Lindsey, Randall B.; Robins, Nuri; & Terrell, Raymond D. (1999). Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Pp. 238 pp.

$28.95 (Paper)         ISBN 0803967632

Brenda Campbell Jones
Azusa Pacific University

April 20, 2001

        Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrell in their book, Cultural Proficiency, A Manual for School Leaders, present a voice on matters of culture, pedagogy, and politics in our schools that prevent success for many of our children, especially children of poverty and of color. They assert that culture can be understood and that powerful learning for each child is within the grasp of well-prepared teachers. The authors offer a wide variety of rich anecdotal examples that can be the source of meaningful dialogue around such issues as race, culture, and oppression. The reader feels compelled to examine his or her internal biases and assumptions about teaching, learning, and professional practices. The book offers practical staff development strategies and activities that will enrich our understanding of our children and ourselves.
        Cultural Proficiency, A Manual for School Leaders is especially significant to school administrators because it makes a convincing argument for administrators and teachers to become culturally proficient in order to meet the needs of our diverse population. Lindsey et al. define cultural proficiency as follows:
Cultural proficiency is the policies and practices of an organization or the values and behaviors of an individual that enable the agency or person to interact effectively in a culturally diverse environment. Cultural proficiency is reflected in the way an organization treats it employees, its client and its community. (p. 21)
        Culturally proficient educators recognize that culture means far more than recognizing racial and ethnic differences. It suggests that we must always be willing to be in a state of learning in order to demonstrate an understanding of various cultures. We need to be able to respond effectively to issues of culture and diversity in order to facilitate student learning. This approach can lead to positive community relations, foster effective leadership and enrich the teacher's ability to learn and teach. The authors contend that a culturally proficient school "promotes inclusiveness and institutionalizes processes for learning about differences and responding appropriately to those differences." (p. 25)
        In a world where the "minority" is rapidly becoming the "majority," the contribution that the authors make could not be mmore timely. Cultural proficiency is neither a program nor a series of steps to become more culturally aware, but rather a way for us to view and experience our world. It is based on the belief that all people have the capacity to be the change we want in the world.
        The book focuses on two major areas, the Cultural Proficiency Model and Barriers to Cultural Proficiency. The first area of focus, the Cultural Proficiency Model, complete with the continuum, essential elements, and guiding principles, is punctuated with cases studies and other references that serve to illustrate the major concepts. The Cultural Proficiency Model as shown in Table 1 offers six points along the cultural proficiency continuum that indicate distinctive ways of seeing and responding to difference. As schools address the issues of diversity, the authors offer a description of specific behaviors in the five essential elements that must be present in a school and most importantly, within oneself in order to be culturally proficient. The five essential elements include one's ability to "value diversity, assess one's own culture, manage the dynamics of difference, institutionalize cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity." (p. 39) These are viewed as a tool, a starting point of conversation, to equip the reader to be more successful with students who traditionally have not been successful in our current school structure.

Table 1
Cultural Proficiency Continuum (p.31)

Cultural destructiveness: The elimination of others people's cultures

Cultural incapacity: Belief in the superiority of one's own culture and behavior that disempowers another's culture

Cultural blindness: Acting as if the cultural differences one sees do not matter or not recognizing that there are differences among and between cultures

Cultural precompetence: Awareness of the limitations one's skills or an organization's practices when interacting with other cultural groups

Cultural competence: Interacting with other cultural groups using the five essential elements of cultural proficiency as the standard for individual behavior and school practices: acceptance and respect for difference; ongoing assessment of one's own and the organization's culture; attention to the dynamics of difference; continuous expansion of cultural knowledge and recourses; and the adaptation of one's values and behaviors and the organization's policies and practices

Cultural proficiency: Esteeming culture; knowing how to learn about individual and organization culture; interacting effectively in a variety of cultural environments         


