Miguel Llovera Da Corte EPSY 5103 May, Jim November 1, 2012 Highlights of Ogbus Model of Human Competence Ogbus

Model of Human Competence from a Cultural-Ecological perspective can be used in Higher Education as a tool to help faculty and staff become more equitable educators, since they deal with a diverse student population on a daily basis. Before exploring Ogbus Model, it is important to understand the meaning behind the words competence and culture. For Lisa Delpit (2006), cultural competence involves appreciating the value that different people with different backgrounds can add to ones life. For Ogbu, competence is increasingly being used to distinguish people who possess certain attributes associated with a middle-class type of success in school and society (Bergen, 2008, p. 226). In other words, competence is the ability to perform a culturally specified task (Bergen, 2008). Culture has been defined by many experts as a way of living: shared behaviors, beliefs, customs, values, and ways of knowing that guide groups of people in their daily life and are transmitted from one generation to the next. Because schools are gate-keeping institutions (Pacheco, 2005), it is important for educators to understand how cultural practices and circumstances in students cultures influence the way these individuals interact in a school setting. Socio-cultural consciousness is the understanding that peoples ways of thinking and behaving are influenced by their race, ethnicity, social class and language (Delpit, 2006). One way of thinking about the relationship between culture and student development is that culture has the power to shape the environment for development. As classroom facilitators, we cannot provide our students with practical tools for life if we do not clearly understand the students life,

and how it is impacted by different events that occur in the context in which these individuals develop. In education, cultural competence focuses on how effective a teacher is for those students who do not share the same personal characteristics or cultural background of that teacher. Therefore, to understand cultural competence to the fullest, one needs to examine his/her thoughts in the classroom throughout ones career (Delpit, 2006). Throughout my work experience, I have had the opportunity to interact with a diverse student population whose learning and social functioning levels cover a wide spectrum. During these interactions, I have come to the conclusion that individuals are complex entities with a set of values, attitudes, competencies, motivations and character traits that are shaped by the dynamics of their environmental setting. Lisa Delpit (2006) states that we all carry worlds in our heads, and those worlds are decidedly different. We educators set out to teach, but how can we reach the worlds of others when we do not even know they exist? Indeed, many of us do not even realize that our own worlds exist only in our heads and in the cultural institutions we have built to support them (p. xxiv). Teachers can address cultural diversity in the classroom by looking first at their own cultural background and understand how their personal biases affect their interactions with students. When teachers have knowledge of their biases and accept different cultural qualities, it is easier for them to recognize the creative ways that students use to express themselves (Delpit, 2006). Also, teachers can assimilate the concept of cultural diversity better by providing highlevel challenging, culturally relevant curriculum and instruction. In doing so, teachers need to make classroom participation and assessment equitable and valid for all students.

In an effort to promote cultural awareness and diversity, I have helped Tulsa Community College coordinate several cultural fairs. Cultural fairs offer exposure to different cultures and ethnic groups. During these events, international students that attend the community college provide visual, auditory and/or interactive displays of various aspects of their culture such as dress, music, dance, food, language, art and traditions. The cultural fair is designed to draw maximum participation from the student body and involve as much as possible counseling staff, faculty, administration and people in the community. Attached is the proposal of one of the events that have been coordinated through TCC.

Works Cited: Bailey, F., & Pransky, K. (2005). Are"Other People's Children" Constructivist Learners Too? Theory Into Practice, 44(1), 19-26. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4401_4

Bergen, Doris. Human Development: Traditional and Contemporary Theories. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Delpit, L. D. (2006). Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: New Press.

Pacheco, M., & Trumbull, E. T. (2005). Leading with Diversity. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/leading_diversity/lwd_entire.pdf