CULTURE

How do you define culture? Why does it matter? Culture is the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts with which the members of society use to understand their world and one another. (NCCRESt, 2012) “Culture is the context for everything” —Saskatoon Public Schools, 2011 Culture shapes people’s values and beliefs: Think about how your own culture shaped your values and beliefs and how your culture plays into the work you do. Picture source: sites.tenafly.k12.nj.us Video on picture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWynJkN5HbQ (what can of asian are you?) – someone asking about heritage. 5 minutes to discuss the questions and write down answers on your easel Then each group will have 1 min to present to the whole group Sum of the list of things discussed: Are we born with a culture? Culture is not something that we are born with, but rather it is learned – imparted to us through our upbringing and exposure to the practices and rules of conduct of the culture which we are part of. Culture is shared by a society and members of a society agree about the meanings of things and why. Elicit examples – how do we share culture? Please give us examples Culture is dynamic – always changing. How is culture changing? Culture teaches values and priorities, which in turn shape attitudes Culture prescribes behavior and members of a society usually behave in ways that they think appropriate or acceptable in their culture. However, what may be acceptable or appropriate in one culture may be unacceptable in another culture.

Cultural “Tree” Culture has often been compared to a tree. The visible part of the tree (branches, leaves, etc) represent the visible parts of culture (food, dress, music etc). However, it is the part of the tree that is not visible – the roots – that determine what the tree looks like. Similarly, it is the invisible aspects of culture (e. g. shared values and beliefs) that determine – to a large extent – how people dress, what, when and how they eat, how they dance, what behavior they find right or wrong. -

Cultural “Iceberg” Question: What are the implications of the iceberg analogy? Most of the iceberg (beliefs, values) is under the surface? The visible part of the iceberg are behaviours? – Edward T. Hall used an iceberg to further explore the components of culture. cultural differences are hard to perceive, students may find themselves reprimanded by teachers but fail to understand what they did that caused concern. There are aspects of our culture that is visible and invisible. What are some of the visible aspects of your culture? Dress, food, language, literature, music, games, rituals, visual arts, festivals What are some of the invisible aspects of your culture? Beliefs norms, communication styles, handling emotions, values, notions of time, notions of modesty, ethics, competition vs cooperation, etc. We need to go beyond the surface to really get to know the person so that we can avoid stereotypes, prejudice, racism and discrimination.

Activity #1: What is in your cultural backpack? Distribute the handout and ask participants to fill in the artifacts from their own culture. Compare the responses looking for similarities and differences. Of the cultural artifacts, what ones are of most importance to you in your personal and professional lives?

Culture: Biases How we react to people from different backgrounds is influenced by many factors: Our own personal experiences with people from that background. What we've heard about people from this background from our families, peers, the media, popular culture, school, religious institutions, and so on. Whether we see ourselves as sharing any values, goals, and ways of doing things with people of this background. Whether people from this background have any control over the things that make them different from us. How much power we believe people of this background have in our society and any laws or special programs we know about that affect how people of this background are treated.

CULTURE: ASSUMPTIONS Activity #2: Based on your experience, what are some of the beliefs and assumptions that you might have about the following cultures? Brazilian Syrian Indigenous (Aboriginal) American Ukrainian Chinese Somalian Invisible culture is not always taught in explicit instruction. It is very important to learn both visible and invisible culture. And to better understand culture we need to recognize that sometimes we interpret what we see but actual meaning may be different. And sometimes, we have this urge to change our culture in order to adapt to another culture. BUT PLEASE DON’T. There is no need to change. All we really have to do is to become more self aware of the biases and stereotypes that we have. Really a sense of awareness that things might be different for different people. So try to refrain from judging too quickly!

Activity #3: Self-assessment CULTURE: ASSUMPTIONS Activity #3: Self-assessment What are your perceptions of people from different racial or ethnic groups? With language or dialects different from yours? With special needs? What are the sources of these perceptions (e.g., friends, relatives, television, movies)? Have you experienced others’ making assumptions about you based on your membership in a specific group? How did you feel? When you were in school, how often did social relationships develop among students from different racial or ethnic backgrounds in the classroom and in the school? What was the nature of these relationships? Source: Adapted from Bromley (1998).

DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE Sense of Self and Space: Distance/Touch/Formal/Informal Communication and Language: Language/Dialect/Gestures/Expressions/Tone/Direct/Indirect Dress and Appearance: Clothing/Hairstyle/Grooming Food and Eating Habits: Food Restrictions/taboos/Utensils/Hands/Food Preferences/Manners/Rituals Time and Time Consciousness: Punctuality/Promptness/Age/Status/Pace Sense of Self and Space Distance Touch Formal/Informal Communication and Language Language/Dialect Gestures/Expressions/Tone Direct/Indirect Dress and Appearance Clothing Hairstyle Grooming Food and Eating Habits Food Restrictions/taboos Utensils/hands Food preferences Manners/rituals Time and Time Consciousness Punctuality/Promptness Age/Status Pace Relationships Family/Friends Age/Gender Status/Authority Values and Norms Group/Individual Independence/Conformity Privacy Respect Competition/Cooperation Beliefs and Attitudes Religion/Spirituality Position of Women Social Order Mental process and learning Rational/Emotional Holistic/Individualistic Work Habits and Practices Work ethics Remuneration/Promotions Division of Labour Status of type of Work

DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE Relationships Values and Norms Family/Friends/Age/Gender/Status/Authority Values and Norms Group/Individual/Independence/Conformity/Privacy/Respect/Competition/Cooperation Beliefs and Attitudes Religion/Spirituality/Position of Women/Social Order Mental process and learning Rational/Emotional/Holistic/Individualistic Work Habits and Practices Work ethics/Renumeration/Promotions/Division of Labour/Status of type of Work

“Collectivist” vs. “Individualistic” Cultures Hall (1976) describes societies as being either “collectivist” or “individualistic” cultures: Collectivist – have strong interpersonal bonds and extensive networks with members of their in-group. Individualist – compartmentalize their personal relationships; they prefer lots of background information.

Intercultural Communication Collectivist Cultures: Asian, African and Natives of Canada and America Less focus on verbal interactions More focus on nonverbal interactions Often use indirect style More reliant on hierarchies Implicit: Context is more important Silence/long pauses are valued Individualist Cultures: Mostly Anglo-European Americans More focus on verbal interactions Less focus on nonverbal interactions Mainly use direct style Value equal status Explicit: words are more important Silence is viewed incompetent & uncomfortable

Cultural Adjustment Curve Step 5: Adaptation and assimilation; bridging into the community, social engagement, language proficiency, employment, friendships, cultural mosaic. Step 3: Building skills and knowledge; Language, schools, housing, food, relationships, norms, employment. Children often adjusting quicker than parents. Step 1: Everything is new, different and exciting; a new chance and opportunity; “a gift” Step 4: Cultural adjustments, social norms, employment, housing, engaging different communities. Step 2: Frustration, annoyance; “culture shock”; challenges (language, food, weather, money, homesickness)