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Cultural Proficiency: The Need for Cultural Awareness and Responsiveness in America

EDAD 610: Fall 2018

Josh Jones

Dr. Manuel Vargas

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RESPONSIVENESS IN AMERICA) 2

Code switching is the ability to change one’s behavior depending on the circumstance or

environment one finds themselves in. Not everyone is good at code switching. In fact, many

people get into trouble because of their lack of ability to code switch. It is not that they are trying

to be rebellious or disrespectful, they simply lack the skill to act differently in environments that

demand a different behavior than the one they most commonly use. Students especially tend to

find code switching challenging as they, more than most people, have not had the opportunity to

learn different codes (M. Dhillon, personal communication, September 22, 2018).

In her TEDx talk “From Invisible to Visible”, Maria Hinojosa talks about how she grew

up in a household where the radio and the television were on all the time, but despite the cultural

awareness that came from these activities, she states she “never saw herself” (Hinojosa, 2015) in

the stories she watched and listened to. She never saw or heard people like her telling stories that

reflected who she was. Effectively, she (and her people), were invisible. This, of course, was

unacceptable and so she started a radio show to show her story and the stories of others like her.

While many people would say any person of a specifc ethnic group covering stories and opinions

of their own ethnicity makes them biased, she argues that it does not. To her, it is simply a

person making visible what has historically been invisible for a very long time.

Dr. Vargas, in his presentation on cultural diversity in the United States, highlights

several key facts and issues that highlight major imbalances still prevalent in American society.

Referencing a survey completed in 2013, Dr. Vargas points out the median net worth of an

African-American was $26,300 compared to $301,300 for a White American. He goes on to state

that while blunt racism is very little in American today, it still exists in a subtler form, like in the

“number of homes shown to prospective buyers” (Vargas, 2018). He also indicates that people of
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different races experience the American justice system very differently and that there are large

neighborhoods throughout the United States that still remain deeply segregated.

Camille Cooper, in her article “Performing Cultural Work in Demographically Changing

Schools: Implications for Expanding Transformative Leadership Frameworks” highlights Dr.

Cornell West’s framework for how to deal with cultural diversity in today’s educational arena.

West believes leaders need to be cultural workers, liaisons that “must have the moral and

political will to collaborate and help build progressive, affirming, and diverse educational

communities” (Cooper, 2009, p. 720). These cultural workers must seek to value all cultures

while balancing the power inequity that exists between them. Cultural workers must avoid

separatist politics in attempt to restructure the education system that has been largely formulated

by Anglocentric middle-class norms. Furthermore, Cooper summarizes cultural workers “are

guided by an inclusive collaborative ethos” that rejects “overgeneralized dichotomies of good—

bad, normal—deviant, Black—White” (Cooper, 2009, p. 700).

All these sources indicate a critical aspect of culture today. Racial inequities,

misunderstandings, and biases still exist. While progress has been made, cultural proficiency in

America has not been achieved. As Mellody Hobson pointedly observes in her TED Talk “Color

Blind or Color Brave?”, race is a topic that is widely avoided in day-to-day conversations.

People don’t want to talk about race because it is a topic infused with historical turmoil and

controversy. In addition, she observes talking about race cannot be done without the nagging

awareness of how little still racial (and any other kind of minority) diversity is represented in

positions of power throughout America. That being said, America is a place where children of all

races are asked to dream. She challenges her audience to be brave and have the conversation

about race, if not for themselves, then for their children (Hobson, 2014).
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Educational leaders need to show a heightened awareness of these issues. As the

education system provides a foundational building block of society, school leaders need to bring

an awareness to these issues and the skill to address them. It is not enough to notice the

imbalance or have good intentions. Being aware of the problem does little in solving it. Without

taking sides and being sensitive to the nature of the conversation, leaders need to seek to

collaboratively balance the prevalent inequities that exist in society today, and they must do so

while still valuing all cultures. A few specific ways leaders can encourage cultural proficiency in

the community are: bringing up these issues in the classroom, exposing students and staff to

different cultures, and creating opportunities for diverse communities to meet and discuss these

issues with each other. If leaders don’t do anything, things may still get a little better, but they

won’t get anywhere near the transformation possible that comes from a society fully aware,

accepting, and beholden to the many cultures that comprise it.

References

Cooper, C. W. (2009). Performing cultural work in demographically changing schools:

implications for expanding transformative leadership frameworks. Educational

Administration Quarterly, 45(5), 694-724. doi:10.1177/0013161x09341639

Hinojosa, M. (2015, July 14). From invisible to visible. TEDx Talks. Retrieved September 23,

2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAucrEPi4sM

Hobson, M. (2014, May 05). Color blind or color brave? TEDx Talks. Retrieved September 23,

2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtALHe3Y9Q

Vargas, M. (2018). What’s happening in the neighborhood? Cougar Courses. Retrieved

September 23, 2018, from

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https://cc.csusm.edu/pluginfile.php/1344821/mod_resource/content/0/Whats%20happeni

ng%20in%20....pdf