Understanding the
Intercultural Development
Continuum
A framework to explore differences
Presented by
Phyllis D. Braxton, M.Ed.
President & Founder
PINK Consulting, LLC
phyllis@pinkconsultingllc.com
651-226-3934
This stuff is hard work!
Herding Cats Video
Intercultural Competence
The capability to accurately
understand and adapt behavior to
cultural difference and commonality.
Definitions
✤Diversity
✦The fact of human difference that may make a
difference
✦ Nehrwr-Abdul Wahid
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What is culture?
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patterns
of shared basic assumptions and behaviors
that help us approach challenges / problems
that are learned/taught to all members (implicitly
and/or explicitly)
as the correct way to perceive, think and feel
The Iceberg Model of
Culture
Fine Arts
Food
Clothing Language
Traditional Dances
Cultural Symbols
Primarily in
Awareness
Verbal and Non-Verbal
Symbols
Incentives to Work Concept of Justice Patterns of Relations
Patterns of handling emotions Patterns of Group Decision Making
Conception
of Cleanliness
Status Mobility
What
do thoseConception
symbolsofmean?
Eye Behavior Attitudes toward the Dependent
Approaches to Problem Solving
Ordering of Time
Patterns of handling conflict
Body Language
Roles inWhat
Relationdrives
to Statusaby
age, sex, class,
occupation,
person’s
thinking,
feeling,
kinship, etc
Notions of Leadership
Nature of Friendship
behaving?
Conception of Past & Future
Tempo of Work
Theory of Disease
Notions of logic and validity
Preference For Competition /Cooperation
Primarily Social Interaction Rate Patterns of Communication
Arrangement of physical space
out of Facial expressions
and much much more . . . .
Awareness
Culture as Experience
“A person can be a witness to a tremendous parade of episodes
and yet, if they fail to keep making something out of them, or
if they wait until they have all occurred before they attempt to
re-construe them, they gain little in the way of experience
from having been around when they happened”
George Kelly. A Theory of Personality: The Psychology of Personal Constructs.
New York: W.W. Norton, 1963
IDI = A measure of Intercultural Competence Based on
the Intercultural Development Theory
IDC
IDI
Theory
Measure
The IDI as a Measurement Tool
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Quantifies the subjective “experience” of
cultural differences
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Measurement is a “snapshot” of a
developmental process
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Descriptive & prescriptive
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Culture general in focus
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Does not stand alone - Contexting Questions
Mindset / Skillset
• This work serves as an invitation to continue to develop
a more complex way of looking at and interacting with
culture.
• This work is not attempting to change values, attitudes,
beliefs or morals.
• This work is designed to increase capabilities to
recognize and effectively respond to cultural
differences and similarities.
• This work is attempting to expand your tool kit and skill
set in intercultural interactions.
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
Monocultural
Mindset
Intercultural
Mindset
DENIAL
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“Well, I guess I’ll have the ham and eggs”
POLARIZATION
Defense & Reversal
Judgmental Orientation
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Polarization - Defense
DAMN!
“Neanderthals, Neanderthals! Can’t make fire! Can’t make spear!
Nyah, nyah, nyah…!”
Polarization - Reversal
DAMN!
WOW!
I’m aweful
MINIMIZATION
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“Inadvertently Roy dooms the entire earth to annihilation, when, in an
attempt to be friendly, he seizes their leader by the head and shakes
vigorously”
ACCEPTANCE
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“Well of course I did it in cold blood, I’m cold-blooded!”
ADAPTATION
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Realizing something different needed to be done, the cheetah embraced
change and took action…
Denial of Difference
• Comfortable with the familiar; and not anxious to
“complicate” life with cultural differences
• “My culture is experienced as central to reality”
• Lack rich experiences with cultural difference—
though may be sophisticated in other areas
• Unable to see cultural differences
• Don’t see self as belonging to any cultural context
Primary Learning Emphasis
Begin to no)ce and confront cultural differences through superficial cultural awareness
Educa3onal Impact
Emphasis on topics familiar to teacher, even though students experience difficul)es that others would a=ribute to cultural difference.
Educational Impact:
!Emphasis on topics familiar to teacher, even though stude
experience difficulties that others would attribute to cultural difference.
Polarization of Differences - Defense
• Strong commitment to my own worldview
• Some distrust of different behavior or ideas
• Recognition of difference coupled with
negative evaluation
• Dualistic and Polarizing: the world is “us” and
“them”
• Denigration/Superiority
Primary Learning Emphasis
Coopera)ve ac)vi)es, shared needs/goals
Educa3onal Impact
Much more a=en)on paid towards difference, but difference is experienced as nega)ve
Polarization of Differences - Reversal
• The Peace Corps Volunteer syndrome
• Reverses the us/them polarization: “them”
becomes superior
• Mirror image of denial/defense and also
ethnocentric
• False Allies (white flip)
• Internalized Oppression
Primary Learning Emphasis
Recognize stereotypical nature of one’s percep)ons and be balanced in feedback
Educa3onal Impact
Lack of accountability and mentoring, over iden)fica)on with other culture
Minimization of Difference
• Focus on commonality / similarity
• Move beyond feeling of culture as threat
• Don’t denigrate; also avoid stereotypes
• People from other cultures are like me under the
surface
• I’m aware of other cultures and maybe even some
customs, celebrations, etc.
