Importance Of Cultural Awareness

Take a moment to think about the following question: what is culture? Culture is everything a person does, believes in, creates, came from, and has done. It is also so much more than this simple list, but this is a good idea of what it generally is. Culture affects a lot of things as well. It can affect what you do, how you do certain things, and how you see things comparison to others. Culture is a major factor in how people perceive the world and those around them. Everybody sees the world differently through their cultural glasses. Some people see things as foreign and confusing, while others see the same things as daily life. The idea of different cultural viewpoints is shown in many articles throughout the years. Each of these stories

Do you think that your culture impacts your decisions more than your personal opinion does? Or maybe that your culture has nothing to do with your viewpoint? There is a lot of controversy on this topic. A person 's culture majorly affects how one views the world, however personal opinion, experiences also play a role. Personal experiences help to shape people into who they are today.

My culture gives me a set of ideas to live by. The influence of my culture is a major driving force of who I am. My culture

Demonstrate awareness of culture as a factor in all human behaviour by using culturally appropriate work practicesUse work practices that create a culturally and psychologically safe environment for all personsReview and modify work practices in consultation with people from diverse backgrounds

Cultural competences are behaviours, values, attitudes and policies that a body of professionals should encompass in order to effectively work with other cultures (Bureau of Primary Health Care 2005). Culture includes shared values, beliefs, religion, norms and customs. Competence is the ability to function as an individual and part of a team (Office of Minority Health 2017). According to Mayhew cultural competence also involves the impact that culture has on how an individual perceives health, illness and recovery (Mayhew 2016). The Georgetown University emphasized that cultural competence is being able to provide health services that meet social, cultural and language needs of service users. There are different definitions because cultural competency can be viewed from different angles. One angle is from the healthcare professional and what skills they require in order to present cultural competency. The second view is from the service users and one’s culture may affect their perception of health.

Culture plays a big part on how you are as a person. A person beliefs are made up by their own unique cultural identity. Identity is what makes you who you are as person, and how does it defines you. Your identity doesn’t have to be just your ethnicity or how you look like, it’s way much more than that. While my culture is mixed with American and Asian aspects, Asian culture is most influential in my life because it helps me be motivated in school, affect my views on religion, and makes me have good deportment.

Cultural Knowledge is obtaining a sound educational foundation concerning the various world views of different cultures (Berman, Frandsen, Snyder, p.280, 2016).

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa defines Cultural Awareness as “observing and being conscious of similarities and contrasts between cultural groups” (Ottawa, "Cultural Awareness or Sensitivity"). To me, I think the meaning of Cultural Awareness is to just be aware and respectful to others from different cultures who surround you. Rather than just ignoring all the different cultures and differences around you, you should be aware to gain more knowledge of your community or society. Cultural Sensitivity is similar to cultural awareness as Cultural Sensitivity builds upon the concept of Cultural Awareness. Cultural Sensitivity includes the awareness aspect and adds the concept of removing prejudice and assumptions, whether positive or negative. To me, I find that Cultural Sensitivity combines awareness with open-mindedness. When we are more respectful and open to learning about others around us we can become more Culturally Sensitive. In addition, Cultural Safety brings together both awareness and sensitivity by gaining and furthering knowledge, understanding, and respect for the other cultures surrounding you. Cultural Humility is the "ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented (or open to the other) in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are most important to the [person]" (Waters & Asbill, "CYF News | August 2013 Reflections on cultural humility", 2013). Put simply, cultural humility is the process of opening yourself up to develop partnerships with other groups or cultures and to maintain equilibrium of power between

First, the religious culture that impacts me is being Lutheran. A value we have is going to church to pray, we are expected to participate and be kind and respectful to everyone joining us. I do this by going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, (confirmation), along with going to church choir too. I attend the services quietly, and always try to respect people´s space. Another value is our spiritual beliefs, we pray to

My family, its culture, and religion have all had a major impact and have shaped me to be the person I am today. My parents and grandparents are from Guyana, South America and my great-grandparents are from India, which makes me and my siblings, first generation Americans. Having a taste of both the East and West Indian community has influenced my religion (Hinduism), my moral ethics and values, culture, traditions, and decisions. My individuality has stood out from the majority of my classmates throughout the school because I am the only person who has my background. My heritage and culture has re-enforced my ability to have different perspectives on the world. Even though, my birth and upbringing has been in the United States. Although, I have an East and West Indian descent, I have family members in many other areas of the world. I have also traveled many places across the United States and Canada. For example, driving across the country to the Mid-West as truely shown different eye opening perspectives. Even though we are in the same country, the Mid-West has a completely different culture and outlook on life. This visit helped me to

Sometimes I question if culture changes who you are. I try to pull up memories of the decisions I make, are they affected by my culture? Here is the response I came up with: Culture sporadically informs how an individual sees the world because, even being from completely different places and raised in contrasting households, people could still have similar views based on what they think of others and not how you are constructed with your culture, however, sometimes affects your perspective in certain occasions in circumstances where you wouldn’t face a community the same if you weren’t from the culture you were built in. This idea is supported by the personal essay by Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America, the essay by Robert Lake, An Indians Father Plea, and also personal experience.

I have scored well on both assessments which consider me to be a particularly cultural sensitive person. The cultural awareness assessment which I scored lower on was due to inexperience for some of the questions that were asked. Question one, for example, asked, "I listen to people from other cultures when they tell me how my culture affects them is one experience I have yet to encounter. I have always considered a person culture and briefs are fascinating in every fashion. Growing up in a very diverse environment allowed me the opportunity to interact with people of many different cultures, religions, beliefs, and practices. My personal experiences dealing with those of different culture different from my own does not equate to providing

Cultural awareness: having an understanding and appreciation for different cultures as well as your own. Being culturally aware allows you gain more insight and increases your knowledge on the way of life in other countries. You get a different perspective and a better appreciation for other cultures thereby eliminating close-mindedness. (San Diego State University, n.d.)

Cultural self-awareness is strongly linked to development of a cultural intelligence for a number of reasons. Thus, this essay will critically reflect on what cultural self-awareness is and its importance on how it develops ones cultural intelligence. Before we discuss about cultural self-awareness and cultural intelligence, it is important to understand what culture is and how it impacts on our society. Culture is a complex subject that can be defined in various ways.

Power/Distance (PD), “refers to the degree of inequality that exists- and is accepted- among people with and without power. A high PD score indicates that society accepts an unequal distribution of power, and that people understand “their place” in the system. Low PD means that power is shared and well dispersed.” (www.mindtools.com) As an example from the article, Myers goes on to say, “there were basically four levels: VP, director, manager, and worker bee. You only talked to people at your level.” SK Telecom boasted that