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CULTURE

• The water that bears the ship is the same that
  engulfs it.
• (Chinese Proverb)

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Intercultural Communication Skills for
EducationCultivating The Space in Between
Kathryn Brillinger Conestoga College CEDP Phase
2 May 2009
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Areas of Diversity

• We can apply cultural competency to the
  categories of ethnicity, race,
• religion, and nationality, and
• Gender
• Age (Veteran, Baby Boomer, x, y and )
• Education (1st generation, generation 1.5)
• Profession
• Socio-economic status/employment status
  (Internationally Trained Immigrants, 2nd Career)
• Sexual orientation
• Wellness/illness and Mobility
• Abilities/disabilities,
• etc.

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Your StoriesDiversity in College Teaching

• 2 minutes
• Turn to a person in your vicinity (that you did
  not come in with) and enthusiastically and with
  as many gestures as possible, tell them about an
  experience you have had with diversity in
  teaching.
• We will share 2 examples as a full group.

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Dimensions of Diversity

• Primary Dimensions
• Aspects that we cannot change. Things people
  know about us before we even open our mouths -
  they are physically visible (race, gender, age,
  mobility etc). Primary dimensions are
  well-protected in Canada under federal
  legislation.
• Secondary Dimensions
• Aspects we have some power to change. We can
  sometimes (be forced to) conceal characteristics
  such as ethnicity, wellness, education level,
  language origins, religious beliefs etc.
  Secondary dimensions face many invisible barriers
  within our education system. Many secondary
  dimensions are also protected.

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Workshop Objectives and Agenda

• Recognizing the opportunities that diversity can
  bring to education
• Culture and its Impact
• Cultural Competence
• Principles of Intercultural Communication
• ICC (Inter-Cultural Communication) Repair
  Strategies

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Stop, Continue, Start
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Striving for a BalanceContinuums NOT Stereotypes
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A Few K-W Stats

• Compare the stats to the place where you teach.
• Does this data
• reflect/not reflect your experience?
• suggest a need?

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K-W Population (2006)

• Ethnic Origin and Number
• English 96,270
• German 92,485
• Canadian 87,950
• Scottish 68,785
• Irish 62,860
• French 34,215
• Polish 18.075
• Dutch 16,310
• Portuguese 15,055
• East Indian 10,440
• Italian 10,145
• Chinese 9, 200
• Latin America 6,910
• S-E Asian 6,210
• Arab 3,175

The Waterloo Region had the 4th highest net
in-migration in Ontario between 2001 and 2006.
In 2006, visible minorities comprised 13 of the
Waterloo Region Census Division population.
Immigrants represent 23 of the Waterloo Region's
population (28 - Ontario).
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Health Informatics Diversity Data (Intake
September 2008)

• 19 females and 9 males
• 40 speak English as a Second Language
• 14 students have no post high school work/study
  experience
• 14 have worked full-time for at least a year
• 11 students are 19 or under, 10 are 20-29, 4 are
  30-39, and 3 are 40 or older
• 8 have completed a post-secondary qualification
  (2nd career, internationally-trained immigrants)

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(Very Near) Future Trends

• Ontario Community Colleges will see increasing
  numbers of culturally diverse students (immigrant
  students, ESL students, internationally trained
  individuals) and other non-traditional students
  (2nd career, 1st generation).

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O Canada!
Riddle What stays in one corner yet can travel
all over the world?
O Canada, Drew Brook-Cormack, 1000-pc jigsaw
puzzle
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Internationalization in Canada has not kept pace
with Globalization

• Globalization is the economic, political, and
  societal forces pulling us towards international
  involvement.
• Internationalization is the upgrading of
  international perspectives, skills and resources
  via inter-cultural training and enhanced language
  support.(Altbach Knight, 2007)

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Intercultural Communication Training Needs

• personnel with intercultural skills
• intercultural experts
• research and knowledge in cultural practices
• workplace and material internationalization
• (Huisman van der Wende, 2005)

