Theory and Application: Cultural Proficiency

Hannah Julia Paredes Kilnoski

Research Base:

Brion, C. (2021). Using a Culturally Proficient Leadership Lens to Effectively Serve Refugee Students. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 24(4), 30–46.

Brion, C. (2022). Cultural Proficiency: The Necessary Link to Family Engagement. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 25(1), 72–83.

Franklin CampbellJones, Brenda CampbellJones, & Randall B. Lindsey. (2010). The Cultural Proficiency Journey : Moving Beyond Ethical Barriers Toward Profound School Change. Corwin.

Theory and Research:

C. Brion’s 2022 article, ‘Cultural Proficiency: The Necessary Link to Family Engagement’ highlights the importance of including all families into the conversation in our schools. There needs to be special attention also given to those families who are excluded because they are not members of the dominant culture. This begins with having culturally proficient leaders who are knowledgeable and can best help students, families and community members participate in the school. Franklin CampbellJones’ 2010 book begins with a very powerful quote, “cultural proficiency is a framework for guiding schools and school systems toward policies, practices, and procedures that lead to an excellent and equitable education for all children, rather than for selected students.” This is one of the keystone ideas for all educators. In this larger framework, cultural proficiency acts as the bag or box for your personal teacher toolkit. It inin of itself is a tool but it holds and modifies the other tools you use. The book also notes the importance of self-reflection as a teacher or leader and how this reflection is one of the best practices to use when developing your knowledge and sense of cultural proficiency. Finally, in the 2021 article, ‘Using a Culturally Proficient Leadership Lens to Effectively Serve Refugee Students’, Brion challenges the reader to take cultural proficiency a step further. Being a culturally proficient leader is a good start but a truly great leader takes this a step further to include specialized strategies for those students and people who need additional resources and support such as but not exclusively refugee populations.

Application and Reflection:

I like to think of myself as basically culturally proficient though I know there is always more to learn. I think my experience working in a variety of countries has helped me form my own ideas about cultural proficiency. My first step is always language. One of my personal favorite quotes is from Nelson Mandela, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” This linguistic equality is a great first step in showing your dedication to being culturally proficient. Now obviously we can’t all be fluent in every language, though that would be a total dream. However, we can familiarize ourselves with the languages and cultural profiles of the people and students we work with. This same logic applies for communicating with families and the communities we serve. In a beautiful example, the Omaha Public Schools website is translatable into a variety of different languages spoken by the students and families in the district. This is a great step in closing those communication gaps. I have however seen a lot of leadership that is not culturally proficient and it almost makes me angry or hurt. As a Latina, I especially feel frustrated when I see a school in a predominately hispanic neighborhood where there is not a single administrator who speaks Spanish, despite an overwhelming majority of students, families and community members who speak Spanish almost exclusively. As a teacher in China, I learned Chinese and took language and culture classes. As an administrator, being proficient in Chinese was non-negotiable. I wanted students and families to feel comfortable talking with me and know that I could understand, help and follow up with their needs and questions. I think this view also makes me value the skills of our cultural and linguistic translators and multilingual liaisons. They help us to bridge the gaps that we as a single person can’t. I also believe in keeping up with current events and issues that may face many of our students. For example, knowing about the political climate, religious persecution and hardships that our students are coming from helps us to gain insight and be prepared and empathetic in a way that supports and uplifts our families. As I continue moving forward in my leadership trajectory, I know that growing in my knowledge of cultural proficiency will be one of the most important factors on my mind.