Course Title: Cultural Proficiency III: Facilitation
Instructors:
Shannon Keeny, Cultural Proficiency Specialist, HCPSS
Shannon Keeny is a Cultural Proficiency Specialist in the Howard County Public School
System. Her previous experience includes, Resource Teacher for Professional and
Organizational Development with a focus on support Professional Development Schools
and working with MSDE as the liaison and support person for National Board
Certification teachers. Also, she has taught in the classroom for five years and served as a
high school softball coach for three years. She is very committed to the development of
teachers and all professionals in her field.
Razia Kosi, Cultural Proficiency Specialist, HCPSS
Razia Kosi is a Cultural Proficiency Specialist in the Howard County Public School
System. She is a clinical social worker who is also certified with MSDE as a Social
Worker. Her previous experience includes, Resource Teacher for Alternative Education,
Behavior Specialist, Grants Facilitator and Alternative Education Teacher. She has over a
decade of experience developing workshops and training for the schools as well as
professional workshops for mental health professionals in the community.
John Krownapple, Coordinator of Cultural Proficiency, HCPSS
John Krownapple currently serves as the Professional Development Coordinator for
Cultural Proficiency in the Howard County Public School System. He has served the
staff, students, and community of Howard County in the roles of professional
development facilitator, social studies resource teacher, curriculum writer, and classroom
teacher. He has extensive experience designing and delivering professional learning
experiences within the school system and, additionally, has served as adjunct faculty at
Johns Hopkins University since 2004.
Approval: John Krownapple, Coordinator of Cultural Proficiency, HCPSS
Course Delivery Method: This course will be a blended/hybrid course.
Description of Experience:
This course assists staff in developing requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes for
facilitating effective professional and organizational development in support of Cultural
Proficiency. This aligns with and is embedded within the distinguished performance
level of the four elements described on Indicator 5F: Commits to Cultural Proficiency
(Attachment A), a recently (2008) added indicator within the HCPSS teacher evaluation
system domains. (Domain 5: Professional Responsibilities)
Cultural Proficiency is defined as:
 A mind set; a way of being that esteems culture as a predominant force in shaping
organizations as well as influencing individuals and their relationships.
 The use of specific tools for effectively describing, responding to, and planning
for issues that emerge in diverse environments.

Policies and practices of an organization/school and the values, beliefs, and
behaviors of an individual that enable effective cross-cultural interactions
between and among employees, clients, and community.
This course focuses on developing:
 Advanced understanding of Cultural Proficiency and
 Foundational knowledge of facilitation theory and practice.
Participants deepen understanding of personal values, beliefs and assumptions, as well as
organizational policies and practices. Drawing from momentum gained from prerequisite
courses, Cultural Proficiency courses (I and II), they will accelerate their efforts of
transforming their selves and their organizations (e.g., schools, departments, offices,
teams) to better serve every student, staff member, family, and/or community group.
Instructors use readings from The Adaptive School: A Sourcebook for Collaborative
Groups, simulations, videos, and discussions. These discussions are facilitated by
appropriate processes to develop participants’ understandings of the knowledge, skills,
and abilities required to effectively facilitate the transformative learning (i.e., surfacing
and examining deeply held values and beliefs) required in Cultural Proficiency.
Predominant course themes include:
 Facilitation as one of “four hats of shared leadership” (i.e., facilitator, presenter,
consultant, coach).
 Five “C’s” of effective facilitators (confidence, clarity, consciousness,
competence, and credibility).
Rationale/statement of need
The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) has institutionalized Cultural
Proficiency as a systemic focus area to leverage the school system’s continuous
improvement in moving from “good to great.” Additionally, this complies with the State
of Maryland Education COMAR 13A.04.05, the states regulation for Education that is
Multicultural. The system has integrated Cultural Proficiency with the teacher evaluation
system, through Domain 5: Professional Responsibilities. Additionally, the system views
Cultural Proficiency as a leverage point for both system goals: Goal One (Academic
Achievement) and Goal Two (Safe School Environments). Finally, the HCPSS has
formalized support for this effort by staffing a team of facilitators (three individuals) in
the Office of Professional and Organizational Development.
