The Non-Dilemma of Cultural Competency in Schools
The dilemma of cultural competency in America’s schools is no dilemma at all. Actually, the possibility of any dilemma is oftentimes already foreclosed. This writer, for one, has spent decades attending, teaching at, and consulting with independent and public schools across the plains. When confronted with or led to address issues of cultural competency, the pseudo-majority (i.e., those who do not statistically comprise the majority of the world’s population) invariably ask, “But what can we do? We really don’t have any culturally competent personnel.” At a recent forum of Parents of African-American Students Studying Chinese (PAASSC), a group of administrators from Bay Area (California) Chinese-language immersion schools, this question discombobulated everyone. In this and other matters that require foresight, the proverbial horse has been placed before the cart. And the cement has already been poured. Schools, nonprofits, and corporations alike hire employees, without m...