Multicultural Competence

Definition: Multicultural competency is defined as the knowledge, skills and personal

attributes needed to live and work in a diverse world.  Kansas State University
acknowledges the importance of helping students develop these multicultural
competencies. 

To understand multicultural competence, it is important to grasp the full meaning of the word culture
first. According to Chamberlain (2005), culture represents “the values, norms, and traditions that affect
how individuals of a particular group perceive, think, interact, behave, and make judgments about their
world”.

The term multicultural competence surfaced in a mental health publication by psychologist Paul
Pedersen. Most of the definitions of multicultural competence shared among diversity professionals
come from the healthcare industry. It is not surprising that the healthcare profession was the first to
promote multicultural competence. A poor diagnosis due to lack of cultural understanding, for example,
can have fatal consequences, especially in medical service delivery.

Mio, Barker-Hackett and Tumambing’s (2012) definition of multicultural competence outlines what
these skills should encompass, including: 

1. Developing an awareness of one’s own cultural values and biases. 

2. Learning to value others’ worldviews. 
3. Developing a set of culturally appropriate interpersonal skills.

Four Cognitive Components

Diversity Training University International (DTUI) isolated four cognitive components: (a) Awareness, (b)
Attitude, (c) Knowledge, and (d) Skills.

 Awareness. Awareness is consciousness of one's personal reactions to people who are different.
A police officer who recognizes that he profiles people who look like they are from Mexico as
“illegal aliens” has cultural awareness of his reactions to this group of people.
 Attitude. DTUI added the attitude component in order to emphasize the difference between
training that increases awareness of cultural bias and beliefs in general and training that has
participants carefully examine their own beliefs and values about cultural differences.
 Knowledge. Social science research indicates that our values and beliefs about equality may be
inconsistent with our behaviors, and we ironically may be unaware of it. Social psychologist
Patricia Devine and her colleagues, for example, showed in their research that many people who
score low on a prejudice test tend to do things in cross cultural encounters that exemplify
prejudice (e.g., using out-dated labels such as “illegal aliens”, “colored”, and “homosexual”.).
This makes the Knowledge component an important part of multicultural competence
development.
 Skills. The Skills component focuses on practicing multicultural competence to perfection.
o Cross Cultural Communication -- Verbal and nonverbal communication skills
in interaction with those who are culturally different from one's self.
o Teamwork -- The ability to work in culturally diverse groups toward a
common goal.
 o Listening -- The intention and ability to attend to what others are saying.
o Conflict Resolution -- The ability to resolve cultural conflicts that occur
between individuals and groups.
o Critical Thinking -- The ability to use inductive and deductive reasoning to
understand diverse perspectives.
o Language Development -- The ability to speak and write more than one
language.
o Leadership Development -- The ability to provide multicultural leadership.

Other skills in multicultural competence

 Sensitivity to one’s own and other cultures.

 Cultural awareness and curiosity.
 Cultural empathy.
 Multilingual skills.
 Contextual understanding and sensitivity.
 Semantic awareness.
 Ability to switch among cultural frames of reference and communication mode

How to apply Multicultural Competence by Janet E. Helms, PhD, director of the Institute for the Study
and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College

1. Learn about yourself

Self-assessment makes participants realize the pervasive role culture plays in their lives. It also
makes people aware of their own biases while sparking open-minded curiosity about other
cultures.
2. Learn about different cultures
Seek cultural insight through journal articles and academic book. There is also richness to
memoirs, for example, that scientific journal articles just cannot capture. Also, one of the best
ways to immerse yourself in another culture's worldview is to learn a second language, learning
a language means you're more able to reach out and connect with people who speak that
language.
3.
Be with people from a culture that's unfamiliar to you is a great way to enhance your cultural
competence. Depending on the kinds of cultural experiences you're seeking, you may want to
volunteer at community centers, and religious institutions. Also, get a fuller picture by
interacting with them as peers at parties, religious services and cultural events.

As future educators we must find practical strategies to develop multicultural competence such as:

 Get to know your students. Build relationships and learn about their backgrounds and cultures.
 Use art as a starting point in discussions of cultural and racial issues.
 Have students create collective classroom slang dictionaries.
 Find places in your current curriculum to embed multicultural lessons, ideas, and materials.
(Please note that for this to be most effective, it must be a continuous process, not merely the
celebration of Black History Month or a small aside in a textbook.)
  Allow controversy. Open your classroom up to respectful discussions about race, culture, and
other differences.
 Find allies in your administration who will support your work.
 Another essential part of multicultural teaching is examining your current lesson materials for
bias that might alienate the students you are trying to teach.

Kenneth, additional information itez. Ikaw bahala beb kung gusto mo idagdag. Under siya ng
multicultural education, approaches siya to develop multicultural literacy sa mga bata.

 The Contributions Approach – Dubbed the "Heroes and Holidays" approach. It is the easiest to
implement and makes the least impact on the current curriculum. It does however have
significant limitations in meeting the goals of multicultural education because it does not give
students the opportunity to see the critical role of ethnic groups in US society. Rather, the
individuals and celebrations are seen as an addition or appendage that is virtually unimportant
to the core subject areas.
 The Additive Approach – Called the ethnic additive approach. It is slightly more involved than
the contributions approach, but still requires no major restructuring of the curriculum. While
this approach is often a first step towards a more multicultural curriculum, it is still very limited
in that it still presents the topic from the dominant perspective. Individuals or groups of people
from marginalized groups in society are included in the curriculum, yet racial and cultural
inequalities or oppression are not necessarily addressed.
 The Transformative Approach – This approach requires pulling in multiple perspectives while
discussing a topic. This approach is significantly more challenging to teach than the previous
two. It requires a complete transformation of the curriculum and, in some cases, a conscious
effort on the part of the teacher to deconstruct what they have been taught to think, believe,
and teach.
 The Decision Making and Social Action Approach – This approach includes all of the elements of
the transformative approach but also challenges students to work to bring about social change.
The goal of this approach is not only to make students aware of past and present injustice, but
to equip them and empower them to be the agents of change.