Cultural Competence In Dead Men's Path By Michael Obi
Jasmine Robinson
FYS 100
10/6/15
Cultural competence is about our will and actions to build understanding between people, to be respectful and open to different cultural perspectives, strengthen cultural security and work towards equality in opportunity. Wikipedia’s definition of cultural competence is defined as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross cultural situations. I believe that I am culturally competent because I am able to put my ideas and someone else’s ideas in a way that would benefit the both of us or in any given situation. In the story Dead Men’s Path Michael Obi was not culturally …show more content…
competent because of the fact that he didn’t see past his own blind ambitions. He thought that he was doing right by everyone by helping this unprogressive secondary school out but his narrow views and ways of superannuated people in the teaching field he expects to show people how a school should be run. He plans to institute modern methods and demand high standards of teaching, while his wife, Nancy who looks forward to being the admired wife of the headmaster plants her dream gardens. With Nancy doing her gardening part, they will together lift Ndume School from its backward ways to a place of European inspired beauty in which school regulations will replace the Ndume village community’s traditional beliefs.
I believe it’s because of his age with him being twenty six and all. That’s what makes a diverse situation because all of the other headmasters were much older. He could bring many different ideas because he is energetic but at the same time he lacks the willingness to compromise and consider anyone else’s religion and ancestral background even his own. He believes that the stories are nothing but nonsense. He even instructed that they should just construct another path as if it was that easy to do. It was against regulations for it to be a thoroughfare and the ancestors wouldn’t mind taking a detour. Obi orders the sacred ancestral footpath to be fenced off with barbed wire. The local priest then tries to remind Obi of the path’s historical and spiritual significance as the sacred link between the villagers, their dead ancestors, and the yet unborn. Obi disregards the priest’s explanation as the very kind of superstition that the school is intended to have because dead men do not require footpaths. Two days later the hedge surrounding the school, its flower beds, and one of its buildings lie trampled and in ruins the result of the villagers’ attempt to propitiate the
ancestors whom Obi’s fence has insulted. After his supervisor issues a report on this incident, Obi is dismissed. He doesn’t have any cultural competent choices that allows him to have any equality between him and the villagers.
FYS 100
10/6/15
Cultural competence is about our will and actions to build understanding between people, to be respectful and open to different cultural perspectives, strengthen cultural security and work towards equality in opportunity. Wikipedia’s definition of cultural competence is defined as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross cultural situations. I believe that I am culturally competent because I am able to put my ideas and someone else’s ideas in a way that would benefit the both of us or in any given situation. In the story Dead Men’s Path Michael Obi was not culturally …show more content…
competent because of the fact that he didn’t see past his own blind ambitions. He thought that he was doing right by everyone by helping this unprogressive secondary school out but his narrow views and ways of superannuated people in the teaching field he expects to show people how a school should be run. He plans to institute modern methods and demand high standards of teaching, while his wife, Nancy who looks forward to being the admired wife of the headmaster plants her dream gardens. With Nancy doing her gardening part, they will together lift Ndume School from its backward ways to a place of European inspired beauty in which school regulations will replace the Ndume village community’s traditional beliefs.
I believe it’s because of his age with him being twenty six and all. That’s what makes a diverse situation because all of the other headmasters were much older. He could bring many different ideas because he is energetic but at the same time he lacks the willingness to compromise and consider anyone else’s religion and ancestral background even his own. He believes that the stories are nothing but nonsense. He even instructed that they should just construct another path as if it was that easy to do. It was against regulations for it to be a thoroughfare and the ancestors wouldn’t mind taking a detour. Obi orders the sacred ancestral footpath to be fenced off with barbed wire. The local priest then tries to remind Obi of the path’s historical and spiritual significance as the sacred link between the villagers, their dead ancestors, and the yet unborn. Obi disregards the priest’s explanation as the very kind of superstition that the school is intended to have because dead men do not require footpaths. Two days later the hedge surrounding the school, its flower beds, and one of its buildings lie trampled and in ruins the result of the villagers’ attempt to propitiate the
ancestors whom Obi’s fence has insulted. After his supervisor issues a report on this incident, Obi is dismissed. He doesn’t have any cultural competent choices that allows him to have any equality between him and the villagers.