Self-Awareness
of Culture
Rodriguez (1998) describes the importance of educators having cultural self-awareness:
Explore, understand, acknowledge, and value our cultural and social background regarding 'race,' ethnicity, social class, gender, regionality, sexual orientation, exceptionality, age, religion/spirituality, language, and dialect.
Increase our awareness and insight into our own learning processes, strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures, biases, values, goals, and emotions.
Experience our own cultures in relation to others as they are illuminated during cross-cultural interactions.
Understand and respond to areas of conflict and tension when we encounter individuals from unfamiliar cultures or experiences, and learn to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Explore and appreciate thought processes that occur across cultures but may also take on different shapes and meanings for different cultural groups and for individual group members.
