Personal Plan for Cultural Competence 

Self-assessment: Describe the level of competence you had when you started in your agency. What experiences within the agency have particularly shaped your views of your own culture and the culture of others? 

During the start of the agency, there were many challenges which are as a result of being in the agency. The level when starting the agency was highest in terms of the theory but average in terms of experience. This can be attributed to the fact that it was the first practical association with this agency.

What have you from your agency? Highlight succinctly things you learned while participating at your agency that are most meaningful for you. What aspects did you already know? What challenged your preconceptions? What piqued your curiosity and made you want to learn more? What questions were aroused in your mind that would merit further investigation? 

At the agency, one has a lot to learn especially with regards to the culture. The agency has embraced diversity among the children and these needs to translate to our culture and that of others. We should embrace and emulate each other as a way of showing support and concern to the other cultures.

What does this mean for your practice? What types of clients are you best able to help? Discuss how what you learned about cultures and families relate to your previous and current work experience. What groups and culture do you want to learn more about so that you might more effectively provide social work services? Describe any population with which it may be difficult for you to work, and analyze the reason for this. State whether this is something that you feel that you should overcome, and whether you should do something to make it easier for you to work with this population. 

 

While at the agency, the different kinds of challenges that affect the children assists us in identifying how different people are and the fact that we should all accept each other. Working at the agency has allowed the idea of acceptability stick in our minds and always be happy for one another. The aspects of living together as one family is a familiar aspect which basically involves being able to look out for your neighbor which is kind of what people should do. The idea of diversity in the agency had an impact on my part. In many cases, one expects that in such cases there will be a lot of lack of being a family and no love but while at the agency, everything is all about being a caretaker for your friend. This idea made me curious and made me want to do a deep investigation with regards to the issue. Questions such as how the families of these children live and how much they were willing to do for their children raised further curiosity which was something that needed answers.

Such experience allows the growth in the mind regarding how we can help one another and increase the probability of making the best out of each other. Basically, all types of clients offer the best for my part but the most exciting are those who learn that what the children go through is just physical challenges which can be eliminated through showing love for one another. According to the recommended standards and experiences for cultural competence, one has to be on their best behaviors for the purpose of learning. Getting to know about the different cultures needs contribution and the capability to understand diversity (Lum, 2010). From both the current and previous situations, it is all about sacrifice and being able to contain the situation as a trainer and a person who understands being competent at the workplace. The groups and cultures which one would want to identify more about are the African American type of culture and groups of people. This group of people in a huge way always shows love for their own and when it comes to taking care of their challenged children, they know how to do it better and it is a field which is excellent to offer social services. The population of children which always bullies and does not want to share with the others is population that is hard to deal with. In many cases, they cause trouble where there is peace and this is somehow a headache to approach. This population needs a lot of caution and care when dealing with since anything is possible. Such a population is hard to handle but as a social trainer, all that is needed is the capacity to allow for change and understanding that it is a process they undergo and which is not on their will or wish.

What more do you need to know? Describe what more you want to learn about other cultures and diverse families. Discuss some of the ways that knowledge could be effectively acquired. You may want to document your statement with information you have acquired about certain populations, societal needs, and resources for developing cultural competence. 

More learning is required on some cultures and their families. When dealing with the children, some families have been on the lookout about what happens with regards to their known traditions. For example, certain cultures regard removal of teeth as a tradition and there is a way to deal with removed tooth. In some cases, they throw above the roof and others between their legs. Such cultures are important to learn since this cannot be the only different thing they have from the rest of the population (Gay, 2010). Through the specialized knowledge and the capacity to understand diversity, one is able to acquire the knowledge of other communities with the likelihood of identifying the differences. According to the recommendations by the standard for cultural competency, one has to posses various skills for the learning and development into other cultures. Such skills are vital since they enhance the capability to learn and embrace other cultures.

Action Steps: List three to five actions that are reasonable and feasible for you to do that will increase your cultural competence.

Getting to know more about the communities involved in the process allows the growth in the knowledge of the services offered. Knowing the families and the relatives to the families involved increases the likelihood of connecting what the children want from the society in general (Lum, 2010). In many cases, children tend to learn more from home and bring the same idea to the school which eventually can affect the activities in school. Engaging the community is also a field that a person might want to focus on for the benefit of the community and the profession. Such actions increase the togetherness and love for one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.           

Lum, D. (2010). Culturally Competent Practice: A Framework for Understanding. Nelson Education.