Community Development Can Help Build Cultural Competence
~ by Kris Parker, Community Development Regional Educator, Purdue Extension
How effective am I at working across cultural differences? Do others see me as culturally competent? One of the key frameworks of the Navigating Difference workshop, the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity created by Dr. Milton Bennett, illustrates stages of how people experience and engage cultural difference from a monocultural mindset to a multicultural mindset. The model can be helpful for informing how we might pursue self-development in this area, as well as how we might approach helping others to develop their cultural competence.
Dr. Mitchell Hammer adapted this model into the Intercultural Development Continuum, which forms the basis of the Intercultural Development Inventory, an assessment that measures one’s mindset along the continuum.
If your organization seeks to build cultural competence among your staff, consider attending the 3-day Navigating Difference cultural competency training. Our next workshop will be in Kokomo on November 16-18. Learn more here. Purdue Extension also offers a half-day Cultural Awareness workshop to groups.
We can also conduct the Intercultural Development Inventory with your staff, providing one-on-one feedback as well as an individual development plan to help your staff members take charge of their own journey and growth towards more effective intercultural interactions.
To learn more about the Intercultural Development Inventory program, contact Kris Parker at parkerkj@purdue.edu or 219-386-5232.