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Prejudice and Discrimination Exists

• Prejudice
• Negative personal attitude towards a member or
  members of a racial or cultural group
• Discrimination
• Observable adverse behavior towards such group
  members
• Prejudice Discrimination -Organizational/Domin
  ant group power - Deliberate denial of
  recognition, power, and privilege

Who experiences this?
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Nadia-Alysha-Zahra-Tameera
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A Practical Model for Cultural Competency
Development

• Yuri Kagolovsky, internationally-trained MD, MSc
  (Health informatics) and 2-time immigrant
• Kathryn Brillinger, MEd (TESL), 20 plus years
  experience in settlement language teaching and 10
  plus years in teacher training

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• What is culture and how does it impact
  interactions?

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Culture Shared Meaning

• Shared meaning informs values, beliefs,
  standards, language, thinking patterns,
  behavioral norms, communications styles, etc.
• Culture guides the decisions and actions of
  individuals and groups.
• Cultures are always changing but the change is
  not always obvious except in hindsight.

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Shared Meaning

• Cognitive (concepts, ideas) Group work is a
  crucial skill builder/a waste of time.
• Affective (emotions) I think thats perfectly
  ok/disgusting!
• Behavioral (procedures, rules, rituals) Make
  yourself noticeable in class via contributions./
  The nail that sticks out gets pounded down.

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The Problematic Saris and Samosas Approach
Prescription (versus description) can occur
where power exists.
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• One cultures competence is anothers
  incompetence!

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Haptics (the study of touching behaviour)

• Seven types of touch positive affect
  (support, appreciation, inclusion)playfulnessc
  ontrol (compliance, attention wanted, response
  needed)ritual (greeting/leave-taking)hybrid
  (mix some of above as in a hug good-bye)task-rel
  atedaccidental Jones and Yarbrough (1985)

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Proxemics (the study of distance in interaction)

• Public (teacher to class)
• Social (classmates chatting)
• Personal (student asking teacher after class)
• Intimate (friends in class whispering)

Traditional Forms of Greeting
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Haptics and Proxemics

• Share an example with a partner of being
  surprised or having someone else surprised by a
  haptic or proxemic difference
• Think inter-culturally, inter-generationally,
  inter-professionally, inter-gender etc.

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Oculesics (the study of eye contact)

• attentive focus/challenging stare
• shifty-eyed/respectful looking away
• flirtatious up-look/adultery of the eyes
• lustful glance/complimentary notice
• attempt to access vocabulary/lack of
  attentiveness or ability

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Gesture

• The triangle
• The wrist
• The hand to heart
• The 3 per utterance

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Story The Iranian Student and the Rude
Canadians

• What rules are involved?
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.

• What cultural values are displayed?
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.

To what degree did both parties share meaning?
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The Persian concept of taarof involves
language, discourse, culture etc.

• Central concept warm welcoming, praising,
  politeness and good manners
• Origins in the Arabic term for mutual
  recognition
• Essential ability for negotiating relationships
• Involves offers, compliments, exchange of
  pleasantries, food, gifts, and invitations
• Expression of selflessness and humility -
  necessary for keeping face - shaxsiiyaet and
  showing sincerity and respect - ehteram
• Can be interpreted as empty formality or ritual
  courtesy by NA but runs much deeper - has no
  equivalent in NA culture
• Iranians can be dismayed by a lack of taarof
  in our classroom cultures (Cultural
  info from Eslami, 2005)

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Confucian Heritage Cultures Face

• Dominant concept in interpreting and regulating
  social behavior
• Must be maintained and enhanced
• Each person in a social group is responsible for
  saving his/her own face and the face of others
• The teacher, having a higher social standing, is
  expected to adhere to a higher standard of ethics
  and to maintain self-control
• The teacher should not argue with the students
  and vice versa
• The teacher should protect the face of the
  students, the other teachers, and the institution
• I lost a lot of face by being unable to answer
  the question.
• How could he do that to me? I really have no face
  now.
• (Chan, 2005)

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What Comes to Your Mind?

