Image: ‘plane.jpg‘

July 19, 1990

Eugene airport. 5:50am.

I kiss my parents, brother, best friend, and everything that goes with senior year of high school good-bye. I hand my ticket to the gate agent. She tells me to enjoy my flight.

Then, I freeze.

As excited as I am about moving to Germany, second thoughts glue my feet to the airport carpet. What am I doing leaving my family, my friends, what’s supposed to be the best year of high school – everything that’s known, familiar, and comfortable – for the complete unknown? What if I get homesick? What if I can’t learn German? What if my friends forget about me?

I’m convinced that the gate agent will have to push me down the jetway and onto the plane. But she simply smiles at me.

I quickly realize that nobody is going to push me. The only person who can unfreeze me and get me moving down the jetway is me. So I take a deep breath, wave a final, somewhat teary good-bye, and board the smallest plane I’ve ever seen.

The plane door closes, and it’s official: I’m on my way to spend my senior year of high school living with a family I’d never met, speaking a language I barely knew, in a country I’d never visited.

I want to pat myself on the back and throw up at the same time.

November 16, 2010

Eugene airport. 5:50am.

In the 18+ years I’ve lived away from Eugene, I’ve only flown in/out of that airport a handful of times (I fly into Portland instead). Waiting to board my tiny commuter flight to Portland in the dark hours of the early morning that memory of being frozen in transition comes rushing back. It was 20 years ago but it feels like yesterday.

Yesterday. Last week. Last month. Much of 2010. I feel like I’ve been frozen in transition all year.

A few highlights: I started being asked to do consulting and training for some awesome organizations, got more involved in a national professional association, and celebrated my husband’s milestone birthday.

Then, Aaron’s Dad passed away. I got laid off. Worst of all, my grandma unexpectedly died. Somewhere in there Aaron and I celebrated our 10th anniversary.

Fortunately, not all of this year’s transitions were horrible, and the horrible events (namely the deaths of my father-in-law and grandmother) didn’t happen all at once. And I know that in the grand scheme of things, my year of transition is nothing compared to some people’s.

Anyway. Even as 2010 winds down, I still find myself in transition. But at least I no longer feel frozen in it, as I have for the past several months. I no longer feel like I did 20 years ago at the airport when I was frozen (albeit for only about 15 seconds) between the familiar and comfortable and the big scary unknown.

Instead, today I’m happily walking down the jetway, so to speak, to 2011…away from the familiar and comfortable last few years and towards all of the unknown a new year – and a new path – brings.

I want to pat myself on the back and throw up at the same time.

All this to say…

This will be the final post on CulturallyTeaching.com. I’ve launched a new website: SmallPlanetStudio.com. I’ve been transitioning to this website for a few months now and am so excited that’s if finally live.

SmallPlanetStudio.com is similar to CulturallyTeaching.com but the focus of SPS is on intercultural educators (i.e. teachers, students, intercultural trainers, consultants and coaches, homeschooling parents, etc…), rather than just K-12 teachers.

We’re also expanding the topics we’ll cover to include travel, global citizenship, study abroad, teaching, training and coaching, and cool people doing awesome things – in addition to intercultural communication, culture, and schools and education around the world.

You’ll also find an increasing number and variety of resources for intercultural educators – downloads, teleclasses, -workshops and -courses, and a bunch of other things. What I’m most excited about with SmallPlanetStudio.com is that we’re collaborating with some really fantastic intercultural educators.

So come on over and check out the cool logo my awesome friend created, a new series highlighting awesome people doing intercultural work, and photos from Ireland (where I am right now).

What this change to SmallPlanetStudio.com means for you:

:: If you subscribe to CulturallyTeaching.com’s RSS feed — you’ll need to re-subscribe to SmallPlanetStudio.com’s feed. Click here to do so.

:: If you’re an email subscriber, you may not have to do anything. I’m going to *try* to transfer you to SmallPlanetStudio.com’s new and improved email subscription list. If it doesn’t work, I’ll post a note here with instructions for re-subscribing to SmallPlanetStudio.com.

Thanks for reading CulturallyTeaching.com. See you over at SmallPlanetStudio.com!

This Wednesday, in a virtual SIETAR-NC event (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research, North Carolina) I’ll be talking with Gina Difino about her recent research on assessing intercultural competence in children. I used to work with Gina and I always enjoyed chatting with her about all things intercultural and educational. I’m really excited that she agreed to present her research at a SIETAR-NC meeting.

The best part: you’re invited! You don’t have to be a SIETAR-NC member to join Wednesday’s virtual event. Please visit the SIETAR-NC website for the call-in details and Gina’s 30-minute narrated PowerPoint about her research.

