The Importance Of Cultural Self-Awareness

Though it does not come up in everyday thought, cultural identity is an idea that all humans possess. Abridged, cultural identity can be simply explained as the sharing of a similar culture by people of various ethnicities. However, cultural identity is more complex than that, defined by an individual’s values, beliefs, and ideas of moral behavior influenced by their culture. Furthermore, cultural identity is ever changing from individual to individual. This means that although two individuals may be of the same ethnicity, differences in circumstances may cause variations between the individuals’ personal beliefs. As a result of interracial interactions, multiculturalism has grown during the twenty-first century.

Our day to day lives can typically involve umpteen interactions with individuals from across the life span whose identity comprises multiple layers. Culture can often be a significant element of identity; thus practicing cultural safety, which can be viewed as an environment where individuals’ cultural identities, rights, and experiences are not challenged or denied, rather they are respected and understood (Williams, 1999), within interactions is essential. Cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competence are intertwined in cultural safety, and a principle step in developing and understanding these concepts is examining our own cultural identities and how they shape our worldviews and attitudes. In this paper, I will reflect on my own cultural

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

Caleb Rosado, has developed a list of seven adoptable behaviors which can help all groups of people to become more culturally diverse, it is as follows: “Recognition of the abundant diversity of cultures; Respect for the differences; Acknowledging the validity of different cultural expressions and contributions; Valuing what other cultures offer; Encouraging the contribution of diverse groups; Empowering people to strengthen themselves and others to achieve their maximum potential by being critical of their own biases; and Celebrating rather than just tolerating the differences in order to bring about unity through diversity.” In addition, it’s worth noting that in discovering and appreciating our differences, we are likely to find common elements to be enjoyed and even celebrated.

A person can learn a tremendous amount about an individual by exploring their culture. Culture is the doorway to the foundation of a person’s make-up. An individual can obtain a broader perspective on obvious concepts by gaining knowledge. Recently there have been a tremendous amount of publicity because of racial indifference, justice, and knowledge.

Cultural self-assessment is a look at yourself, and having awareness how your culture, beliefs, and values have shaped your life today. The reason it is important to realize how your cultural values affect your behavior is so you know your weakness, and can work on them to be cultural

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

Cultural Competence is a complicated assimilation of education, beliefs, and experiences which would strengthen communication and efficient interaction cross-culturally. However, culture is defined as one way of life. It is not defined by race, language, food, religion, and ethics. With a job that involves constant involvement or entanglement with different culture, it is important for cultural competence. To be cultural competent is the ability to know one difference but still understands, respect, and safeguard the individual right to self-confidence, self- interpretation and status. Nevertheless, working with people of different cultural diversity might be difficult especially it differs from our own core culture. Therefore to prevent bias

Culture is an intermingling mesh of traits that, although unique to each person, brings groups of people together. It is comprised of numerous different aspects that are passed down through generations, including religion, food, clothing, language, music, morals, and greetings. Because of its extensive range, it is easy to see how much culture impacts a person’s life. One’s culture vastly affects how he or she views the world due to ingrained traditions, stereotypes, and values within his or her heritage.

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.)

CACREP Standard: Section II, 2.e. addresses counselors’ role in developing cultural self-awareness promoting cultural social justice, advocacy and conflict resolution, and other culturally supported behaviors that promote optimal wellness and growth of the human spirit, mind, and body. Previously, counseling was viewed as a “whites only” form of treatment with most research done on white or European descendants. Non-European descendants failed to believe counseling would benefit them or it was frown upon by their culture and communities. Counseling was viewed as ineffective for those of non-dominate culture. Culturally

I consider myself to me a female, daughter, college student, Catholic, friend, sister, and a future nurse. From the list of identities above, I think being a student and a friend to be the most important in my life at this time. Every day I go to school and work hard to achieve my goal of being a nurse. Along with going to class, I spend a lot of time with my friends.

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.

Cultural intelligence assessment will enable the individual to have certain information about himself. It is posited that cultural difference has a greater impact on business effectiveness than we think. That our cultural backgrounds really influence the way we think and act and the way we interpret each others contributions. Our success or failure in communication will depend on the extent at which we understand the different cultural background of the employees and create a fruitful collaboration in situations where cultural differences play a role. To achieve this, we need to act in an appropriate way in multicultural situations coupled with the ability to have an open mind which admits new information and this is curious about

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