DEALING WITH DIVERSITY
& INTERCULTURALITY
AS A SUPERVISOR
A Train-the Trainer-Module
Developed by the Grundtvig Learning
Partnership 2008-2010
“„Counseling in a Multicultural Europe
– A Key Competence within Life Long
Learning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREAMBLE
3
INTRODUCTION
TRAIN-THE TRAINER-MODULE (2 DAYS)
CONCEPT FOR STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK
ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS
FORMAL CONDITIONS
4
6
6
7
7
METHODOLOGICAL BASIS
8
COMMON GROUND MODELL
“DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS”
9
9
TOOLS &
WORKSHOPS
12
PART ONE – ICEBREAKERS, WARM UP WORKSHOPS
PART TWO: PERSONALITY, INTERNAL DIMENSIONS, REFLECTION ON PERSONAL
13
RESPONSE TO DIVERSITY
PART THREE: EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY
PART FOUR: ORGANIZATIONAL DIMENSIONS – CULTURE
19
30
33
APPENDIX:
READER
38
THE BASICS OF (MANAGING) DIVERSITY
SYSTEMIC APPROACH
DIVERSITY & SUPERVISION
METHODS
39
39
39
39
PREAMBLE
INTRODUCTION
The module framework links experiences, feedback, reflection and theory as a
foundation for learning and teaching. Learners and teachers together form a
learning team and are learning by doing. Learning and development means to
create an efficient relationship between person and environment.
Supervision and Coaching are ways of professional counseling. Reflection is a
key competence for professional learning and development. In the supervision
process supervisors offer learners possibilities to reflect upon their tasks and /
or organizational issues. By this it enables not only lifelong learning for
learners but it contributes also to the learning process of their organizations.
This was the starting point of the Life Long Learning Program Grundtvig
running from August 2008 until August 2010. This program enabled a learning
partnership including three participating countries an learners from eight
different countries to develop an International Module „Dealing with Diversity
& Interculturality as a Supervisor“.
OBJECTIVES AND MAIN GOALS
Why should we deal with diversity in supervision?
This question – first brought up by Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe - has
been a key question in our Grundtvig project, as it is a key question in any
Diversity process.
We identified several major aspects which we feel to be important in
answering the question, both on an individual level focusing on the
supervisors or their clients as well as on an societal level focusing on the
communities of supervisors within Europe.
These aspects are:
Exchange of theoretical knowledge and practical experience according
to the issues Diversity and Interculturality
Improving competences for dealing with Diversity as Supervisors and
Coaches as well as Supervisors trainers
Discussing various standards in counseling, supervision and coaching
in different European countries
In this workshop experiences, feedback and theory-based reflection are the
foundations for learning and teaching. Learners and teachers together form a
learning team and are learning by doing.
The simple exposure to experience is not the same as learning by that
experience. What makes the experience meaningful and educational is the
systematic analysis and reflection upon that experience. Participants own
experiences will be used to point out the positive and demanding effects of
Managing Diversity in professional counseling.
CORE COMPETENCES FOR SUPERVISORS AND COACHES DEALING WITH
DIVERSITY
Sensitivity for Diversity
Knowlegde of your own luggage
Developed sensibility of diversity
Willingness to investigate your own matter of course
Dealing with Diversity
Knowlegde of views/opinions in other cultures
Insight in ones own norms and values and those of „others“ and the
capacitiy to make interventions bases on this insight.
The capacity to act free from imposing norms
The capacity to switch perspectives or codes
Managing Diversity
Knowlegde to define roles and how to give structure
Capacity of recognizing exclusion/unequal treatment and engage in
dialogue about this
The capacity to intervene in case of discrimination
Process aspects:
To be able to deal with different ways of communication
Ability to deal with power and dominance when diversity is under
discussion
Ability to create space and time for ‚not knowingʼ
Knowlegde to handle conflicts
The ability to turn friction into brilliance
EDUCATIONAL METHODS
Teaching methods are based on the idea that supervision involves critical
thinking, methodical skills, and high-level decision-making in different contexts
and situations. To improve intercultural and diversity competences, dialogue
and reflection are essential parts of a training program.
For adult learners it is important to be actively involved in their own learning
process. By using the studentʼs own practical experiences, critical thinking
and problem solving will be practiced. These basic principles of learning and
teaching and the reflective circle form therefore the substructure for the
educational methods used in this module. Consequently workshops,
simulation and skills-lab training among assignments and log keeping will be
part of this training.
The following methods provide examples how the topic of diversity can be
addressed. The methods are divided in four different parts:
•
•
•
•
Part one: icebreakers, warm up workshops
Part two: personality, internal dimensions, reflection on personal
response to diversity
Part three: external dimensions of diversity
Part four: organizational dimensions – culture
TRAIN-THE TRAINER-MODULE (2 DAYS)
CONCEPT FOR STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK
Time
9.0010.30
Session
Introduction
Getting
connected
Warm-up
Topic
Syllabus:
Getting in touch with Managing Diversity theory
Share professional experiences and beliefs
Link them with theory
The trainers facilitate this process by focusing on here
and now and linking it with theory.
Leading questions:
1. Sensitivity for Diversity
What are my experiences?
What are my “hot spots”?
How to press the buttons for them?
2. Dealing with Diversity
How much Diversity can I/the people handle?
How do I as a professional reduce complexity?
11.0012.20
14.0015.30
16.0017.30
2. day
9.0010.00
10.3015.30
16.0017.30
3. Managing Diversity
How much managing does a SV process need?
Which competences should we discuss according to
Managing Diversity?
Which competences should we teach supervisors to
be able to deal with Diversity?
Warming up, Self awareness linked to own experience
getting aware
Interactive
Collection of the answers
Theory
Discussion of:
Development
What are the general issues in the answers?
Collection
Linking with Diversity-theory
Input
Dealing with Diversity. in SV – national approach
Theoretical
impact
Evaluation of
Day 1
Methodological
impact
Ending
Convivial evaluation
Giving a try to several methods and discussing their
impact
Conclusion, Feedback
ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS
The content should be mirrored in the setting of the different national contexts,
which demands slight modifications in the workshop frame. The training team
as well should be binational.
FORMAL CONDITIONS
CERTIFICATES
The attendance and successful completion of the module should be rewarded
with a certificate. This is on one hand to honour the efforts undertaken by a
participant and on the other hand might be necessary for one or the other
participant to e.g. provide an example for continuous or ongoing education to
their supervision organization.
The certificate will be given by ANSE (Association of National Organisations
for Supervision in Europe).
WHAT IS NEEDED TO GET A CERTIFICATE?
A certificate will be given to those participants who
1. attend all classes actively. This means the student shows an active
attitude to discuss and practice.
2. are able to talk about their own experiences, bring in new ideas and
ask questions about literature and topics;
3. have been able to share experiences and to reflect on these
experiences.
4. have attended all classes.
PREREQUISITES FOR PARTICIPATION: WHAT ARE PREREQUISITES TO TAKE PART IN A
MODULE?
Participants need to be prepared for the following points:
You are:
• Working as a supervisor and coach
• Able to understand, speak and write in English;
• Willing to learn about your experiences and talk about your practices;
• Willing to be active in the group;
• Willing to give regular supportive feedback on performance that
provides encouragement and reinforcement;
• Able to put theory into practice.
METHODOLOGICAL
BASIS
COMMON GROUND MODELL
“DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS”
Reflection
Leadership Perspective
Awareness
Leadership
„Container of
common Ground“
= Safety
Leading a group in an inter cultural context or other aspects of diversity
requires to balance the abilities of reflection – leadership – awareness. That
means to be aware of the situation with its different aspects, to take in an
active and considered way of leadership and to reflect all actions and the
whole situation.
Being in an attitude of appreciation, respect and curiosity it will create an
atmosphere of safety and confidence. This process is to understand in a way
like a spiral: on each new level you have the same topics and challenges but
in a diverse way, with new questions, new observations and experiences, new
reflections.
Inter cultural Learning or learning inter cultural competencies1 means learning
in a continuous dynamic process, which goes in different dimensions and
enriches and develops like a spiral.
The dimensions are:
•
Level of motivation (attitudes and behaviour)
•
Competence of acting
•
Competence of reflection (as an internal effect of intercultural
competencies)
•
Constructive interaction (as an external effect of intercultural
competencies)
1
This you can increase to other aspects of diversity
By way of explanation and translation:
„Handlungskompetenz“: competence of acting: extensive knowledge of
culture, competencies of communication, competencies of solving conflicts
„Haltungen und Einstellungen“: attitudes and behaviour: appreciation of
diversity, tolerance of ambiguity
„Konstruktive Interaktion“: Constructive interaction (as an external effect of
inter cultural competencies): avoid to overstep rules
Reflexionskompetenz“: Competence of reflection (as an internal effect of
inter cultural competencies): relativization of frames of reference,
competence of empathy.
The more dimensions are reached and the more they will be gone through
the more high will be the level of inter cultural competencies.
All four dimensions will influence each other. For example: each inter cultural
interaction will have an effect back to the basic motivation, the competencies
of acting and reflecting of the actors.
In our focus, leading a group, this model illustrates the character of a spiral
too. The leader has to go around within this process, this simultaneity of the
different dimensions.
TOOLS &
WORKSHOPS
PART ONE – ICEBREAKERS, WARM UP WORKSHOPS
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Lemons
Aim
This is an icebreaker that introduces the idea of individual
difference and similarity. It can be used at the start of a session
around stereotyping, differences, similarities and equality of
opportunities.
Group size
8 - 14
Material / Resources
Enough lemons for everybody in the group
needed
A carrier bag
Duration
30 – 60 minutes, depends on group size and level of reflection
Description
1. Ask each group member to choose a lemon.
2. Ask everyone to look closely at their fruit, examine it for
distinctive marks and feel the skin.
