Cultural CompetenceCultural Competence

Gary Howard, et. al.

Cultural Competence is a set of behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable people to work effectively in cross-cultural situations (Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991).

According to Gary HowardAccording to Gary Howard, Cultural Competence is “tthe will and ability to form authentic and he will and ability to form authentic and effective relationships across our differenceseffective relationships across our differences.”

Cultural Competence - “tthe will and ability to form he will and ability to form authentic and effective relationships across our differencesauthentic and effective relationships across our differences.”

Will - a choice to be in diverse settings and pay attention to differences

Ability - the skill to relateAuthenticity - it’s realEffective - it works, the teaching happens, the job gets

done, people trust you, and the relationship works.

Core Values of Cultural Competence

• Cultural competence is about all of us, not just some of us.

• Cultural competence is growth-oriented, not deficiency-oriented.

• Cultural competence is a life-long process, not an event.

• We’re in a marathon, not a sprint.• Everyone is both a teacher and a learner.• Engagement is more important than

agreement. • Humor heals and keeps us human.

Stages of Personal Development toward Cultural Competence

• Pre-contact• Contact• Meltdown• Retrenchment• Self-righteous• Self-reflective• Authenticity