Introduce
What is culture?
Culture is evidenced in human behaviour and relates to thoughts, communication, actions, customs, beliefs, values and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group.
Cultural awareness acknowledges and incorporates:
- The importance of every family’s culture
- The need for each practitioner to develop their cultural knowledge
- The development of services to meet culturally specific needs
Cultural Awareness in Practice
There are many different elements which influence culture awareness in practice. These include:
- Valuing diversity and difference,
- Recognising how our own cultural identity impacts on others,
- Being conscious of how cultures interact and the significance of this in practice,
- Developing cultural knowledge and understanding,
- Contributing to the development of practice that reflects an understanding of diversity between and within cultures
Develop
Unconscious bias
It is crucial to be mindful of unconscious bias when working alongside families. This video highlights the importance of self-awareness. How might unconscious bias affect your work with families?
Reflect
Stop and Reflect: A high level of self-awareness regarding our own assumptions, stereotypes and unconscious bias associated with any cultural, ethnic or religious group is essential when working to support children and families.
Cultural awareness allows us to understand the meaning of cultural identity within the child and family you are engaging with. It requires a commitment to an ongoing development of cultural knowledge and self-awareness.
Use the Diversity Health Check below as a first step and make a commitment to continue to develop cultural awareness.
