Excellence in Cultural Competence Training and Education: 
A Compendium of Best Practices

 

Virginia Commonwealth University
Institute for African-American Mental Health
Training and Research
The White House
806 West Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23284-2018
(804) 828-4004

Information compiled by Creighton J. Hite, M.Ed

What is cultural competence?

Cultural Competence is the policies and practices of an organization, or the values and behaviors of an individual, that foster effective cross cultural communication.  It is a point on a continuum that ranges from cultural destructiveness to cultural proficiency.  A  culturally organization values the people who work there, understands the community in which it operates, and embraces its clients as valuable members of that community.  This means that the culture of the organization promotes inclusiveness and institutionalizes the process of learning about differences.  Cultural competence suggests a willingness to expand the organization’s paradigm for culture.

Members of an organization with cultural competence as a goal examine their own cultures, to understand how they, as cultural entities, impact the perception and interaction of those who are different.  This means identifying the dynamics of difference caused by historical distrust.  Clearly understanding who we are and accepting how others perceive us is one of the first steps towards cultural competence.  The next step is the same underlying, non-defensive examination of the organization’s culture.  This will raise questions such as: Who are we as a group, and why?  What do we like about ourselves?  What about our organization’s culture is important to keep?  How does our culture affect those whom we seek to include?  What could we do to change these things?  What are we willing to do?

The following compendium was created as a resource for training and education in cultural competence.  If you wish to continue viewing the compendium with your browser, please click here.  

If you wish to download the file as a Microsoft Word document (.doc file) and you are using Netscape Navigator, please click here and then click on "Save File".   If you are using Internet Explorer, please click here, or use your right mouse button to click here and then choose "Save target as".

[INSTITUTE GOALS][FACULTY CONSULTANTS][OVERVIEW][TRAINING][WORKSHOPS][HOME]