- "Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, behavioural, and linguistic skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures."
Acquiring the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to effectively interact with people from different cultures, including understanding their values, beliefs, and customs.
Understanding Culture: This refers to learning the beliefs, values, customs, and traditions of different groups.
Communication: This involves learning how to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
Stereotypes and Prejudices: This topic teaches one how to recognize and avoid stereotypes and prejudices.
Cultural Sensitivity: This is the ability to be aware and considerate of other cultures.
Diversity: This topic focuses on understanding the different dimensions of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, etc.
Equity: This refers to treating people fairly, regardless of their cultures or backgrounds.
Inclusion: This topic teaches one how to create inclusive spaces and be inclusive towards others.
Empathy: This involves understanding and experiencing the feelings of someone from a different cultural background.
Bias: This refers to favoring one group over another due to their cultural differences.
Globalization: This topic teaches one how to navigate the changing global landscape and accept different cultures.
Attitudinal: Involves developing a positive attitude towards different cultures and actively seeking to learn about them. It can include curiosity, open-mindedness, empathy and cultural respect.
Behavioral: Encompasses the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively interact and communicate with individuals from diverse cultures. This can include verbal and non-verbal communication skills, cross-cultural problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to different cultural norms.
Cognitive: Refers to an individual's understanding of cultural differences and their ability to recognize and appreciate the impact of cultural norms, values, and beliefs on behaviors and expectations.
Emotional: Encompasses the ability to manage emotions in cross-cultural situations and recognize the impact that cultural differences can have on emotions and reactions. It can include cultural sensitivity, the ability to show empathy and the capacity to manage any negative emotional responses.
Structural: Concerns the ability to design social, educational or workplace systems that promote cultural inclusion and diversity through policies, procedures and practices.
Linguistic: Focuses on the ability to learn and communicate in different languages and the appreciation of language diversity as integral to culture.
Religious: Aims to understand different religious beliefs, practices and traditions and developing empathy towards these beliefs.
Geographic: Involves an understanding of how geography, landscapes, and physical location shape cultural beliefs and practices.
Generational: Involves the ability to recognize and navigate the differences in values, beliefs and customs across generations from different cultural backgrounds.
Socioeconomic: Encompasses the knowledge and skills to work effectively with individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds and cultures.
Political: Focuses on the understanding of political systems, policies and decisions that affect diverse communities and understanding how various cultures view political concepts and governance.
Ethical: Involves the ability to understand and respect the cultural values and ethics of diverse communities, and to incorporate these cultural values into ethical decision-making processes.
- "Intercultural or cross-cultural education are terms used for the training to achieve cultural competence."
- "Effective intercultural communication relates to behaviors that culminate with the accomplishment of the desired goals of the interaction and all parties involved in the situation."
- "Appropriate intercultural communication includes behaviors that suit the expectations of a specific culture, the characteristics of the situation, and the level of the relationship between the parties involved in the situation."