Education EDU 755 Reading Assignment/Discussion 1

The Cultural 2 Proficiency Leadership Le~s

True generosity lies in striving so that these hands-whether of

individuals or entire peoples-need be extended less and less in sup­

plication so that more and more they become human hands which

work and, working, transform the world.

-Paolo Freire (1987, p. 29)

GETTING CENTERED . : 1

When reading a school's mission statement that purports "all students

will achieve to high levels," do you wonder to yourself, "Then, why aren't

all cultural and demographic groups of students achieving to high levels

at this school?" Do you ever hear the cacophonous sound of fellow educa­

tors talking about students at your school in ways that are unhealthy?

What is your response? Do you say anything? What do you wish you had

said? What do fellow educators say when they are engaged in healthy

conversation about their practice? Please write your responses to these

questions in the space below:

2S

26 • Part 1. Leadership Is a Developed Personal Perspective

You are on the first step toward identifying your values and b h .

r leading schools that address the education of all students to en e aviors ,or . k h sure equ·

t ble access and outcomes. We view our wor , as t e authors of th· b 1 ..

a • h d d. h Is oak bringing us all together 1n t e un erstan 1ng t at educational ,

as b . . gaps are ollr issue, with at least three agreements e1ng important prerequisites:

• First, we must acknowledge that educational access and ach·

h • • I d • t Th ieve .. ment gaps are 1stonca an pers1s ent. ese gaps were in

schools when we arrived; we inherited them, but we may not ignour . . 0~

them. The issue of the academic underperf ormance of children of

poverty and African American, Latino, and First Nation 1 students

is not a new issue. •• • Second, if the gaps are to be closed, as well-intentioned and weU­

inf ormed educators and laypersons, we must step forward as lead­

ers to examine, first, our own values and behaviors and, second,

the policies and practices of our schools. In doing so we acknowl­

edge that current policies and practices were developed by our

predecessors' values and behaviors and may not be appropriate to

the current student population.· • Third, we can make a difference for our students and their com­

munities when we listen to who our students say they are and

what their needs are. Too often our needs or the needs of the school

system take precedence over the needs of current students.

With these agreements, you are fully prepared to explore Cultural

Proficiency as a set of interrelated tools to serve you as a responsible per­

son in society, as an effective educator, and as a leader to other educators.

In this chapter we present the Tools of Cultural Proficiency for you to

understand yourself as a leader and your school as an organizational cul­

ture in service of students from a variety of cultures, many of which dif-

ferent from yours. . . . ..

In this chapter we introduce Cultural Proficiency as

• a process that begins with us, not with our students or their communities

• I • •

• 8

shift in thinking, for some educators, that moves us from viewing cul-

• ~ as problematic to embracing the assets within students' cultures

• : cens thr0ugh which we view our role as educators 0ncept com d • d our

practice pose of a set of four interrelated tools to gui e

-1A~c:ol~lect-:-:-. ------ In ive and emergtn not

Ult or Metis-fi g term that describes indigenous people who are rom the Human Rights Code of the Province of Ontario, canada.

Chapter 2. The Cultural Proficiency Leadership Lens • 27

CULTURAL PROFICIENCY IS AN INSIDE-OUT PROCESS

Cross, Bazr?n, Dennis, and Mareasa (1989) refer to Cultural Proficiency

being an inside-out process of personal and organizational change. Cultural

Proficiency is who we are, more than what we do. Effective use of the Tools

of Cultural Proficiency is predicated on your ability and willingness to

recognize that change is an inside-out process in which we are students of

our assumptions about self, others, and the context in which we work

with others. It is our intent to guide you in this book in such a way that

you will reflect on your actions, the actions of your school, and the cul­

tural communities you serve. This book engages your leadership journey

with many activities that have the following in common:

• You will recognize your own assumptions, retain those that f acili­

tate culturally proficient actions, and change those that impede

such actions.

• You will apply this inside-out process to examine and change, as

appropriate, school policies and practices that either impede or

facilitate culturally proficient ends.

