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Cultural Awareness and Leadership

By Robert J. Andrews, Ed.D., Teacher and Dissertation Supervisor,
Saint Peter's University

“We do not hear through our beliefs. The experiences, views are in an environment where there is
of the world, traditions, etc. students minimal cultural diversity, business
our ears or see through our bring with them to school are valuable is conducted with few disturbances.
eyes. We do both through and important. Through their culture All are in sync. All understand “the
our beliefs.” (Delpit, 2006, they are able to make sense of what unwritten rules of the social game”
(Hofstede, Hofstede, Minkov, 2010 p.
they encounter in school and have the
p. 46). ability to respond to problems. 6). The expectations learned at home

Culture is the lens through which Most times, the student’s world view or and through community development
are understood with few questions.
we view the world. It is our shared cultural perspective is a silent agent that School leaders, teachers, parents,
group and individual experiences, operates automatically and is helpful and students share an understanding
the “shared motives, values, beliefs, in processing information, promoting of expectations. Being from the
identities, and interpretations or learning, and guiding behavior. When same culture, the path to academic
meanings of significant events that students find themselves in a new success and achievement is clear and
result from common experiences cultural arena that conflicts with theirs, undisputed. We can recognize this in
of members of collectives that are learning can be short-circuited and culturally homogeneous communities.
transmitted across generations” behavior may change. When this When we enter a culturally diverse
(House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, occurs, the silent agent is awakened school environment things change.
& Gupta, 2004, p. 15). It is also “the and needs our attention. The way students and their families
ways in which a people have learned As educators, and as importantly view the world, how they process
to respond to life’s problems “ (Diller as leaders, we also bring our silent information, their expressive language,
and Moule 2005, p. 66). Culture is agent to the work place. When we

Educational Viewpoints -84- Spring 2018