• 2 minutes
• Turn to another person and share a story or
  experience where you have not shared meaning with
  another culture.
• What did it mean to you?
• Lets share 2 examples.

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Cultivating the Space in Between Sharing Meaning
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Cultural Boundary Lines

• Cultural boundaries are fluid and our cultures
  can grow and decrease
• Anthropologists have even found societies where
  people MUST marry someone who comes from a
  different culture. These societies adapt to
  extreme living conditions well. (Wade, 2007)

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Preserving Diversity

• Other cultures are mirrors in which we can
  better see ourselves what the anthropologist
  Margaret Mead (1934) called
• the looking-glass self
• Check out Canadian Wade Davis 22 minute lecture
  about the decreasing ethnosphere
• on www.ted.com
• http//www.ted.com/index.php/talks/wade_davis_on_e
  ndangered_cultures.html

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Looking BackLooking InwardsLooking Forward
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(No Transcript)
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Continuum of Perspectives

• Global Personal

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Approaches to Gaining Cultural Competence

• The culture-specific approach gives information
  about individual cultures - usually a
  business/marketing model.
• The culture-general approach starts with an
  understanding and awareness of cultural issues
  before specific information is given. - an
  educational approach which reduces the chance of
  stereotyping and encourages a principled
  approach.
• This workshop is a blend of both approaches.
  Further study would involve looking deeply at
  various groups (e.g. Confucian Heritage Cultures,
  East Indian, Middle-Eastern, 1st generation
  students etc.) and applying the principles.

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• Culture clearly impacts our every thought and
  move.
• What is cultural competence?

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Individual Cultural Competency

• knowledge of ones own cultural practices/
  paradigms and those of other cultures
• ability to explain your own cultures practices
• ability to interact effectively with individuals
  from differing cultures
• ability to effectively participate in diverse
  communities
• ability to help solve intercultural conflict

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Organizational Cultural Competency

• set of congruent behaviors, practices, attitudes
  and policies
• enable effective work to be done in
  inter-cultural situations
• based on principles of Universal Design (UD) -
  changes made for a particular case/group group
  benefit everyone
• expertise and training available
• internationalization of the curriculum underway

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Stages of Cultural Competence
Unconscious Competence
Unconscious Incompetence
Mindfulness
Practice
Feedback
Conscious Incompetence
Conscious Competence
Education
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Unconscious Incompetence

• Foisting a handshake on a devout Muslim of the
  opposite sex
• Telling jokes with graphic sexual content or
  identity ridicule (harassment)
• Making negative comparative statements about
  another persons culture or country and the way
  things are done here

Feedback helps.
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Conscious Incompetence

• Avoiding interaction with members of another
  culture for fear of doing something inappropriate
• Insisting that they should adopt our ways,
  because they have moved here.

Education helps.
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Gaining Competence

• Ghada and the coffee.
• What rules are involved?
• What does following the rules mean to each
  culture?
• What cultural values are displayed?
• What would each party have needed to know to
  avoid the intercultural breakdown?
• Was I as the teacher negligent? Was the planned
  curriculum inadequate? Did the host workplace
  bear responsibility?

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Conscious Competence

• Educating yourself on appropriate cross-cultural
  etiquette and experimenting in applying it
• Self-conscious, unsure of own capabilities

Practice helps.
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Unconscious Competence

• Comfortable with cross-cultural interaction
• Seek out opportunities to learn about and
  interact with new cultures
• Mindful of how your actions are affecting others,
  able to ask questions and adjust quickly
• Institute mindful and reflective adaptations of
  situation to accommodate diversity

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• What are some principles
• that I can apply to
• intercultural communication?

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Principle 1

• We are cultural beings.

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Principle 2

• We are unaware of how our cultures inform our
  perceptions, cognition, emotions and actions.
• E.g. The math teacher and the Serbian father

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Principle 3

• Culture provides unstated sets of rules by which
  we operate and reward and punish.
• E.g. My big presentation in Mexico City.