        The authors' basic premise for the book is that change in schools is a combination of individual and organizational change. What the authors term as "inside-out" approach to change is that we must begin change first with ourselves then with our organizations. What they believe should be a fairly obvious issue is too often invisible to educational leaders. As populations change in schools, or as chronic underachievement is confronted, the authors assert that educators have indicated how "others" need to change (e.g., educators speak of how the disadvantage nature of groups leads to underachievement instead of what educators need to do differently to insure achievement).
        Educational leaders fail to assess the growth needed within them in order to respond differently to students. We also fail to take stock of the school relative to the change that is needed in order to insure academic achievement for all students. Hence, the reinforcement of the need for change is "outside" of self. The message that is sent to students and the school community is that "those" children can't learn. As educational leaders, we have yet to become convinced that all children can and do succeed at high levels. Successful schools choose to equip themselves with the necessary skills and the capacity to adapt and change in order to make a difference in the academic lives of their students. The five essential elements of cultural proficiency describe behaviors that must be present within a school and within oneself in order to become culturally proficient educators.
        A strength of the book is its presentation of a case story. The scenarios describe the work of the authors in schools and districts over the past ten years. They are factual and illustrate effectively each of the concepts that the authors present in the book. The case story approach allows the reader to systemically examine the culture of a school or district in terms of the behaviors that are exhibited. In order to achieve this mission, the authors offer a value base from which to integrate and build upon the information and skills presented. They call this value base the guiding principles. The guiding principles are based upon the assumption that:
Culture is ever present, people are served in varying degrees by the dominant culture, people have group identities and personal identities, diversity within cultures is important and each group has unique cultural needs. With such a base, you can transform a daunting challenge into an opportunity that brings all people together to create a culturally proficient district or school. (p.43)
        The guiding principles help the reader to recognize the importance of inviting and encouraging all groups and individuals to share in the responsibility for change.
        The second part of the book is designed to raise issues that address the barriers to cultural proficiency. The chapters on overcoming resistance to change and entitlement describe the individual and institutional resistances to change in schools. The authors contend that change is possible and that when it is done successfully, processes like cultural proficiency become part of the cultural fabric of the organization.
        The authors believe that the primary barriers to this much- needed change are the presumption of entitlement and unawareness of the need to adapt. They state:
People with a presumption of entitlement believe that they have acquired all the personal achievements and societal benefits they have accrued solely on their own merit and character and therefore don't feel a need to release or reorder any societal organizational perquisites they may have. Unawareness of the need to adapt means failing to recognize the need to make personal and school changes in response to the diversity of people with whom one interacts simply because it never occurred that there was a problem. (p. 71)
        According to the authors, the journey towards cultural proficiency begins with the awareness of the dynamics of entitlement. This is especially important to educators because most of us who teach in schools are products of the same educational system. The system taught us to transmit the values and cultural norms of the dominant culture to children. Most American teachers were educated by the universities to teach the Hollywood manufactured "Beaver Cleavers" of our society who enter our school system with more highly valued cultural capital. Therefore, most educators do not know what to do or how to proceed with students who enter our schools with cultural capital different from their own.
        An example provided by the authors of how we transmit the norms and values of the dominant culture is our use of language. We use language based upon the norms of the dominant culture to describe students of color and poverty in an oppressive manner. Instead of using language that describes the students' strengths, educators use language that describes the discrepancy between the oppressed and entitled groups. In the following table, the authors present some of the more common terms.

Table 2
Words Used to Describe Oppressed and Entitled Groups (p. 107)

Oppressed
Entitled
    Inferior     Superior
    Culturally Deprived     Privileged
    Culturally Disadvantaged     Advantaged
    Deficient     Normal
    Different     Similar
    Diverse     Uniform
    Third World     First World
    Minority     Majority
    Underclass     Upper Class
    Poor     Middle Class
    Unskilled Workers     Leaders

