A New Kind of Diversity Beyond Ethnicity: Exploring Developmental World Views
Nan Richards, MA, LPC, Medical Center of Plano
Presented at Dallas Conference
ABSTRACT: Scientific research and field-tested evidence reveals that beyond issues of race, gender, sexual orientation and/or ethnicity are differing value codes or worldviews that mark humanity's cultural evolution. When recruiting students in the health care arena, we encounter at least 4 or 5 of these value codes. Learning how to communicate with these diverse worldviews is a starting point for successfully interesting young adults in the healthcare field. These codes can range from the "street smarts" of inner city youths to the "on true way" of young believers to the "show me the evidence" of many science majors or the "together, we can heal the world," attitude of the young idealists. The way these different worldviews will approach every aspect of their life will vary. We will need all these worldviews in a challenging and evolving healthcare environment. Understanding these codes is important. It starts with understanding not only what people think, but how they think about things, why they make decisions in different ways, and why different people respond to different motivators. It is recognizing value codes and applying appropriate interventions based on an identified world view to achieve results. This workshop, using slides, music and movie clips, will take the participant on a journey of both self-discovery and collective understanding, leading to an expanded view of how to interest a broad range of students operating under different value codes in the potentialities of healthcare in the 21st century.