By Janie Ye –Wayzata High School
There are thousands of different cultures spread all around the world, yet racism and disrespect of various cultures is still a significant problem in modern times. Cultural intelligence training is now being implemented in different spheres of society, such as the workplace and educational institutions. Cultural intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to adapt and effectively function in culturally diverse situations despite dissimilarities. It is an essential skill that is relevant in the complex and connected world we live in. America is a country of immigrants who bring together a multitude of cultures, so it is important to respect others.
The Cultural Intelligence Center (https://culturalq.com/about-cultural-intelligence/culture/) offers in-depth explanations on cultural intelligence and dives into topics relating to this intricate topic. However, to summarize, being aware of diversity is the beginning of developing strong cultural intelligence. In addition to awareness, which is only the first step, people wanting to develop strong cultural intelligence must be motivated to learn about others, willing to expand their knowledge about different ideologies, and able to take action and adapt to different situations. Culture is an umbrella term that encompasses beliefs, behaviors, values, religion, food, and more. Knowing every single detail about every single cultural group in the world is impossible. Cultural intelligence focuses more an individual’s behavior when exposed to someone from a different culture (who possibly has different values and/or interests)
Having cultural intelligence is important because it lets us respect and form connections with different people. Because it is related to emotional intelligence, it also relates with empathy. Through connecting the head, body, and heart, cultural intelligence requires a lot of effort to understand and implement. Teachers nowadays are including more opportunities for students to show off their various talents and cultures to create a more accepting and diverse community in school. Management of many companies are also training employees to respect each other and hold events where everyone can learn about each others’ abilities.
There are multiple ways to train cultural intelligence. Some websites and programs offer cultural intelligence training. The National Education Association offers resources for training that can be found on their website (https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/professional-learning/resources/cultural-competence). Coursera also offers a cultural intelligence course with lectures, quizzes, and discussions that can strengthen one’s understanding of cultural intelligence. To succeed, we must all have some basic knowledge about cultural intelligence and remember to respect others. Cultural intelligence is not a skill that you learn once and immediately understand. It is something that is built up through experience, interaction, and possibly even training. As society continues to evolve, individuals should focus on enhancing their cultural intelligence in order to effectively grow and develop.
