosen for the course?
How many different perspectives are represented in the texts?
How might you incorporate the missing voices or perspectives not
represented in the text?

12. STEP 5: BECOME AWARE OF STUDENTS’ CULTURAL LEARNING STYLES
AND BE WILLING TO ADAPT YOUR TEACHING STYLE TO FIT HOW
STUDENTS LEARN.
Take in inventory of students’ learning styles the first day and
adapt accordingly:
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Read-write

13. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching. 2nd ed. New York:
Teachers College, 2010. Print.
Moule, Jean. Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators. 2nd
ed. Belmont, CA: Cengage, 2012. Print.
Sue, Derald Wing. Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence:
Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race.
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2015. Print.

14. IMAGES
Miller, Guido. “Sonnenblumen un Maisfeld.” Adobe. File no.
68297248. Web. 19 August 2015.
Pathdoc. “Duh moment senior man realizes mistake.” File no.
64426796. Web. 19 August 2015.
Photoplus07. “Jeune femme Africaine en meditation.” File no.
78657704. Web. 19 August 2015.