Mona Kiani Samimi Drs.

Lindsey Spring 2014

Leadership Plan
My Journey From Cultural Precompetence to Cultural Proficiency

Descriptors: My areas of future growth are understanding and not feeling resentment toward wealthy people who feel entitled, learning more about the LGBT community, learning more about the non-abled community, and understanding how to best serve those whose first language is not English without doing them a disservice as an American who will need to function well in an American society.

Cultural Precompetence: I want to learn more about wealthy entitlement because I hold on to some harsh feelings of resentment towards those who think they are better than others for their socio-economic status and the injustices that they perpetuate. I want to learn more about the LGBT community and non-abled community because those are the areas in which I have always been part of the dominant group and feel like I do not know enough to be able to empathize for their struggles and advocate for them in a culturally proficient manner. I want to understand how to best serve those who English is not their first language, as a educational institution, because based on my own personal experience, growing up with a different language at home from school, I feel like had the school accommodated, it may have crippled my language acquisition. I

want to understand what are the ideas for accommodation and see research that proves that it is a more effective measure.

Cultural Competence: Once I have gained more knowledge about these particular cultural groups, I would like to use my newfound understanding and skills to be a more equitable educator and leader. I would like to use this knowledge to firstly, understand all of my students, from whichever cultural groups or intersections of cultures they come from, and be able to advocate for them. I want to use my knowledge to serve my students more effectively.

Cultural Proficiency: Some observable outcomes as I gain cultural proficiency for these cultures are: I will feel like an equitable, understanding, compassionate, and socially just leader in education. All of my students will feel empowered because they know that they are understood and accurately represented. Their culture will be validated. I will inspire and motivate my colleagues to unite to work for social justice by becoming culturally proficient in their areas of growth. My school will have an uplifted feeling of understanding and equity. No group will feel marginalized because of their culture. The community I serve will become a partner in this effort toward creating cultural proficiency using the inside out approach. Parents, students, faculty and staff will be challenged to look inside themselves and come to grasp the importance of working towards equal opportunities and access for all of humanity.