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From Monochronic to Polychronic (Chronemics)

• Monochronic Concepts
• one thing at a time is best - concentrate on the
  task at hand
• time commitments/deadlines/schedules are serious
• adhere religiously to plans

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Polychronic Concepts

• Do many things at once
• Distractions are acceptable/interruptions are
  acceptable
• Commit to people and relationships not time
• Change plans often and easily

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Principle 4

• We are unaware of our own level of
  inter-cultural sensitivity and skills.

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Changes must occur in three areas.
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Principle 5

• Building inter-cultural communication skills is
  an ongoing, recursive process requiring
  cognitive, affective and procedural changes.

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Principle 6

• Inter-cultural communication is the
  responsibility of each party.
• E.g. Plagiarism debate (inter-generational,
  inter-gender, and inter-cultural)

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Principle 7

• Inter-cultural communication necessitates a
  re-distribution of power.
• E.g. Some examples from Canadian history

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Cultural Competency Success

• Everyone can experience
• Everyone can contribute
• Everyone can learn

Educators need to demonstrate best practices.We
need cultural competency training in order to
develop those practices.
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Seven questions to ask ourselves when
intercultural communication goes wrong

• Is it language or discourse rules?
• Is it culture?
• Is it the situation or context?
• Is it racism, nationalism, or discrimination?
• Is it a systemic barrier?
• Is it someones personality?
• Is it me?

Without a diagnosis moving forward is nearly
impossible. Lets look at an example of each.
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ICC Repair Strategies

• Asking someone why they do something culturally
  can cause a defensive reaction
• E.g., asking a student why he plagiarized or why
  she is always late
• Why questions can be seen as promoting
  potentially unfavorable comparisons and
  otherness
• Therefore, we recommend an invitational approach
  that can create a dialogue and allow for shared
  meaning

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Case Study Plagiarism

• Think of a time when a student plagiarized.
• Tell your story to a partner.
• Was this an intercultural situation?
• Lets role play one plagiarism case using the
  questions.

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Repair Strategies (cont.)

• What does ltthisgt mean to you personally/as a
  student?
• What does ltthisgt mean to you as a member of your
  group/class/program?
• What does ltthisgt mean to your group/class/program?
  
• What does ltthisgt mean to the community where you
  live now/lived before?
• What does ltthisgt mean to the society of the
  nation/country?
• Do you know the history of this phenomenon? Has
  it changed over time?
• If ltthisgt does not happen, what would it mean to
  you (your group, your community, society)?

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LEARN Model (adapted from Berlin and
Fowkes,1995 medical CC model)

• Listen to the students perception of the problem
• Explain your perception of the problem
• Acknowledge and discuss differences/similarities
• Recommend a solution
• Negotiate the final solution
• - and then reflect on the new learning you got
  from this lucky encounter

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Expect Challenges - Nurture Empathy

• Communication in a heterogeneous context is
  tiring and can not take place in the same way as
  in a homogeneous context.
• We need to be explicit about expectations and
  responsibilities.

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Summary

• We have looked at examples of intercultural
  communication and practiced some strategies and
  principles that can be applied.
• We need to continually develop our cultural
  competency to support our diversity.
• We need to determine and exemplify best practices
  within the college.

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Reflection STOP, START, CONTINUE

• Reflect on what values, feelings, or
  behaviour(s) need to Stop, Start and Continue in
  order to show cultural competency in your college
  teaching
• Share one of your suggestions

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The Space in Between

• Once the realization is accepted that even
  between the closest human beings infinite
  distances continue, a wonderful living side by
  side can grow, if they succeed in loving the
  distance between them which makes it possible for
  each to see the other whole against the sky.
  

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
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Thank you!

• Questions?
• Comments?
• Suggestions?
• Complaints?
• Concerns?
• kbrillinger_at_conestogac.on.ca