Discussions

Your Name and Title:
Judy Ha, Training and Development Manager

School or Organization Name:
Foundations, Inc.

Co-Presenter Name(s): TBD

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:
United States

Language in Which You Will Present:
English

Target Audience(s):
K-12 Educators

Short Session Description:
Promoting Cultural Competence for a global society: Gain knowledge and practical strategies to develop cross-cultural awareness, affirmation, and ability for students and educators in both traditional classrooms and out of school time programs.

Full Session Description:

As the number of students from diverse backgrounds continues to grow in schools, the role of cultural competence in global education is gaining ever increasing importance.  Cultural competence can be described as three levels of growth.  1) Awareness: First, students and educators become aware of and recognize the many categories of diversity and culture in their surroundings.  2) Affirmation: The students and educators gain a deeper understanding of other’s cultures and learn to respect differences, appreciate one another and celebrate commonalities. 3) Ability: Students and educators gain specific skills in interacting and working with others cross-culturally.   

It is important to teach and guide staff and students on how to be inclusive while promoting diversity. The cultural competence of the classroom or program is dependent upon values, staff development, family engagement and community resources.  As educators become more aware and able to teach cultural competence, students will be more aware and able to develop as culturally competent individuals in a global 21^st century society. 

Through this session, we hope to equip educators with a greater understanding of culture and diversity in the K-12 setting both in traditional classrooms and out of school time programs, practical ways to develop cultural competence for students and staff and specific strategies for building a culturally competent classroom environment or program.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: 

www.foundationsinc.org