Publication Date

5-2015

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Jay Gabbard (Director), Lauren Bland, Cecile Garmon

Degree Program

Educational Leadership Doctoral Program

Degree Type

Doctor of Education

Abstract

As defined by Clinton (1996), cultural awareness is achieved when an individual becomes aware of the fact that culture can contribute to attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Cultural awareness (CA) is dependent upon an individual’s awareness of one’s own culture to the same degree as the awareness of outside cultures. It can be viewed as a prerequisite to a more complex understanding of this somewhat ambiguous concept. The topic of this quantitative study involves an examination of the level of cultural awareness among students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs in the state of Kentucky. This dissertation threads literature and practice to examine the relevance of cultural experience on the development of cultural awareness among students in CSD programs. It provides a framework for the development of a survey instrument intended to assess development of CA in students enrolled in CSD programs in Kentucky. This proposal does not address all stages of cultural development; but rather, is intends to create a platform for assessment at the initial level of awareness. This study evaluates CA in students and offers a quantifiable means by which the construct may be measured. This research is significant in that the outcome may provide a perspective for the impact of CA on the direction of multicultural curricular development in communication sciences disorders.

Disciplines

Communication | Critical and Cultural Studies | Educational Leadership | Higher Education

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