Diverse Women Faculty Experiences Using Identity and Relational Concepts to teach Cultural Competence

Abstract

This article reviews and engages a qualitative section of Williams’ 2017 research study that aimed to explore faculty experiences using relational teaching concepts when delivering cultural competence content. Multiple experiences were common to respondents from the results obtained at completion of the survey. Implications for social work education, faculty mentorship and support are discussed. It was concluded that there is an express need for early intervention on behalf of doctoral students being mentored for junior faculty teaching appointments, the use of identity is a healthy and connecting touchstone in social work education classrooms and ongoing work is needed to further engage the work of deconstructing privilege by using professional and personal identities to connect students to content for effective knowledge transfer. Keywords: Social Work; Diversity; Relational-Cultural Theory; Cultural Competence; Relational Teaching.