Bridging the intercultural divide
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Bridging the intercultural divide
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Bridging the intercultural divide
- 1. Delivered by the PAIE Program Toronto Region Conservation Authority
- 2. Direct and prolonged contact with a culture different from one’s own usually causes feelings of excitement as well as anxiety, disorientation and identity loss
- 3. The Four Stages of Cultural Shock 1 - Euphoric/Honeymoon Stage 2 – Culture Shock Stage 3 – Integration Stage 4 – Acceptance Stage
- 5. Perception of time Perception of space Different cultural interpretations of common North American gestures
- 6. Director: “I expected your report last week…” Kiran: “We are very sorry, but it is not ready yet.” Director: “But the funders’ deadline is tomorrow and…” Kiran: “We already had two community meetings and we feel that is will be necessary to meet again this weekend to get consensus, but we are making progress
- 7. Mrs. Clark: “Is the director there please?” Kiran: “No, she is on holidays. She won’t be here until next week” Mrs. Clark: “Who is in charge while she is away?” Kiran: “I am” Mrs. Clark: “Great! We need to know if we can go ahead and close the file on….” Kiran: “Would you mind calling her next week about this?”
- 8. Christine: “I like your accent Kiran. Where are you from?” Kiran: “I am from India” Christine: “Oh, how nice!” Kiran: “I’ve been here for a year, but my family is still there.” Christine: “Really? By the way, your English is really good.” Kiran: “Thank you. As I said, my whole family is still there and, I hope they can come soon because…..” Christine: “Kiran, I can’t talk right now because I have a meeting at 2 o’ clock and I can’t be late”
- 9. Manager: “Based on what you have told me about client needs over the past several months, I think we should change out intake form.” Worker: “But we have been using this form for years.” Manager: “I think we can improve it by adding some items and deleting others.” Worker: “But then we will have to change the way we do intakes.” Manager: “Sometimes change is good. Let’s get started!”
- 10. Fazila: “Please tell me, what are these?” ESL Teacher: “Loudspeakers” Fazila: “WHAT ARE THESE?” ESL Teacher: “Loudspeakers” Fazila: (yelling) “WHAT ARE THESE?”
- 11. Treat all people at work as individuals Respect personal names Turn fear into curiosity Avoid making generalizations Be open Never assume Never play favourites or treat others unfairly
- 12. Notice the economic and social dividing lines in your workplace and community Use acceptable terms for cultural groups Avoid making judgements based on the accent, timing, or pace of someone’s speech Laugh with people, not at them Expect to have to explain cultural unwritten rules
- 13. For more information on scheduling Lunch & Learns through the PAIE program, contact one of our program coordinators
Editor's Notes
- The “culture shock” phenomenon described by Homer in the Odyssey has been known for centuries. Kalervo Oberg was among the first to use the term to refer to an occupational disease affecting anthropologists, missionaries, and others who live and work abroad. After him, the term spread throughout social disciplines and continues to be used widely. An important distinction should be made between the usual examples of culture shock experienced by people from industralized nations visiting or living in Third World countries and the experiences of Third World immigrants and refugees coming to more developed countries. In the second case, the shock is more intimidating, as the actual experience is preceded by the perception, amplified by the host country’s media as “superior” (e.g., economically developed, technologically advanced) to the country of origin. As the immigrants is always disadvantaged initially, feelings of inferiority, the sense of coming from a ‘backward’ society, and pressures to ‘fit in quickly’ may predominate. The effects of culture shock can range from mild to severe depending on the cultural distance between the country of origin and the host society, individual personality traits, and past experiences. One of the major effects of cultural shock is on personal identity. The referential points of orientation and markers of identity are lost, especially the familiar faces, places, concepts, images, sounds, smells, and relationships that enable people to know who they are. People recognize such things – things they call “theirs” – things to which they belong and, in turn, which belong to them. Culture shock is not necessarily one big blow; rather, it results from many small cumulative indcidents that progressivley undermine a person’s sense of confidence and challenge the most basic sense of self. A less noted aspect of culture shock for immigrants is that although they may weather the initial phase and think that they have adjusted, it may affect them again unexpectedly, long after arrival in the host country. At certain times, a particularly embarassing sitaution or cultural misunderstanding may push the immigrant back to thinking that his/her efforts to understand the new surroundings are worthless.
