Cultural Competence Training
Practical cultural competence training exploring identity, cultural awareness, bias, stereotypes, inclusive communication and working effectively across cultural differences.
Practical cultural competence training exploring identity, cultural awareness, bias, stereotypes, inclusive communication and working effectively across cultural differences.
Working effectively with people from different backgrounds requires more than knowing facts about different cultures. Cultural competence involves curiosity, self-awareness, respectful communication and the ability to adapt our approach without making assumptions about individuals.
In‑house courses are private sessions delivered exclusively for a group of people from your organisation, on a date that suits you, with the option to tailor the content to your staff and setting.
Open courses are public Equality and Diversity UK training dates that anyone can book onto, ideal when you only need training for one or two people.
Cultural awareness helps us recognise that people's identities, experiences and perspectives may differ from our own. Cultural competence goes further by considering how we use that awareness in everyday communication, relationships, decisions and services.
This practical course helps delegates explore culture and identity, recognise assumptions and stereotypes, and develop more inclusive ways of working with colleagues, customers, learners, patients, service users and communities.
Culture can influence communication, values, expectations, relationships and experiences, but nobody should be reduced to a cultural label.
Delegates explore visible and less visible aspects of culture and consider how race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, socioeconomic background and other experiences can interact.
The emphasis is on understanding complexity and intersectionality rather than learning lists of supposed characteristics about particular groups.
Cultural Competence Training is suitable for staff at all levels and can be adapted for organisations across the public, private, voluntary, education, health and social care sectors.
It is particularly valuable for people who work with diverse colleagues, customers, learners, patients, service users or communities and want greater confidence in communicating and working inclusively across cultural differences.
We all make assumptions. Problems arise when assumptions become substitutes for understanding the individual in front of us.
Delegates explore stereotypes, conscious and unconscious bias, prejudice and discrimination, including how apparently positive stereotypes can still restrict people or create inappropriate expectations.
The course focuses on developing reflective habits and practical safeguards rather than suggesting that people can simply eliminate all bias.
The course can explore cultural competence through a range of identities and lived experiences, with particular attention to race and ethnicity, disability and LGBTQ+ inclusion where relevant to your organisation.
Delegates consider racism and racial stereotyping, barriers experienced by disabled people, inclusive language, sexual orientation and gender identity, and the importance of recognising differences within as well as between communities.
It is impossible to know everything about every culture, community or identity — and attempting to do so can sometimes reinforce stereotypes.
Effective cultural competence therefore includes cultural humility: recognising the limits of our own knowledge, remaining open to learning and being willing to ask respectful questions rather than making assumptions.
Recognise how our own experiences, assumptions and cultural perspectives can influence the way we interpret other people.
Ask, listen and learn rather than assuming that everybody who shares an identity will have the same needs, beliefs or experiences.
Adapt communication and practice appropriately while treating each person as an individual.
Communication styles can differ for many reasons. Culture may be one influence, but personality, disability, neurodivergence, language, professional role and individual preference may be equally important.
Delegates explore active listening, accessible and respectful language, checking understanding, pronunciation of names and responding appropriately when unsure about terminology or another person's preferences.
The aim is confident communication without expecting perfection: listen, ask appropriately, adapt and be willing to correct mistakes.
Inclusion can be affected by everyday interactions as well as obvious discrimination. Repeated interruptions, assumptions about competence, jokes, comments about names or accents, exclusion from informal networks and other subtle behaviours can affect people's sense of belonging.
Delegates explore intention and impact and consider practical ways to respond to subtle exclusion without assuming that every mistake reflects deliberate prejudice.
The course provides relevant practical context from the Equality Act 2010, including protected characteristics and discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Legal principles support the learning but do not dominate it. The wider purpose is to help delegates translate equality and inclusion into everyday relationships, communication and organisational practice.
Cultural competence becomes meaningful when awareness changes what people do.
Delegates consider how inclusive practice can influence communication, decision-making, service delivery, leadership, recruitment, workplace relationships and the design of policies and procedures.
By the end of the course, delegates should be better able to:
The course combines trainer input with discussion, scenarios, case studies and reflective exercises. Delegates are encouraged to explore situations realistically rather than search for a single perfect response to every cultural difference.
In-house delivery enables us to reflect your organisation's workforce, customers or service users, sector, existing EDI priorities and the situations delegates are most likely to encounter.
All our courses are tailored to ensure the training reflects your organisation's goals, cultural context and priorities.
The course can be delivered face-to-face or online via Zoom or Teams.
To support participation, discussion and interaction, we recommend the following group sizes per session:
Need to train a larger workforce? No problem. We regularly work with organisations that need to train larger numbers of employees. Where appropriate, training can be delivered across multiple sessions to ensure everyone receives the same high-quality, interactive learning experience. We can develop a delivery programme to suit your workforce size, locations and timescales.
Please note: the half-day rate is not always available for face-to-face sessions.
Over 25 years' experience delivering equality, diversity and inclusion training, consultancy and professional development.
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