Here’s what Gina will talk about in Wednesday’s virtual SIETAR-NC meeting:

As interculturalists seek to guide individuals in their development of intercultural competence, we are continually seeking ways to assess the effectiveness of our work.  This research asks international educators whether they are concerned with assessing the development of intercultural competence in the children with which they work.

And here’s a little info about Gina:

Gina Difino’s interest in international education has taken her to study and work in four continents. As an anthropology major at Grinnell College (Iowa) she studied abroad in Senegal, and short-term in Eastern Europe. After completing her teaching practicum in Social Studies and French in Iowa, she taught high school Geography and English Language and Literature in Lesotho, Southern Africa.

Upon her return she taught Middle School Social Studies in North Carolina, serving as a team lead and school contact for the Duke Curriculum Project to integrate global learning in K-12 classrooms. As part of her work with VIF International Education, Gina has worked with teachers from all over the world advising, orienting, and supporting their cultural adjustments and teaching practices in the US, and interviewing and orienting teachers in Jamaica and the Philippines.

To complete her Master’s Degree in International Education, she studied in Panama and completed research on current assessment practices for intercultural education.

P.S.

Lots of really cool things have been developing recently and I can’t wait to share them with you! I’m still getting things sorted out, but I’ll update about said developments very soon…

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Image: ‘math problems for girls‘

by :: Anamaria

Note: This post is part of a series on direct and indirect communication. Here are the previous posts in the series:

:: What is your communication style?
:: We’re not fighting. We’re just being Romanian.
:: Indirect-direct communication styles.

In this post, we touch on communication styles in the classroom. It’s an important cross-cultural topic because everything that goes on in a classroom is impacted by students’ and teacher’s communication styles: student participation, student-student interactions, student-teacher interaction, classroom management, etc.

In previous posts we talked about two specific communication styles: direct and indirect. You can either re-read the posts (here, here & here) or read the “cliff notes” version below:

Direct communication is when the meaning of the message is communicated mainly via words, and is explicitly stated. With this communication style the onus is on the speaker to make sure the message is understood. (Example: I’m cold. Please close the window.)

Indirect communication is when meaning is not only in the words someone says, but also in the surrounding context of a conversation. So, somebody who is indirect will often leave it up to the listener to fill in the blanks and make out the meaning by correctly reading the contextual clues (e.g. what’s not being said, non-verbal communication, status and/or age of people involved in the conversation, attire, etc.). With this communication style, the onus is on the listener to make sense of the message. (Example: If the speaker wants the window closed they might say It sure is cold in here, isn’t it? or quietly putting on a sweater.)

Just like with cultural dimensions, it is important to remember that:

• Both communication styles are found in every culture.
• Context is key (how you communicate with your sister might be very different than how you communicate with your new boss).
• People have their own personal communication style preferences.

That said, cultures do tend to favor one style more than the other in many contexts. That said, the style a culture favors is best understood in contrast to another. So, for example, does the USA tend to favor direct or indirect communication? In comparison to some cultures (e.g. Japan), US Americans are more direct. In comparison to others (e.g. Germany), Americans are more indirect.

In the context of education, it’s interesting to think of how these two communication styles shape interactions in the classroom.

Students in direct communication cultures may:

• Feel free to offer differing opinions frankly.
• Feel comfortable directly contradicting someone else’s idea (in some cases, including the teacher’s).
• Tend to make many brief comments, emphasizing the self: “I said”, “my opinion”, etc.
• Sometimes jump from idea to another idea, as they believe a comment is worthwhile only if it is different from what was already said. Direct students might find expanding on somebody else’s thoughts, or build on somebody else’s idea not worthwhile.
• Try to keep ideas flowing, and avoid “dead air” when no one is talking.

Students in indirect communication cultures may:

• Speak fewer times in a conversation, but when they do, they usually connect things together.
• Don’t find “dead air” uncomfortable; silence is valued as a time to think through what is being said and make connections between ideas.
• Phrase their own ideas as building on someone else’s idea. Quick turn-taking is unusual in an indirect classroom.

An Example

Let’s assume that you are a teacher who’s used to a more indirect style of communication and you begin teaching students who are more used to a direct style of communication. Wow! Where do we even begin to talk about the difficulties that will most likely arise out of that situation?

