Soft Skills for School Librarians
Course
Developing Cultural Competence [5:12]
Learn how to build your cultural competence to better serve your students.
We're going to look at the key steps librarians can take to build and strengthen their cultural competence: developing cultural self-awareness, community exploration, gaining cross-cultural understanding, as well as culturally relevant pedagogy, inclusive collecting, and relationship building. These steps are cyclical and ongoing, and if practiced regularly can help make all students and their families feel they are a respected part of the school community.
Cultural competence starts with an exploration of one's own culture. Culture goes far beyond race and ethnicity to include one's attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors; in other words, the ways that a person perceives and interacts with the world around them. To effectively interact with people across cultures, you must first understand your own, including identifying any biases and stereotypes that you might hold.
In addition to self-exploration, you also want to explore the communities that are a part of your school and district. You can learn about your community both quantitatively, by researching your school's demographic breakdown, and qualitatively, by speaking directly with students and their families and learning more about their lives. What cultural populations exist among students and staff members in your school community? Investigate your school beyond its ethnic and gender breakdown to learn more about the variety of backgrounds that are present. Then consider, how are all the members of your community currently being served by the library?
Once you know which cultural groups are represented within your community, it's time to learn more about them. This might involve activities like reading #ownvoices literature, attending cultural events and festivals, studying another language, or simply having conversations with people who don't share your cultural background. Keep in mind that even a small community contains a rich diversity of cultures, and that cultures are constantly evolving. It's okay to not know everything about every culture, as long as you are open to learning from your community and listening to their stories. Curiosity about other cultures is a key component of cultural competence.
Developing cultural competence is a continuous and lifelong process, but you can use it to transform your library practice no matter where you are on that journey. Let's look at some specific ways you can employ cultural competence in the library.
Number one: Consider your instructional practices. Are you aware of and using the most culturally relevant pedagogical approaches? If you aren't sure or want to develop these skills more, look into professional development opportunities in the librarian community. Explore this lesson's activities for some suggested resources.
Number two: Be inclusive when selecting library materials. Inclusive collecting ensures that the library has a wide range of books and resources that can connect with students from all the diverse populations of your school, as well as those that might not be represented in your particular student population. Ask yourself the following questions as a check: Can all my students find themselves and their families in the collection? Do I have books written by authors that share the background of the populations represented in their stories? Are my electronic resources inclusive of multiple perspectives? Once you have those resources, be sure that you are integrating them into instruction and highlighting them in your physical and digital library space.
Number three: Be present for the students and build positive relationships with them and with their families. Show them that you not only understand but honor their cultural histories, languages, and traditions, and that you are eager to learn more about their lives. This message can be communicated directly through conversations with students, but it can also be communicated through your library displays, your instruction, your collection, and your policies. Use some of these same strategies to develop trusting cross-cultural relationships with your colleagues.
As you embed more intentionality into exploring your own culture and the cultures of your students, their families, and your colleagues, and shifting your library programs accordingly, you'll discover that it's an ongoing and rewarding process that will make your library and your community a place where everyone can feel welcome and included.
One of the first steps in the ongoing process of building cultural competency is exploring one's own culture. Reflecting and writing on the experiences that have helped mold our personal experience of culture can be an effective way to start this. Use the guiding questions in the template in the Resources below to help you craft a cultural narrative of your own.
Use the guiding questions in the above template to help you write your own cultural autobiography. Encourage others in your professional learning network (PLN) to do so as well and meet to discuss what you learn about your cultural background through the process of composing the piece. You may also want to complete a cultural competence self-assessment checklist (like the one from the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society found at http://www.coloradoedinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cultural-competence-self-assessment-checklist.pdf) as another form of self-reflection.
MLA Citation
"Soft Skills for School Librarians: Writing a Cultural Autobiography." School Library Connection, April 2019, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2194641?learningModuleId=2194635&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2196946
After you have spent time reflecting on your own cultural background, begin to closely observe the mix that makes up your school community. As the video discussed, you can learn about your community both quantitatively, by researching your school's demographic breakdown, and qualitatively, by speaking directly with students and their families. Read the article by Karla Collins (found in the Resources) with her tips for getting to know the makeup of your community and use the Reflect & Practice activity to try it in your school.
In her article "Reaching All Learners in the School Library," Karla Collins discusses driving through the neighborhoods serviced by her school as a way to visualize where students come from when they arrive at school. Reflect on what method would work for you to learn more about where your school's community members are coming from and give it a try. Consider formal or informal interviews with members of the school community or organizing a community walk. Document what you learn and then consider: how is your library instruction and collection including representations of the various cultures present in your community?
MLA Citation
"Soft Skills for School Librarians: Community Exploration." School Library Connection, April 2019, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2194641?learningModuleId=2194635&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2196947
Cultivating culturally responsive leadership is an ongoing and rewarding process that will make your library and your community a place where everyone can feel welcome and included. In her article "Culturally Responsive Leadership in School Libraries," Laura Summers outlines strategies to help you increase your capacity to implement a transformational curriculum. Read the article (in the Resources below) and then complete the Reflect & Practice activity to apply the concepts to your library.
Read the article by Laura Summers, "Culturally Responsive Leadership in School Libraries," and use the guiding questions in the above form to reflect on where you fall along James Banks' four levels of multicultural curriculum reform. What steps can you take in your library to progress further along the continuum?
If you're looking for more resources to help you on your journey developing cultural competence, give these a try:
Hughes-Hassell, Sandra, and Casey H. Rawson. "Services for Black Youth. Services for Black Youth: Introduction." School Library Connection video. May 2017. http://schoollibraryconnection.com/Home/Display/2071170?topicCenterId=2158571&learningModuleId=2071169.
Irvine, Jacqueline Jordan. "Relevant: Beyond the Basics." Teaching Tolerance. Fall 2009. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2009/relevant-beyond-the-basics.
Kraft, Bridget, and Courtney Pentland. "The Importance of Culturally Responsive Teaching." Library Media Connection, August 2013. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Home/Display/1949049.
Kumasi, Kafi. "InFLO-mation: Hip Hop Principles for Library Instruction." School Library Connection, February 2018. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Home/Display/2141684?topicCenterId=2158573&learningModuleId=2141684.
Mardis, Marcia A., and Dianne Oberg, eds. Social Justice and Cultural Competency Essential Readings for School Librarians. Libraries Unlimited, 2020.
Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth. 2019. http://ready.web.unc.edu/.
"Section 2. Building Relationships with People from Different Cultures." Chapter 27. Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World, Community Tool Box. 2018. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/building-relationships/main.
"Section 7. Building Culturally Competent Organizations." Chapter 27. Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World, Community Tool Box. 2018. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/culturally-competent-organizations/main.
MLA Citation
"Soft Skills for School Librarians: Culturally Responsive Leadership." School Library Connection, April 2019, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2194641?learningModuleId=2194635&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2197476
Additional Resources
About the Authors
Email: rmorris@schoollibraryconnection.com
Twitter: @rebeccajm87.
E-mail: charvey@schoollibraryconnection.com
Twitter: @caharvey2
MLA Citation
"Soft Skills for School Librarians. Developing Cultural Competence [5:12]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, April 2019, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2194641?learningModuleId=2194635&topicCenterId=2247902.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2194641?learningModuleId=2194635&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 2194641