- 1 – The sights, sounds, tastes and energy of the new location produce a high note by providing constant stiumlation and appealing to our human need for new experience and variety. Much like the rush of emotion one feels in a ‘love at first sight’ moment, the intense excitement, fascination, and need for MORE make Stage One an incredibly positive time in one’s life. New surroudings bring out latent aspects of one’s personality, and the newcomer feels like he/she is undergoing a personal/spiritual growth spurt. Family and friends can expect to be bombarded by emails and postcards full of adventures. 2 – Stage Two: After the shine rubs off and the endorphins leave one’s system, the newcomer quickly realizes that his/her initial impression may not have been all that accurate, and the ‘uglies’ of the place start revealing themselves. A sense of one might have been WRONG about their first impressions is too difficult for some to accept, so Stage Two may be temporarily avoided as the newcomer frantically attempts to maintain the fantasy of Stage One. Inevitably, the illusion does slip away, and the frustration and anger of Stage Two arrives. Newcomers may feel disillusioned, disappointed, disgusted and/or disapproving of their new culture. The inner critic takes over, projecting one’s personal struggle with change onto the new culture, turning their new home into enemy number one. What was initially ‘cool’ and ‘exotic’ becomes ridiculous, sub-standard and irritation. Stage Three: If a newcomer survives Stage Two, he/she can expect to be faced the Integration stage. At first, a feeling of emptiness or despondency is present. There is a sense of being stuck or unable to affect any change in one’s life. Homesickness may set in and a feeling of lethargy underlies everything one undertakes. This downtime is generally part of the integration whereby the previous identity of the newcomer stops the fighting the new influences and becomes more receptive to the unconscious changes that are taking place deep in one’s psyche. It is almost as if the newcomer is in an incubator waiting for a new, integrated identity to hatch to effectively engage with his/her new surroundings. Stage Four: This is where the newcomer is truly ‘living’ in the new home, participating as a member of society and becoming part of the local social fabric. Of course there will always be frustrations but a person who reaches Stage Four is able to make them livable. People in this stage manage to incorporate aspects of their new culture into their identity, which results in a new sense of self and an expanded way of perceiving the world.
- Perception of time: Depending on the culture, the concept of time varies significantly. For example, Japanese and Chinese cultures consider punctuality is very important and that being late would be considered an insult whereas in South-Asian culture, the attitude towards being punctual is very relaxed. Perception of space: Some cultures believe in the importance of keeping a distance while interacting. However, there are some that do not think personal space is important. Different cultural interpretations of common North American gestures: Example, the “a o.k” gesture is North American is interpreted as ‘everything is great’. In Brazil, it is considered an insult, in Russia it is intepreted as the number ‘zero’ and in Japan it symbolizes “money”.
- In this example, the director is well aware that not presenting a report on the community achievements to the funders on time may put the project’s finances at risk. Kiran’s priority is not the deadline or the report but obtaining community support for the project. In her culture, community support is gained through wide-ranging and lengthy discussions of the issues, often involving complex negotiations between group members. This takes time. Kiran is focusing on process rather than timelines and reports, which she perceives as artificial barriers to the most important objectives of the project
- Although Kiran, a program coordinator, has been put in charge of the office affairs, she believes that decision-making is the director’s doman. Following her cultural script, she defers authority and responsibility to her. She considers the director responsible in the double meaning of the word: able to respond and also the one held accountable for decisions. Her hierarchical view of authority makes her hesitatnt to exercise the decision-making powers granted to her in the director’s absence. She also fears that others might see her making a decision as crossing the line of authority. Mrs. Clark views the situation differently. In the director’s absence, she is quite pleased to be talking to the person in charge and expects Kiran to make a quick decision that will allow her to finish the task. She is more concerned with expediency than following the chain of command as Kiran sees it.
- Kiran, a recent newcomer to Canada, has met Christine, who is friendly and seems to care about who she is and where she comes from. Kiran is eager to meet people with whom she can share her story and listen to theirs. She feels that she is in Canada but not of Canada; thus, she is seeking social acceptance through relationships. In her culture, family plays a central social role and, by mentioning her family, she initiated what she expected to be a long conversation with Christine. Christine expected only a fleeting social interaction before leaving for her meeting. Her first question, however, elicited a world of emotions and expectations of which she was completely unaware. She focuses on the present and the positive aspects of Kiran’s integration (“Your English is very good”), while ignoring Kiran’s story and concerns connected to the past and country far away.
- Emphasis on change as positive is definitely a North American cultural characteristic. Although a part of North American, Canadians display mixed opinions about change. When Canadians are asked how they view it, some qualify it, “It depends….” Change to what, at what cost, at what pace? Others think that change is inherently good and/or that change is a fact of life that will happen anways so, why fight it? Although some immigrants share the same enthusiasm about change, most others perceive change as a risk, In fact, newcomers inherently go through multiple and radical changes during migration(s) and adaptation. They may perceive additional changes and modifications as overwhelming and potentially dangerous. Many immigrants feels that they have had to change so much that they don’t know who they are anymore. Some have a refusal to change to protect a sense of integrity.
- Instead of loudspeakers, Fazila understood “Speak louder” and she followed the teacher’s instructions accordingly.