Cultural awareness course - Study cultural awareness and understand more about the world around you.

• A 100 hour course in understanding other cultures and cultural diversity. 
• Learn more about - working with different cultures, prejudice and racism, multicultural awareness, self-concept, contemporary counselling with different cultures. 
• Useful for professional development, interest, CPD.

WHO IS THIS COURSE SUITABLE FOR?

The course is suitable for –

• Psychologists
• Counsellors
• Advice workers
• Helpline workers
• Care staff
• Support workers
• Law enforcement officers
• Social workers
• Customs officers
• Homelessness workers
• Teachers
• Psychologists
• Counsellors
• Lecturers
• Religious staff
• Trainers
• Foster carers
• Life coaches
• Support workers
• Anyone working with diverse cultural groups

COURSE AIM

To develop your understanding of culture, diversity and multicultural society.

COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS

There are 8 lessons in this course as follows: 

Lesson 1. Cultural Diversity

• Introduction.
• Defining culture.
• Elements of culture.
• Societal structures and processes.
• Subcultures.
• Key areas of cultural diversity.
• Cultural behaviour.
• Values.
• Social discourse.
• Ideology.
• Expectations.
• Problems.

Lesson 2. Cultural Self-Awareness

• Introduction.
• Defining cultural self.
• Environmental influences.
• Family or social group.
• Definitions of self.
• Psychological influences.
• Human nature.
• Personal autonomy.
• Socio economic and political influences.
• Emphasis or minimisation of cultural diversity.
• Code switching.
• Physical environmental influences.

Lesson 3. Prejudice and Racism

• Introduction.
• Ingroups or outgroups.
• Ethnocentrism.
• What is prejudice.
• Functions of prejudice.
• How we measure prejudice.
• Theoretical perspectives on prejudice.
• Stereotypes.
• Functions of stereotypes.
• Dangers of using stereotypes.
• Discrimination.
• Social discrimination.
• Racism.
• Institutional or structural racism.
• Perception.
• Perceptual change.
• Cognitive dissonance.
• Perceptual defence.
• Reducing prejudice.
• Changing stereotypes.
• Developing cultural sensitivity.
• Belonging to a dominant culture.

Lesson 4. Working with Culturally Different Clients

• Introduction.
• Communicating across cultures.
• Principles of communication.
• Cultural differences.
• Communicating intimate information.
• The culturally skilled worker.
• Conformity.
• Factors affecting conformity.

Lesson 5. Barriers to Effective Multi-Cultural Relationships

• Abnormality.
• The counsellor's culture.
• The clients culture.
• Individual differences.
• Cross cultural communication hurdles.
• Culture shock.
• Non verbal communication.
• Developing trust.
• Formal judgements.
• Culture and child development.
• Coping with change.

Lesson 6. Developing Cultural Competence

• Introduction.
• Culturally competent service delivery.
• Culturally appropriate service.
• Culturally accessible service.
• Culturally acceptable service.
• Training for cultural change.
• Cross culture counselling in disaster situations.
• The role of family.
• Working with other cultures.

Lesson 7. Multicultural Mental Health Issues

• Introduction.
• Problems with cultural difference in psychology.
• Cultural influences on mental health.
• Culture bound syndromes.
• Trance and possession disorder.
• Factors affecting grief and bereavement: social, psychological and cultural
  influences.

Lesson 8.  Shortcomings of Contemporary Counselling Theories and Future Developments

• Introduction.
• Culture shock.
• Stages in cultural shock and adjustment.
• Post traumatic stress disorder.
• Treatments for culture distress.
• Successful inter cultural adjustment.

LESSON AIMS

• Develop an awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity;
• Explain the cultural awareness of the self through verbal and non-verbal means;
• Explain the origins and influences of prejudice and racism;
• Explain the impact of culture when working with culturally different clients;
• Explain bias toward and barriers against effective multi-cultural relationships;
• Explain the fundamentals of developing and implementing cultural competence;
• Describe multi-cultural attitudes toward mental health issues.

