Overview
There has been increasing tension between teachers of different races regarding how children are being disciplined the in African American households in their school district. Many Caucasian teachers (80% of the teacher population) believe that the methods of discipline are inappropriate, while African American teachers (a vast minority of teachers in the district) largely believe that the methods of punishment are appropriate for their culture.
You have been asked to provide cultural sensitivity training to teachers in the school district. The goal is to increase cultural and ethnic awareness for each of the teacher groups so they can foster a better understanding of one another's point of view and deescalate the tension between the groups.
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assignment criteria:
Competency 1: Analyze the influence of culture on attitudes, values, perception, human behavior, and interpersonal relations.
Analyze how cultural customs can be interpreted or misinterpreted by other cultures.
Discuss common elements of cultural misunderstandings.
Competency 2: Analyze individual cultural competencies.
Identify types of information to gather from stakeholders for intervention planning.
Competency 3: Analyze culturally and developmentally appropriate intervention strategies.
Identify culturally sensitive intervention strategies.
Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the human services profession.
Communicate in a professional manner, using scholarly resources that support the analysis through clear, concise, well organized, and grammatically correct writing that incorporates appropriate APA style and conventions.
Assignment Instructions
Write an outline of a presentation (not a full presentation) to be given to the teachers that provides guidance on how to address the issue. The point of this outline is to detail how you would approach the task and to identify areas that need to be included when addressing this multicultural conflict.
Minimally you should:
Define the problem.
Identify types of information to gather from stakeholders for intervention planning.
Identify stakeholders with whom you would consult to further explore the issues.
State what you hope to learn from them.
Discuss cultural factors that need to be taken into consideration analyzing the issue.
Identify elements of this case study that are common to all cultural conflicts.
Analyze how cultural customs can be interpreted or misinterpreted by other cultures.
Identify culturally sensitive intervention strategies.
Discuss how you approach the issue and the teachers.
Recommend strategies to share with teachers on how to increase cultural understanding of the teachers on both sides of the issue.
You may also consider the following questions:
What are some of the things you need to consider when working with someone who is of a different ethnic or cultural group than you?
What stereotypes may be present that complicate the conflict?
What are the barriers to effective communication in this case?
Is it important to determine which side is right or wrong to solve this problem? Why or why not?