Intercultural Understanding

Intercultural Understanding

Lindy Stirling – Senior Project Officer – Studies of Asia

Session 1 - AimsTo enable participants to:

reflect on their own views of cultureexplore definitions of culture and intercultural understanding

Understandings of cultureHigh culture - the achievements of a society in terms of the most esteemed forms of literature, art, musicCulture as behaviour - the set of shared meanings of the ways people agree to behave, act, respondCulture as ways of thinking - modes of perceptions, beliefs and valuesCulture as language - the inextricable link between language and culture

Definition of cultureExpressed most simply, culture means ‘the way we see and do things’. Culture is the set of shared meanings or the ways people agree to be (behave, act, respond) in order to respond to new and familiar situations in their lives. Culture becomes the filter through which people interpret reality and perceive their future. As such, any particular culture represents a coherent but distinctive way of looking at the world.

Brisbane Catholic Education 1999. Cultural literacy across the curriculum. A framework. pp.7-8.

The FEAST

Definition of intercultural understanding

In pairs take 3 minutes to come up with as many words that you can think of related to Intercultural understanding

Try to have at least one for each letter of the alphabet


Review the list and select 3 or more words that capture the essence of intercultural understanding.Write a summary statement using these words.


Intercultural understanding is the ability to participate and negotiate with people in a variety of contexts.

Participating and negotiating with people requires an ability to know and understand ‘your’ culture, “another’s” culture and have skill in working between your own and another’s culture.

Adapted from Brisbane Catholic Education 1998 Cultural literacy and languages

Intercultural understanding (ICU) – and the Australian Curriculum

ICU involves students in learning to value and view critically their own cultural perspectives and practices and those of others through their interactions with people, texts and contexts across the curriculum.


ICU encourages students to make connections between their own worlds and the worlds of others, to build on shared interests and commonalities, and to negotiate or mediate difference. It offers opportunities for them to consider their own beliefs and attitudes in a new light, and so gain insight into themselves and others.


ICU stimulates students’ interest in the lives of others. Though all are significant in learning to live together, three dispositions – expressing empathy, demonstrating respect and taking responsibility – have been identified as critical to the development of Intercultural understanding in the Australian Curriculum.

Iceberg of culture


reflect on their own and others’ cultural identitiesexplore identity as culturally constructed and mutli-layered as an aspect of intercultural understanding.

What do you see??

Invisibility of cultureBecause our own culture is transparent to us, we naturally believe that our perceptions are ‘the way things really are’, whereas the mannerisms, behaviours and values of theirs we attribute to their ‘culture’.

Students need to recognise that they have a culture before they can be open to new frames of reference – or at the very least, to recognising that there are other frames of reference.

Phillips, E. 2001. IC? I see! Developing learners’ intercultural experience. LOTE CED Communiqué, p.2. http://www.sedl.org.loteced

The dimensions of cultural intelligence - CQ

Affective

Behavioural

Cognitive

CQ

Inherited

HUMAN NATURE

CULTURE

PERSONALITY

Universal

Learned

Inherited and Learned

Specific to group or category

Subculture

Specific

What is your ‘cultural identity’?

Reflections on your cultural identities Where were you/your parents born?How do these places/cultures influence who you are? What have you chosen to affiliate with? How has this changed/evolved? How might this idea of yourself change in the future?

Sub-cultural attributes Experiences Interests Values Orientation Communication style Thinking style Interpersonal style

Gross demographicsGender • Locale Age • Socio-economic group Ethnicity/Race • (Dis)ability

How do you

see the

world?


explore how we shift from teaching about culture to include intercultural understandingIdentify the connections in the Australian Curriculum with intercultural understanding and Asia literacy and their classes

Views of culture

Statictreats cultural knowledge as facts We learn information about a country or people, their lives, history, institutions, customs, or … about cultural icons produced, such as literature, art, architecture, or music. It is viewed as teaching pieces of information about culture.

Dynamic sees cultures as a set of practices in which people engage in order to live their lives. are variable and changing. Not everyone does everything in exactly the same way. As such, culture is not about information and things; it is about actions and understanding.

What have we taught?Traditional culture: focus on ‘high culture’, especially literature focus on prestigious examples of cultural

works product focus often separated from ‘language’

Culture studies: focus on history, geography, religion, food,

festivals, institutions, etc. emphasis on factual knowledge emphasis on ‘exotic’ product focus often separated from ‘language’

Culture as practices: focus on shared practices of a group emphasis on factual knowledge about how

these practices are enacted emphasis on traditional practices over

contemporary ones product focus may be separated from ‘language’

Common elements• culture is presented as

monolithic: ‘the culture”• cultural knowledge is

factual and external to the learner

• the culture learnt is that of the other: emphasis on exoticism

• the culture being studied is separated from the learner’s culture

• language is often marginalised in culture learning Source: Liddicoat, A. 2004, National Training, Asian Languages Professional Learning Project Phase 1, Melbourne: Asia Education Foundation

Culture …

is multifaceted, variable and dynamic is created through interaction rather than a pre-existing construct is fundamentally related to our understanding of who we are learning involves reflection of the self, the other and one’s own reactions to both

Elements of Intercultural Understanding …

Recognising culture and developing respectInteracting and empathising with others Reflecting on intercultural experiences and taking responsibility


Recognising culture and developing respect

– investigate culture and cultural identity – explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs

and practices – develop respect for cultural diversity.


Interacting and empathising with others

– communicate across cultures – consider and develop multiple perspectives – empathise with others.


Reflecting on intercultural experiences and taking responsibility

– reflect on intercultural experiences – challenge stereotypes and prejudices – mediate cultural difference.

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Pdf/Intercultural-understanding




Self as learner

What skills, capacities, knowledge do I currently have?What do I need to develop?How might I develop these?

A snowball of challenges

What are the main challenges in your context in working interculturally?Write on a sticky noteScrew up and throw into boxSelect a new oneDiscuss solutions

Documents

Intercultural Understanding