3. Encourage people to personalize their lemon by giving it a name.
4. Allow five minutes to do this and then collect all the lemons into
the carrier bag. Shake the bag to mix the fruits.
5. Spread all the lemons out on the floor in front of the group.
6. In turn, ask each person to come forward and collect his or her
lemon.
7. If there is an argument over whose it is, try to adjudicate, but if
they still cannot agree, place the lemon to one side as unidentified.
If this happens, you should be left with two at the end to reunite, but
will find that most people (amazingly!) can successfully claim their
fruit.
8. Reflection:
- How sure are they that they claimed the right fruit? How can they
tell?
- Encourage them to look at the parallels between this exercise
and differentiating between people. Examine the stereotypes: are
all lemons the same colors? Are they all the same shape?
- Compare this to the stereotypes that exist between people of
different cultures, races and gender etc.
- What does this mean to the group?
Source
T-Kit on Social Inclusion, Authors of this T-Kit: Tom Croft,
Veronique Crolla, Benoît Mida-Briot, Council of Europe and
European Commission, June 2003
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Common definitions
Aim
To tune the participants to the common meaning of the
diversity issues. To get in the closer contact with our
different understanding of diversity and some other
concepts, to get better communication in the group.
Group size
12 to 16
Material
needed
/
Resources Paper, pencils
Duration
60 minutes
Description
Everybody gets the task to write down personal
understanding of the term: DIVERSITY, BOUNDARIES,
(any other by choice). In couples they compare their
results and find commo ones. Two couples join in a
bigger group and do the same and again in the group of
eight (snowball technique). Every big group presents their
results as a poster.
In the following discussion the group reflects on the
process and results.
Source
Adapted from
communication
Richard
H.
Greene:
The
new
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Wall of prejudice
Aim
To introduce concepts of stereotypes and prejudices; to
make a difference within those concepts; to meet your
own prejudices and stereotypes
Group size
Material
needed
Duration
Description
8 – 14
/
Resources Flipchart paper (or any 10 big blank, wall papers), pens
45 minutes, depends on group size and level of reflection
1. To put on the wall 10 white papers with titles. Titles
are different groups of people, made on different
criteria (for example, women, man, artists etc.).
2. To approach all the papers and to write down one
or two characteristic for that group of people.
Rules to give: Your task will be It is your first association
– do not over think this exercise! Do not think about it at
all if you can, try to do this as fast as you can. Donʼt read
other things that are written, weʼll have time to read them.
This is silent game, so please donʼt discuss and comment
nothing while you are doing this. When you are finished,
please sit down, just to see how many of you have
finished.
You can start.
3. The trainer and participants reads all the papers
afterwards.
4. Reflection:
- What we have now on the walls?
- Discussion what stereotypes are, what are
prejudices etc.?
Source
http://www.salto-youth.net, submitted by: Marija Gajic,
mari.gajic@gmail.com
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Acid River Exercise
Aims
To emphasize the responsibility in teamwork and the
connections everyone plays in accomplishing the groupʼs
goals.
To allow for observation of team interaction while
exploring problem solving,
To enhance communication skills, cooperation, planning,
roles and expectations.
Group size
01.12.24
Material / Resources
Carpet Squares (1 tile for every 2 people)
needed
4 lengths of rope
Duration
3 hours
Description
1. Divide space into 3 sections of river (you can do two
sections, and reuse one). Make the river wide enough to
be a challenge for the group to get from one side to the
other (look at about 15 – 25 ft.) Mark the river with rope.
2. Distribute the carpet squares – 1 tile for every 2
people.
3. Explain to the group that the river is acid and will eat
up everything that touches it, except for the magic tiles.
However, the magic tiles must be touched at all times
they are in the river. If the tile is not touched, no matter
for how brief of a moment, it is lost, swept away in the
current.
4. Everyone must get over to the other side of the river. If
using two sections of river, no one can cross the next
branch of the river until everyone is over the previous
branch. If any one touches the river, or falls (a foot half
on the tile and touching river, hands in, whatever),
everyone must go back and start again.
5. No scooting or sliding on the squares. This can be a
safety issue and it emphasizes individual work versus
teamwork.
6. Once the group has started the process, your role is to
take carpet squares that are “swept away by the current”
and to watch for safety issues.
7. The facilitator can take away (or give) carpet squares
arbitrarily.
Processing Questions: Instruct participants to speak from
their own experience.
1. What happened during the process? What worked?
What didnʼt or what hindered the
process?
2. Was leadership demonstrated during the process?
How so? What did you observe?
3. What were the individual roles people played? Were
members comfortable with their roles?
4. Who knew what the process for crossing was? Who
didnʼt? How did you communicate the plans to group
members?
5. What might the different aspects of the exercise
represent in your organization: the carpet squares, the
river, the loss of tiles, the facilitator, etc?
Variations:
1. The tiles can only go forward.
backwards.
They cannot move
2. No one can finish until everyone has left the “bank” of
the river.
3. You can choose to add challenges like muting
individuals, using only 1 arm, eyes closed/blindfolded, no
one can talk.
4. You can give them an object that they need to carry
with them to safety and discuss what that might
represent.
5. You can create situations for them to draw from that
are connected directly to their organization; e.g. their
budget has been cut - lose ½ of their tiles, your last three
meetings have been unproductive and full of inside jokes
- lose 1 person, youʼve just come back from a retreat
where you set goals for the year and did team building
with the group members - add a tile.
Source
The Leadership Center at Washington State University
PART
TWO: PERSONALITY, INTERNAL DIMENSIONS, REFLECTION ON
PERSONAL RESPONSE TO DIVERSITY
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
You as a Culturally Diverse Entity
Aim
Learn to know oneʼs own “cultural software”
Group size
8 – 16
Material
needed
Duration
/
Resources Working sheets
45 minutes for filling in and reflection in pairs
45 minutes for reflection in whole group
Description
Directions: In each circle write one of the sources of your
cultural programming. Then next to each circle write the
most important rules, norms, and values you learned from
that source.
Share your insights with another person
1. What reactions and/or surprises do you have to your
own cultural diversity?
2.
Do any of your cultural programs come in conflict
with one another? If so, where?
Share your insights from the process with the whole
group.
Discuss focusing on resources and pitfalls
Source
Managing Diversity: A Complete Desk Reference and
Planning Guide ©Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe
Work sheet:
YOU
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Identity
Aim
To allowed offer a space for participant to reflect:
- On their own identity
- On their diversity
Group size
Material
needed
8 – 14
/
Resources Paper, pencils
Duration
60 minutes, depends on group size and level of reflection
Description
1. Introduction of idea of onion. The onion of identity onions are made of many different layers, people are also
made of different layers of identity. Some are more
important, these are the ones which are closer to the
core.
2. 20 min of individual reflection where participants
decide which things make up their own different layers.
3. Then choose one person they want to share some of
this information with.
4. Reflection in group:
3. Easy/difficult?
4. Which criteria play a role?
5. What you discover during talk – similarities,
differences?
Theory on different factors of identity:
- no one can be limited only to one criteria
- all different/all equal
- the complexity of identity "to make space of the Other in
our own life", "to speak of the Other is in fact to speak of
ourselves"
- Dealing with diversity is learning is to listen. Active
listening is a very difficult exercise
The task can be matched with Four layers of Diversity,
see Theory part
Source
http://www.salto-youth.net, submitted by: Xavier Baró
Urbea
xavierbaro@trajectorya.ee
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Awareness
Aim
Getting in touch with one's own emotional, cognitive and behavior
reactions to diversity is important for everybody who wants to act
as a good professional in the multicultural environment. By
diversity we mean meeting differences, for example: different
cultural backgrounds, organizational cultures, different professions,
attitudes that are very strange to us. The activities in the workshop
are taking the participants through the reflection process, based on
the experiences of meeting diversity. Becoming aware of the
emotions, thoughts and reactions in diversity situation is the first
goal.
The second goal is the abstraction of the particular responses and
formation of the small or ground theory about the responses to
diversity.
The third goal is implementation of the theory into practice. The
self-evaluation tool for dealing with the diversity is the final result.
Group size
Material
Resources
needed
15 to 20 participants
/ colored stick – it papers (three different colors) and colored pens
(one color for each small group), the big board or big table (or we
can use the floor as well).
Duration
Approximately 4 hours
Description
a) gathering the material: the participants are asked to think about
the experience of meeting somebody/something so very strange
and different from themselves. It can be from their professional or
personal life. For example: meeting the different culture, entering
the organization with the very strange values and organizational
culture or somebody with very different attitudes, behavior, etc...
Shortly, to think about the moment when they had experienced the
„culture shock“. They are asked to write down the key words from
the experience. After forming the small groups (five participants in
each) they quickly exchange the stories, just the short description.
b) small group work: the first task in the small group is the choice
of the material to be presented more detailed and distribution of
the following roles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
supervisor
supervisee
observer – emotions
observer – thoughts
observer – behaviors
The supervisor helps the supervisee to describe the experience
very detailed, to reflect upon it. He/she offers effective and
empathic listening and questions that follow the story and opens
the space for reflection. It goes deeper from the events to
supervisee`s thinking and feeling processes. While the process
goes on, the observers write down every word, that represents any
emotion, thought or action taken. Use one sheet of stick – it paper
for every description.
The time is limited and is responsibility of the supervisor to take
care about that.
After the process, the small group members share their
impressions of the process. Was it difficult to follow the role, did
they learn anything, did they have any associations...
c) plenary work: the groups get together again and share the
summary of the process to the other group members.
d) the ground theory: now the observers get more active role and
the others are asked to observe and comment at the end. All
observers of the emotions get together and the rest two groups the
same way. They compare the results and look for the descriptions
that are present in all cases and the ones that are particular for the
specific case. The goal is the abstraction of the responses to
diversity. They do it by sticking the papers to the board, putting
them together into clusters and trying to get to some assumptions
and generalizations. After the first round, the others are invites to
comment, add anything and propose the changes to the big
picture.
e) implementation of the results: the participants go back to their
original small groups and perform the brainstorming about the
question: how can we use those results in our work. The ideas are
first gathered and secondly evaluated (how useful it is and is it
possible to implement it).