Here are a few things likely to happen:

1. The teacher could perceive the students’ direct communication style and quick turn-taking as disrespectful.
2. The teacher could feel as if he/she has no authority in the classroom.
3. The students may perceive the teachers as not knowledgeable. In direct cultures, a sign of knowledge is being able to come up with new, fresh ideas. Being vocal is important. Less emphasis is placed on being able to expand on an existing idea, or on quietly thinking through issues. A teacher perceived as “quiet” in a vocal, direct classroom will have difficulty managing his/her students.

We’ve barely scratched the surface here with these three examples, and with communication styles in general. The topic of communication styles seems deceptively simple, when in reality the deeper you go the more complex you realize the topic is.

What are your thoughts on communication styles in the classroom? What’s the favored communication style in your culture? Classroom? What’s your personal communication style preference? Do you communicate differently with different people? Have you ever taught in a culture that favored a different communication style than you were used to?

Tell us in the comments!

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Image: ‘bear stencil‘

Last Thursday we held the first session of Christine’s Unite Your Brain: How to Effectively Use Visuals in Training, Teaching & Coaching telecourse*.

At one point, Christine explained how she’s used her VisualsSpeak image set to help groups develop a strategic vision. (I was interested in this process because I’d like to use VisualsSpeak with our SIETAR-NC group this year.)

Christine explained that one of the steps in the process is to ask a group to create two group images: one that represents where they see the organization today, and another that represents where they see the organization down the road. In other words, she’s asking about the present and the future.

This is pretty much the route I’d take if I were the facilitator, and I bet if you’re from the U.S. (and probably other parts of the world) you would do.

But Christine mentioned something that I found interesting, and not at all surprising:

Not everyone approaches developing a strategic vision using a present and future framework.

Here’s a short clip (about 2 minutes) from the class, in which Christine talks about her experience using this present and future framework with cross-cultural groups:

This is one example that shows why we need to 1) be aware of our own cultural perspectives, and 2) consider other cultural perspectives. (Always got to be on the look out for those cultural moonwalking bears!)

It also illustrates that even when we know that cultures differ, we can still find ourselves in situations where we haven’t anticipated a difference. In these situations, it’s easy to be caught off-guard by a difference or overlook it completely (which can lead to further problems down the road).

Especially if we’re working in an education or business context where everyone is speaking the same language and drawing on the same general educational or business principles and practices.

Would you use a present/future approach to strategic visioning?

Or would you use one of the approaches Christine mentioned in the clip (e.g. considering the past, telling a story based on a core value)? Or something different still? If you’ve done strategic visioning with a cross-cultural group, what kind of experience have you had? What kind of variation in approaches and preferences do you see within cultural groups?

(So many questions from a 2-minute audio clip…just imagine what’s in the other 58 minutes of the class!)

*If you’re wondering what Christine’s telecourse is all about, click here to learn more. I’ve also organized a course on marketing for interculturalists (the world needs to know what we do!) that starts on Wednesday  – click here to learn more about the marketing course.

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photo by Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester

Hey there! I know it’s been a little quiet around here (ehhh, understatement?). A lot has happened in the past few months (mostly good stuff, some not-to-good stuff, all gotta-deal-with-real-life stuff).

Anyway, stuff is happening/developing….such as this cool new thing I’ve been working on with 3 rockin’ colleagues. Please check it out and join us if you can!

photo by jumbledpile

by :: Anamaria

A while ago Cate and I came across a very interesting discussion thread on one of the on-line groups we belong to. We are grateful to Martina Rehm, who is originally from Germany, for allowing us to post her comments below.

The constant “praise” in the American school system (at least as I see it in my son’s school) surprised me after we relocated to the US from Germany. Although I try not to undermine the teaching methods the school decided on, my son (only 9 years old) sees and understands the “cultural difference” in the teaching approach. It takes a very confident 3rd grader to decide “against”some of the “reward methods”.

Let’s take the “Pizza Hut Book-it” competition every year. The children have to read a certain amount of pages in order to receive a free pizza. If they reach the class goal as well, they are invited for a pizza party in school. Do we really care more about HOW MANY PAGES the children read than WHAT they read?

My son’s friend explained to me that it is easy to reach the goal, you just read a book you already know from last year or listen to an audiobook or even cheat…. It does not seem to be important what they read, if it is a non fiction book the children might actually learn something from or if it is a comic. It also does not seem to matter if they read so fast that they don’t even remember what they read.

I can’t remember how many “Pizza Parties” or “Ice Cream Socials” my son’s school had last year for the children that reached a goal (reading, passing all spelling tests, running x. laps…..). Don’t get me wrong, I am all for rewards. But not too much. Hearing “good job” several times a day for average work makes it almost worthless.

First time I helped in school, one of the kids showed me their work (a very good friend of my son). I said that I liked the work but I believe that he could improve it by… Already the teacher took me aside to explain that we do not criticize the young children’s work.

