Bio: 

Peggy Malec began her education career teaching English to adults in 2011. Since then, she has taught both Spanish and English in every grade level. She has a Master of Arts in Spanish from Middlebury College and is currently teaching middle school Spanish at Valley Catholic Middle School. As the Director of Community Development, she has founded and led an advisory program for the entire school community.

Based on this episode of the Language Lounge podcast with host Michelle Olah and guest Peggy Malec 

Beyond the Sugar Skulls: Teaching Culture with Structural Competency in World Language Classrooms 

What if the way we've been teaching culture in our world language classrooms has been accidentally reinforcing the very stereotypes we're trying to dismantle? That's the thought-provoking question at the heart of a concept called structural competency, and for world language educator Peggy Malec, it's completely transformed how she approaches culture in her middle school Spanish classroom. 

So, What Is Structural Competency? (Hint: It's Not Grammar) 

Fair warning: the name can be misleading. Malec laughs that every time she presents on this topic at a conference, at least one attendee storms in expecting a grammar workshop and leaves disappointed. But stick around, because what structural competency actually offers is something far more powerful for our students. 

Originally developed in the field of medical education, structural competency is a framework for understanding why cultural differences exist, not just cataloguing what they are. In medicine, practitioners were being trained with lists like "patients from this demographic present symptoms this way," which ended up breeding assumptions and stereotypes rather than genuine cultural understanding. The fix? Stop describing and start explaining. 

The same problem, Malec argues, shows up in language classrooms all the time. 

The Problem with "This Is How They Do It" 

Think about how we typically teach Día de los Muertos. We put up an altar on the projector. We name the items. We talk about the dates. Nothing we've shared is wrong, but is it accurate? And more importantly, have we given our students tools, or just information? 

Malec draws a clear line between the two. Describing a cultural practice leaves students with a snapshot. Explaining the why behind it — the history, the geography, the socioeconomic context, the effects of colonialism and syncretism — gives students a framework they can apply to any culture they encounter, including their own. 

"A lot of times we don't want to get into those conversations because they can feel heavy," Malec acknowledges. "But they have value." 

Everything Is Culture (Yes, Even Bedtime) 

To illustrate just how pervasive culture is, Malec plays a simple game with conference attendees: Is it culture, or is it human nature? 

• What time children go to bed? Culture.
• What counts as food? Culture.
• Smiling? Surprisingly, very much culture. McDonald's famously had to rethink their service style when they opened in Russia because the constant smiling read as suspicious to locals.
• Breathing? Okay, that one's natural, though even how we breathe (audibly, deeply, controlled) carries cultural dimensions. 

The point isn't to stump anyone. It's to help students and teachers recognize that what feels like "just normal life" is actually a rich web of cultural decisions, shaped by history, geography, economics, and community. One of the biggest breakthroughs Malec sees in her students is the moment they realize they have a culture too; that their life isn't simply "the norm." 

The Power of Going Small (Really Small) 

Here's where structural competency becomes wonderfully practical for classroom teachers: you don't have to know everything, and you don't have to teach everything. 

Instead of attempting a sweeping overview of a holiday or tradition, Malec recommends what one of her colleagues brilliantly called going "microscopic." Rather than teaching Christmas, teach ornaments. Give one group the history of baby's first ornament. Give another the origin of the Christmas pickle. Let a third dig into tree toppers, maybe even assigning the same topic to two different groups to see what variations emerge. 

Students don't walk away thinking they've learned nothing. They walk away understanding that even within a single cultural tradition, there is enormous nuance and diversity, and that there are reasons behind every variation. 

The same approach works beautifully with food. When Malec introduces her students to arroz chaufa, a Peruvian fried rice dish with Chinese origins, it opens the door to place-based learning: Why are the ingredients different in Lima versus Cusco? What does local agriculture have to do with what ends up on your plate? Suddenly, a vocabulary lesson becomes a lesson in geography, migration, and cultural exchange. 

Asking "Why?" Changes Everything 

The structural competency shift, at its core, is about replacing judgment with curiosity. Malec wants her students to move from "That's weird" to "I wonder why." 

This doesn't mean suppressing that first reaction. Malec is refreshingly honest that even she has it. When a friend shared photos of unusual foods from Vietnam, her gut reaction wasn't exactly enlightened. But the goal isn't to eliminate the reaction; it's to teach students (and ourselves) to have a second reaction: to pause, ask questions, and approach difference with what Malec calls "respectful curiosity." 

And critically, this habit of mind extends beyond other cultures. Students start examining their own lives differently. Why does my family eat dinner at 6? Why are the rules different at my friend's house? Why do I talk differently when I email my teacher versus text my friends? This is code-switching, it's cultural awareness, and it starts in the Spanish classroom. 

You Don't Have to Choose Between Language and Culture 

One of the most reassuring things Malec emphasizes: this isn't an either/or. You don't have to sacrifice linguistic proficiency to teach structural competency. Culture isn't a unit you do on Fridays; it's embedded in every lesson. 

When you ask students "¿A qué hora cenas?" you're already teaching culture. The structural competency move is simply to follow up with "¿Por qué?" and then to turn the same question toward the target culture. What time do people eat in Spain? And why might that be? Suddenly, you're hitting your linguistic targets and doing deep cultural work at the same time, without adding a separate unit to an already packed curriculum. 

Practical Tips for Getting Started 

If you're ready to bring structural competency into your classroom, here's where Malec suggests starting: 

• Start with your students' own culture. Ask them about their own practices before introducing those of the target culture. Help them see that they already have a culture.
• Go microscopic. Pick one tiny, specific aspect of a cultural practice and dig into it rather than trying to cover the whole thing.
• Ask "why" relentlessly. Not just "what do they do?" but "why do they do it this way? What shaped that?"
• Use think-pair-share and "I see / I notice / I wonder" protocols to give students space to process and share without judgment.
• Allow the initial reaction and then gently redirect. Calling in is more effective than calling out.
• Be honest when things get heavy. Students will encounter uncomfortable history. That's okay. Sit in it with them.
• Find your people. Don't do this work alone. Find a colleague you can send a midnight email to who will give you honest feedback before first period.
• Model the mindset yourself. When you get something wrong, come back and say so. Show students what it looks like to be a learner. 

The Bigger Picture 

Malec is clear-eyed about the reality of world language education: not all of her eighth graders will continue in Spanish. Time is limited. Content is vast. But she's found peace in a broader goal. 

"If you walk out of my classroom and the only thing you have gained from our time together is an understanding that there are a multitude of ways to be a person on our planet," she says, "then I've hit the jackpot." 

That's structural competency in a nutshell: not a checklist of cultural facts, but a habit of mind. A way of approaching the unfamiliar with curiosity instead of judgment. A reminder that behind every cultural practice, no matter how foreign it seems, there is a reason. And that finding that reason is not just good language learning; it's good humanity. 

Want to learn more about Peggy Malec's work? Visit her at PeggyMalec.com, where you can find information about her conference presentations and reach out directly with questions or feedback. You can also catch this full conversation on the Language Lounge podcast with Michelle Olah.  

***AI assisted in drafting sections of this post, which was then reviewed and edited by a human.

 

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