I.Introduction. Cultural Competence Is The Foundation In

I. Introduction Cultural competence is the foundation in creating a successful academic environment for diverse students. Being culturally competent means being knowledgeable of other cultures, including the awareness of that culture’s world view. When someone is culturally competent they are able to effectively communicate and interact with people across cultures, and hold a positive attitude towards culture differences. (Nieto 2014) Teachers should be able to understand their student’s cultural views, traditions, language, and home life, and incorporate these cultural factors into their lesson plans and classroom settings. When early educators use culture competence, children are able to develop a sense of belonging, form strong†¦show more content†¦This can essentially hurt a diverse student’s self-esteem by feeling their culture and self is not worthy, and in the bigger picture, can promote racism, prejudices, and privileges between cultures. Fortunately, new common core curriculum standards have made an effort to turn around the promotion of white-ethnocentric, hegemony in academics by including women, people of color, religions other than Christianity and members of the dominant group who value differences and multiple perspectives. (Gollnick, Chinn) Gollnick and Chinn describe how multicultural education is a beneficial way of getting teachers and students to understand other cultures, and a way of disregarding hegemony in academics, by promoting equality and harmony between cultures. â€Å"Multicultural education is a concept that acknowledges the important role of diversity in the lives of many students and their family and builds on it to promote equality and social justice.†(Gollnick, Chinn) Teachers ensure that their diverse students are given the same access to educational benefits, and work to assist diverse students who are struggling. â€Å"When educators are given the