The willingness and ability to examine yourself and your school or

school district are f undaniental to addressing educational access and

achievement gap issues. Cultural Proficiency provides a comprehensive, sys­

temic structure for school leaders to identify, examine, and discuss educa­

tional issues in their schools. The four Tools of Cultural Proficiency, described

later in this chapter, provide you with the means to assess and change your

values and behaviors, and your school's policies and practices, in ways that

serve your students, schools, communities, and society. Your leadership jour­

ney using Cultural Proficiency a·s a means for self-growth begins with mas­

tery of these four tools as a philosophical and moral impera~ive.

CULTURAL PROFICIENCY

REPRESENTS A LEADERSHIP PARADIGM

Cultural Proficiency begins with I or me. As a leadership paradigm,

Cultural Proficiency is a journey within ourselves to recognize the only

person over whom we have f uII control is ourselves. Cultural Proficiency

is a mindset for how we interact with all people, irrespective of their or our

cultural memberships. Cultural Proficiency is a world view that carries

explicit values, language, and standards for effective personal interactions

and professional practices. Cultural Proficiency is a 24/7 approach to our

28 • Part I. Leadership Is a Developed Personal n ce.rspective

personal and professional lives. Most important C 1

not a set of independent activities or strategies th' t u turaI Proficien ..

d a You lear cy ts

others-your stu ents, colleagues, or community b n to use ,A~th mem ers • .,,

Too often, we meet and work with educators lo k· • o ing for h

working with people who are culturally different from th s 0rtcuts t

. em. It· 0

rience that educators seeking shortcuts to working in Is 0 ur expe-

• b 1· f • h . cross-cultu l

tings have an innate e 1e in t e1r own superiority and . ra set. view oth

needing to be changed. Terry Cross (Cross et al 19Bg) ers as ., was mor

develop cultural competence and Cultural Proficiency wh ivated to

nized that mental health professionals and institutions wer ~n ~e recog.

. 'In . e 1ne,f ecu~ •

cross-cultural settings. Mi er (200 7), 1n presenting a frame k r e 10

. h h " wor ,or edu.

cat1onal researc ers, suggests t at researchers and participa t

. . . . n s engage

1n reflection together to think through what 1s happening in a t·

. . par 1cular

research community, with race and culture placed at the core" (p. 396

)

Educators who commit to culturally proficient practices represent ·a

paradigmatic shift away from the current, dominant group view of

regarding "underperf arming" cultural demographic groups of students as

problematic. The paradigmatic shift is from a value of "tolerating diver­

sity" to a "transformative commitment to equity" (Shields, 2010). This

shift is characterized by the following change:

• Representative comments from the "tolerance" paradigm are these:

Their culture doesn't value education. They just need to work harder.

It isn't about race; it is about socioeconomic status. They just need to

pull themselves up by their bootstraps-it is the American wayl

• In contrast, culturally proficient educational leaders work from a

"trans[ ormative" paradigm that views their work in terms of how

they affect the educational experiences of people culturally differ­

ent from themselves. Trans[ ormative comments are: What do we

need to learn to be effective? What might be instructional

approaches that work in this setting? In what ways can I organize

the agenda to focus on being solution centered?

CULTURAL PROFICIENCY AS AN

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP LENS

Cult ll • . · ltural situ-

ura Y proficient educational leaders are eff ect1ve m cross-cu

at' h

d the edu-

ions t at affect their students, the communities they serve, an . 1

cators d ff • t ducat1ona

an sta members in their schools. Culturally proflcien e h

:d°:8 are committed to educating aU students to high levels thrvt!. owtng, valuing, and using the students' cultural backgrounds,_

8 al

guages, and learning styles within the selected curricular and wstructJOil

Chapter 2. The c Jtu I . u ra Profie1ency Leadership Lens • 29

contexts. Leaders who are comm:tt d I . U.lllJ.! e to eadmg our schools in a way that

all students have access to the b n t r • ene 1 s o a democratic system can use the

four Tools of Cultural Proficiency as a templat r th · I d e .1or eir persona an pro-

fessional development.

The Tools of Cultural Proficiency provide you with

• A Framework for Overcoming the Barriers of systemic oppres­

sion, a sense of privilege and entitlement, resistance to change, and an

unawareness of the need to adapt. This framework enables you to be

intentional in the use of the Guiding Principles and Essential Elements.

