Cultural Proficiency

A Manual for School Leaders

"Informed by the latest literature and grounded in their ongoing work in the real world, the authors bring Cultural Proficiency right up to date and right into our current controversies. Our schools need this book on every level: from K-5 to college and from classroom to boardroom. Having worked toward diversity in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school settings, I can tell you that all of them need this book."

"As institutions and organizations become more socially and culturally diverse, leaders will be called to foster inclusive communities in which people can effectively work together. This edition of the Manual for Cultural Proficiency is a must read for leaders who are interested in deepening their understanding of cultural proficiency and learning about the policies, practices and internal structures required to build and maintain healthy organizational cultures. The manual provides a framework and set of tools that can be used in various organizational contexts and applied to both individual behavior and organizational practices. If you care about cultural proficiency, inclusive environments and diversity, you need this manual. Read it, refer to it often and commit to application of its strategies. Your organization will be better for it."

"These are universal lessons: the barriers, guiding principles, continuum of responses, and essential elements of Cultural Proficiency apply to human service non-profits as well as they do in schools.  The authors articulate roles in ending oppression for both the dominant and dominated groups, lay out a clear road-map through the predictable and consistently challenging change process, and provide specific activities that I can use as a facilitator to help groups explore and address these important topics. Cultural Proficiency brings together history, research, and activities that help me continue to do my own work as a white consultant to support and advance racial justice."

"Cultural Proficiency provides me with the tools to face conflict head on and not stray from my intention of creating and nurturing school spaces that are safe, welcoming and inclusive for students no matter their background, level of ability or way of viewing and experiencing the world. Daily I actively engage with the tools of cultural proficiency. With an understanding of the inside-out approach to becoming a cultural proficient being I walk through the world with knowledge of the lens developed through my background, values, biases and beliefs. As I make decisions that impact students and support the professional learning of educators in my system, I reflect on the ethical tension between the barriers to and principles of cultural proficiency. It is through this critical self-reflection that I am able to prepare our staff to proactively build community and mentally prepare to address conflict when it interrupts the safe, welcoming and inclusive school environments students deserve."

"This book is designed as a manual for school leaders.  However, I have not found a better resource for developing culturally proficient leadership and organizations in any sector. The manual is rich with examples, tools and resources that educate and prepare formal or informal leaders to challenge counter-productive assumptions and biases; acknowledge their role in perpetuating systems of privilege; promote learning and growth from differences; create an inclusive work environment; meet the needs of diverse clientele; and work together in a healthy, productive way. This guide brings culturally naïve or destructive beliefs to light, creating immensely more aware and effective leaders."

"This manual is needed now more than ever.  When differences are more disparaged, when fears and anxieties are stoked by public haters, when simplistic solutions to social and political problems are founded on ignorance and dreams of uniformity, educators and policy makers need a manual such as this:  practical, multi-faceted, broad in scope, and engaging. Having used it, I know it facilitates meaningful conversation, and fosters self-discovery, mutual understanding, and collective problem solving.  A fourth edition of this work testifies to its enduring value."

"It is hard to believe that our esteemed authors, Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrell, are publishing their 4th edition of what I call the bible for all school administrators: Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders. Just like the bible, this manual has stood the test of time and remains just as apropos as it did when it was first published in 1999. I remember picking up the original black book when I first started in administration in 1999 and the contents of the book completely changed my way of thinking. It has always served as the compass towards improving education opportunities and educating students of color. This manual, this Holy Grail if you will, is a must-have for every administrator."

"Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders provides a framework for aspiring school leaders to practice culturally proficient leadership.   The activities, tools and strategies in this book support both leadership faculty and students to move away from prevailing 'one size fits all' models of school leadership to one of social justice leadership.