1

CULTURAL RESILIENCY:
5 ESSENTIAL 21ST CENTURY COMPETENCIES
Cultural Resiliency is the 5 essential competencies that were found in
the research of undocumented youthi. These 5 essential competencies
are aligned with some of the 21st century skills expressed by
organizations and researchers such as Partners for 21st century Skills
and Tony Wagnerii. The goal of educators is to find a way to bring these
5 competencies into the classroom, which will in turn engage all
students, especially those often least engaged. Listed below are the
Educational Excellence & Equity

competencies with a standard definition, a contextual definition, and

one example.

Corresponding skill sets and individual resilient behaviors

21 century skill set
st
Cultural Resiliency
competencies
Critical Analysis “Ser Americano”: Acculturation
Adaptability and Agility “Jaula de Oro”: Navigation of
borders
Teamwork Social Capital
Multi/Bilingual Inter/Intra cultural communication
Innovation and Imagination Self-expression

1) “Ser Americano”: Acculturation (Critical Analysis)

a. Critical Analysis: The ability to arrive at conclusions by analyzing
various perspectives, observations, and evidence.
b. This stems from the experiences of immigrants being able to
adapt to the host country’s cultural values while maintaining their
own cultural values. However, this concept refers to a broader
spectrum of analyzing one’s own cultural values to those of the
social, familial, and educational environment.
c. One example is an African-American student analyzes patterns of
speech that he/she must exercise depending on whether he/she is
in the neighborhood, school, or at home.

2) “Jaula de Oro”: Navigation of borders (Adaptability &

Agility)
a. Adaptability and Agility: The ability to navigate a continually
changing environment.
b. This stems from an oppressed experience in which the individual
must constantly navigate a hostile environment. An individual must
 2

be flexible in whatever situation they are in because of the

constantly changing cultural environment.
c. One example is a student who comes from a migrant family and
must move throughout the year and adjust to new schools each
season.

3) Social Cultural capital-funds of knowledge (Teamwork)

Educational Excellence & Equity

a. Teamwork: The ability to effectively influence and be influenced

while collaborating with other individuals to accomplish a group
task.
b. This stems from the ability of an individual to utilize his/her
network in his/her own community often demonstrated in times of
crisis.
c. One example is a student who knows how to text their friends
and family of either a Police raid or I.C.E. raid in their own
community.
4) Inter/Intra cultural communication (Cross-cultural
Communication)
a. Cross-cultural Communication: The ability to effectively
understand and communicate with an individual from a different
cultural background.
b. This stems from the ability of an individual to go back and forth
from one cultural language to another.
c. One example is a young person’s ability to speak “youth
language” with their friends and immediately transfer to “adult
language” in the presence of an adult.

5) Self-expression (Innovation and Imagination)

a. Innovation and Imagination: The ability to solve problems
creatively.
b. This stems from the ability to demonstrate several forms of
descriptive expressions.
c. One example is an individual who utilized his/her creativity to
express him/herself through Spoken Word, drawing, writing, and/or
Digital Storytelling,

The mastery of these 5 essential competencies occurs when the

intersection of a diverse student body comes together to develop these
competencies by translating each other’s environment into various
contexts. Too often, traditional “low-end” academic achieving students
 3

are given a deficit approach solution that requires assimilation to the

“normative” cultural expectations. Attempts to work with these
students have fallen short systematically because the engaging
activities do not transfer into an academic setting. At the same time,
traditional “high-end” academic achieving students are often provided
external opportunities to engage in community service activities.
Attempts to offer meaningful experiences in civic engagement or 21st
century skill building are not fulfilled due to the inability to translate
Educational Excellence & Equity

these experiences into an academic setting.

i
Dissertation: Jaula de Oro, JuanCarlos Arauz, 2007
ii
Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner, 2008, and Partnership for 21st century skills http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=120