They then work on the self evaluation questionnaire that offers
useful questions based on the results gathered before. The
questions are meant to help supervisors who work in multicultural
settings to get in touch with his/her response to diversity and to
gather the awareness faster and to be consequently more efficient
in this kind of environment.
f) the conclusion of the workshop: the feedback on the task and
the process are shared.
Source
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Diversity Reflections Questionnaire (DRQ)
Aim
Basing on the Four Layers of Diversity (Gardenswartz &
Rowe), the DRQ can be used for a guided self-reflection
or reflection in groups in order to sensitize on the
influence of different diversity dimensions and linked
aspects of diversity issues. Since combined patterns of
diversity dimensions form a filter through which we see
the world as well as a screen through which others view
us, understanding the elements of that filter can help to
avoid becoming victims of those factors and can enhance
more conscious choices about behavior and reactions.
Group size
1 to 12
Material
needed
/
Resources Diversity Reflections Questionnaire with an introduction
on the dimensions of diversity (see attached papers) on
handouts, flips or cards.
Paper
Pens
Duration
30 to 60 minutes, depending on the group size and
intensity of reflection
Description
After a short introduction to the dimensions of the Four
Layers of Diversity the individual answers on the DRQ
(see attached papers) are written down and
a) used for a self-reflection or
b) if there are at least two persons, in a second step the
chosen dimensions and insights can be shared with one
other person and discussed. If a group is working on the
same situation, in a third step the pairʼs insights into the
situation can be presented to the others.
Source
Gardenswartz, L. & Rowe, A. 1998: Managing diversity: A
complete desk reference and planning guide
Abdul-Hussain, S. & Baig, S. 2009: Diversity in
Supervision, Coaching und Beratung
Diversity Reflections Questionnaire
Introduction
The „Four Layers of Diversity“ (Gardenswartz & Rowe) provide an informative
and structured overview over different levels and dimensions of diversity such
as Age, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Physical Capability, Ethnicity and Race
as internal dimensions, Home Geographic Location, Income, Personal Habits,
Recreational Habits, Religion, Educational Background, Work Experience,
Appearance, Parental Status and Marital Status as external dimensions and
Occupation, Work Selections, Professional Training, Seniority Work Location,
Union Affiliation and Management Status on the organizational level.
The „Four Layers of Diversity“ present the individual Personality as a core
surrounded by these three dimensions (Gardenswartz & Rowe, *Internal and
External Dimensions are adapted from Marilyn Loden and Judy Rosener):
Questions
To have a closer look at these dimensions and to familiarise yourself with and
explore aspects of diversity issues, use the following questions, either for a) a
reflection just for yourself or b) in groups, where you have the opportunity to
share and inspire each other. Start to write down your answers from 1. To 6. If
you work in a group share the dimensions you chose and your insights with an
other person. If you work on the same situation present your insights into the
situation to the others. Feel free to add other dimensions and to play with the
questions.
1.
Choose a situation at work, for which you find it valuable to reflect on different
dimensions of diversity. Look at the different dimensions of diversity and use
the following questions to reflect:
2.
Which dimensions (e.g. Age) could be relevant for the situation, from your
point of view. Please write them down according to their priority!
2.1
On a scale from 0 to 10 please tick the number that reflects the relevance
every dimension has for you (0 = this dimension ist not relevant at all, 10 =
this dimension is very relevant)!
2.2
On a scale from 0 to 10 please tick the number for the relevance each
dimension has - from your point of view - for the majority of the focus group /
system!
2.
2.1
2.2
Dimensions
Personal relevance of this Relevance of this dimension for
dimension
the majority of the focus group/
system
1
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
2
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
3
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
4
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
5
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
6
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
7
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
8
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
0 (not relevant) - 10 (very relevant)
3.
Choose two or three dimensions, which have or had an important influence on
you in your daily life now and past. What do these dimensions mean to you
and how do or did they influence you?
4.
Choose two or three dimensions, that influence the way you get in contact
with others. How does that influence you and your interactions at work?
5.
Choose two or three dimensions, which make you feel uncomfortable if others
are/ act too different. How does that influence your behavior and your
interactions at work?
6.
Did these reflections give you new insights into the existing situation?
METHOD FOR CONNECTING EXPERIENCE AND THEORY´
Name
Interactive Theory Development
Aim
Connecting theory with oneʼs own experience.
Group size
8 - 16
Paper, Flipcharts
Duration
90 minutes
Description
The exercise may be initiated by any group experience (exercises,
T-group sequence, ...).
Examples for exercises:
1. One professional situation when you felt completely stupid and
confused.
2.

What happened?

What did you explain to yourself?

Did you change your mind during the process and if so in
what way?
One professional situation when you felt perfectly in control.

Same questions.
Variation according to the 4 Layers:
1.
Select two dimensions that have had the biggest impact in
your professional life. What is their impact? How have they
influenced you?
2.
Select the two dimensions around which it is easiest for you
to connect with others. How does that influence your behaviors and
interactions at work?
3.
Select the two dimensions around which you feel the least
comfortable with people different from you. How does that influence
your behavior and interactions at work?
In a first step any participant answers the questions for him-/herself,
then shares it with 2-4 other ones.
The insights from this process are collected within the plenary on a
flipchart: experiences, observations, explanations, ideas, etc. Are to
notice.
In a second step the participants collect ideas according to the
question:

How do we avow the effects we observed to ourselves?
In the third step, the outcomes are linked to theory by the trainer.
In my experience even complex theories are well-understood if they
relate directly to the participants experiences and ideas.
I proceed here for the "principle of Enlightenment": I only bring that
theory building blocks that can be well developed from the
previously collected. Everything else can wait.
For advanced participants the leading question will be:
Which models of explanation (epistemologically as "personal") do
we use as professionals?
Source
Michaela Judy
PART THREE: EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Name
Caleidoscopia
Aim
· To make diversity visible and stimulate discussions about diversity
· To clearly underline the significance that players assign to dimensions
of diversity
· To raise playersʼ awareness of how you can and wish to deal with
differences and similarities
In summary, the intention is to offer a relaxed way of learning about
dealing with the different dimensions of diversity.
Group
size
2 - 16
Material / The game consists of eight sets of nine cards in different colors. Each set
Resources of eight cards contains a blank card which the player can use whatever
needed
he or she likes.
These dimensions are: gender, a playerʼs present phase of life, class,
sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, talent/handicap and environmental
socialisation.
Duration
1 h, depends on group size and level of reflection
Description
The game can be played by an individual player, or in small and large
groups, for example:
1. During an introduction
Ever
Everyone takes a card and introduces themselves based on the
dimension given on the card.
2. When discussing a situation or theme
Asking a question. For instance: which dimensions were most
instrumental in shaping the person you are now (this can apply to
either a personal or professional situation). Every player picks out the
relevant dimensions in order of importance and, taking turns, talks
about them. This fundamental question can be used as a
springboard for other topics.
OR: exchange two cards and discuss what the impact that changing
these dimensions has or could have on your life/work/career, etc.
3. During management sessions: when supervising, coaching and
training
For example, when placing yourself in another personʼs position,
based on a question or situation, and arranging the dimensions in
order of importance from the other personʼs perspective. You can
explore the results by discussing the differences and similarities
between yourself and the other person, and your coach can offer
suggestions about the next steps to take in the management process.
4. In teambuilding
Use a question to encourage players to classify the dimensions in
order of importance to reflect the culture and collaborative dynamic of
your team, company or institution. What do you discover from this
hierarchy? What would you like to change and how can you go about
it?
5. When researching certain social or political situations.
You can take a specific question – such as how diversity is promoted
within our party – and explore the values and dimensions in the party
program.
A set of ʻrules of interactionʼ helps improving communication while
playing the game.
Also the 8 dimensions of diversity are explained.
Source
The colored cards can easily be self-produced or ordered at
www.Caleidoscopia.nl
PART FOUR: ORGANIZATIONAL DIMENSIONS – CULTURE
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Analysis of Culture
Name
Aim
A guided self-analysis of organization. But with
this attempt he keeps distance from usual
investigations which alone cannot adequate
realize the complexity of organizations.
Especially phenomena which are not conscious
to the staff or organizations at first sight cannot
be achieved by reserved technique of inquiry but
need a mutual research process in face-to-face
settings.
Group size
Material
needed
7 – 12
/
Resource Flip-Charts, pens, different rooms
Duration
2,5 – 4 hours, depends on group size and level of
reflection
Description
See attached papers
Further Info
This experience is more interesting if two or three
groups compare there processes and results.
You can change it for different situations, e.g.
alternative to „organization“ you can analyze a
specific group.
Source
Edgar Schein: The Corporate Culture Survival
Guide.
Culture Analysis as Model of the organization questionnaire
(following the concept of Edgar Schein)
Starting Questions:
In the guided self-analysis you as a member of your organization can do the
attempt to “decode” the specific culture of this organization. This culture
analysis has three goals:
To achieve the cultural profile of this organization;
To compare these with the results and the procedure concerning cultural
analysis, which participants of other groups or parts have done;
To examine cultural research exemplary as medium of sensitizing for
cultural and intercultural influential facts.
Background Data
How is the organization called which you will analyze?
What are the line of business / organization / legal / number of employees,
etc.?
What is your status / position and your role there?
What are the client's or customer targetgroups of the organization?
Which occupational groups are represented in the organization?