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE

• Learn what is meant by the term ‘culture’, and different cultural groups.
• Discuss ‘cultural diversity’ and identify problems associated with it.
• Discuss ‘intra-cultural’ and ‘inter-cultural’ contact to managing cultural diversity.
• Identify reasons that people and groups make inter-cultural contact.
• Explore how we communicate non-verbally.
• Identify ways (verbal and non-verbal) that we communicate our identification to a cultural group.
• In what ways a minority culture influence a dominant culture.
• Ways that people and groups adapt to other cultures.
• Explain the term ‘individualism-collectivism’.
• Define the terms - ‘ethnocentrism’, 'prejudice’, ‘racism’, ‘stereotype’, ‘discrimination’.
• Explore the role of stereotyping by a dominant culture in perceived discrimination by an immigrant community.
• Discuss how prejudice and/or racism help a group or person feel more comfortable about other cultures.
• Define ‘culture shock’.
• Identify barriers to communication that exist in inter-cultural communication situations.
• Identify strategies to ensure effective communication with a person from another culture.
• Explore the influence of culture differences when providing helping or counselling services to clients.
• Explore ways that people from different cultures deal with psychological or communication problems such as conflict, depression, mental health etc.

WHAT IS 'CULTURE'?

Culture is, at best, a nebulous concept that may be defined in quite different ways. People might hold very different perceptions of culture, and its significance in describing human activity, and our perceptions of culture can change in response to other influences. Multiculturalism, for instance, promotes a primarily behaviour-focused view of culture to support its political and social goals of making immigration and cultural diversity more acceptable to the dominant culture, and reducing the adverse effects of prejudice, racism and xenophobia. Acceptance of cultural diversity, from this perspective, includes ‘toleration’ (a problematic word) or acceptance of differences in family or group behaviour, artefacts, food, dress, religion, language and ethnic appearance. 

To help achieve this acceptance of cultural diversity, political and social leaders have promoted non-discriminatory language, ideas and values and emphasised the cultural benefits of cultural diversity (e.g. greater variety and richness of cultural traits and foods). Some of these efforts to increase acceptance and reduce prejudice have been labelled by some as “political correctness”, implying that it comes from political motives rather than a sincere desire for social harmony. However, multiculturalism (a term, by the way, that is falling out of favour) is often also supported by legal, political and social policies that can change the social and political nature of society a little or a great deal. 

Cultures can and do change over time in response to other developments, such as changing economic structure or ideology. In many countries, at present, tension has developed between conservative or even fundamentalist ideologies and more liberal or progressive ideologies, with each side vying for power and public support. These struggles are one example of the internal forces that can work to change culture, and they may affect a culture’s views on family, education, social responsibility, art and law. Consider the profound influence such ideological struggles in the 1970’s had on the social and political discourses and patterns of many Western countries. Western culture was radically altered in some respects, for example, concerning its attitudes to the West’s colonial past, women’s roles in society, the environment, and cultural difference. Ideology and social movements can lead to fundamental disagreement over a culture’s basic assumptions about truth, personal autonomy, political and social ethics, and national identity.

STUDY WITH ACS

You can start the Multi-Cultural Awareness course at any time.

It is studied by distance learning, so you can study in the comfort of your own home. But this doesn't mean you are all alone in your studies.  Our highly qualified and friendly tutors are there to help you every step of the way.  If you have any questions at all, they are always happy to help.

Each lesson includes set tasks, and is completed with an assignment which the student submits to their course tutor.  The tutor will mark the assignment and return this to the student with comments and suggestions for further reading.

Your 'learning package' will include:

• Course notes.
• Self-assessment quizzes.
• Assignment feedback.
• You can interact one on one with a professional tutor with decades of experience - just email, phone or log on to chat to connect with them.

LEARN WITH ACS

• Study multicultural awareness and learn more about diverse cultures and the multicultural world in which we live.

WHAT NEXT?

Register to Study - Go to “It’s Easy to Enrol” box at the top of the page and you can enrol now.

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