1. Courageous Conversations
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
Courageous Conversations
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
These materials have been prepared by NISL by Kikanza Nuri Robins and altered by Candice Watkins.
Our values declare who we want to be; Kikanza Nuri Robins helps us to close the gap between what we say we are and what we actually do. For twenty-five years, Dr. Kikanza Nuri Robins has been an organization development consultant serving individuals and organizations whose bottom line includes high quality service, compassion for their colleagues, and concern for the communities they serve. She specializes in the areas of leadership, change, diversity and spirituality at work. Dr. Nuri Robins has been a trustee of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, and she is currently on the board of the Southern California Foster Family and Adoption Agency, and is a member of the Ethics Committee of the UCLA Medical Center. She is the author of many articles and four books.
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

2. What is Cultural Proficiency?
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
What is Cultural Proficiency?
Created by Terry Cross
A model for dealing with differences
The values and behavior of individuals and the policies and practices of organizations that enable them to work effectively in a variety of cultural settings
Terry Cross is a member of the Seneca Nation. He lives in Portland, OR where he directs the National Indian Child Welfare Association. He developed cultural proficiency in It is used by educators, health care professionals and business people to respond to the issues that arise in a diverse environment.
Cultural proficiency is an inside-out approach. It focuses on the behaviors and practices of the dominant culture, helping them to adapt and adjust to the diversity in their environment so that they become diverse and inclusive. Cultural proficiency is not a buzz word for diversity work, it is the use of a specific set of tools to change individual behavior and organizational practices.
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

3. An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
Dominant Culture
Dominant Culture is one whose values, language, and ways of behaving are imposed on a subordinate culture or cultures through economic or political power. This may be achieved through legal or political suppression of other sets of values and patterns of behaviour, or by monopolizing the media of communication. (Dictionary of Sociology, Oxford Reference Online)
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008 3

4. A Definition of Culture
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
A Definition of Culture
The beliefs, values, customs and traditions shared by a people
Cultures can be tied to race, ethnicity, social class, gender, geography, language, ability, occupation, organization, and nationality
Most people belong to more than one cultural group
Most people identify most strongly with one or two cultures
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

5. An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
What are your cultures?
Take a few minutes to identify the cultural groups that shape and inform your worldview and daily interactions.
What cultural groups do you belong to that may be perceived as a problem to others?
Use Venn diagrams or other symbols to depict the cultural groups to which you belong.
Select one group, that you are particularly comfortable with or proud of, and think about how being in that group may cause problems for others, who are not in that group, because of their perceptions of you. What prejudices or stereotypes might others have of you and members of your group?
For example, if you are a beautiful blonde woman people may assume you are stupid or sexually promiscuous.
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

6. The Cultural Proficiency Continuum
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
The Cultural Proficiency Continuum
Cultural Proficiency
Cultural Competence
Cultural Pre-Competence
Cultural Blindness
Cultural Incapacity
Cultural Destruction
Use the continuum to describe language, situations, or events.
If you rotate the continuum 90 degrees clockwise, you will have a left and right side. The left side represents reactive behaviors, the goal being tolerance for differences. The right side of the continuum is proactive with a goal of transformation in response to learning about differences and welcoming new people into the environment.
Cultural Destruction: Actions and behaviors that deliberately or systemically eliminate a people or exclude a group from full participation in the organization. Historically, ethnic holocausts, American slavery, white men only and English only policies have been culturally destructive. In an organization, hiring policies that discriminate against particular groups are culturally destructive.
Cultural Incapacity: This is the same as tolerance, i.e. putting up with a group that you believe to be inferior. Examples of cultural incapacity include window dressing, stereotyping, and making people wrong because they are different from the dominant culture.
Cultural Blindness: Although this has often been a goal for people, it is on the negative side of the continuum because if you do not recognize that people are different from you, you are not seeing all of that person or all they represent. To treat everyone the same way – equally – is to presume that you know the one best way to interact with all people. It is better to treat people equitably – differentiating how you interact based upon the circumstances—so that the outcomes for equal for all.
For example, in an organization men and women can take parental leave, but the medical benefits they receive are different because of the different roles they play in the process of becoming parents. The outcome is that they both keep their jobs and are able to become parents. Equitable treatment gives differentiated inputs for equal outputs.
Cultural Pre-Competence: When a person or organization begins to take steps toward cultural proficiency they may be well-intentioned, but inadequate or inappropriate. This is cultural pre-competence; efforts are surface level or implemented without sufficient research. An example would be a cultural celebration in response to diversity in the workplace without doing anything else the rest of the year. It is at this point that one begins to learn how to ask questions of others to learn about their cultures.
Cultural Competence: There are five elements of cultural competence (see slide 12). These behavioral standards describe the behaviors of a culturally competent person or organization.
Cultural Proficiency: Cultural proficiency is a process, not a destination. To hold culture in high esteem and to be on a journey of continuous learning is to move toward cultural proficiency. No one can ever learn all there is about every different culture, but one can learn how to learn, how to take advantage of teachable moments, how to share who they are and how to ask questions so that they can learn from others.
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