Where do the employees of the organization come from? (Country, region,
city)
How does the organization represent to the outside world (marketing, logo,
etc.) and inside (buildings, rooms, etc.)?
Step 1: Culture Analysis: Brainstorming!!!
Description of Artefacts
write long flip-chart lists
What can you recognize within the organization? (if somebody what look at
the group from outside and its surrounding?) - for example:
the kind being dressed
locality
desired ways of behavior among each other
behavior with official in charge
kind of speech
predominating resp. remarkable emotions
dealing with “troublemakers”, other-minded
behavior of the head
influence of the representative
informal behavior (evening arrangements, festivals, social events …)
image of the organization
what is not talked about
Step 2: Brainstorming
Finding of “Declared Values” - write long flip-chart-lists
Gathering of goals, values and convictions,
for instance
- goals and values, which are documented (website, announcements ..)
- goals and values, professional norms, which are represented verbally
by course leader
by several officials in charge
by employees
by other important persons
about the organization
about the line of business
slogans
Intermediate Step
Arrangement of “artefacts” and “declared values”
Which figures can be noticed from the artefacts and declared values
up to now?
Do the determined “declared values” explain the artefacts?
Where remains something unexplainable resp. contradicts the official
statements?
Where do exist contrary, hardly to combine things?
Step 3:
Insight into Basic Premises
The logic of obviously contrary cultural elements which belong together can
be looked for f.i.
in the history of foundation, in the ideas of foundation, in the personalities
of the founders
at different representatives of culture
in norms and mentalities of profession
in changes by challenges from the outside
in the community model (labor, trade, occupation, family …)
in the profile of qualification to people
Which culture premises can be named which rely on the organization and
which can explain contradictions?
How does the interplay of premises look like, which could bring up explanation
for the behavior within the organization and the kind of dealing with the
demands (a partial gist of culture)?
APPENDIX:
READER
THE BASICS OF (MANAGING) DIVERSITY
Gardenswartz, L., Rowe, A.: Managing Diversity. A Complete Desk Reference
and Planning Guide. McGraw-Hill Companies (1998)
Chapter 2: Diversity then and now: Changes and Trends
Chapter 3: Examining the four Layers and Many Dimensions of Diversity
The Handbook of Workplace Diversity by Judith K. Pringle, Pushkala Prasad,
und Alison M. Konrad von Sage (2006) :
Konrad, A. M., Prasad, P.; Pringle; J. K.(Ed.): Examining the Contours of
Workplace Diversity,
Mir, A, Mir, R., Wong, D.J.: Diversity – The Cultural Logic of Global Capitalism
SYSTEMIC APPROACH
Judy, M./ Milowiz, W.: On the Construction of Reality – Systemic Thinking in
"Managing Diversity". In: Aschenbrenner-Wellmann, B.(Ed.): Mit der Vielfalt
leben. Evangel. Verlagsanstalt (2009)
Judy, M./ Milowiz, W.: MORAL CODES. Value Conflicts and their
Consequences. In: Bruchhagen, V. ./Koall, I. (Hg.): Diversity Outlooks. LIT
(2006)
DIVERSITY & SUPERVISION
From: Ehmer, S./Goeschel, D. (Hg.) Intercultural Perspectives in Supervision
and Coaching. Kassel University Press (2010)
Havrdovas, Z.: Is there one Culture in Supervision
Ehmer, S.: „Supervision and Coaching“.
Goeschel, D.: Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Competence or
Cultural Competence.
Gotthart-Lorenz, A.: About Analysis of Culture (following Edgar Schein)
METHODS
Dijkhuizen, G.: ʻDonʼt tell me, show me.....ʼ Methods/Techniques Diversity in
supervision.
Fred Korthagen & Angelo Vasalos: LEVELS IN REFLECTION:
TOWARDS TAILOR-MADE SUPERVISION OF TEACHING PRACTICE
22
I / MAKING DIVERSITY WORK: THE WHAT AND HOW FOR MANAGERS AND TRAINERS
have an intuitive belief that it matters, we can adopt a line from Jerry
McGuire. Instead of "Show me the money," the hew and cry is "Show me
the results." We fail to do so at our peril.
• Equating diversity with a change process. If diversity continues to be
seen as "a training intervention," it will continue to be a box that needs to
be checked off on someone's performance appraisal. We attend
conferences where colleagues get together and we talk about diversity as a
process, but we may be talking to the already converted. Perhaps people in
organizations don't understand what real change around diversity requires.
Among the essentials are resources, commitment, patience, durability, and
tenacity. We hear lots of talk, and the right words are frequently espoused.
But following through to make real culture change happen in an
organization is very hard work. As a field, we have to improve at sharing
what works and where the pitfalls are. The following three examples are
reasons for some of the disappointing efforts we have experienced.
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
The organization changes priorities when it hits survival mode.
Commitments are made in more sanguine times.
Those who commit in theory don't realize what the changes really
mean. Once they do, egos, fear of change, desire for power, and
protecting vested interests are among the many subtle and not-sosubtle reasons for sabotaging success.
lt takes tons of diligence and stick-to-it-iveness to make changes
happen. Many employees have so much going on and are so
fragmented that giving the diversity effort what it requires in order to
see real change take place is too demanding. There is not sufficient
reward structure in the organization to complete diversity work at the
expense of other organizational priorities.
These and other reasons make the accomplishment of sustained change
difficult. A diversity process in the service of anything less than more
humane, inclusive organizations, and better, more sensitive, and respectful
service to all of our customers (internal and external) is irrelevant, costly,
and not worth the effort. A long-term diversity change effort that alters the
way business is conducted and how people see the world is required. The
consequence of starting down this road and not completing the effort is
one that will breed increased cynicism and lack of trust.
From: Konrad, Alison M., Prasad, Pushkala; Pringle; Judith K.(Ed.): Handbook of
Workplace Diversity, Sage (2006)
On the Construction of Reality – Systemic Thinking in "Managing Diversity"
Michaela Judy & Walter Milowiz
The systemic-constructivist approach introduces aspects to Managing Diversity's activities
which can at first be particularly unsettling. The main reason for this is that certainties, which
until now provided us with some guidelines in our lives, are shaken up.
"I once suddenly realized that circular thinking does not threaten my sense of reason, but
actually broadens my understanding. In the thought of no longer basing oneself on an
external reality, but on one's own experience, there can be a feeling of deepest satisfaction
and reassurance." (Maturana 2002, S. 37)
On the one hand, it is frustrating to see that we are ourselves constantly involved in the
construction of the very differences that we will later have to deal with. On the other hand, it
will eventually open the way to a more relaxed approach, which will make these differences
show themselves in a clearer and more manageable way. Realising the ubiquity of difference
also has at first a frightening effect, but soon helps us to recognise most conflicts as the
consequences of differing perspectives and thereby as basically comprehensible and
manageable (see also Milowiz 2005).
In the following lines we would like to present and comment upon the main assumptions
underlying the systemic approach of Managing Diversity.
1. Human action takes place in a social context, in an always-present process of
interactions. It is this context that structures (but does not determine) such action,
inasmuch as the behavioural expectations of the person involved constantly cause
him or her to treat, and thereby influence his or her environment, albeit
unconsciously, according to these expectations. The person's conceptions remain
unchanged if they are confirmed by means of behaviour patterns derived from these
conceptions. Confirmation will be given by feedback from the environment, i.e. based
on the reactions elicited by those behaviour patterns.
"We literally create the world in which we live by living it": Humberto R. Maturana, Erkennen;
Die Organisation und Verkörperung von Wirklichkeit. Ausgewählte Arbeiten zur biologischen
Epistemologie (Realisation – the Organisation and Embodiment of Reality. Selected works
on Biological Epistemology) (in: Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaft und Philosophie, Vol.
19, Braunschweig & Wiesbaden 1982), p. 269
People can never perceive a reality that is not affected by them. Perception is always
preceded by action, and controlled by a pre-existing conception of the world. The idea that
one may perceive the world without an already-existing picture of the world, i.e. without
"prejudice", or at least pre-conceptions, turns out to be impossible:
"We see something, or feel something, and the correlation between the perceptions and the
sum total of neuronal processes creates a world, which we may call a table, a cube, or my
beautiful red-haired girlfriend." (von Foerster & Pörksen 1998, p. 23)
2. Human action also develops within relationships, where social-psychological as
well as sociological phenomena, such as influence, interests, loyalties, cooperational
and competitive elements, are translated into a common structure, which does not
need to be perceived by all in the same way, but must be treated consistently, for only
then can conditions be stable.
"As living systems, we live in complete loneliness within the limits of our individual
autopoiesis. Only by creating worlds with others in areas of consensus, do we create an
existence for ourselves which transcends this fundamental individual loneliness, and yet we
cannot put an end to it. (...) We cannot see ourselves if we do not learn to see ourselves in
our interactions with others, and by seeing others as reflections of our "selves", also see
ourselves as reflections of the other" : (Humberto R. Maturana 1987, p. 117)
1
The more open and the less pre-defined the relationships, the more necessary it is to
"negotiate" them. This partly occurs verbally (metacommunication), but mainly non-verbally –
through action – and unconsciously. Although this makes social relationships more varied
and more amenable to change, it also multiplies potentials for conflict. What appears to be
settled is normally accepted without further consideration and thus saves energy for other
issues. Managing Diversity implies management of tension, inasmuch as difference becomes
an issue especially when it creates tension, i.e. where the acceptance of existing formal or
informal rules becomes difficult or impossible.
3. Every interaction necessarily implies ascriptions by all those involved.
Nobody can know more about another person than what is provided by their perception of a
concrete interaction with that person. In other words, people actually have no idea of how the
people with whom they interact think or feel. They only know what thoughts and feelings are
triggered within themselves by offers of interaction from others, and can observe what effect
their own offers of contact have on others. Any more than is unachievable. But for
communication to be possible, people also need to proceed on the assumption of
predictability. This is why relationship structures are largely processed through ascribing
characteristics to others. Every ascription has effects of its own and thereby contributes to
structuring events. Social relationships are to a great extent validated and sustained by acts
of characterisation, or self-characterisation, and thereby create social reality.
