Diversity and Cultural Perspectives

Question 1

Guiding Principles

Answer 1

1) Culture is a predominant force in peoples and organization’s life
2) People are served in varying degrees by the dominant culture
3) People have group and individual identities
4) Diversity is vast and significant
5) Each group has unique cultural needs

Question 2

Five Essential Elements: Assess Cultural Knowledge

Answer 2

Being aware of what you know about others’ cultures, how you react to others’ cultures, and what you need to do to be effective in cross-cultural situations.

Question 3

Five Essential Elements: Valuing Diversity

Answer 3

Making the effort to be inclusive of people whose viewpoints and experiences are different from yours and will enrich conversations, decision making, and problem solving.

Question 4

Five Essential Elements: Managing the Dynamics of Difference

Answer 4

Viewing conflict as a natural and normal process that has cultural contexts that can be understood and can be supportive in creative problem solving.

Question 5

Five Essential Elements: Adapting to Diversity

Answer 5

Having the will to learn about others and the ability to use others’ cultural experiences and backgrounds in educational settings.

Question 6

Five Essential Elements: Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge

Answer 6

Making learning about cultural groups and their experiences and perspectives an integral part of your ongoing learning.

Question 7

The barriers

Answer 7

• Resistance to change
• Systems of oppression
• Sense of entitlement

Question 8

The Continuuum: Cultural Destructiveness

Answer 8

• Problematic

- Seeking to eliminate vestiges of the cultures of others

Question 9

The Continuuum: Cultural Incapacity

Answer 9

• Problematic

- Seeking to make the culture of others appear to be wrong

Question 10

The Continuuum: Cultural Blindness

Answer 10

• Problematic

- Refusing to acknowledge the culture of others

Question 11

The Continuuum: Cultural Pre Competence

Answer 11

• Practice
• Being aware of what one doesn’t know about working in diverse settings. Initial levels of awareness after which a person or organization can move in a positive, constructive direction or they can falter, stop, and possibly regress.

Question 12

The Continuuum: Cultural Competence

Answer 12

• Practice
• Viewing one’s personal and organizational work as an interactive arrangement in which the educator enters diverse settings in a manner that is additive to cultures that are different from the educator’s.

Question 13

The Continuuum: Cultural Proficiency

Answer 13

• Practice
• Making the commitment to lifelong learning for the purpose of being increasingly effective in serving the educational needs of cultural groups. Holding the vision of what can be and committing to assessments that serve as benchmarks on the road to student success.

Question 14

Educational Measurement: Peer Group Model

Answer 14

Compares students in one group to all other students (i.e., their peers) at your school.

Question 15

Educational Measurement: Data Set #1

Answer 15

Formative and summative assessments and other measures of student achievement

Question 16

Educational Measurement: Data Set #2

Answer 16

Student access in terms of attendance, suspensions, and special needs programs.

Question 17

Educational Measurement: Data Set #3

Answer 17

Data that describes the conversations you and your colleagues have about your students.

Question 18

Educational Measurement: Leverage Points for Change

Answer 18

• curriculum and instruction
• assessment and accountability
• parent and community communication and outreach
• professional development