Diversity Training

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Diversity Training

• Troy University Housing and Residence Life Office

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Activity

• Diversity Scavenger Hunt

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We all live with the objective of being happy
our lives are all different and yet the same.

• Anne Frank

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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but
not their own facts.

• Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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Activity

• Diversity Dictionary

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Diversity Dictionary

• Diversity Composed of distinct or unlike
  elements or qualities.
• Ethnicity of or relating to large groups of
  people classed according to common racial,
  national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or
  cultural origin or background.
• Race A division of the human population
  distinguished by physical characteristics
  transmitted by genes.
• Native Language The language spoken in the
  country of ones origin or birth.

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Diversity Dictionary

• Culture A particular form of civilization,
  specifically the beliefs, customs, arts, and
  institutions of a society at a given time.
• Multicultural Of or including several cultures
  or ethnic groups.
• Affiliation To associate, join , or connect
  with.
• Values A standard or principal regarded as
  desirable or worthwhile.
• Beliefs Something, as a tenet, that is
  believed a conviction.
• Stereotype A conventional, highly simplified
  opinion, conception or belief.

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Diversity and Multiculturalism

• Any aspect that differentiates groups and people
  from one another.
• Some of these aspects include
• Race
• Color and Ethnicity
• Nationality and national origin
• Ancestry

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Diversity and Multiculturalism

• Aspects continued
• Gender and gender identity
• Age
• Religion
• Physical and mental abilities
• Sexual orientation
• Socio-economic status

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General Assumptions About Culture

• Culture is not good or bad. It just is.
• Often what may be considered just the way it is
  is culturally influenced.
• Ones view of the world is shaped by values,
  perceptions, assumptions, and expectations.

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General Assumptions About Culture

• The more people know about their own culture, and
  the more they know about other cultures, the
  better the communication will be.
• The way one sees or does things, when coupled
  with the way others do or see things, can lead to
  new improved ways of doing and seeing things.

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General Assumptions About Culture

• Being different is OK and differences can be
  recognized, acknowledged and cherished.
• The responsibility for intellectual communication
  is not solely that of any one of the parties, but
  shared by all.

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Activity

• Diversity Change Agent
• Self-Assessment

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Those of us who can study, work, and live with
  people from other cultures and races can enjoy
  more success in school, on the job, and in our
  neighborhoods.
• This means learning new ways to think, speak, and
  act.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Communicating across cultures opens up a myriad
  of possibilities and is an education in and of
  itself.
• At first, it can be scary, frustrating, or even
  painful.
• Done in the right way, it can also be exciting,
  enriching and affirming.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• If left ignored, communication differences will
  inevitably lead to various types of
  miscommunication which may lead, in turn, to
  conflicts which erode school climate and cause
  certain groups of students, usually African
  American and other nonwhite students to feel
  unwelcome.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Removing language which appears to stereotype
  students.
• Reducing violations of cultural rules during
  discussions and conversations.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Be aware of words, images and situations that
  suggest that all or most members of a racial
  group are the same

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Avoid using qualifiers that reinforce racial and
  ethnic stereotypes.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Avoid racial identification except when it is
  essential to communication

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Be aware of possible negative implications of
  color symbolism and usage that could offend
  people or reinforce bias.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Avoid language that has questionable racial or
  ethnic connotations.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Be aware of rules for attentiveness during
  conversation. I.e. eye contact. Some cultures
  consider it offensive to maintain direct eye
  contact during a conversations.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Be aware of rules regarding the distance between
  speakers during conversation.
• In some cultures, speakers stand close enough to
  touch. In other cultures, distance is maintained
  to denote respect.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Be aware that objects, characters, and symbols
  may reflect different beliefs or values for
  different groups.
• The confederate flag and Uncle Remus stories may
  offend African Americans because they reflect the
  culture of slavery and the Old South.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Be aware that cultures may vary in what they
  consider humorous or taboo. Be careful with
  ethnic humor when those outside of your ethnic
  group may not understand or may be offended.

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Communicating Across Cultures

• Different cultures may use different standards
  for loudness, speed of delivery, silence,
  attentiveness, and the time in which it takes to
  respond to someone elses point.

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The Key to Effective Diversity Initiatives is to
Realize that

• No one can memorize all the rules of social
  interaction as they pertain to diversity issues.
• These rules can be frustrating, because what
  offends one person may not offend another.
• And, these can often run dangerously close to
  stereotyping, because not all people think alike,
  so each rule does not always apply.

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The Key to Effective Diversity Initiatives is to
Realize that

• Instead of focusing on avoiding offense, which
  can sometimes lead to unnecessary and excessive
  nervousness, we should focus on building a
  relationship based upon a willingness to learn
  about others and their culture.

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The Key to Effective Diversity Initiatives is to
Realize that

• You are responsible for being self aware of your
  own prejudices and attitude.
• If someone offends you with an inappropriate
  comment, before reacting, you must ask yourself,
  was it on purpose or was it lack of knowledge of
  your culture.
• Once this assessment has been made, you can
  carefully verbalize an appropriate response.

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Scenarios

• Volunteers needed to role play and offer
  appropriate responses and solutions to the
  following scenarios.

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Scenario 1

• You have had several complaints from residents
  about the unpleasant odor that is emitted
  whenever a student cooks in her room. After
  interviewing several of the complainants, you
  realize it is a dish that is indigenous to the
  students culture and she doesnt realize that it
  is offensive. How do you handle it? What might
  you say that will convey the complaints without
  offending the student?

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Scenario 2

• You have a white student that complains about the
  black guys next door blaring their rap music all
  of the time! The students are violating dorm
  rules, but the complainant has used racially
  offensive stereotypes. How do you handle this
  situation? What could you say to each party
  involved that would both solve the matter, and
  let the complainant know that he is using
  racially offensive language?

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Scenario 3

• Roommates African American female and Chinese
  female. The Chinese student comes to you and
  tells you she has heard from several of the other
  dorm residents that her roommate has been making
  racial slurs about her behind her back, and she
  wants to move to another room. What do you do?
  What do you say to each student without offending
  either of them?

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Scenario 4

• You have an international student that repeatedly
  breaks the rule of signing guests in and out of
  the dorm. You have warned the student on two
  separate occasions. Both times, the student
  claims he did not understand. In other words, it
  was a language barrier. What do you do next? How
  do you handle this in a way that will not offend
  the student, but will also make the rules clear
  in the future?

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Human diversity makes tolerance more than a
virtue it makes it a requirement for survival.

• Rene Dubos
• Celebration of Life, 1981

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Thank you for your attention and participation

• If you would like a copy of this PowerPoint
  presentation, please put your Troy University
  email on the list that is circulating.