• Guiding Principles on which you can build an ethical and pro­

fessional frame for effective cross-cultural communication and

problem solving

• A Continuum of behaviors that enables you to diagnose your

values and behavior in such a way that you can better influence

the policies and practices of your school, your school district, and

our profession

• Essential Elements, expressed in terms of standards of personal

and professional conduct, that serve as a framework for intention­

ally responding to the academic and social needs of the cultural

groups in your school and community

Effective use of these tools is predicated on a wilJingness to put into

operation the agreements listed above that begin with you the leader, not

with those you lead. It is our experience that effective educational leaders

are very clear about themselves relative to working with and leading cul­

turally diverse communities.

THE CULTURAL PROFICIENCY TOOLKIT

Cultural Proficiency is composed of an interrelated set of four tools that

prompt reflection and provide the opportunity to improve your leadership

practice in service of others. The tools provide you with the means by

which to lead your personal life and perform your professional responsi­

bilities in a culturally proficient manner.

The Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency

The key question in considering the Guiding Principles is, Is what we "say"

as school leaders congruent with what we "do?" In reflecting on your responses

to the Getting Centered activity at the beginning of this chapter, did you

experience dissonance between how you respond to others' inappropriate

comments and how you would like to respond? Did you fmd a disconnect

d hip Is a Developed Personal Perspective 30 1 part 1. Lea ers

how Colleagues talk about cultural groups of students and th between . . e tyPes ents you know to be healthier? If you pause m considerih of comm . hr r &. Ulg Yo Ur nses to these questions, you are m the t oes o an ethical dilenun respo 'd l h.l h· a. The Guiding Principles prov1 e a mora p 1 osop 1cal frarn . • OS)" . ework

(Fullan, 2003, Shapiro & Stefkov1ch,_20 1or you to examme and Under .. stand your beliefs about the education of students from cultural groups different from yours. Once y?u consider your own beliefs, the Guiding Principles will help you exam1n~ the core values of your school. Using the Guiding Principles will support you as you develop a coherent approach t educating all students in ways that honor and build on who they are a~ people and as members of our complex, often contradictory, society. . The Guiding Principles provide a framework for how the cultural diversity of your students should inform professional practice when responding to student learning needs. A good place to see if the stated values in your school align with predominant behaviors in the school is to examine your school's or district's mission, vision, or beliefs statement. Most likely in looking at school and district mission statements you will encounter phrases such as these:

• , all students • valuing diversity • twenty-first century education • · college and career readiness • high-tech skills

I •

f I

Do your leadership behaviors and those of your colleagues align with those expressed values? To assist you in answering this question, please read the Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency displayed in Table 2.1. As you read the nine bulleted items, pay attention to your reactions and to the questions that arise for you.

Reflection

Use the space below to record the thoughts, reaction, and questions that surface for you as you read Table 2.1.

Chapter 2. The Cultural Proficiency Leadership Lens • 31

Table 2.1 The Cuiding Principk•s of Cultural l'rolkit.·11c_,,

• Culture is a predominant force In society.

• People are served in varying degrees by the dominant culture .

• People have group Identities and individual identities .

• Diversity within cultures is vast t:1nd significant.

• Each cultural group has unique cuitural needs . '

• The best of both worlds enhances the capacity of all .

• The family, as defmed by each culture, is the primary system of support in iJ:

the education of children. :,

School systems must recognize that marginalized populations have to be. :,·

• !f

at least bicultural and that this status creates a distinct set of issues to ,;.

which the system must be equipped to respond.

• Inherent in cross-cultural interactions are dynamics that must be '

acknowledged, adjusted to, and accepted.

_c..:,. •• ,,....7' •• > - '' • : .'" •· • ,•, • .r•·• ... , ._ ... · .. -~--"',._.:-;- - ,: -. ::-·. .• .. s·,"

-- .. ..

The Cultural Proficiency Continuum

Table 2 .2 presents the six point~ of The Cultural Proficiency Continuum

with brief descriptions. First, note the manner in which the continuum is

constructed:

• The first three points of the continuum focus on them (i.e., your

students and their cultures) as being problematic. Cultural

destructiveness, cultural incapacity, and cultural blindness seek

to have you looking out ~ollins's (2001) "window" and describ­

ing students with terms such as underperforming and

underachievers.