"When people first meet and start a relationship, a wide range of potential patterns of
behaviour between them is possible. ... Depending on how these people define their
relationship to each other, together they construct the type of communication behaviour that
should dominate in this relationship. Out of all possible messages, they select particular
types and agree that these are the ones they should use.
These limits – drawn between what is to be accepted and not accepted in the relationship –
can be described as the common definition of the relationship. Every message exchanged
between them, by its existence, either consolidates these limits or works towards shifting
them, thereby making other forms of messages possible. The relationship is therefore
defined interactively – by the presence or absence of messages exchanged between the
partners." (Haley, J.: Gemeinsamer Nenner Interaktion, p. 17f – originally as: Strategies of
Psychotherapy)
4. The central core of behaviour expectations and descriptions of reality in a social
structure manifests itself largely in the construction of norms and values.
Norms and values on the one hand create predictability and a guidance framework for
individual behaviour. Their function is to help with decisions about behaviour in social
situations. On the other hand, they constitute restrictions, and cause uneasiness when such
support with decision-making is no longer perceived as helpful since all the alternatives
seemto be unacceptable. And they lead to conflicts, sometimes political conflicts, when – and
this is normally unilateral at first – they are rejected and/or attempts are made to change
them.
Norms and values usually appear in sets, since they are linked to the customs of a culture or
subculture. The adoption of some particular norms or values of that culture generally lead to
the expectation – on the part of the environment as well as the person involved – that the rest
of the set will follow. However, as there can be great variation as to how smoothly a change
in values proceeds, the change being even sometimes only partly desired, intrapersonal
conflicts – often value conflicts – can easily emerge, as well as new culturerelated conflicts
(siehe Judy & Milowiz 2007).
A young woman, who had moved from Serbia to Germany with her violent husband, obtained
a divorce. She brought up her child alone and learnt to see herself as a liberated woman.
She came into conflict with herself when she realised that she could not respect a man who
2
took her out, but did not pay for her meal in the restaurant.
Changes aimed at ascriptions, norms and values, are particularly difficult. If feedback from
the environment confirms behaviour expectations held until now, then these will remain
unchanged, regardless of whether the feedback takes the form of approval or rejection.
5. Every struggle for the "right attitude" consolidates perspectives in their old forms.
As long as the object of discussion is the "right" treatment of "people with spezial needs", as
long as such people are thought of as something different, the differentiation will be
confirmed for the future and the decisive question remains the belonging to one group or the
other.
For Managing Diversity this means that every struggle involving ascriptions (such as group
characterisation, or stereotypes) will only confirm these. Attention will continue to be focused
on the ascriptions. And this is the crux with all work involving so-called "minorities": even
though legal distinctions form an indispensable framework for any change of status, the
labelling of individuals as "members of a minority group" will cause them and their behaviour
to be seen above all in terms of their belonging to that group.
For example, a law that explicitly protects women from violent men, by doing so, ascribes –
even on a legal basis – the weak role to women, and a violent role to men and thereby
supports society's ascription of such roles.
The systemic approach of Managing Diversity responds to this fundamental problem by
focusing on the fact that forms of interaction can be changed, provided that one or more
people with a significant role in the process change their behaviour in terms of the relevant
criteria.
On the streetcar, a man insults a black man by calling him a drug dealer. Another man
interferes: „This is certainly no dealer.“ Asked, how come he knows, he answers: „I am a
dealer myself, if he was one, I would know.“
Another example:
In a training course on the subject of „Managing Diversity“ where the participants are
primarily Austrians it is hotly discussed and argued whether "one" must bend to the fact that
„Orientals“ have another image of reliability and the observance of appointments. On the
other hand, the affected "OrientaIs" accuse the Austrians of being racist. The trainer confirms
that different concepts of punctuality often lead to discrepancies and asks for experiences
with it. It turns out that these problems appear among Austrians, too. The subject then shifts
from the fundamental handling of time to the additional workload some participants have to
carry out to join this training.
The systemic approach Managing Diversity tries to make the diversity of all those involved
visible, instead of constructing "homogeneous" groups based on a single variable. This is a
process which increases complexity, whereas the usual process of awareness reduces
complexity.
Managing Diversity tries to include as many as possible of the dimensions (e.g. "Four
Dimensions of Managing Diversity") where differences may arise. A useful tool are the „Four
Layers of Diversity“ by Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe.
3
"Instead of creating "homogeneous" groups by focusing on one dimension, such as gender,
ethnicity, educational background or sexual orientation, we prefer to emphasize on the
various diversities of all participants. To do so people need to be highly competent in
negotiating all these differences (interpretations, meanings and cultural codes). This is a
process that increases complexity. during the normal process of perception reduces
complexity. (= gleiche Passage im vorigen Absatz?!?) That is the case because different
views, ideas and expectations need to be given space in order to develop goals and
structures for change.“ (Judy 2005)
Even the smallest sub-system develops its own "cultures" and patterns of behaviour, which
are not comprehensible to others without further knowledge. That is why there are as many
different systems as there are human beings, for differences do not simply "exist", but are
„formed" on the basis of socially defined fundamental differences.
This however does not occur without preconditions, but rather, awareness is structured by
conscious and unconscious cultural guidelines.
6. Discrimination and social differentiation perform the important social function of
regulation, or reduction of complexity.
Whenever such complexity surfaces or re-surfaces, then irritation, insecurity and resistance
are comprehensible responses.
And yet, this is how domination cultures maintain themselves, i.e. through the constant
reproduction of "obvious" attitudes by sets of behaviour patterns or expectations which
operate in a particular social structure. Those for whom these attitudes are not obvious
constantly have to make invisible efforts to adapt, and this diminishes the energy available to
cope with the requirements of their daily lives.
4
It is therefore often tiring, if not disappointing, to work with the systemic approach of
Managing Diversity, as all human beings to a greater or lesser extent expect their own
behaviour expectations, attitudes, ascriptions, norms and values, to hold for others as well.
This first step is nevertheless useful as a means of breaking free from the well-trodden paths
of traditional stereotypes based on gender or ethnic groups.
When referring to the active participation of "all those involved in the process", we really
mean everybody. Even observers always contribute to the "realities" they observe, describe
and process. As our second step, this realisation that everybody is interconnected to
perceivable phenomena forms the basis upon which mental constructs of "them and us"
become increasingly impossible.
References:
Bruchhagen, V., Höher, F., Koall, I. (2002.): Vielfalt statt Lei(d)tkultur - Managing Gender &
Diversity in Theorie und Praxis, Münster
Cecchin, G..: Wie sich Voreingenommenheiten von Therapeuten nutzen lassen. In: Keller, T.
& N. Greve : Systemische Praxis in der Psychiatrie, pp. 209 – 214. Bonn
Foerster, H. v. & B. Pörksen (1998): Wahrheit ist die Erfindung eines Lügners. Gespräche für
Skeptiker. Heidelberg
Gardenswartz, L. & Rowe, A. (1998): Managing Diversity: A Complete Desk Reference and
Planning Guide, Revised Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies
Haley, J. (1987): Gemeinsamer Nenner Interaktion. Strategien der Psychotherapie. München
Hartmann, G. und Judy, M. (2005.): Unterschiede machen. Managing Gender & Diversity in
Organisationen und Gesellschaft, Edition Volkshochschule
Judy, M. & Milowiz, W. (2007): Moralen - Wertekonflikte und ihre Folgen. In: Koall, I., V.
Bruchhagen, F. Höher (Hrsg.): Diversity Outlooks. Managing Diversity zwischen Ethik, Profit
und Antidiskriminierung, pp. 280 – 287. Hamburg
Koall, I. (2001): Managing Gender & Diversity - von der Homogenität zur Heterogenität in der
Organisation der Unternehmung, Münster
Maturana, H. R. & B. Pörksen (2002): Vom Sein zum Tun. Die Ursprünge der Biologie des
Erkennens. Heidelberg
Maturana, Humberto R.: Kognition; in: Der Diskurs des Radikalen Konstruktivismus, hrsg.
von Siegfried J. Schmidt (Frankfurt am Main 1987)
Milowiz, W. (2005): Das Fremde ist immer und überall. In: Hartmann, G. & M. Judy (Hrsg.):
Unterschiede machen. Managing Gender & Diversity in Organisation und Gesellschaft, S.
153-166. Wien
5
Michaela Judy, Walter Milowiz
MORAL CODES
Value Conflicts and their Consequences
Examining the concept of "morality" confronts us with great richness of
meaning as well as the high degree of emotional charge involved in the
topic.
Our approach is based on a systemic meta-view which focuses on the
circular self-reproduction of moral codes as well as on the question
whether and in what way distinct moral codes may be reconciled.
By "moral code" we mean a set of rules and personal codes of conduct
which prescribe what is to be done or allowed by whom and in what
circumstances.
Unlike laws, moral rules are informal. They are rarely accompanied by
legally defined penalties, but operate on the basis of a collective feeling
for what is appropriate and inappropriate. Such feelings, e.g. approval,
embarrassment, outrage, etc., are embedded in a collective opinion of
them. This opinion is what makes such feelings "right". Correspondingly,
sanctions consist in social exclusion, personal condemnation, or
treatment as a disease.
Wikipedia (German version) defines morality as
"the complete range of social norms, values, principles, which
regulate behaviour between human beings in a society and are
agreed to or at least accepted as binding by the society's
overwhelming majority." 1
Now, who do we actually mean when we refer to "a society"? A society is
not as homogeneous as the definition suggests. And what happens if
one part of this society holds different views from the rest; or if one part
does not (any longer) agree to or accept the (continued) validity of a
rule?
