Cultural Competence And Students

Written By Colēgia

Celebrating diversity is one of the best things we can do since it recognizes our uniqueness. As students, we're surrounded by people across many different cultures and backgrounds. One essential thing is having a sense of cultural competence since it allows us to appreciate those around us.

What Is Cultural Competence?

Usually cited as “the ability of an individual to understand and respect values, attitudes, beliefs, and mores that differ across cultures,” cultural competence primarily focuses on respect and how to act appropriately as a result. Culture as a whole has been around for centuries and it's consistently being shaped as a result of many factors. From the environment to the resources and tools available, each element contributes to the overall development. Many things that are part of our everyday lives such as music, art, societal views, and even whether we're seen as group-focused or individual-focused are all part of culture. The material schools cover is also influenced by culture as well. A country’s history course is a great example of this given the relevance of it within one culture and how it came to be.

“cultural competence primarily focuses on respect and how to act appropriately as a result.”

Why It Matters

It's important to remember that even with all the things we focus on in our daily lives we're part of something greater. The world is a big place and while many of our problems might seem magnified because we're experiencing them, it's worth considering the global scale of things. One of the benefits of this is that it can give us a more cohesive view of how the world works so that we can be more informed. In addition, when we're educated and informed it's a lot easier to be more accepting of what others are going through. Even within daily life, cultural competence allows us to come from a place of empathy to focus on building bridges with others. At the end of the day, we're all people trying to do our best with what we have. Recognizing the things that make us unique while having common ground helps us appreciate diversity while also seeing that we deserve mutual respect.

“It's important to remember that even with all the things we focus on in our daily lives we're part of something greater.”

How To Work Towards This

Similar to self-care, being culturally competent starts with having a good understanding of your roots and foundation. Being able to understand what your beliefs and values are is a great starting point since it can help analyze what they are. We need to also balance this out by taking the time to learn about different cultures so that we can have a more cohesive outlook. Museums, film, music, and festivals are great ways to partake in these since they bring people all across the world to come together to celebrate the things we as people have created. Learning about cultures is both fun and rewarding since it can help us make new friends and feel more connected to the world around us.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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