Examine Your Barrier to Cultural Competency
With the 21st century upon us, there is an emergence of numerous cultures. These cultures are diverse in multiple ways, to exist and promote socialization and interaction in such a community, there is a need to have an understanding and comprehension of this different culture, this can be referred to as being cultural competency. In a broader perspective, cultural competence can be defined as the capability to understand, communicate, and interact effectively with individuals from different cultures. It focuses on being aware of the manner of presentation of a speech and having a positive perspective towards cultural differences (Cai, 2016). In my practice, I noted that I was encountering cultural competence barriers; this paper takes a brief look at these barriers. Additionally, there will be an illustration of how I was able to overcome these limitations.
Barriers to Cultural Competence
Lack of knowledge about various ethnic and cultural groups. It is essential to learn about other people in other cultures. The lack of knowledge was a critical issue in that I was unable to the various perceptive of things they do (Grandpierre et al., 2018). The reduced comprehension of their ethnicity caused a complete misunderstanding even in the speech presentation. This is because I was utterly unaware that different narratives and words had other meanings in other cultures.
Various myths and misconceptions exist in multiple cultures; this resulted in being a significant barrier in my cultural competence ability. Myths created falsified information concerning about a culture. For example, I was used to the myth that if a woman cuts her hair while she was pregnant, she will end up having a bald baby. Such kind of information is false and acts as an insult to women who prefer to shave and have short hair. Thus, myths and misconceptions were a critical myth.
There was also a barrier of overgeneralizing on various cultural concepts. Due to a lack of knowledge and awareness, I generalized that some aspects of my culture were similar in others. This resulted in the drawing of conclusions and making certain statements that were referred to as offensive to others.
Overcoming Barriers of Cultural Competence
I cannot say that I have fully overcome the barriers and various limitations to cultural competency; however, I have adopted different policies that have enabled the improvement of other diverse cultures. There is the development of communication skills; this was not specified to a particular culture. This ensured there is no speech or narrative used that seemed to be offensive. Constant interactions with different cultures enabled the acquisition of knowledge, and I was able to judge perspective according to the culture at hand. Incorporation of these policies ensures a gradual improvement in my cultural competence.
In conclusion, different cultures exist in the community. To live in harmony and peace with these individuals called for an understanding and improvement of cultural competence. However, it must be noted that cultural competency is not archived overnight, gradual change, and acknowledge. The application of the above policies ensures acceptance and a positive environment with diverse cultures.