Teaching cultural competence: Application of experiential learning techniques

Experiential education techniques have a sound theoretical basis, are compatible with social work education, and are valued teaching tools for cultural competence. Although some educators still rely on didactic techniques and many of the helping professions still struggle with the best ways in which to implement their commitment to educating students for culturally competent practice, it seems a natural and important step for educators to move toward incorporating more experiential strategies in their teaching. This article reviews and summarizes the state of experiential education for cross cultural training in the human services. Various techniques for developing cultural competence are discussed.