Enhancing ISL through Intercultural Capability Victoria Calvert
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Agenda / Presentation Plan Cultural empathy, understanding, and capability are critical elements impacting student ISL experiences, with most pre-trip and on-site training and activities promoting superficial rather than deep and long-term understanding and development. My focus is a country and cultural preparedness model, with the Hofstede Model highlighted as an enabling tool for pre-trip, concurrent, and post-trip understanding.
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Goals • To avoid tourism volunteerism • To develop deep relationship with community hosts and agencies • To provide transformative opportunities for personal growth, development of cultural empathy, understanding and capability, and professional skills and knowledge • To minimize culture shock and reinforcement of power position 3
Informing ISL Preparedness •  The process of understanding the parameters of cultural dimensions for the home and host culture, clarifies the lenses through which visiting students perceive the actions and their personal interactions with the host country (Gregersen-Hermans & Pusch, 2012). The depth of understanding could contribute to the faster and more capable interaction with international community partners, and enable a better understanding for societal behaviors, and the logic for economic and political systems (Hofstede, 2010). 4 Â
What prompted this model • Trip to the Cook Islands employed standard pre-trip preparation, on-site debriefings, and reflective activities on-site and upon return • It was inadequate – as the cultural understanding was academic rather than real • Two examples that shocked myself and my students 5
Cultural training The structure for cultural training should address the following variables: the timing (pre-trip or in country), the nature (the models addressed and the pedagogy employed), the inclusion of assessment regarding culture (included or not, selfreflective or not, academic applications, onsite or pre-trip), and the impact upon and feedback from the community, focus upon empathy, understanding, or capability. 6 Â
Hofstede model • Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture In the 2010 edition of the book “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind”, scores on the dimensions are listed for 76 countries • Students can easily access through the Hofstede Centre • Compares up to three countries 7
Lost in Translation • Attendees answer five sample questions, we will then show country comparisons • Handout summary of Hofstede model
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Canada, US, Fiji 100 90 80 70 60
Canada
50
US
40
Fiji
30 20 10 0 Power
Individual
M/F
Undertainty 9
Japan, Ethiopia, Honduras 100 90 80 70 60
Japan
50
Ethiopia
40
Honduras
30 20 10 0 Power
Individual
M/F
Uncertainty 10
Russia, Saudi Arabia, China 100 90 80 70 60
Russia
50
Saudi
40
China
30 20 10 0 Power
Individual
M/F
Uncertainty 11
Sweden, Saudi Arabia, China 100 90 80 70 60
Sweden
50
Saudi
40
China
30 20 10 0 Power
Individual
M/F
Undertainty 12
The Model • Refer to handout
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Other Cultural Activities • Students compare advertisements from varied countries – picked randomly from jar apply Hofstede model, customs, economic/political/demographic/religion, to ads • Students visit local cultural centre/group of varied countries – speak to elders and those of their age group • Exercises from Building Cultural Competence (Berardo and Deardorff) 14
Questions and Comments?
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