Cultural Competencies: Essential Elements of Caring-Centered Multicultural Education

Abstract

Caring-centered multicultural education is a framework in the field of education with the major goal of providing all students with equitable education and to address the achievement gap between mainstream and culturally diverse students. Within this orientation, culture is seen as a core component of effective teaching. Therefore, cultural competencies must be foundational in teacher preparation and professional development. Cultural competencies for K–12 educators must include reviewing biases and cultural misconceptions, implementation of English language development strategies, teaching of high-level discipline content, and guiding students in decision making and critical thinking skills.