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Alliance for International Education Conference, Doha, October 20, 2012
Teaching Intercultural Intelligence in the UAE: Challenges and Rewards
Candy McLeod
Higher Colleges of Technology – Dubai, UAE
Teaching Intercultural Intelligence in the UAE: Challenges and Rewards
The number one predictor of success today in today’s borderless world is not your IQ, not your resume and not even your expertise. It’s your CQ, a powerful capability that is proven to enhance your effectiveness working in culturally diverse situations.
Livermore, 2011
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Teaching Intercultural Intelligence: Challenges and Rewards
Who are the Emiratis?
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Teaching Intercultural Intelligence: Challenges and Rewards
Who are the Emiratis? • Unified only since 1971 by Sheikh Zayed
• Ethnically rich population
• Tribal (Bedouin) Arabs plus groups from Iran (Ajami), Baluchi, Yemeni
• All Muslim including Sunni and Shi’a
• Socioeconomic divisions
• Linguistic varieties
• Culture undergone rapid transformation
• Many mixed marriages
• Strong cultural influences from region
• Represent only approx. 18% of population today
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Who are the students? • Emirati students at the Higher Colleges of Technology – Dubai
• Largest government funded institution of higher education in the UAE – 19 colleges in 7 emirates
• Education free for all UAE citizens, colleges segregated by gender
• First course ran September 2010
• Some are working students, study
in the evening
• Emirati population in Dubai only 8%
of population - highly marginalised
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Teaching Intercultural Intelligence: Challenges and Rewards
Teaching Intercultural Intelligence in the UAE: Challenges and Rewards
About the course…
• Based on 5 day training workshop delivered by Knowledgeworkx Dubai: http://www.knowledgeworkx.com/
• Faculty required to attend Knowledgeworkx course in order to teach course at the HCT
• Theoretical base – Hofstede, Hall and Trompenaars
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What do they learn?
• How to manage working with people who have different world views and dimension polarities
• Strong emphasis on self-analysis; cultural introspection • 3 World views Guilt/Innocence Power/Fear Honour/Shame
• 12 Cultural Mapping Dimensions
eg: Destiny, Decision-making, Accountability
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Directed vs. Directive Is your environment in control of you (external locus of control), or are you in control of
your environment (internal locus of control)?
Destiny
8
Relationship vs. Rules
Are decisions best dictated by rules and protocols, or do important relationships influence them greatly?
Decision Making
9
Community vs. Individual
Is the opinion, growth, and direction of your
community more important than your own?
Accountability
How do they learn? • Highly interactive lessons
• Student-centred; highly collaborative
• Group based
• Strong emphasis on project work
• Lots of in-depth discussion
• Social research
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How are they assessed?
1.Group presentation on inter/intra cultural conflict using world view analysis
2.Group report on one aspect of Emirati culture using cultural mapping dimension analysis (marriage proposals = a good example of indirect communication)
3.An open book quiz on the 12 dimensions
4.A final online quiz on the whole course (individual)
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What topics do the students choose for the conflict project?
INTERCULTURAL
• Dress code violations made by ‘foreign’ women
• Eating/drinking in public during daylight Ramadan hours
• Insulting hand signals used when driving
• The banning of face veils in Europe
• Public displays of affection in the UAE
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Topics chosen by students…
INTRACULTURAL • Drug use among
Emirati teens
• Divorce rates
• Cosmetic surgery
• Inter-marriage
• Black magic
• Homosexuality
• Childcare and foreign nannies
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What are the challenges?
• Cultural sensitivity required • Establishing trust and
openness • Students’ limited contact
with other cultures • Recognising and overcoming
existing prejudice and bias • Facilitating a way for
students’ to view something from different perspectives
• Language and vocabulary • Theoretical complexity of
concepts
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What are the rewards?
• Transformative, ‘life-changing’ course
• Lots of ‘aha’ moments • Helps to dispel inaccurate
stereotypes • Provides a framework to help
students understand behaviour • Provides an opportunity explore
concepts of identity and social change
• Facilitates better communication and understanding between people
• Research opportunities
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What do the students say about this course?
• “It totally changed my perspective on foreigners…”
• “It made me more confident in discussing sensitive cultural issues with others”
• “It was really interesting!” • “It helped me to see
another person’s point of view”
• “It was a really useful course to help prepare us for the working world in Dubai”
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