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The Elements of Cultural Competence

Cross et al.'s (1989) definition of cultural competence emphasizes three crucial issues for professionals who want to become culturally competent: 

• Cultural competence includes knowledge, behaviour and attitudes - not simply knowledge
• Cultural competence is a skill which needs to be expressed in behaviour as the capacity to function effectively in inter-cultural contexts - not simply knowledge and awareness
• Cultural competence extends beyond individual professional behaviours and includes organisations and systems - a culturally incompetent system can undermine the work of culturally competent professionals

Weaver (1999:218) argues that: 'most models of cultural competence consist of qualities that fall under the general components of knowledge, skills, and values... The three components of cultural competence are interactive, and none is sufficient in and of itself to bring about appropriate practice. Striving for cultural competence is a long-term, on-going process of development'.

Because of this dynamic interaction, to try to break down cultural competence into its elements is largely an artificial exercise. It follows, then, that developing cultural competence is more complex than completing a series of training sessions, ticking a series of boxes and claiming at the end that one is culturally competent. Nevertheless, it is useful to unpack the elements and place them in a systematic sequence to provide a guiding structure for the development of cultural competence. The following depiction of cultural competence in relation to Indigenous Australians is based on that published in by McConnochie and Nolan (2008:192-193).

Knowledge

This component Includes:

1. A broad or generic understanding of the nature of worldviews and culture, and the implications of culture for understanding human behaviour; and,
2. An understanding of the specific cultural and historical patterns which have structured Indigenous lives in the past and the ways in which these patterns continue to be expressed in contemporary Australia

Values

This component again includes two linked elements:

1. An awareness by professionals of their personal values and beliefs, and a capacity to move away from using their own cultural values as a benchmark for measuring and judging the behaviour of people from other cultural backgrounds; and
2. An awareness of the values, biases and beliefs built into the practitioner's profession and an understanding of how these characteristics impact on people from different cultures.

Skills

This third component builds on the first two components to enable the practitioner to develop a repertoire of skills needed to work more effectively as a professional in trans-cultural contexts. Some skills can be practised within a classroom or workshop setting or outside a work situation altogether however, specific professionally relevant skills in working effectively with Indigenous Australians can only be learnt on the job, in a specific cultural or intercultural context or within discipline specific Indigenous Australian Studies subjects.

In other words, having attended a cultural competence training workshop, or even many workshops, is not the end of the process, merely another step along the way. The real learning occurs in context, and will probably involve making 'mistakes' (learning opportunities) and returning 'back to the classroom', possibly even back to the very basic first steps.

Critical reflexivity

Reflecting on individual values and attitudes is part of what non-Indigenous practitioners refer to as 'doing our own work' (Powis, 2008:83). Critical reflexivity involves developing an understanding of:

• the nature and dynamics of power as it operates at many levels, from practitioner-client interactions to organisational and political systems
• the nature and impacts (on both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people) of unearned privilege
• the nature and effects of racism at individual, institutional and cultural levels
• the history of relationships between Indigenous Australians and the professions; and
• the effects of this history on Indigenous perspectives about the professions and the extent to which each profession is constrained by the culturally constructed models used by the profession.

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