Primary Learning Emphasis
Cultural self-­‐awareness and general knowledge about cultural frameworks (e.g., different communica.on styles)
Educa3onal Impact
Desire to change students from tradi)onally marginalized communi)es to be more like dominant culture students.
Acceptance of Difference
• Recognize cultural patterns need to be understand
from perspective of other cultures
• Begin to explore cultural differences
• Non-evaluative & Curious of other cultures
• “More differences means more creative ideas!’
• Behavioral Relativism: All behavior exists in cultural
context
• Value Relativism: Beliefs and values exist in cultural
context
Primary Learning Emphasis
Culturally specific informa)on coupled with prac)cal applica)on
Educa3onal Impact
Provide alterna)ve assignments, see study and learning as ac)ve processes located in the life experience itself, teaching is concept based
Adaptation to Difference
• Recognize value of having more than one cultural
perspective available to you
• Can take other cultural perspectives to better
understand situations
• Can see world from variety of different frameworks to
understand and be understood
• Can alter perception and behavior according to cultural
context
• Frame shift comes before behavior shift (vice versa is
false/insincere)
• Not assimilation
Primary Learning Emphasis
Big picture strategies, deeper cultural exposure
Educa3onal Impact
Both teacher and student are teachers and learners in context
Organizational &
Educational
Implications
Denial in the classroom
• Focus is on fixed answers - one size fits all
• Few, if any categories of culture, cultural differences
simply have no meaning
• Create conditions of isolation
• Experience multi-cultural activities as much ado about
nothing
• “I don’t need to know about attitude.”
• Emphasis on topics familiar to teacher, even though
students experience difficulties that others would
attribute to cultural difference.
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Polarization of Differences in the classroom
• “knowledge” of traditionally marginalized communities
(ex. SOC) is generally from media stereotypes, fears
of these students and/or resentment.
• Remedial work and simplification of content
• Students are often physically or mentally divided up
into categories by perceived ability, same culture
segregation
• Blame the victim mentality
• No/little accountability of “the other”
• Over identification (peerness vs. teacher/student
relationship)
Minimization in the classroom
• Acknowledge own racial/ethnic identity although profess to
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be color blind.
May be infatuated with POC or other culturally different
groups than self.
Has superficial understanding of culture
Feelings of guilt, emotional discomfort, dissonance, anxiety in
dealing with race issues and “other” areas of difference. POC
seen as victims.
Differences are likely to be interpreted by using own life
experiences as the standard.
Reluctant to fully engage a hostile student over the matter of
race or other identity issues stemming from assumptions of
guilt
Desire to change students from traditionally marginalized
communities (TMC) to be more like dominant culture
students.
Overly personal with students from TMC
Acceptance in the classroom
• There is a tendency to “talk the talk” without “walking the
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walk”
Begin to acknowledge the need for more information about
cultural differences, highly motivated to see how she/he
unwittingly perpetuates discrimination.
Provide alternative assignments, studying and learning seen
as active processes, teaching is concept based
Provide several different resources, multiple approaches, see
student’s experience as a resource
Teacher display a solid understanding of the different
approaches to learning that different students exhibit and the
effect student attitude has on learning
Adaptation in the classroom
• Development of communication skills that enable IC
• Intentional use of frame-shifting to understand and takes the
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perspective of the student
Differentiation of instruction, changing curriculum and content
to maximize student involvement, student potential seen as
something that is changed by teacher practice
Responding to different learning styles through varied and
multiple activities, resources, learning materials
Accepting a variety of different responses; changing class
organization and instructing class by alternative forms of
assessment; using alternative ways to demonstrate learning
Denial: An orienta*on that likely recognizes observable cultural differences (e.g., food) but may not no*ce deeper cultural difference (e.g., conflict resolu*on styles) and may avoid or withdraw from cultural differences.
Polariza-on: A judgmental orienta*on that views cultural differences in terms of “us” and “them”. This can take the form of:
Defense: An uncri*cal view towards one’s own cultural values and prac*ces and an overly cri*cal view towards other cultural prac*ces.
Reversal: An overly cri*cal orienta*on towards one’s own cultural values and prac*ces and an uncri*cal view towards other cultural values and prac*ces.
Minimiza-on: An orienta*on that highlights cultural commonality and universal values and principles that may also mask deeper recogni*on and apprecia*on of cultural differences.
Acceptance: An orienta*on that recognizes and appreciates paGerns of cultural difference and commonality in one’s own and other cultures.
Adapta-on: An orienta*on that is capable of shiHing cultural perspec*ve and changing behavior in culturally appropriate and authen*c ways.
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