A Youth Leader's Guide to Building Cultural Competence 
Gaining cultural competence is a long term, developmental process that requires more than reading this 
resource, attending a workshop or being a member of one so called  minority  group. It is an exciting, 
engaging, lifelong process of expanding horizons, thinking critically about issues of power and oppression 
and acting appropriately. Culturally competent individuals have a mixture of beliefs/attitudes, knowledge 
and skills that help them establish trust and communicate with others.  
Beliefs/Attitudes 
The culturally competent individual is:  
    
aware of and sensitive to her/his own cultural heritage and respects and values different heritages;  
    
aware of her/his own values and biases and how they may affect perception of other cultures;  
    
comfortable with differences that exist between her/his culture and other cultures' values and 
beliefs; and  
    
sensitive to circumstances (personal biases, ethnic identity, political influence, etc.) that may 
require seeking assistance from a member of a different culture when interacting with another 
member of that culture.  
Knowledge  
The culturally competent individual must:  
    
have a good understanding of the power structure in society and how non dominant groups are 
treated;  
    
acquire specific knowledge and information about the particular group(s) she/he is working with; 
and  
    
be aware of institutional barriers that prevent members of disadvantaged groups from using 
organizational and societal resources.  
Skills  
The culturally competent individual can:  
    
generate a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal responses when dealing with difference;  
    
send and receive both verbal and nonverbal messages (body language) accurately and 
appropriately; and  
    
exercise intervene appropriately and advocate on behalf of people from different cultures.
4
General Description 
A general description of cultural competence includes:  
    
 The personal recognition and acceptance that all types of cultures have a profound influence on 
our lives;  
    
The personal awareness that oppression is pervasive in the United States, it is part of U.S. history 
and as much as we may want to escape that fact, it colors relationships;  
    
The acceptance that there are cultural 
differences and we need to learn to respect what 
A Word on Language 
we may not always understand;  
The terms African American, Latino/Latina, 
    
Having the humility to accept that we do not 
lesbian, gay and bisexual are used in this 
know everything about other cultures, never 
resource as they are the terms currently 
will [and] therefore we need to ascertain what it 
preferred by many members of these 
is we need to know about the specific groups 
groups. 
with whom we are working;  
    
A willingness to pursue that information in all 






footer




 

 

 

 

 Home | About Us | Network | Services | Support | FAQ | Control Panel | Order Online | Sitemap | Contact

web hosting streaming

 

Our web partners: Inexpensive Web Hosting Jsp Web Hosting Jsp Web Hosting Cheapest Web Hosting  Java Web Hosting

 Quality Web Templates Dreamweaver Web Templates Frontpage Web Templates

Jsp Web Hosting Cheapest Hosting Cheapest Web Hosting Java Web Hosting Tomcat Web Hosting

Quality Web Hosting Best Web Hosting Java Web Hosting

Visionwebhosting.net Business web hosting division of Vision Web Hosting Inc.. All rights reserved