BUILDING CULTURAL AWARENESS

STEP INTO MY SHOES

WORKSHOP

17.01.2019BULGARIA

BUILDING CULTURAL AWARENESS

ROOTS AND OFFSHOOTS(ERASMUS+)

CONTENT

INTRINODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

THE CONCEPT OF DIVERSITY AND ITS DIMENSIONS

CULTURE

STEREOTYPES

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

The demographic makeup of European society haschanged dramatically in the last 25 years, and it willcontinue to change. Living and working in our societywill require that each of us become increasingly awareof the challenge of cultural change.This workshop provides an overview of the concept of cultural diversity.

It will help you• Increase your awareness of the various dimensions ofdiversity.• Examine your own cultural identity and how thatidentity affects your relationships with others.• Become more aware of your own attitudes, percep-tions, and feelings about various aspects of diversity.• Make a commitment to increase your understandingof diversity issues.

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WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

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The short answer: differences. Human diversity means differences among people. It’s all of us in our rich and infinite variety.

WHY DO WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUTDIVERSITY?

Trend 1:The global market

Trend 2:The makeup of Europeanpopulation began changing dramatically.

Trend 3: The mosaic society of Europe

We have all heard the expression that our world is shrinking. To a large extent, the strength of our economy depends on our ability to do business with countries in other parts of the world. To stay competitive in the world market, Europe must design products that meet the needs of people from other cultures. In addition, we must develop strategies for marketing those products to other countries. Such activities bring diverse peoples to the planning and negotiating table. If we want to sell our products and make profitable business deals with people from other countries, it only makes good business sense to develop an understanding and appreciation of their cultures—their languages, needs, wants, and customs.

TREND 1 THE GLOBAL MARKET

TREND 2 CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS

The Asian population will be the fastest-growing population and will more than double in size.

Motto of the EU: United in diversity

Trend 3: The concept of Europe

In a “mosaic” society, individuals maintain their own cultural patterns, such as language, lifestyle, and religious practices. Differences are valued and appreciated, as when countless colored stones join together to form a mosaic.As a result, individuals can be proud of their cultural heritage and uniqueness instead of being ashamed of their differences.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY

Diversity includes everyone, because people differfrom one another in many ways. In other words, thereare many dimensions of diversity.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY

SECONDARY DIMENSIONS:RELIGIOUS BELIEFSINCOMEEDUCATION OCCUPATIONGEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

PRIMARY DIMENSIONS:AGERACEETHNICITYGENDERPHISICAL ABILITIES/ QUALITIES

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY

THERE ARE NINE IMPORTANT THINGS WE NOTICE ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN OUR SOCIETY. PLEASE, TRY TO LIST THEM

TASK 1Take a few minutes to think about your own community. Consider each of the followingdimensions of diversity:

Physical/ mental limitations

Gender

Ethnicity

Age

Religion

Education

DISCUSSION:1. How important is each of these differences to the people in your community or workplace?2. Are people treated differently based on these factors? 3. Are decisions made about people based on these factors?

COFFEE BREAK

CULTURE

Culture is the totality of values, beliefs, and behaviorscommon to a large group of people. A culture may in-clude shared language and folklore, communicationstyles, and ideas and thinking patterns—the “truths”accepted by members of the group. Members of a cul-ture have similar expectations of life.

Culture can be further defined as the body oflearned beliefs, traditions, principles, and guides forbehavior that are shared among members of a particular group. Culture serves as a roadmap for both perceiving and interacting with the world.Another way we can define culture is to saythat culture is the behavioral software “that programs us all.”

CULTURE

• The friends you associate with• The social activities you enjoy• The foods you prefer• The religion you practice• The clothing you wear• The neighborhood you live in• The vehicle you drive• The music you enjoy• The language(s) you speak

Imagine that you woke up tomorrow morning and found that you belonged to another culture, another ethnic group, or some other dimension of diversity. Consider the items below with your new culture/group in mind.

TASK 2

DISCUSSION

1. What parts of my life would remain the same?2. What parts of my life would be different?

WHERE DID WE RECEIVE OUR CULTURAL PROGRAMMING?

Where Did We Receive Our Cultural Programming?

