Moving the Needle: Early Findings on Faculty Approaches to Integrate Culturally Competent Pedagogy into Educational Spaces

Abstract

This article summarizes findings from a qualitative study conducted with faculty and administrators in public affairs programs at four U.S. higher education institutions—two in urban planning and two in public administration—regarding the integration of culturally relevant pedagogy within their degree programs, colleges, and universities. Other studies have examined the prevalence and effectiveness of cultural competency (CC) curriculum and the role diversity plays for students and faculty in achieving a meaningful CC education. This study focused specifically on faculty and administrator perspectives on the experience of conceiving, planning, and implementing measures to integrate CC into their teaching. The authors’ early findings show that teaching students to be aware of their own bias, integrating hands-on coursework, and requiring diversity curriculum offered strategies for building CC among students. However, barriers to teaching CC in higher education public affairs programs continue to exist in large part because of a lack of diversity and shared values, lack of institutional support, and a fractured system of teaching and administration devoid of a shared vision. The authors also found preliminary evidence that informs strategies for developing cohesive systems of support for building culturally competent environments in higher education public affairs programs.