One of the goals of our agency is also part of our North Star work - cultural competency. The purpose of cultural competency is to promote a respectful environment within the agency for all persons and increase our capacity to support our districts in developing their ongoing cultural competence. Many things have been accomplished: there have been Lunch & Learns, community events, diversity days at all regional offices, posters hung in the offices and a new DVD done in conjunction with Iowa Public Television and the Department of Education. To view a complete list of 2007-08 milestones, click here.
Many more things are being developed for 2008-09 with an emphasis on bringing in our school districts and more external partners. All PLLCs have been trained in the use of cultural competency resources to use with their districts and every office now has a mini cultural competency library.
Starting in the September Heartbeat, you will see a monthly column about cultural competence. We'll share how your peers are using cultural competence in their daily work. If you have a story you'd like to share about how you are using cultural competence in your work, please send it to Brenda Gustafson at bgustafson@aea11.k12.ia.us.
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