• The next three points of the continuum focus on your practice as

transformative leader. Cultural precompetence, cultural compe­

tence, and Cultural Proficiency have you looking in Collins's "mir­

ror," examining the values and behaviors that guide your

educational practices, and seeking to know how you are under­

serving your students and their communities, so you can learn to

serve them differently. (This is an example of the inside-out

approach.)

32 • Part I. Leadership Is a Developed Personal Perspective

Table 2.2 Leadership and the Cultural Proficiency Continuum

Cultural Destructiveness

• •

Cultural Blindness

• •

Cultural Competence

• i

{,

• ,"

Cultural lncapacitiJ

C,dtural Precompetence

Cultural ~·' Proficiency

• Cultural Destructiveness-Leading in a manner that you seek to

eliminate the cultures of others in all aspects of the school and in

relationship with the community served.

• Cultural Incapacity-Leading in a way that you trivialize other

cultures and seek to make the culture of others appear to be wrong. ,:!:

• · Cultural Blindness-Leading where you don't see or acknowledge the .J

culture of others and you choose to ignore the discrepant experiences of :l

students within the school who come from different cultures. ,

• Cultural Precompetence-Leading with an increasing awareness of •

': what you and the school don't know about working in diverse settings. At

this level of development, you and the school can move in a positive, :::

constructive direction, or you can falter, stop, and possibly regress. ,'j

.,__ _______________________ ---t·:,

• Cultural Competence-Leading with your personal values and :(

behaviors and the school's policies and practices being aligned in a 11 '.

1

manner that is inclusive of ethnic, racial. or other cultures that are new i:.:

or different from yours or from the dominant culture of the school. •

• Cultural Proficiency-Leading as an advocate for lifelong learning

with the purpose of being increasingly effective in serving the

educational needs of cultural groups. Holding the vision that you and the

school are instruments for creating a socially just democracy.

Reflection

What questions and thought~ occur to you as you read Table 2.2 aod

the introductory comments that precede it? Use the space below to record

your thoughts, reactions, and questions.

Chapter 2 Th c I • e u tural Proficiency Leadership Lens • 3 3

The Five Essential Elements of C ltu I u ra Competence

The Essential Elem t 1 b h . en s are the standards for culturally competent

va ue~, e aviors, policies, and practices. Table 2.3 presents an

overview of the Essenr l El . . Ch Ia ements with leadership illustrations.

apter 7 will provide you the opportunity to work in depth with

these elements.

Overcoming Barriers to Cultural Proficiency

The Guiding Principles provide a moral compass for culturally profi­

cient actions, but there are barriers to achieving culturally proficient

actions. Table 2.4 presents three common barriers and descriptions of

behaviors associated with each barrier. The barriers-when present in

our behaviors or in the practices in our schools-exist together in combi­

nation, not as isolated phenomena.

Table 2.3 The Essential Elements for Culturally Proficient Leadership

• Assessing Cultural Knowledge-Leading the learning about others'

cultures, about how educators and the school as a whole react to others'

cultures, and about what you need to do to be effective in cross-cultural

situations. Also, leading learning about the school and its grade levels

and departments as cultural entities. ,·

• Valuing Diversity-Creating informal and formal decision-making

groups inclusive of people whose viewpoints and experiences are ._ ..

different from yours and from those of the dominant group at the

school, and that will enrich conversations, decision making, and

problem solving.

• Managing the Dynamics of Difference-Modeling problem-solving

and conllict-resolution strategies as natural and normal processes within

the organizational culture of the school and within the cultural contexts

of the communities of your school. ~

• Adapting to Diversity-Being the lead learner at your school about

cultural groups different from your own, and adjusting to acknowledging

others' cultural experiences and backgrounds in all school settings. ,,,

• Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge-Making learning about

cultural groups and their experiences and perspectives an integral part of ~

the staff's professional development. Establishing norms for a culturally •

proficient educational environment. - '. . .• -

-:· . ~ -~ ~

~

34 • Part J. Leadership Is a Developed Personal Perspective

Tahle 2.-1 Barriers to Cult untl Proficiency

• Resistance to Change-Many educators and schools often struggle

with change that involves issues of culture. For those who are resistant,

change often is experienced as an outside force that judges current

practices as deficient or defective. Whether accurate or not, an adversarial

relationship exists between those farcing the change and members of the

staff resisting change.