7. Cultural Proficiency Continuum
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
Cultural Proficiency Continuum
Upward Spiral Conversation
Incapacity
Pre-Competence
Proficiency
Destructiveness
Blindness
Competence
Language and behaviors on the left side of the continuum create downwardly spiraling conversations. They lead to further hurt, anger, misperceptions and misunderstandings.
Upwardly spiraling conversations talk about important and difficult issues. They result in growth, understanding and change that benefits the organization and all who are a part of it.
Downward Spiral Conversation
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

8. Cultural Destruction
See the difference, stomp it out; the elimination of people’s cultures
Holocaust during WWII in Europe
Bureau of Indian Affair Schools in the early 20th century

9. Cultural Incapacity
See the difference, make it wrong; belief in the superiority of one’s culture and behavior that disempowers another’s culture
Jim Crow laws in the American South during the 20th century
Tokenism – hiring one or two individuals of minority groups to prove that the organization is open and inclusive

10. Cultural Blindness
See the difference, act like you don’t; acting as if the cultural differences that you see do not matter, or not recognizing that there are differences among and between cultures
Assuming all Asian cultures are alike
Teaching that Abraham Lincoln is a hero to all African Americans
Belief that we are living in a post-racism world

11. Cultural Pre-competence
See the difference, respond inadequately; awareness of the limitation of one’s skills or an organization’s practices when interacting with other cultural groups
Serving soul food meal during Black History month to demonstrate cultural proficiency
Dismissing as overly sensitive someone who complains about culturally inappropriate comments

12. Cultural Competence
See difference, understand the difference that difference makes
Uses these principles to guide individual and/or community interactions with other cultural groups:
Assessing culture
Valuing diversity
Managing the dynamics of difference
Adapting to diversity
Institutionalized cultural knowledge

13. Cultural Proficiency
See the difference and respond positively and affirmingly
Someone who has the capacity to teach and learn about differences in ways that acknowledge and honor all the people in the groups they represent

14. Examples along the Continuum
An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
Examples along the Continuum
Think of situations you have observed, conversations you have heard, or experiences you have had in your professional experience.
Where would you plot those examples on the continuum?
Try to generate examples, both organizational and individual for each point on the continuum.
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

15. An Introduction to Cultural Proficiency
Plot your Examples
Upward Spiral Conversation
Incapacity
Pre-Competence
Proficiency
Destructiveness
Blindness
Competence
Language and behaviors on the left side of the continuum create downwardly spiraling conversations. They lead to further hurt, anger, misperceptions and misunderstandings.
Upwardly spiraling conversations talk about important and difficult issues. They result in growth, understanding and change that benefits the organization and all who are a part of it.
Downward Spiral Conversation
Prepared by Kikanza Nuri Robins (c)2008

16. On Your Notecard Answer the following question:
Where would you place your library/OLA/or your work as a professional on the Cultural Proficiency Continuum, and why?

17. References
This presentation draws upon the following resources, in particular, the power point presentation, Introduction to Cultural Proficiency, listed below.
"dominant culture."  A Dictionary of Sociology. John Scott and Gordon Marshall. Oxford University Press Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Clatsop Community College.  10 April 2009  <
Lindsey, Randall B.,Kikanza Nuri Robins, and Raymond D. Terrell. Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, Inc., 2003.
Robins, Kikanza Nuri . Introduction to Cultural Proficiency April May 2006 <