I have been researching cultural competence for the past 10 years. My driver has been my own personal journey in cultural competence that started about 25 years ago (to be discussed in another blog), that sparked an interest in the very notion of cultural competence.
The area of cultural competence originated in the late 1980s when American teachers, social workers and health professionals came to the realisation that some American's (minority groups) were treated differently. It (the difference) had a profound impact on all aspects of life and Americans decided it was time to start upskilling themselves and thus the term cultural competence emerged. The term emerged to many different professions and countries around the world. Now I can hear your inner voice saying "wow it obviously didn’t work" as we watched in horror of Trumps plans to build walls and locally (I am Australian) of the Australian government start to discuss Aboriginal registers. Thus my (and others) passion in the area of cultural competence regularly has the required motivation boost to continue researching.
During my career I have focused on building my understanding on cultural competence through my nursing profession. As a nurse working in acute care during the early 2000s, I noticed that mainstream healthcare wasn’t well positioned to address the health needs of all Australians. In fact, some people would actively avoid hospital’s due racism. I was particularly interested in how the values, behaviours and attitudes of health practitioners could influence the care of others. As a member of a “caring profession” I was also deeply interested in what drove this difference. The very notion required me, and still requires me to look deeply inward. A very uncomfortable things to do, however often a point where I would realise the impact of my values, beliefs and attitudes on others receiving the care that I provided. Megan Boler calls this the pedagogy of discomfort where our deeply formed learning comes from the very point of us wriggling in our chairs, while Brene Brown would call this the rumble (I will talk more about these two scholars in future blogs) (Boler, 2000; Brown, 2017)
So, for me, this has prompted a long term love affair with the area of cultural competence. I have found that the more I investigate the more I need to know. Researcher in the area of cultural competence are small in numbers, however from my conversations with friends, family and colleagues tell me that many people are interest in the area. In fact, culture shapes who we are and what we believe. Culture competence provides an excellent opportunity to explore this inwardly and then look at its impact outwardly. I hope that this blog will form a community of likeminded people with the opportunity to explore areas of cultural competence. So let’s together shake up our lives and start to explore cultural competence in our world today.
References
Boler, M. (2000). An epoch of difference: hearing voices in the nineties. Educational Theory, 50(3), 357–381. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2000.00357.
Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Laed: Brave Work. Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts. Random House: New York
