Culturally Competent

“Cultural competence refers to the process by which individuals and systems respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities and protects and preserves the dignity of each.” (NASW, 2010).

NASW Standards for Cultural Competency:
Standard 1. Ethics and Values
Standard 2. Self-Awareness
Standard 3. Cross-Cultural Knowledge
Standard 4. Cross-Cultural Skills
Standard 5. Service Delivery
Standard 6. Empowerment and Advocacy
Standard 7. Diverse Workforce
Standard 8. Professional Education
Standard 9. Language Diversity
Standard 10. Cross-Cultural Leadership

Cultural Competency is a term that has been mentioned in every class of my masters program. We have read about it in many of our books and the NASW outlines standards for us to follow as social workers to ensure that we exhibit fairness to all cultures that we may work with in the profession. But, what is the best way to learn cultural competency? Is it though reading, or having someone from your own culture teach about another culture?

I think the best way to learn the idea of cultural competency is through direct experience in another’s culture. One needs to leave their safety net and place themselves in the shoes of another’s daily life to fully understand their culture. I feel this is the only true way to understand how other cultures experience the world. This can be achieved best by traveling to a foreign environment. In my opinion, traveling is one of the grandest learning experiences that one can have. It also builds on one’s ability to meet many of the standards outlined by the NASW in order to obtain cultural competency.

Through my life experiences, I feel culturally competent. What I mean by saying this is that I have learned the ability to connect with people of diverse cultures by respectfully submerging myself as the minority in another’s culture, and displaying curiosity of their values and ways of living. I have traveled through many countries, in five continents throughout the world. Along my journeys, I have made countless connections in both easy and difficult situations. From English speaking foreigners to people where a complete language barrier was present, from Aboriginal land in the outback of Australia to Hmong villages in the remote areas of Loas, I have shown respect and have been welcomed into other’s world’s. I find this easy by giving upmost respect, understanding boundaries, and displaying patience in order for other people to welcome me into their lives.

I believe that it is my patience that lends me the most support when interacting with and understanding diverse cultures. Growing up in the United States, I understand that most of us are taught to value an individualistic way of life. We live in a culture of “me, me, me”, “succeed, succeed, succeed”, and unless we are graced with the awareness of the outside world, we tend to ignore other ways of life. I have had relationships with and have experienced interactions with others, where people dominate conversations and pause only to think about what they may say next, rather than listen to the other half of the conversation. This style of interaction tends to offend people and will not lend to your abilities in interacting with other cultures. I have heard and understand that listening is thought to be 70% of a conversation. So, when one spends the majority of a conversation talking, they do not display a respectful interest in the other’s thoughts and feelings, which may lead to the other person feeling disrespected and thus causing them to disengage. Patience lends me the ability to listen. With it, I display a calm curiosity and in lends towards my ability to develop cross-cultural knowledge, skills, and leadership.

I have developed a solid grasp of many of the standards that the NASW has for cultural competency. I have been involved in a professional education around the area of cultural competency and I plan to further develop the remaining standards as I progress in the professional field of social work. Although I feel culturally competent and plan to always learn and adapt to new cultures, I realize that no one can fully understand the many cultures that exist. The final part of cultural competency is always seeking to acquire knowledge of everyone’s background and values that their lives come from, which I will always strive to do. These ideas provide me with the feeling of being competent in understanding other cultures.





National Association of Social Workers. (2010). NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice. Retrieved from
http://www.naswdc.org/practice/standards/NASWCulturalStandards.pdf