This course supports making this systemic focus area operational. In order to best
support the vast and diverse needs across the system, the Office of Professional and
Organizational Development (POD) must develop local (i.e., site-based) facilitators,
equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to facilitate deep, transformative
learning of staff. Because the scope of work of three individuals within the Office of
POD has logical limitations, the development of systemic capacity, succession planning,
and the talent-spotting and investment in local facilitators is the only wait to make
support for Cultural Proficiency fully operational and sustainable within and throughout
the system.
Specifically, this course builds a foundation for effective facilitation by focusing on five
qualities of effective facilitators: clarity, confidence, consciousness, competence, and
credibility. These serve as standards for high-quality facilitation. Concurrently, the
course advances the depth of understanding of Cultural Proficiency in order to firmly
establish the developing facilitators’ content credibility.
Audience:
This course is primarily designed for Howard County Public School System employees,
certificated or not, who:
 Display strong commitment to Cultural proficiency
 Possess a strong interest in professional development
 Have completed the two prerequisites, CP1: Awareness and CP2: Application
 Possesses support of his/her direct supervisor in practicing facilitation in authentic
ways (e.g., staff/team meetings, site-based professional development).
Performance Outcomes:
Participants will:
1. Advance knowledge of cultural proficiency.
2.
Develop foundational knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes regarding
facilitation.
Performance Indicators:
Participants will demonstrate increased:
1. Knowledge of the distinct characteristics of and differences between the four hats
of shared leadership: facilitating, presenting, coaching, and consulting.
2. Knowledge of the five qualities of skilled facilitators
3. Knowledge of the Tools of Cultural Proficiency
4. Skill with facilitation techniques associated with each of the five qualities of
skilled facilitators
5. Skill with the facilitating conversations about diversity, inclusion, equity.
6. Skill with using the Conceptual Framework of Culturally Competent Practices as
an analytical tool.
7. Ability to design a relevant and effective professional development event for a
specific and unique group
8. Ability to collaborate with a co-facilitator
9. Ability to facilitate the development of a group.
Delivery/Timeline:
This course will be delivered face to face during scheduled class times, online to connect
learning and nine hours of outside work. There will be 12 face-to-face sessions (36
hours), three sessions that will take place online for a total of nine hours of outside work
(9 hours). Outside work will consist of, but not be limited to, readings, written
assignments, online discussion threads, conducting interviews, watching video clips,
meeting with assigned facilitation partner, designing a professional learning event, and
preparing for the final project. This is a 3-credit CPD course. The HCPSS will begin
offering the course in summer 2012. All assignments are due prior to the instructors
awarding credit for the course.
Credits:
3
Evaluation:
Participants will:
10. Complete outside and in-class assignments for each session.
11. Actively participate in discussions, both in-class and online.
12. Effectively design a customized professional learning event (i.e., session) by
competently completing all components of an Event Design for an assigned group
of participants
13. Complete a culminating performance assessment, within which each participant
co-facilitates a customized professional learning event.
14. Participate in a post-facilitation conference in order to critique individual and
paired facilitation within the performance assessment.
15. Provide high-quality feedback in response to other participants’ facilitation within
the performance assessment.
Professional Learning Activities and Follow-Up:
Professional Learning Activities
 Readings and discussions of The Adaptive School, in its entirety
 Readings and discussions of current research, theory, and practice regarding highquality professional learning
 Simulations
 Videos
 Critical Analysis of video recorded and real-time facilitation
 Scenario analysis
 Facilitation Labs: practice facilitating small groups
 Design Studio: apply course content through Event Design process
Follow-Up Opportunities
 Apprenticeship on facilitation teams of Cultural Proficiency inservice seminars or
courses offered through the Office of Professional and Organizational
Development (POD)
 Facilitation of other system-wide professional learning opportunities offered
through the Office of POD
 Facilitation of school-based or office-based meetings or other professional
learning structures, such as a Cultural Proficiency Inquiry Group.