Family

Neighbours

Travel

Work

Church

Friends

Media

Education

Cultural Filters- “On Automatic”

WRITE A SUBTITLE

“On Automatic”

Because each of us is different, we see and interpret behavior through our own cultural filter. One effect of our cultural programming is that it puts us “on automatic.”When we were children learning about the world,some of the messages we received about people who are different from us were misinformation. Some of these messages came from our parents, friends, teachers, and others. These people did not intend to feed us misinformation. They were simply passing on the messages that had been passed down to them. Some of the messages we received came from people. Some of the messages came from media, such as television and textbooks.

STEREOTYPES

Some of the misinformation constituted stereotypes, These stereotypes became “mental tapes” that affected what we thought and how we felt about people who were different from ourselves. Those tapes also affected how we responded to people who were different from us.Those responses became automatic. As adults, most of us are still on automatic.

Read each word or phrase below one at a time. For each one, note the first thought that comes to yourmind. Don’t spend a lot of time thinking—just note the first thing that comes to mind.

TASK 3

actor

handsome charming spoiled

lawyer

evasive, expensive someone who compromises

professor

absent-minded, intelligent, educator, lifelong learning

man in a wheelchair

weak, helpless, dependent, suffering

police officer

helpful trustworthy fine beater/abuser risk-taker

plump lady

lacking in discipline lazy greedy unattractive jolly

When we stereotype, we place a person in a particular“mental file” not based on information gained throughknowledge about or personal experience with the particular person. Rather, we assign the person to a “mental file” based on what we believe about a group towhich the person belongs.

Stereotypes exist for every group of people imaginable. Even though we may not like to admit that we stereotype people, we all do it. Stereotyping makes it easier to function in a world filled with unknowns. Stereotypes help us organize our thinking and manage massive amounts of information. We classify the infinite variety of human beings into a convenient handful of “types.” Once in place, stereotypes are difficult to undo. It’s hard to get off “automatic.”

Step 1

Step 3

Step 2

DEVELOPING DIVERSITY COMPETENCE

Knowledge

Awareness

Skills

Action/Behavior

Step 4

Awareness

Recognize differences as diversity rather than abnormal behavior

Respect the benefits of diverse values and behaviors to people and to the organization.

Have a clear sense of your individual culture.

Understand how the culture of your organization affects those whose culture is different.

Accept that each culture finds some values more important and some behaviors more desirable than others.

Understand the effect that historic distrust has on present-day interactions.

Recognize your own ethnocentricity—the ways inwhich you stereotype, judge, and discriminate, and your emotional reactions to conflicting cultural values

Recognize the similarities that are shared across the“human culture,” regardless of the differences thatexist among individual cultures and groups. Theseinclude, but are not limited to: desire for safety, goodhealth, education and well-being of our children,love and belongingness, self-esteem (feeling of wor-thiness), and the ability to pursue and achieve our

Recognize the similarities that are shared across the “human culture,” regardless of the differences that exist among individual cultures and groups. These include, but are not limited to: desire for safety, good health, education and well-being of our children, love and belongingness, self-esteem (feeling of worthiness), and the ability to pursue and achieve our potential.

Awareness

KNOWLEDGE

• Learn factual information about other cultures and groups with different backgrounds.• Read an article or book about a cultural or social group different from your background. Compareyour views with those of the author.• See a movie about other cultural lifestyles. Compare how you live your life to what you’ve seen on film.• Attend a cultural event, celebration, or holiday program of a different culture that you have never expe-rienced before. Compare the similarities and differences of this event/celebration to those of your cul-tural group. Find out the meanings behind the differences.• Learn a new language.• Interview a person from a different culture to learn about their culture. How did they grow up? Whatwere the important messages passed on to family members? How are children viewed? Older people?

• Take personal responsibility for the way you respondto difference.• Make continued and sincere attempts to understandthe world from others’ points of view.• Develop skills in cross-cultural communication.• Develop problem-solving skills.• Develop skills in conflict management.• Look for ways to work effectively with diversegroups of people.

SKILLS

• Teach others about cultural differences.• Develop a mentoring relationship with someone from a different culture or identity group.• Show more patience when working and interacting with people who have different learning styles thanyou.• Integrate diversity issues as an ongoing topic in staff meetings at work.• Develop a personal plan for continued learning toward diversity competency

Action/Behavior

THANK YOU!