As for individual cases, a mutual "educational process" will normally
operate by making individuals conform to the rest of society, but it will
1
www.wikipwedia.de, headword "Moral"; as of 17 Dec 2005
Michaela Judy, Walter Milowiz
also invariably be accompanied by an – albeit slight – change in the
society's general moral perceptions. Now, if rather than isolated
individuals, we are dealing with groups of people, in which case moral
conceptions may be upheld against outside influence, then antagonisms
will arise, and these cannot simply be removed by getting those
concerned to conform to the majority.
The activities of Managing Diversity involve the development of a
cooperative and productive relationship betwen people with diverse
characteristics, be they physical, spiritual or cultural in nature. Its goal is
effective and fruitful cooperation based on mutual acceptance. The
organisation works on characteristics, stereotypes, prejudices and
habits, as well as on (organisational) cultures, attitudes and no-longerfunctional preconceptions.
In this paper we deal with an aspect to which little attention has been
paid until now: the encounter between different moral conceptions and
their corresponding observable patterns of behaviour.
The question can therefore be phrased as follows:
What can happen when differing sets of rules and codes of conduct
come into contact? And how can this be managed?
When people who meet have different perceptions of what a "decent"
person does and allows, they will reject each other mutually.
If one person has learnt ever since childhood that lawbreaking behaviour
is not to be directly atoned for, but reported to the authorities for further
treatment, whereas another is just as convinced that basically all
conflicts are to be dealt with directly, for it is dishonourable to go to the
police, then peaceful co-existence between the two will be difficult.
In other cases, the contradiction may be less conspicuous. One of two
schoolchildren may come from a family where a "decent person" is
someone who gains a respectable position through his or her own hard
work, while the other child's family looks down on people who try to stand
out through personal achievement. The two children cannot but feel
mutual contempt for each other.
Conflicts are inevitable and rejection cannot be avoided as long as
contradictory perceptions remain unchanged:
2
Moralen
Different moral codes cannot co-exist in the long run.
If others may do what our own moral code prohibits, then the current
state of affairs cannot last long: either nobody may do what I may not do,
or the universality of the rules of conduct (or personal restrictions) comes
into question, together with our moral code as a whole 2 .
The moral code can therefore be transgressed, or at least converted into
individual "partial solutions" – one for each person's individual morality.
The bottom line is that no binding morality is any longer manifest. The
"set of rules" has at best become latent.
These processes take place continuously and people adapt to each
other. In modern societies though, such confrontations and changes
occur at high speed and with great intensity.
At first however, such encountered behaviour that contradicts a person's
moral conceptions is perceived as immoral, and whenever the other side
does not conform to one's own moral representations, conflict will arise.
This particularly concerns
"...the problem of metacommunication. There must surely be
common rules about how to deal with misunderstandings and
how to define rules together. But you will not find them readymade at the supermarket. They can only be developed through
trial and error. And each person in an encounter brings along
his or her own rules of the game." (Milowiz, 2005b, S. 161)
To make the various possibilities appear more clearly, we have chosen
the general conflict-resolution model proposed by G. Schwarz (cf.
Schwarz, 2003 p. 35ff; Antons 1992, p. 224ff):
Types of conflict resolution
2
The exception represented by so-called "caste distinctions" is only apparent: a
moral code may itself pre-define different types of behaviour as honourable or
dishonourable for different "categories" of people. The common acceptance of these
different categories is part and parcel of the binding moral code.
3
Michaela Judy, Walter Milowiz
Form
of
resolution
conflict Advantages
Disadvantages
Flight
simplicity, nobody
loses
no progress, no
solution
Fight: annihilation
low-cost long-term
solution
not rectifiable
Fight: submission
potential for future
development
new conflicts
Delegation
reliability, low risk,
neutrality
the parties to the
conflict do not take part
in its resolution -> no
identification with
outcome
Compromise
partial agreement,
responsibility of
those involved
partial satisfaction
Consensus/
Cooperation
agreement,
high investment/input,
resolution of conflict invariably related to a
specific, concrete
conflict
Encounters between people with differing moral conceptions will
accordingly present themselves in various different ways:
• If the parties want to push through their own moral conceptions, and
(re-)impose society's rules by force ("their own rules" is rather what is
implied here), then the result is a fight or war.
• One way of avoiding resolutions worked out on an individual basis is
to delegate them to the legal system. Yet, at the very least this can only
work if the authority is recognised by both parties.
• If both sides are prepared to negotiate common rules, then
compromises and consensus are possible. And here lies the scope of
Managing Diversity's activities.
However, so that Managing Diversity may become effective in supporting
the negotiation of sets of rules, participants first need to develop the
motivation required for the process. The expected benefits must appear
4
Moralen
sufficiently attractive to justify giving up – at least partly – the views and
expectations they held until now.
In order to search for new solutions, the parties involved need to develop
an interest in concerted action.
As a matter of fact, motivation rests on one of three factors, "the use of
force", "hope", or "fear".
"What ways are there to get someone to do something?
The use of force, hope, or fear.
The use of force is normally obvious and can be immediately
identified.
Hope and fear can be generated in various ways, which are not
always easy to identify. Basically, we are dealing here with
symbolic material. A gun is for instance a symbol of pain and
death. A high-value banknote triggers a feeling of hope for most
people, inasmuch as it is a symbol of the hope for the
satisfaction of certain needs." (Milowiz, 2005a, S. 20)
A possible answer is therefore the hope that by cooperating, each
person's individual world will work better, that with mutual acceptance life
will become easier in some respect, that the world and fellow human
beings will (once again) be more predictable, and it may be possible to
find one's bearings (again).
"As long as there is no common history or common language,
misunderstandings, prejudice and projection of assumptions
onto others will predominate. The stronger side spontaneously
tends to impose its way of thinking onto the other, as with a
rubber-stamp. Even just the fear of being dominated by the
other can make people cut themselves off. Misunderstandings
are pre-programmed. ...
What can be done to bring together people with different origins
and mentalities...? ... They do not necessarily need to think and
act the same way. But ... partners must – no matter how
different they are – be mutually predictable." (Doppler/
Lauterburg, 1995, S. 28f)
If hope for such improvements cannot be aroused, or if hope cannot be
built upon, then any form of cooperation towards mutual understanding
cannot be expected either.
5
Michaela Judy, Walter Milowiz
Therefore it seems that people's involvement will not necessarily be
totally disinterested: if cooperation puts the hope for improved personal
conditions, such as rewards, into focus, then a corresponding degree of
motivation is to be expected. There is then however a significant risk that
commitments may be made only in words and are not heartfelt, while the
agreements reached in the process are eclipsed or even unconsciously
boycotted.
As a matter of fact, "the real underlying rules of the game [may] only be
understood in the way the process actually develops." (Milowiz, 2005a,
S.23)
"Sabotage potential" is indeed related to conforming to official norms
verbally, when such norms hardly affect the behavioural dimension. This
is all the more so since moral rules are usually learnt in childhood – with
the development of the Superego – and it seems questionable whether a
substantially different moral system may be taken on in the space of one
generation.
Now Managing Diversity, if it is successful at bringing about changes,
should not only enable people with different conceptions to live and work
together. It must also work towards filling the moral vacuum created by
the process itself, i.e. for the existence of acceptable common rules
coding for predictable behaviour, and not only in the formal, but also the
informal sphere.
The implicit moral code of MD implies pluralism, i.e. a fundamental
attitude that treats different moral systems as equal in value and the
belief that these – at least partly – may, or even should, exist side by
side. The focus is to draw out what is acceptable for all, to connect with
what is necessary for cooperation, and honourably lay aside everything
else.
In practice, it is precisely this "laying-aside-everything-else" that proves
to be particularly tenuous. It means respecting the dignity of the
individual together with those very beliefs which made him or her into a
respectable person. This is all the more difficult when domination
cultures and their sometimes explicit rules come into conflict with their
own self-perceptions and norms.
An example from one of our sessions may clarify the point.
In a small business the company technician realized that a small trolley
which was normally kept in the tool room had disappeared. This caused
immediate uproar. The next day the trolley was there again. The
6
Moralen
manager was almost sure that it had been taken by the cleaner, who had
worked there for many years. But before the manager could discuss the
matter with the her, the cleaner went on sick leave. When we discussed
the case in a session, the idea came up that Ms X., an illiterate Roma,
may have acted entirely according to different moral values, inasmuch as
collective rather than individual property might have ranked higher. You
will use whatever is available, and then bring it back when someone else
needs it.
Agreement was reached on the way to proceed. The woman would not
be confronted directly, but during the next team meeting the manager
would thank the unknown person for bringing back the item, and in
addition announce that as a rule people there did not normally just
borrow things. The decision was however never implemented. Ms X.
resigned while she was still on sick leave.
Ms X's departure was first of all experienced as a loss by the
"abandoned" team. She was respected as a colleague and – from the
perspective of her Austrian colleagues – well integrated. They asked
themselves what they had done wrong, and the impossibility to make
renewed contact with Ms X. fuelled explanations along "culturalist" lines.
Precisely in the context of their great readiness to engage in reflective
types of work, the failure was in itself experienced as Ms X.
"undeservedly" hurting their feelings and rejecting them. A little relief
finally came from the suggestion that Ms X. apparently did not think that
Austrian bosses and colleagues were capable of stepping out of the
thought pattern "taking = stealing = crime", and wanted to pre-empt
being labelled as a criminal. In doing so she may indeed have been
unfair to her colleagues, and yet they were also eventually able to see
that Ms X's perception was totally realistic in a wider context. They were
able to re-establish a – though now only imaginary – relationship with Ms
X. as a respectable person, and thereby bring the real relationship to a
conclusion.
