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 much thought, if any, toward whether or not these employees can effectively engage in professional relationships across cultural lines. The problem becomes particularly acute for these employees when students, customers, or clients do not readily assimilate to their dominant model of behavior, attitude, and point of view.

The sincerity of institutions that spout shibboleths of diversity, inclusion, and colorblindness becomes immediately suspect as soon as they hire personnel, but do not require that personnel to be culturally competent, aware, or even humble. After all, why shouldn’t the pseudo-majority exercise a bit of cultural humility in its dealings with the real majority (i.e., those who statistically comprise the majority of the world’s population)?

Whenever this under-represented candidate has interviewed for any position, the interviewer has gone to memorable lengths to sniff out and determine whether or not he is a “team player,” whether or not he can accommodate his colleagues, whether or not he can teach a campus of incumbents whose privilege is rooted in the mysterious notion that only they merit failsafe education and upbringing.

In short, any school or organization that advertises itself as inclusive and committed to the social-emotional intelligence of all students will zealously hire other candidates who do not possess a shred of cultural competence or awareness, not to mention humility. Schools and organizations even congratulate themselves on such hires. And the cart is placed before the horse.

Conversely, these institutions will refuse to hire an under-represented candidate because they cannot assure themselves whether or not he or she will “fit in” with its culture of not knowing how to deal with the real majority. Year after year, such moral and institutional failings stack up and block the possibility of reason, common sense, and open-mindedness. 

So, we find ourselves confronted not with a dilemma, but with one-sided, hiring decisions that nurture homogeneity and the pseudo-majority’s status quo. And there goes the cement.