Indigenous Cultural Competence and Humility (Individual)

Based on the highly successful in-person Indigenous Cultural Competence course, learners will build knowledge on the acceptable terms related to Indigenous peoples, and some similarities and differences between First Nations, Métis and Inuit. This online course will provide the historical context that underpins some of today’s continuing tensions about land in Canada. And then learners will deepen cultural competence to build effective relationships with Indigenous co-workers clients, and go deep on what racism against Indigenous peoples looks like today and how to challenge it. Finally, learners will spend some time considering how to contribute to reconciliation both personally and professionally in Canada.

Estimated time to complete: 10 hours including homework. Learners must complete the course within 60 days of purchase.

** Plus optional 7Week Challenge with a topic per week with additional readings, podcasts and video for the next steps in your learning journey.

Course Overview

• Indigenous Canada: terminology, strengths and challenges facing Indigenous peoples, how to answer the question “where are you from?”, how to do an effective land acknowledgement
• Cultural Competence and Humility: building awareness of your own culture, how culture infuses communication and conflict, and how to build safe spaces for people from other cultures in your workplace
• History Matters: Canada’s hidden history of relationship with Indigenous peoples, and potential long-term impacts of colonial policies of racism, and overview of intergenerational trauma and healing
• Challenging Racism: how to name and challenge racism against Indigenous peoples, what is unconscious bias and how to reduce it
• Reconciliation the next steps: opportunities to contribute to reconciliation professionally and personally

Your certificate will be available after you finish the online portion.

NEW!!! The 7Week Challenge list of additional readings and video will also become available when the online course content is complete. Cultural competence and humility takes practice, just like exercise. Just like any kind of change, we have to practice new muscles, new ways of moving. Like a diet, we start with rigor until we have internalized that new practice and new knowledge. This is the next step after taking the online ICC course, and it is meant to be completed in a group. It could be your group at work, it could be a group that you organize of your friends and network, or a book club. This is a team approach to learning. Please find a team of learners to do it with you, so you
can discuss your progress and hold each other accountable. Ideally, find a group of 2-5 learners to do the online course and the 7Week Challenge together. For each week, there are books and articles, podcasts, and videos – pick at least two each week. Most, but not all, are free.

• Week 1: More about History
• Week 2: Intro to Indigenous Knowledge Systems
• Week 3: Balance through Indigenous humor and the arts
• Week 4: Indigenous Today in the news
• Week 5: Get to know some Indigenous Heroes
• Week 6: Learn more about the backgrounds of the Conflicts today
• Week 7: Indigenous Futures and visionaries

A note about terminology

Cultural safety: the self-reported experience that an Indigenous individual feels when he or she is treated with respect – more than just the absence of discrimination based on race or culture

Cultural awareness / cultural sensitivity: being aware of the impact on culture on how I and others see and experience the world; aware of power, privilege and oppression

Cultural competence: putting into practice the skills, knowledge and aptitude to deepen self-awareness about one’s own culture and increase the sense of cultural safety of those one serves; a competence like other requirements to do the job well

Cultural humility: choosing to be aware about how culture impacts on my life and how my culture impacts on others, and making intentional choices about how my culture doesn’t overpower another person; putting into practice the skills to build safety for people from other cultures; and choosing to show respect to other cultures as valuable and essential

This course requests that the learner go beyond cultural awareness, as building safety for others is an action, it’s more than simply awareness. This course requests the learner think about and practice the skills to ensure Indigenous individuals and clients feel culturally safe (cultural competence), while recognizing that cultural competence is truly a lifelong journey. There is a focus on cultural competence as the requirements to provide safe service and excellent service and interaction, primarily because a competency is something we continually practice, and we can be held accountable for our competencies. This course is based in the belief that cultural safety is built in relationship and practiced in real life, difficult to achieve in an adult education course. So this course is a step in the journey, but not the only step.

©The IRG, 2021.