"The alien ceases to be alien and will no longer be experienced
as alien as soon as a relationship arises between the Ego and
the so-called alien. Distinctions are the outcome." (Kronsteiner,
2003, S. 16)
It is important to note that this highly complex form of respect is a value
system in itself, which in turn calls for predictable and acceptable
common rules in both the formal and informal spheres. It establishes
7
Michaela Judy, Walter Milowiz
new sets of rules and codes of conduct which prescribe what is to be
done or allowed by whom and in what circumstances.
Let us consider such codes of conduct according to the principles of
cybernetic epistemology: "We see everything we perceive as a world of
messages and information. Everything that a person does or says is a
message for someone. If nobody listens, there is no message. Therefore
there must be a listener for there to be a message." (Bateson 1981, zit.
n. Cecchin, 1996, S. 209 )
The message in this case requires the common agreement that
Managing Diversity's pluralistic moral code is a superordinate (= better?)
one.
Managing Diversity gives a new perspective to social/cultural differences
in organisations. From a problem to be simply brushed aside, they
become an opportunity to reflect upon personal values and patterns of
conscious behaviour and develop new, modified values and patterns of
action.
Managing Diversity urges us to adopt this new perspective and these
negotiation processes as the best way to accept how social/cultural
differences are to be dealt with.
After all, what MD requires would necessarily lead to conflicts if it was
practised on the basis of any other moral value system, namely the
notion that other value systems than our own are to be valued as well,
and have their own inherent legitimacy.
MD's "moral code" is necessarily its overriding principle, while all
methods and reflective processes involved can only be described as
auxiliary tools, which if possible should help to make the moral code
more amenable to its acceptance by all.
The integration effort which Managing Diversity requires of all
participants simultaneously marks the limits of diversity.
Even Managing Diversity, in its endeavour to pass on a meta-moral
system as well as to promote concrete action, is governed by forms of
exercise of power.
The reason is that Managing Diversity defines a reference point based
on the concept of (social, economic) equality, this being connected to its
use in the world of economic activity. The involvement in economic and
political processes should as much as possible include everybody – the
willingness of all concerned to participate is presumed.
8
Moralen
This is why all basic preconditions of Managing Diversity operate in the
context of normative assumptions. "Everybody should have an equal
opportunity to participate" or in contrast "Participation is a duty that every
individual is required to perform". Managing Diversity may only operate if
everybody accepts such norms. If one of these is challenged, then the
basic assumption is no longer functional. (vgl. Judy, 2005, S. 58ff)
If we do not deny the existence of this aspect, then Managing Diversity
could also possibly define new areas of collective focus.
In any case, the concept of "diversity" gives
"...a positive meaning to difficult processes involving increases
in complexity, or the management of complexity itself, as well
as negotiation processes, which become unavoidable with the
currently experienced increase in diversity, and thereby
provides security in dealing with insecure areas." (Judy, 2005,
S. 61)
We understand these new areas of collective focus primarily as
prevention. On the one hand, we mean preventing the consolidation of
older moral codes, and on the other, preventing the loss of moral
bearings, which occurs when people feel that morality is no longer valid.
References
Antons, Klaus (1992): Praxis der Gruppendynamik, Übungen und
Techniken. Hofgrefe Verlag für Psychologie, Göttingen-TorontoZürich.
Cecchin, Gianfranco (1996): Wie sich Voreingenommenheiten von
Therapeuten nutzen lassen. In: Keller, Thomas / Greve, Nils (Hrsg.):
Systemische Praxis in der Psychiatrie. Psychiatrie Verlag, Bonn,
209-214
Doppler, Klaus/Lauterburg, Christoph (1995): Change Management.
Campus, Wien - New York.
Judy, Michaela (2005): Unterschiede machen. Systemisches Denken im
Managing Gender & Diversity. In: Hartmann, Gabriela & Judy,
Michaela (Hrsg.): Unterschiede machen. Managing Gender &
9
Michaela Judy, Walter Milowiz
Diversity
in
Organisationen
und
Gesellschaft.
Edition
Volkshochschule, Wien, 57-80.
Kronsteiner, Ruth (2003): Kultur und Migration in der Psychotherapie.
Ethnologische Aspekte psychoanalytischer und systemischer
Therapie, Brandes & Apsel, Frankfurt/Main.
Milowiz, Walter (2005a): Wer definiert Macht? (Vortrag im ÖAGG, Feb.
1988). In: BASYS - Berichte des Arbeitskreises für Systemische
Sozialarbeit, Beratung und Supervision. Lfd. Nr. 18; Heft 1/2005, 2126
Milowiz, Walter (2005b): Das Fremde ist immer und überall. In:
Hartmann, Gabriela / Judy, Michaela (Hrsg.): Unterschiede machen.
Managing Gender & Diversity in Organisationen und Gesellschaft.
Edition Volkshochschule, Wien, S.153-167
Schwarz, Gerhard (2003): Konfliktmanagement. Konflikte erkennen,
analysieren, lösen. Gabler, Wiesbaden.
10
Prof. Dr. Susanne Ehmer
Supervision as Culture of Interculturality 1
Dealing with the theme interculturality some challenges tempt us for research,
education and practice:
- keyword supervision and neurology for an improved understanding;
- keyword supervision and dialogue for a deepened exploration;
- keyword supervision in Europe: Bologna-Agreement of Universities;
- keyword diversity, apparent hopelessness or orientation in the observed lack
of orientation.
Interculturality is part of work with supervision, here engagement with the strange is a
central challenge: strange structures, organizations, modes of work, behavioral
patterns, forms of conflict solutions, terminologies, cultures – all that we know. The
“being strange” as part of the professional role not only allows the respective
necessary distance but at the same tmle stimulates the eager research spirit.
However being of different opinion one also is confronted with own limits and fears.
On the one hand capability is necessary to recognize that other cultures also exist
and on the other hand to handle the differences between cultures and to move in
“between” them. Supervision with its own professional culture of watching,
recognition, reflection and self-reflection provides the frame of dealing with questions
and problems but also with chances of development and changes, with which we are
confronted in connection with globalization, with changes of values in the Western
industrial societies, with the intensification of national and international competition
and with the opening of inner European borders.
This text describes the access to the theme as supervisor and teacher, shortly
outlines the context of social developments and definition of culture and enters into
interculturality and supervision. However I want to start with a quotation of a lecture
Zygmund Baumann gave at the ANSE conference in Leiden 2004.
“The secret of teaching and learning also contents the mediatorship of capability to
analyse and to refuse cognitive frames which we got used to and in which we
comprehend informations about our surrounding.” (Baumann 2004, 8)
This sentence especially expresses the request to promote and to accompany
changes and developments.
Culture as Context of Understanding
A second request which shares much with supervision is meeting and understanding
and by that the possibility of choosing different attempts of understanding. Here
culture is an imprtant access – later I will stress it more thoroughly, for the cultural
context makes it possible by neglecting the individual person being confronted with to
watch, to understand and to orientate without giving them personal attributes,
characteristics and etiquettes. I myself can decide to interprete differences or
similiarties on a personal level or by facts, f.i. different educational orientation of
1
Slightly shortened text of the same article in the magazine Supervision 3/2006
1
supervisors. The last just gives me a larger choice, it allows me to feel people facing
me, but to understand their behavior in a certain context.
At the beginning I said that for me the changes and development are very important.
Culture as context of undertanding allows me to be able to initiate changes without
having to query the person in her or his individuality or identity because the focus
concentrates on norms, values, rules – consequently on transpersonal dimensions.
If I change the obvervations from a personal level and motivation to a social
perspective, than it can be said, that an interest cannot be overseen in the theme
culture in literature, daily press, texts and discussions.
There exist enough reasons which have made visible this theme on the basis of
human companionship, reasons we are directly confronted with: globalization,
European expansion, migration, refugee movements, thus world-wide movements,
which also affect each individual. We show interest for other cultures, we are
confronted with different kinds of strange cultures – not always well-minded and
voluntarily. Sometimes we react irritated or feared due to required or absolutely
necessary dealing with an “other” culture.
Yet it seemed to be necessary to deal with it. And with the question which “misery”
needs to be changed, in this text I will refer to the question of orientation vs. lack of
orientation.
Why is that Theme Placed in the Foreground?
Up to now culture had the function which helped to overcome limitation, i.e. to offer
parameter of decision, how could be chosen out of an endless variety of
behaviorisms.
Therefore as message into the inside, into the system – “here one behaves that way”,
“here one is thinking that way”, “these are our values” – and at the same time as
message to the outsinde; “We are we and you are you.”
The other, the outside, could stay outside unpunished as the strange. When one
faced it, one could decide oneself for fear, pleasure of fear or fascination. An
emotional experience which in former times one didn’t need to make so often.
Now in connection with globalization, expansion of Europe and other things we have
to recognize that there exists a variety of cultures, and this variety refers to the view
that our culture not only is the sole true, right and stabilizing one. The variety qualifies
the own. The one culture provided security, the numerous cultures increase
insecurity in all areas of society.
For all of us recourse to delimitation is conscious and familiar, and in its effect as well
problematic as irrelevant since the entire social development cannot be stopped by it.
One of the problematic effect is that changes increasingly are seen as threats. Even
wanted or planned changes slightly evoke this insecurity for it is necessary that
people again have to orientate themselves, to re-arrange, to organize and to
establish. Each new task for which we don’t have a suitable solution releases fear
and reactions of stress. Changes with which we are socially confronted are not
predominant and rarely clear, in its concrete effects not or little foreseeable and
therefore even cannot be calculated. Certainly we watch well-defined phenomena,
2
we determine differences from between “former and now”, between “here and there”,
but first of all we only have a more or less vague explanation for it instead of a clear
and duplicated one. Orientation got lost – and not only that: even security of a
reliable orientational frame is gone. Just make a small attempt and look
spontaneously at your associations to “culture”. Within short time you will think about
several “definitions” and ideas and thereby you can determine how you decide
yourself for another orientational frame in each case.
