D EVELOPING M ULTICULTURAL C OMPETENCE Chevanne DeVaney, Director of Multicultural Affairs, Keuka...

DEVELOPING MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE

Chevanne DeVaney, Director of Multicultural Affairs, Keuka College

&Genille Gordon ‘16 - Summer Intern (Field Period)

Mentor Training, August 20, 2015

Today’s Goal

• To improve intercultural and cross-cultural communication

• To reduce negative stereotyping and increase group understanding

• To develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to become more effective, sensitive and constructive in your role as mentors


Working AgreementConfidentialitySpeak for yourself, not for othersOne conversation at a timeStay involved and engagedKeep on taskListen respectfullyAgree to disagree ...


The Office of Multicultural Affairs


Multicultural Affairs/Culture Centers refers to an administrative office or space that focuses on supporting and integrating target populations. Through programming, advisement, leadership development, and other forms of student involvement, [Multicultural Affairs ] support students from historically disenfranchised racial/ethnic groups and those who have been historically disenfranchised, include women as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

Patton, L. D. & Hannon, M. D. (2008)



The Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs (MCA) at Keuka College is committed to promoting an inclusive living, learning and working environment where everyone can successfully understand and appreciate different perspectives. We do this by providing leadership and direction for the development of policies, events, and programs that enhances the College’s diversity education efforts in order to positively support the success of those students historically underrepresented in higher education, including women and LGBTQ individuals.



• LGBTQA+ Resource Center: Information and referral, advocacy, support/discussions groups, safe zone and ally projects, leadership programs, peer counseling, Lavender Reception, etc.

• Women’s Center: Responds to individual and institutional needs to support women in achieving education goals…to think more broadly about fields of study and leadership positions, and advancing women in higher education.

THE OFFICE OF MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

• Advocate to change/implement policies, practices, and attitudes of the campus and its students and employees that inhibit student confidence and success

• Mentoring and other community building opportunities• Providing cultural support systems where students can feel

comfortable rather than feeling that they have to assimilate into the dominant culture

• Implement programs to educate the campus community about various cultures to promote awareness of multicultural and social justice issues

• Ensure access to academic support services• Special study skills training• Referral to other learning assistance resources• Personal counseling/helping• Financial assistance counseling• Career development• ….




MCA…is not MSA


Cross-Cultural Mentoring

The Juxtaposition of one’s values with those of someone else affects the interaction taking place in a learning relationship…Cross-cultural barriers consist of more than just language or semantic barriers…the biggest chasm is cultural and has to do with how one sees the world as well as how one acts within it.

Zachary, 2000


Cross-Cultural Competency

• Become Culturally Self-Aware. Knowing who you are (self-knowledge) is the most important intercultural competency for a mentor to have.

• Develop a Working Knowledge of and Appreciation for Other Cultures as it’s easy to get locked into our own way of thinking.

Zachary, 2000


Cross-Cultural Competency

• Improve your communication skills as listening and speaking are critical to any mentoring relationship. Initial excitement in learning is often followed by a period of confusion and frustration. This confusion/frustration can be heightened by poor communication skills.

• Become Culturally attuned to other cultures, especially that of your mentees as it will dictate expectations and communication.

Zachary, 2000

Exercise

Identify culturally derived values and assumptions that could affect your mentoring relationship. What values and assumptions do you hold that someone might not readily understand from a culture other than your own?


Understanding One’s Own Biases

“We need to become increasingly clear about the expectations, biases, and …values with which we bring to the helping relationship….We enter a helping relationships as we enter all relationships: full of personal expectations, biases, and values….[these] influence our interactions.” (Parsons, 2004)


Understanding Others Who Are Culturally Different From You

• No one belongs to a single group - sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic, religion, etc…

• Empathy – Learn to see the world through another’s eyes; hear as they might hear and, feel as they might feel…

• Assumptions of similarities• Language differences• Non-verbal misinterpretations• Preconceptions and stereotypes• Tendency to evaluate• High anxiety (culture shock)• When uncertain ask for help


Definitions• Race (social construct): is the category to

which others assign individuals on the basis of physical characteristics, such as skin color or hair type, and the generalizations and stereotypes made as a result.

• Ethnicity (biological): A group of people who identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry, or share a common ethnic identity.

• Culture: Culture is defined as the belief systems and value orientations that influence customs, norms, practices, and social institutions.


Exercise

Consider the various racial/ethnic groups that we have at Keuka College– List them– Discuss and list as many stereotypes

associated with one or more of the groups discussed

– How might these stereotypes determine how you or others interact with these individuals. Use personal examples to illustrate

– Share with groupMentor Training, August 20, 2015

To Be An Effective Mentor…

• You must be sensitive to the bias of culture

• One must appreciate that his/her view of life, and specifically his or her view of the mentee’s problem, is highly influenced by his or her own world or cultural viewpoint


To be an effective Mentor, one must become sensitive to his or her own cultural framework and the way it biases his or her attitudes, values, behaviors, and approach to helping, and also the Mentee’s cultural makeup and the role this cultural element plays in the creation and resolution of the problem presented.


Questions?


D EVELOPING M ULTICULTURAL C OMPETENCE Chevanne DeVaney, Director of Multicultural Affairs, Keuka...

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