        By using the terms on the left column, the authors stress that such language continues to dehumanize people by objectifying them and blaming the victims for the oppression. As culturally proficient leaders we can assist each other to use language that is additive in nature and affirms the value of our students.
        Educational leaders will face a variety of reactions as we introduce the concept of cultural proficiency. We will have to seek ways to address and overcome the barriers that are presented to us. It has been my experience that some people will acknowledge and understand the need for change and others will not. Even those who are eager to change may find it difficult because they encounter resistance.
Dominant group members, white, straight men in particular, who are the most entitled members of our society, are challenged by Lindsey et al. to eliminate forms of oppression and create culturally proficient schools. This action would require that dominant group members understand their role in shifting the balance of power in order to end oppression, thereby creating schools where everyone in the school community has access to power. The personal responsibility to take such initiative would require a moral choice by those belonging to the dominant group. Similar to the white male educator described earlier, most of the members of the dominant culture in the United States do not see themselves as having more power and privilege than others in society. Therefore they view the responsibility to change the oppressed system as issues for the oppressed to worry about. This makes the goal of becoming culturally proficient leaders becomes even more difficult to achieve.
        Legislative and judicial actions to resolve the imbalance of power have always been sought by the oppressed. The rights of African Americans and women had to be insured through the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Court mandates such as Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, serve as evidence that the struggle for equality requires much effort, sacrifice, and perseverance. When reading the book one is pressed recognize that oppressed groups seeking equality needed to be amended into the constitution in their quest for justice. On the other hand white straight men, as the unstated norm have never been amended into the constitution. Whether consciously or unconsciously they have enjoyed power, as manifested in the form of privilege or entitlement, as part of our history and economic status in this country. Even the most "advantaged" members of society benefit from learning about the privilege that accrues as a result of their entitled positions. It would only serve to make them more responsive and responsible members of society. Once we all understand this and accept the notion that some people receive entitlements based on gender and race and others have impediments placed before them based on gender and race, we can each take responsibility for our moral and ethical pursuit of becoming culturally proficient leaders.
        From my experiences working with schools as a coach and facilitator, I have found that the chapters on the five essential elements, overcoming resistance to change, and entitlement, to be the most instructive and helpful as schools and organizations take on the task of becoming culturally proficient. However, there are three apparent weaknesses of the book. One is that not enough qualitative data on the successful use of the cultural proficiency model exist. Another is that the authors suggest no recommendations for institutions of higher education in preparing administrators for this kind of paradigm shifting work. Since the book is based on the assumption that our morals and values will guide us as we do this work, then the values that help administrators to compose their practice ought to be addressed and examined. Qualitative data on the use of language and dialogic forms of communication would be useful in examining the successful transformational practices of the cultural proficiency model in our schools.
        Recommendations regarding the courses offered by institutions of higher education for administrative preparation programs would have been helpful. As administrators are prepared to become culturally responsive, they will need skills that help them to examine who they are and skills that will enable them to challenge the practices of privilege in our schools. It is important that administrators entering the field are knowledgeable about the strengths in style, ways of being, and values that diverse administrators bring to their work. If we were truly committed to developing a new form of practice, these perspectives would need to be included with deliberate and positive intent more than ever before in administrative preparation programs. Lastly, by placing oneself on the cultural proficiency continuum suggests that the goal to train leaders so that the "placement" is at the end of the continuum rather than sending the message that leaders need to be in a state of always becoming proficient. With this in mind, one could easily assume that the authors are grounded in a tradition of functionalism. However, the activities at the end of the book and around the case study would tend to position the book to promote reflective practice.
        Still, Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrell, are insightful in that they propose no quick fixes. They recognize that the change process is a very complex undertaking. The authors do advocate though that three goals are kept in mind as culturally proficient leaders continue on this journey:
  1. Create an environment where people are comfortable and motivated to do their work.
  2. Point out aspects of the environment that demand change.
  3. Avoid demoralizing the people who will be required to change. (p. 86)
        Our student body and our work places are more diverse than ever before. We realize that our abilities to understand and respond to differences in constructive ways are not what they could be. Although the book is a manual for school leaders, its design lends itself to any leader of any organization. It should not be limited only to schools. While the issues that we face in schools today are fundamentally important, cultural proficiency is a perspective from which all members of our society can benefit. This book advances our thinking and propels us to take a positive step into a paradigm of dialogue and new opportunities.

About the Reviewer

Brenda Campbell Jones is Executive Director, Azusa Pacific University, Menifee Campus. From 1993 until 2000, she was Executive director of the California School Leadership Academy. Email: CampbellJones1@aol.com

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