Crossing the Cultural Gap

Discovering another culture

Jane Coates

I’m normal - you’re strange!

Steps along the way to cross-cultural understanding and

acceptance

Enter another worldExperiencing new

worlds

»“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

» Issac Newton, English Scientist “Father of Modern Science”, (1643-1727)

»“The future belongs to people who see possibilities before they become obvious.”

Ted Levitt

Understanding and Attitudes towards

culture

• We judge others by our own perspectives-our own viewpoint.

‘‘the first thing an Englishman does on the first thing an Englishman does on going abroad is to find fault,,, going abroad is to find fault,,, because it is not English!’because it is not English!’

(William Hazlitt)(William Hazlitt)

Burnett’s diagram

art

worldview

politics education

legalenvironment

familyreligion

health

culture

culture

What is culture? Willowbank Report 1978

A system – Of beliefs – Of values (what is true, good, beautiful)– Of customs (behaviour, relating to others,

dress, work, play, eat…)– Of institutions which express these beliefs,

values and customs (governments, law courts, temples, family, schools, hospitals…) these bind a society together giving it a sense of identity, dignity and security

History Customs Traditions

Climate Beliefs Moral Teachings

Geography Social Class Systems

Family Values Population Size Music

Rights, Freedoms and expectations

Political History

Culture is determined by:

the way we do things here! • Culture is a way of life for everybody. • Culture is a human creation • Culture is a plan for living. • Culture changes • Culture is social • Culture is learned• Culture may be unconscious• Culture is more or less integrated• Culture contains sub-cultures

Culture

• Shared knowledge• Shared values• Shared perspectives• Shared beliefs• Shared behaviour Generalisations and stereotypes• Stereotypes are dangerous as they may

trick us into believing that knowing a few stereotypes is the same thing as understanding another culture.

Chinese Culture• A Collectivist culture-view themselves

as members of a group-family/work unit/-consider the needs of the group to be more important than the needs of the individual

• Obligation to help others in their group• Generosity• Shared values-The host culture• Modesty• Tend to communicate in a way that is

more indirect and subtle

Chinese Culture

• High degree of conformity is expected-a clear consensus as to what is/is not acceptable behaviour. Pressure to conform

• China’s long history and culture• Holistic medicine• Relationships with the world• Self respect, dignity and ‘face’ are

perhaps more important in Chinese culture.

That strange British Culture!

• An Individualist culture-emphasis is on the needs of the individual

• The need for personal space/privacy• Independence/self reliance• High achievement/career • Take credit and responsibilty for

what they have achieved• Try to place limits on the power of

people in authority• Equality• De-emphasize differences in rank and

power by creating an appearance of equality

That strange British Culture!

• Inability to accept compliments• Reluctance to answer personal questions• A clear and firm distinction between your

private and your public life• Westerners tend to speak directly-plainly

and openly- they ‘get to the point’ (perhaps more common in men than in women)

• Tolerant of behaviour that does not conform to cultural norms-accept a wide range of views and values

• Family relationships-care of elderly/independence of the young.

Culture• A western Manager has been told by the

company that she has to reduce staff by firing one of two technicians. Both have been with the company for 5 years and their work performance is equal.

• A is from the local town, is easy to work with, has good friends in the company-including the manager. His wife has a long term illness and cannot work so the family depend on him financially. He has a BA Degree

• B comes from another part of the country, is very difficult to get along with and knows few people in the company. He is single and so has no family financial obligations. He has a Masters Degree.

• Which of these two technicians would the westerner consider firing?

Culture• Ethnocentrism

• We tend to use the norms of our own culture as standards when we judge the behaviour of people from other cultures.

• We need to try to understand the world from other cultural perspectives.

• We are often not even aware of the cultural assumptions that we make.

Culture

• Is communication between people of different cultures really different from communication between people of the same culture?

• In one sense, yes. People who share the same culture can usually understand each other much better than people who are from different cultures, so the "gap of understanding" is usually much greater in intercultural communication. This makes it especially important for people to be careful in how they communicate.

Culture The Critical Incident Exercise:

• Write a critical incident story, perhaps based on a real incident that occurred between Chinese and foreigners

What are the things you would expect to be different in going

into a different culture?

For example, when you have met foreign Teachers, what have you found to be different about them?