Teaching Cultural Competence-Asset 34

Teaching Cultural Competence

To invest in this developmental asset, parents need to assist their children in being comfortable with people of different cultural, religious, racial and/or ethnic backgrounds.

The best way to teach comfort and competence of this nature is for parents to model it for their children. A natural part of this would be celebrating the holidays, festivals and other special days that are part of your heritage. Involve your children in these festivities.

Taking some time to educate your children on the history of the ways and holidays of your heritage is particularly helpful. Books, stories and other media presentations of your cultural history and historic figures can be fun and informative for children. They may even find some positive role models out of the experience.

It is also important as parents to take some time to examine your own personal feelings, discomforts and possible prejudices towards others. Everyone has some early influences that sway their opinion one way or another towards people different than us. Which groups of people make you uncomfortable? Why? Think about why you feel that way and work towards overcoming those feelings.

Once your children have a solid grounding in your own heritage, you can begin to explore with them and make positive comparisons with other cultures or groups to give them a healthy sense of diversity and a broader sense of understanding difference.

Make books and media available to your children that were written by authors from other cultures. Ideally, these books would have color photos and illustrations to show your child the entire picture of the lives of other children and families from other parts of the world. National Geographic magazine is an excellent source of intercultural information. Read these books and publications together so you can answer questions and interact on the subject to express a sense of equality and compassion. It is important that you see the positives in difference and diversity and express that to your children.

Now that you are getting a sense of what this asset is about, here is a list of other ideas for expanding and teaching cultural competence to your children:

• At the earliest ages possible, teach children about their own racial, ethnic, and cultural heritage. Help them be proud of who they are without feeling superior to other children. A quick example: Tell them, “You’re proud of being Irish just like your friend is proud of being Native American.”
• Learn simple dances from a variety of cultures and share them with your children.
• Eat foods from many cultures, both at home and at ethnic restaurants. Use the meals to teach why certain foods were part of another culture’s lifestyle. For instance, say, “Corn was one of the first foods cultivated by Native Americans, who also were the first to grow popcorn.”
• Visit museums and exhibits that feature works and artifacts from other cultures.
• Learn about and share knowledge of other faith traditions.
• Speak up when others or your children tell jokes that make fun of other cultures, races, religions or people. Make it clear that you don’t think such jokes are appropriate.

So there are a few ideas on teaching cultural competence. Write or call me if you have questions or want more information. And remember to enjoy the beauty of diversity and difference!