• Systems of Oppression-That racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism,

and classism exist is without refute, historically and currently. Data are

on the side of documenting and describing the ill effects of such systems.

Being able to understand oppression as a sys~emic issue apart from

personal behavior is important.

• A Sense of Privilege and Entitlement-Systems of oppression have

two effects-on those who are harmed and on those who benefit. Those·

harmed from systemic oppressions respond from an emotional

connection and become very knowledgeable of practices that impact •

them negatively. Many of those who benefit from historical and current

practices are oblivious to the negative effects of systemic oppression on

others, because they can choose not to see.

• Unawareness of Need to Adapt-This lack of awareness is based in

assumptions that the students, their communities, and their cultures

must adapt to the school culture. This barrier often leads staff to view

students and their cultures in deficit terms, and to fail to base school I

experiences on the cultural assets students bring to school. Probing this

barrier often leads educators to recognize and embrace the professional

learning to which they must commit.

Barriers are often manifested in statements such as these:

• It is not me who needs to change . . • I have been a successful educator for years.

• .These kids/parents just need to get a clue!

• I wasn't trained to teach those kids!·

Similarly, it is rare to find the person who doesn't acknowledge that

racism, ethnocentrism, and sexism exist in our society, but what they

often fail to see is that when one group of people loses rights and privileg~;

• due to systemic oppression, those rights and privileges accrue to 0ther~ 1

ofte k ecognizes ~ unac nowledged or unrecognized ways. It is when one r • h

o ' • • • b nefit t e ne 8 entitlement that one has the ability to make choices that e

education of all children and youth. ' • •

Chapter 2. The Cultural Proficiency Leadership Lens • 3 5

When focusing on the achievement issues of nondominant students,

most educators and educational policymakers experience a conversation

gap. This gap is often unrecognized and unacknowledged; it is a function

of educators not having the perspective to see roadblocks that have been,

and are, impeding members of nondominant socioeconomic, racial, eth­

nic, gender, or language groups. This selective failure to see leads to a

sense of privilege and entitlement for members of the dominant group.

Whereas systems of oppression impose barriers for members of nondomi­

nant groups, concomitant systems of privilege and entitlement impose

barriers for members of the dominant group. The barriers erected by a

sense of privilege and entitlement involve a skewed sense of reality that

impedes one's ability to pursue ethical and moral avenues in meeting the

academic and social needs of nondominant groups of students.

The position of privilege often causes educators to voice biased or ill­

informed assumptions about parents from nondominant groups. Typical

of such assumptions are comments such as these:

• Their parents won't come to parent conferences because they

don't care about the education of their children.

• Why try to help them? They will just end up being gang bangers,

just like their dads! • Why should I learn anything about their culture? This is our coun­

try; let them learn about us!

• Those kids need to be in a special class. That's why we have behavior­

intervention classes. Those kids interrupt my teaching.

Educators who make comments like those above are in need of differ­

ent lenses, tools, and structures to understand their students. Some stu­

dents face institutional barriers and need teaching that meets their special

learning needs in order to be successful in school. As a leader, you can

help overcome these barriers by using the Guiding Principles, the

Continuum, and the Essential Elements to frame conversations with fel­

low educators about how parents and students who are culturally differ­

ent from them behave and learn. Cultural Proficiency is

• an approach for surf acing educators' assumptions and values that

undermine the success of some student groups

• an approach for learning how educators' values and . . , . . assumptions

guide schools pohc1es and practices that either mar · 1· inclusive of all students gina ize or are

• a lens for examining how we include and ho th . nor e culture d

learning needs of all students in the educat· 1 s an

Iona process

36 • Part I. Leadership Is a Developed Personal Perspective

Reflection

How comfortable are you with your knowledge of Cultural Proficiency?

What questions do you have? What more do you want to learn about the

Tools of Cultural Proficiency? How do you see the Tools of Cultural

Proficiency helping you lead your school in a manner that serves the aca­

demic and social needs of all cultural groups of students? In what ways

might your beliefs and values about student groups serve as barriers to

educating all students? How might you overcome any barriers that you may have surfaced?

• l