Cultural competency training

Cultural Competency Training is an instruction to achieve cultural competence and the ability to appreciate and interpret accurately other cultures.

Cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. Cultural competence comprises four components: (a) awareness of one's own cultural worldview, (b) attitude towards cultural differences, (c) knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (d) cross-cultural skills. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures and leads to a 15% decrease in miscommunication. Cultural Competency has a fundamental importance in every aspect of a work field and that includes school and government setting. With the amalgamation of different cultures in American society, it has become imperative for teachers and government employees to have some form of cultural competency training.

To cater to an increasingly globalized society, many hospitals, organizations, and employers may choose to implement forms of cultural competency training methods to enhance transparency between language, values, beliefs, and cultural differences. Training in cultural competence often includes careful consideration of how best to approach people's various forms of diversity. This new found awareness oftentimes allows military members, educators, medical practitioners, workers, and common citizens to establish equity in their environments and enhances interrelationships between one another for increased productivity levels. There have been numerous developed theories as to how best to conduct cultural competency training, which oftentimes is dependent on the specific environment and type of work.

When defining the ideas that surround cultural competence training, defining what culture is can help to understand the ideas that shape the concept. Culture is defined as the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. When looking at culture in terms of cultural competence training, certain groups of individuals should be focused on because of their relevance to society. There are many groups that are marginalized and underrepresented; however, three specific areas to look at are:

LGBTQIAP community, race, and religion. These areas, along with others, represent concepts that make up one’s identity. The approach to identity helps to shape the ideas and themes that go into cultural competence training. The acronym LGBTQIAP stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Ally, and Pansexual. This particular group of individuals has faced numerous obstacles and has historical events to highlight the inequalities they face such as the Stonewall riots. The Stonewall riots became a symbol for the gay liberation movement when police attempted a raid at the Stonewall Inn bar to arrest the gay and lesbian patrons and the gay community fought back. Numerous systemic oppressions historically and currently target LGBT individuals. Cultural competence training helps professionals develop knowledge and skills on how to address issues and be more aware on the type of language that is politically correct.

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