International Education Project: What s Up With Culture? Module 1. Paul Dorres. AHE 599, Spring Professors Joe Hoff and Amy Nelson Green

Transcription

1 International Education 1 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION CULTURE International Education Project: What s Up With Culture? Module 1 Paul Dorres AHE 599, Spring 2007 Professors Joe Hoff and Amy Nelson Green April 27, 2007

2 International Education 2 The What s Up With Culture Module 1 is an intensive exercise in intercultural communications, awareness, and sensitivity. After completing the module myself, I am convinced that this could be used as an excellent compliment to a study abroad orientation session. I will lead the fall orientation for new students accepted to study at Lincoln University in New Zealand and plan to implement this module as an integrated element of the pre-departure learning process. In this paper, I will describe how I plan to use the module in coordination with my fall orientation followed by discussion of intended outcomes. The Orientation Three to four weeks prior to the orientation, I will contact the New Zealand study abroad participants and present them with the link to What s Up With Culture. I will instruct them to take their time and work their way through module one, printing off all pages that included exercises. It is important for the students to understand that this is not homework and there are no right or wrong answers to the questions. All responses need to be honest in order to effectively measure intercultural competency prior to the study abroad experience. Simply proceeding through the module and engaging oneself in each reading and activity will bring to surface many cultural realizations. However, during the orientation, I will highlight numerous specific sections of the module for group discussion and analysis. We will start with questions a. e. in 1.1. Answers to these questions will provide an excellent benchmark for each student s current comfort level with the prospect of studying overseas. I will explain that the process of answering these simplistic questions will not be fulfilled until they return from their studies. Upon re-entry to OSU,

3 International Education 3 we will come back and look at the responses to these questions in order to reflect upon how much each student has changed as a result of the study abroad experience. The second exercise to be discussed is from in regard to values and beliefs. I have personally had a problem in the past with considering particular thoughts and actions of people from other cultures as being weird. It is important to point out that these artifacts of cultural incongruence are not weird; they are simply different. In order to explain why these differences exist, it is necessary to explore values and beliefs as the origination of all cultural phenomena. This exercise quickly addresses the fact that many of the things we consider to be normal and universal are in fact directly linked to our cultural values. This fact should help the students understand that we are not a cultureless people in America. We simply are surrounded by cultural norms so completely that we are insulated from the norms of other cultures; therefore making it virtually impossible to measure our own culture against the norms of another. Section 1.3 contains many interesting concepts regarding cultural characteristics. After some discussion of universal vs. personal and individualism vs. collectivism, I will focus our attention on the activity in This activity caught me off guard because I was shocked by the very first statement regarding kicking a dog. I immediately became aware, before even writing my response, that I am biased toward a certain reaction due to the norms of my culture. I tried to think of a reason why it would ever be acceptable for a person to kick a dog (outside of self defense). I couldn t come up with anything. It wasn t until I read the explanations for each statement that I became aware that in some countries dogs are not commonly kept as pets and are often diseased and dangerous. I believe that these scenarios, when presented to the students, will open their eyes to the

4 International Education 4 fact that we have to be careful about passing judgments or interpreting the behaviors of those in other cultures when we do not fully understand what it is to be a native of their world. For the next activity, since I believe that people in New Zealand are probably more laid back than we are in regard to orientation toward time, I will guide a discussion on the time activity in Some of the students may have already been overseas in the past on vacations. Others may have never left the states. Either way, it is unlikely that any of the students were abroad long enough to encounter many of the core cultural dimensions that truly identify the differences between entire ways of life. One of these dimensions, or orientations, is toward time. The students might assume that time marches on regardless of where we are in the world. That might be true from an American point of view. However, a person s concept of time in another culture can be so different that it may shatter the entire concept of time as we have come to know it. At this point, I will ask that the students share with me their findings from the exercise in An important part of the preparation for studying abroad is to meet with other students who have experienced the journey. When I initially send them the link to this module, I will tell them that they will need to meet with a past participant from the program in order to complete this exercise. I will also give them the names and numbers of past participants who have agreed to meet with the new recruits. By doing this exercise with a past participant, there will be some guidance toward identifying key differences in attitudes toward certain aspects of cultural beliefs, rather than a superficial discussion about different seasons and brands of beer.

5 International Education 5 I will take some time during the orientation to talk about high context and low context societies, non verbal communications, and linguistic differences between US and New Zealand English. Then I will ask the students to explain their understanding of the four levels of cultural awareness as presented in While most people are aware of the concept of culture shock, I don t think that many students understand that there are varying levels in the adaptation of new cultural norms. Proceeding to discuss the activity in the same section will provide an opportunity to explore the various stages and talk about how each student plans to cope with the accompanying challenges. Outcomes While I have been to Japan three times and I have experienced years of cultural studies from classrooms and textbooks, I will admit that this module pointed things out to me that I had not thought of before. It takes many hours to complete the readings and activities. However, the amount of useful information packed into this single module is impressive. Whether the students have been abroad in the past or never left Oregon, this module will raise their awareness of cultural diversity to a new level. I am specifically interested in making sure that students gain a real understanding of the fact that our own perception of what is normal and acceptable is tied inextricably to our own culture. I personally did not understand what it was about my lifestyle that made me American until I left America. For these students, I will be sure that they have some notion of what it is to be a member of our culture by addressing specific differences as they exist in other cultures. This process of cultural enlightenment will leave them better prepared to meet the challenges of succeeding in a new culture where suddenly they are the outsiders.

6 International Education 6 Additionally, students need to be very aware that while they are going to an English speaking country, they aren t just going to an America where people talk funny. New Zealand is on the other side of the world and has developed their own unique cultural norms over the course of history with little or no ties to western civilization as we know it. The readings and exercises in the module elude the linguistic variations even within languages. In fact, I will be sure to point out tip number 3 in 1.7.3, which points out that our colloquial use of English differs to such an extent that entire meanings of words and phrases can be entirely dissimilar, or even absurd. An important outcome from this process will come in the form of cultural currency. The students will possess some sense of what to expect while studying abroad. Rather than just sending them over to another country to figure it out on their own, they will have foundational knowledge of what it is to live within the bounds of other cultural norms. While they can t be expected to fully comprehend the differences between cultures simply through readings, examples, and exercises; they will be able to anticipate and, to some extent, reconcile the incipient complexities of developing new cultural competence. As a final note: the students in my orientation will be assured that they are allowed to recover from failures and rebound from depression. The module clearly outlines the fact that adjusting to another culture is a stage-based process that will inevitably lead to anxiety and discomfort, but also to joy and fulfillment. Equipping these students with knowledge of the realities they will soon face will ensure their success as global adventurers, or, as I once read somewhere; ambassadors in backpacks.

7 International Education 7 Reference University of the Pacific. What s Up With Culture?. Retrieved April 27, 2007, from