Just like Marina, we are curious to hear what others think of the “praise/reward” methods in school systems around the world.  In other words, how are students where you live praised and rewarded in school? How much and what kind of praise and rewards do you think are helpful? When do you think it becomes too much?

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Even people who are obsessed with the TV show Lost want to know more about education across cultures:

I found this educational comment and question on a Lost message board where people where discussing last week’s episode  (in which parallel world off-island Alex needed a recommendation from someone who went to Yale University in order to apply and be accepted there).

The comment and question made me wonder about the college search and admissions process in other countries. I know what it’s like in Germany (similar to the U.K. system it seems) and the U.S., but what’s it like in the rest of the world?

What factors contributed to you choosing the university you attended?

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photo by pmorgan

Photographer’s note: Ba Li Ba Gai Village Middle School (China) students heading home for lunch. The new school building is part of a national government project to upgrade unsafe school buildings. Alas, there is no additional money for resources or teachers salaries.

See more of pmorgan’s school photos here.

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photo by MyDigitalSLR

by :: Anamaria

We recently talked about communication styles here and here. The theory on cross-cultural communication styles is extensive, but I think many people are familiar with the distinction between direct and indirect communication styles.

In a nutshell:

Direct communication is when the meaning of the message is communicated mainly via words.

Indirect communication is when meaning is not only in the words, but mainly in the surrounding context of a conversation. In other words, somebody who is indirect will leave it up to the listener to fill in the blanks and make out the meaning by correctly reading the contextual clues (e.g. non-verbal communication, status and/or age of people involved in the conversation, attire, etc.).

No matter how much we read about indirect communication, it is virtually impossible for a direct person to fully understand the complexity of indirectness until we’ve been immersed in it.

At a first “direct” glance, it will seem that indirect people can literally read people’s minds. A second, third and fourth … and often a hundredth glance will reveal the contextual clues, all those things that are not being said. Things that indirect people have been taught to see and to correctly interpret since the day they were born. Direct people are not being taught to look at the context for what is NOT being said when interpreting a message. They are taught to listen to the words being said.

Just like with cultural dimensions, it is important to remember that both communication styles are found in every culture. However, cultures do have tendencies towards one more than the other. Also, they manifest themselves differently in each culture (e.g. an indirect US American communicates very differently than an indirect Japanese person).

In the context of education, it’s interesting to think of how these two communication styles shape teacher-student interactions. Or student participation. Or classroom management styles.

Are there any teachers reading our blog who have taught in both indirect and direct cultures? Or teachers who taught students from both direct and indirect cultures? We would love to hear from you.

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photo by !borghetti

by :: Cate

When I was learning how to do ethnographic research I had to develop keen observational skills.

One of the things my classmates and I did to become better observers was to make the familiar strange.

In one activity, for example, we chose a situation or environment that we knew very well (e.g. a classroom, the check-out line in a supermarket, eating dinner, etc.). Then we observed and described the situation as if we were seeing it for the first time.

Doing this helped us uncover latent interpretations and assumptions. This was important because in collecting ethnographic data one strives to document meaning as determined by the observed, not the observer.

The practice of making the familiar strange taught us how to observe with the goal of understanding the perspectives of others.

If you want to be cross-culturally effective, develop keen observational skills.

Most of us go through a large part of our day on auto-pilot, quickly interpreting and categorizing what we see and experience. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Every day we’re  inundated with a huge amount of information, and we simply can’t stop and ponder every single thing we come into contact with.

But in order to be effective in cross-cultural situations, we need to disengage our cultural auto-pilot.

Instead of automatically interpreting what see or experience, we need to carefully observe it. We need to uncover our latent assumptions and interpretations. Making the familiar strange in our daily lives can help us develop the keen observational skills necessary to be cross-culturally effective.

Ask these 3 questions to improve your cross-cultural observation skills.

Even if you’re not in a cross-cultural situation right now, this simple practice can help you develop the observational skills that will come in handy the next time you are.

As you go through your day, look at everything  and everyone with new eyes. Pay close attention to interactions between people (e.g. greetings, a heated discussion, a parent-child interaction, etc.) and get in the habit of asking yourself these 3 questions:

1. What do I see?
   Describe what you see concretely and objectively. Avoid interpreting or evaluating.
   
2. Who do I see?
   What experiences and perspectives might they bring to the interaction that’s influencing their behavior?
3. How might the where influence the what?
   If the context changed, would the interaction between these people change?
   

What questions do you ask in order to better understand cross-cultural situations?

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