cultural self awareness tools suml

NAFSA REGION V CONFERENCENOVEMBER 6, 2008LINCOLNSHIRE, IL

DR. STEPHEN APPIAH-PADIDIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL &

INTERCULTURAL EDUCATIONLANSING COMMUNITY COLLEGE

LANSING, MICHIGANAPPIAHPS@LCC.EDU 517-483-1006

Cultural Self-Awareness—Exploring Important Tools for

Cultural Intelligence

What is Your Cultural Metaphor?

Complete this sentence:

To me culture is like----------------------

Cultural Awareness Tools

Socialization

Rolling the DIE

Mental Models

Ladder of Inference

Paradigm Shift

SOCIALIZATION

The general process of learning the social norms of the culture as one grows in an environment.

Harro, Bobbie (2000). “The Cycle of Socialization”, in Maurianne Adams et al, Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York : Routeledge. pp. 15-21

Sonnenschein, William (1999). Diversity Toolkit, Contemporary Books. pp. 32-34

ROLLING THE DIE

Take a good look at this picture and tell me something about it.

(What can you say about it?)

One or two sentences will be okay.

Take a good look at this picture and tell me something about it.

(What can you say about it?) in One or two sentences.

Description– information gathered when we see, hear, smell, touch & tasteWe do not all see,… the same way

Interpretation— What we think about what we see, hear, smell, touch & tasteDifferent backgrounds & experiences affect interpretation differently

Evaluation— What we feel about what we think, and what assessment of value- positive or negative-we attach to our interpretationsDifferent values, different evaluations

DESCRIPTIONShe did not make eye contact with me when I was talking to her

INTERPRETATIONShe was embarrassed

EVALUATION OF INTERPRETATION (POSITIVE)She is shy

DESCRIPTIONShe did not make eye contact with me when I was talking to her

INTERPRETATIONShe was not interested in what I was saying

EVALUATION OF INTERPRETATION (NEGATIVE) She is rude

ROLLING the D. I. E.

By Rolling the DIE we are forced to look into ourselves to determine why we hold certain beliefs or why we interpret things in a particular way. It is also an excellent tool for learning about others and for communicating to others—William Sonnenschein, Diversity Toolkit., p. 43.

MENTAL MODELS & ASSUMPTIONS

A Story

A business man had just turned off the lights in the store when a man appeared and demanded money. The owner opened a cash register. The contents of the cash register were scooped up, and the man sped away. A member of the police force was notified promptly.

????????????????????

What title would you give to this story? Why?A man appeared after the owner had turned off his store lights. (true or false)The robber was a man. (true or false)After the man who demanded the money scooped up the contents of the cash register, he ran away. (true or false)

The content of this story & some of the questions are portions of the "Uncritical Inference Test". copyrighted, 1955,1964,1967 by William V. Haney.

Some Lessons from the Story

It is important to be aware of assumptions, and recognize one is making them, though sometimes it will be necessary to make assumptions (due to urgency of decisions, lacking complete information).

Assumptions made by individuals (even for same questions) are different.

Mental Models shape our assumptions.

Mental models are the images,assumptions, and stories which we carry in our minds of ourselves, other people, institutions, and every aspect of the world. They determine what we see, how we make sense of them, and how we act. They are invisible until we look for them. Differences between mental models explain why two people can observe the same event and describe it differently.

MENTAL MODELS

Our mental models determine not only how we make sense of the world but how we take action. Mental models can be simple generalizations such as “people are untrustworthy”, or they can be complex theories, such as my assumptions about why members of my family interact as they do…. Mental models are active- they shape how we act… because they affect what we see.

— Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of Learning Organizations, p. 175

LADDER OF INFERENCE

Ladder of Inference

A mental pathway of increasing abstraction, often leading to misguided beliefs— Peter Senge. 5th Discipline Fieldbook

LADDER OF INFERENCE From The 5th Discipline Fieldbook, Peter Senge, 1994. p. 243

Using the Ladder of Inference

Reflection— Becoming more aware of your own thinking and reasoning

Advocacy— Making your thinking and reasoning more visible to others (e.g. When I use the word “maverick”… I mean…)

Inquiry— Inquiring into others’ thinking and reasoning through dialogue (e.g. Can you run me through your reasoning on this?)

The Ladder helps us to analyze and understand how we make meaning or come to conclusions.

Awareness of the ladder helps us to understand our long standing assumptions and therefore lead us to change our mental models.

PARADIGM

A Paradigm is a framework of thought (from the Greek Paradigma, 'Pattern').

A Paradigm is a set of rules or regulations that:establish boundariesprovide rules for successact as filters that screen data from an observerOur paradigms filter incoming experience and tend to screen out/in new data.

Paradigm Effect— Our paradigm has the ability to keep us from seeing things happening around us. Every time you run into something that is beyond your paradigm, you just will not see it. It is the lens that controls what we see.

Paradigm Paralysis— Ability of the old paradigm to make us blind to the new. The result of inflexibility.

Paradigm Flexibility— Ability to change the rules, to see the world anew, or flex your paradigm. You can choose to see your current paradigms as they are, anticipate new paradigms and change how you think.

PARADIGMS

Paradigm Shift— A change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis.

Paradigm Pioneers— Practitioners of the new paradigm. Creators of new paradigms are mostly outsiders, at the edge, or insiders who think outside the box. They are brave and defiant. You may call them “positive deviants”.

What ideas, cultural changes, or relationship issues are you finding difficult to embrace? What can you do to overcome your own “paradigm paralysis”? How can you develop “paradigm flexibility” with the issues you have identified? In what diversity issues in your workplace do you think you can become a “paradigm pioneer”? What significant changes would you affect?

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE

Some Questions for Discussion

How do you prepare your students for cultural experience abroad?

What do you emphasize in your diversity class/ workshop for students?

What is your approach to diversity on your campus?

Cultural Intelligence

The capability to interact effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds. CQ explains why some people may be smart and socially adept but can still have problems adjusting to a new cultural context.

Knowledge about Cultures (facts & cultural traits)+ Awareness (of yourself and others)+ Specific Skills (behaviors)= Cultural Intelligence

REFERENCES

Adams, M. et al (2000). Readings for Diversity and Social Change. New York, NY : Routledge.Kuhn, T. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Sonnenschein, W. (1997) The Diversity Toolkit: How You can Build and Benefit from a Diverse Workforce. Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books.Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of Learning Organizations, New York : DoubledaySenge, P. et al (1994) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization. New York : Doubleday

REFERENCES

Earley, P.C. & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures, Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press.Peterson, Brooks (2004). Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures. Boston, MA : Intercultural Press.Thomas, D.C. & Inkson, K. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business, San Francisco, CA : Berrett-Koehler.The Business of Paradigms: Discovering the Future (Video by Joel Baker)