Jaime Welborn, Ph.D. Shares Cultural Proficiency Expertise
12/15/2020
Jaime Welborn, Ph.D., assistant professor of educational leadership in the School of Education, brings expertise to the topic of cultural proficiency through her research and practice, and she works to share that knowledge and its importance through presentations and training sessions.
Welborn earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from 抖阴pro in
2016. Her doctoral dissertation investigated elementary school principals鈥� perceptions
regarding their use and value of culturally competent educational practices. She went
on to present her work at Harvard and California State University.
Welborn has been involved with the research, scholarship, and training of cultural
proficiency at the local, regional, and national levels. In addition to teaching at
the University, she serves as the assessment, accreditation, and certification officer
in the School of Education. She is also a senior associate and certified trainer
for the Center for Culturally Proficient Educational Practice. Currently, she is focused
on researching culturally proficient educational practices in rural settings, and
the implementation and sustainability of utilizing tools of the cultural proficiency
framework for organizational change and individual transformation.
Welborn鈥檚 work, rooted in work outlined in 鈥淐ultural Proficiency: A Manual for School
Leaders鈥� (Lindsey et al., 2019), focuses on the framework of Cultural Proficiency,
which the book describes as 鈥渁 model for shifting the culture of the school or district;
it is a model for individual transformation and organizational change. Cultural Proficiency
is a mindset, a worldview, a way a person or an organization makes assumptions for
effectively describing, responding to, and planning for issues that arise in diverse
environments鈥� (Lindsey et al., 2019, pg. 5). According to this book, there are four
鈥渢ools鈥� of Cultural Proficiency 鈥攖he Barriers, Guiding Principles, Continuum, and
Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency (Cross, 1989; Lindsey et al., 2019).
Using these tools, Welborn works with individuals in school organizations to help
them learn and apply the tools of cultural proficiency in their own settings. She
offers training sessions that utilize 鈥渉ands-on鈥� culturally proficient learning strategies
to facilitate conversations with participants鈥攊ncluding reflection and dialogue鈥攖o
examine the organization's policies, practices, and procedures, as well as the behaviors
of individuals who work for the educational organization.
Welborn leads school organizations through these cultural proficiency tools and guides
them in implementing the framework. According to Welborn, 鈥淭he goal is for those who
engage in this work to actualize organizational change and individual transformation
to increase equity, access, and inclusion for those who have been underserved and
underprivileged."
Participants and their organizations committed to sustaining this journey of Cultural Proficiency build capacity among their colleagues and work to create action plans grounded in the organization鈥檚 vision, mission, and values.鈥�
Jaime Welborn, Ph.D.
Through this training, Welborn aims to help organizations view cultural proficiency
as a shared journey for educating their youth. The intended outcomes are for participants
to experience cultural proficiency as personal and professional work; to use the framework
of cultural proficiency as a guide in addressing equity and access gap issues; and
to utilize the tools of cultural proficiency to build professional capital for changing
conversations.
Recently, Welborn hosted a cultural proficiency training session for the Ferguson-Florissant
School District (FFSD). On July 24 and 27, 118 leaders from FFSD met virtually via
Zoom for a total of 16 hours. Randall Lindsey, Ph.D., lead author of "Cultural Proficiency"
and co-founder of the Center for Culturally Proficient Educational Practice, attended
and keynoted the session. Dean of the School of Education Gary Ritter, Ph.D., connected
Welborn and Joseph Davis, Ed.D., Superintendent of FFSD, in October 2019, and they
worked together with other district office administrators to design and apply the
cultural proficiency framework for transformative change and school improvement focused
on equity, access, and inclusion.
Welborn also led a virtual retreat for SLU's School of Education on August 12, focused
on an 鈥淚ntroduction to the Cultural Proficiency Framework.鈥� The session included the
collection of data (policies, practices, procedures, and behaviors) on the Continuum
of Cultural Proficiency鈥� from the most culturally destructive to the most culturally
proficient. Welborn plans to work with the dean and associate dean of the School of
Education to engage in ongoing work on this topic.
For additional information about culturally proficient learning strategies, contact Jaime Welborn at jaime.welborn@slu.edu.
References
Cross, T., Bazron, B., Dennis, K., & Issacs, M. (1989). Towards a culturally competent
system of care, Volume 1. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Child Development
Center, CASSP Technical Assistance Center.
Lindsey, R., Nuri-Robins, K., Terrell, R., & Lindsey, D. (2019). (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.