In order to show also the available variety here, I just want to mention some
determinations or definitions of the meaning of culture.
Culture is
- the total of mental and artistical expression of people; the cultivation of ground;
the mental and psychical education, refined modes of living, kind of living
(Wahrig 21000);
- a common system of consciousness and ideas of values, by which one group
differs from the other (Gertz, cit. in Peer 2001);
- the sample of sense making in which people interprete their experiences and
guide their action (Geertz, cit. in: Per 2001);
- what differs from other people. Or briefly said: culture is what makes
uncomparable life-styles comparable (Baecker 2000);
- a knowledge of differences, a knowledge about differences (Baecker 2000);
- in a set up social system culture can be understood as a play of which the
rules obviously can be expected and applied and which one just becomes
aware if they are hurted (Simon 2004).
- Therefore cultural rules not only care whether they become aware of deviation
or neglection, moreover they care of a clear inner-outer differentation between
those things which belong to the respective culture and those which don’t
belong (Simon 2004).
- Is all that what we are not willing to put into disposal (Baecker 2000).
The variety of associations, representations und definitions shows that the range of
importance of culture permanently increases. Something that seemed to be selfevident and fulfilled its function accordingly, i.e. what was not necesssary to think and
to mention, now is no more self-evident and doesn’t seem to function without
questioning. Now it becomes necessary to think about it, to speak about it and to put
foregone conclusions into consideration.
Here supervision could be that process, that bowl, that structure of culture which
makes it possible to meet constructively these insecurities within in less frightened
setting.
As release for insecurity and shaken orientation it can be summarized: globalization,
intensification of national and international competition, the ongoing differenciation of
society, de-institutionalization, the opening of borders and thus the consequences –
welcome or less welcome, the obviousness of countless different possibilities of
culture.
Here culture seemed to be threatened by two sides: as well from the outside as from
the inside. From the outside it seems to be the fear to get put on another culture.
From the inside we seem to be frightened that the present – or perhaps the mututal
creational process of identity, understood as culture, doesn’t work any more.
3
If one looks at living environment and daily life one can see on the one side how
many customs, rituals, traditions have changed, but one also can see how many
have maintained or again got established and therewith one can state: our culture
has changed .- our culture hasn’t changed and if one goes on asking what does
culture mean actually, with large probability one again approaches a state of losing
orientation. The idea culture unfolds an almost magic effect, in true sense: it is
something which can be watched but cannot be explained (as already Luhmann
watched).
If here one includes the debate about culture of enterprise, culture became the
central focus for each success or failure.
Here another advantage can be seen besides satisfaction of curiosity: culture
becomes “ a black hole” in which unevidence can disappear and in which as well the
good as also the evil can appear. At first glance it seems to be possible to explain
phenomena, problems, changes or obscurities with the “other culture” or the other
cultural understanding or at laest to adjust them. However by exact consideration and
reflection which is our task – we recognize how little we comprehend and know, yet
how little we really can explain or can derive from what we call culture.
But even when it causes more confusion and increases insecurity we cannot and
don’t want to neglect to thematize and to explore it. And just here a certain culture
emerges. Culture of supervision is one kind to designate and to inquire culture as
such.
Culture in its initial sense should help people to handle particular challenges of
nature, the direct living environments – this means to find answers for strange
differences such as being part of nature at the one hand and being thrown out at the
other. This difference already appears in the history of creation, in the tree of
realization, in the expulsion from paradise as the beginning of culture resp. the
devine order: make earth subject to you. On the other side and this I will emphasize
here, culture had and still has the function to put order into the improbability of an
organized liv ing together. By that I want briefly refer to the problem of restriction
which exists by the way that reality is a kind which also couldn’t exist because the
world isn’t necessary and therefore with other words: it also couldn’t show up that
way or even totally different.
Therefore culture creates the basis for our social, economical and religious life, it also
delivers us a perspective of interpretation of the world by refusing to mutual gained
orientations. It is learned and developed within a process of socialization and
therefore is result of an interactual history.
Culture points out the process of reality construction and expresses the mutual
consciousness of meaning, a mutual understanding and a mutual sense-making in
the frame of which people point out their experiences and which creates the basis for
an individual, sensible and significant behavior (Morgan 1997, 181 ff., Ch. Geertz, cit.
in: Peer 2001, 48).
In this mutual system of consciousness and ideas of values one group differs from
the other (Peer 2001, 48). Before we have read at Dirk Baecker that culture is that
“what makes incomparable kinds of living comparable”. Further Baecker mentions,
that always then is spoken about culture, “when common values and symboles can
be watchend which are treated likely they are beyond the particular situation and also
are valid for other situations.” (Baecker 2000, 47, 59).
4
Besides others the challenges of our present direct living environment are located in
mastering the ethnic, religious, professional biographic diversity and differences
which not only bring us insecurity and loss of orientation but also offer us a spectrum
of possibilities of decision.
A Glance at the Organization
Let us look at the field which we as supervisors are dealing with primarily: the field of
organization.
Institutions, organizations, various different settings exist within social cultures, they
are formed by these cultures and they themselves have their own inner culture which
again reacts upon the respective society. Here in this connection the focus is directed
on those aspects or parts of culture which are especially interesting for the field of
supervision and counselling, simply communication. The existing culture shapes acts
of comunication and communication produces culture – therefore it is an autopoietic
process.
In supervision we try to explore this autopoietic process by reflection of events and
contexts, by inquiry and observance of thinking processes including the repsective
imaginations, estimations, emotions and feelings and the development of solutions,
and at the same time this process isn’t possible and understandable without
structured culture. We are just located within a circular act.
Communication is the first essential in order to give transparency to subjective
adventure and to make it reasonable, disposable and even communicative. This
brings us to a point of consideration and consciousness in dealing with it to
interpretation and respective conclusions.
What we can watch at the other side, at the strange, these are outer forms of
phenomena, the immediate noticeable features and products of the respetive culture:
its visible reality like language, dressing, architecture, arts, food or forms of living
together. Following Ed Stein and lateron also Trampenaars or Hofstede this is called
the surface-culture. But the essential of culture not only is what we recognize and
understand at the surface. Here just the more profound dimensions of a culture are
expressed. Larger significance has the “deep culture” as well for recognition and
understanding within a culture as for shaping of intercultural relations: the deep
dimension of each culture. It is a hidden level which cannot be seen directly by
sensitive organs. The core of a culture has developed itself from practical
experiences of survival of each group. In the core of each human culture is important
in order to survive, in order to master the challenges set up by nature. Therefore
fundamental acceptances of a culture are closely connected with geographic and
climatic conditions in the respective region (Trompenaars/HampdenTurner 1998,
Schein 1995, Hofstede 1993).
This very well is expressed in Ed Schein’s picture of a waterlily as model of culture: at
the surface the blossom swims visible, beyond there are the stems – not visible at the
first glance. They personify norms and values which create visibleness. At the bottom
there are ramified roots, deeply digged. Here lie the fundamental acceptances, the
core of a culture. And if one dives to the bottom all is turned up. Also in the “onion
model” according Trompenaars or Hofstede one only reaches gradually the core
layer by layer (Trompenaars/Hampden-Turner 998, 22). To this Argyris has worked
out very clearly the model of abstraction steps on our realizing, thinking and acting (s.
Argyris 1990, Harktemeyer/Harktemeyer/Dhority 1999). At the beginning of those
5
steps our – selective – perception is situationd which is characterized by our deep
culture and therefore always produces again this culture (Peer 2001, 49).
If one wants to perceive or to comprehend the core or the specific of a culture, this
succeeds by intensive observation on the one side and direct experiencing of a
culture or by comparison of two or more cultures. To this the authors Trampenaars
and Hofstede have worked out different and similar dimensions with which different
cultures can be observed and compared. For instance the approach to nature, to time
and to fellows or facts like power, individualism vs. collectivism, male or female
characters – for just to mention some (Hofstede 1993, Trompenaars/HampdenTurner 1998).
Supervision and Interculturality
Well, our theme is “Supervision as Culture of Interculturality”. What is meant by that?
In our faculty we always are considered with border crossings so far – as supervisors
we enter “strange” working links, we deal with new settings without knowing so far
about the specific structures, specialities, rituals, traditions or tabus. For a long time
we already work together with a multi-cultural team or we accompany supervisors in
the reflection of their work with multi-cultural clients – yet there seems to have come
a new movement and exposiveness in dealing with the theme culture and
interculturality. On the one hand we can explain this by an increase of supervision
inquiry coming
- from institutions with international personal, f.i. in the care-taking field or youth
work;
- from projects which are settled in storm centers in foreign countries;
- once in a while also from industries which coooperate binational;
- from schools which are confronted with problems and conflicts due to multicultural pupils … and much more.
On the other hand professinalization of supervion is proceeding at the European level
as well as development and establishment of education in supervision, especially in
East-European countries. At the professional and specialized level it always comes to
vehement debates about the “right” and “most professional” form and definition of
supervision. But for instance how shall we German honestly know which
comprehensive kind of supervision is adequate and helpful for colleagues in Latvia or
Slovenia? Besides that it would be arrogant to assume that our comprehension is
“the only one” – which also isn’t uniform. Here much has to be experienced, to be
explored and to find out by meeting and reflection. For sure here we can learn much
from and about the other.
The more often becoming specific inquiries and needs deriving from an intercultural
context make clear that not only a small group of supervisors is sufficant for reflection
and accompanying those professionals. (At the homepage of the DGSv appr. 250
from 3500 supervisors mention interculturality as their keyword in their profile.)
The profession supervision just now has to qualify and develop itself further and even
its know-how, its knowledge and experiences as bordercrossers in “strange” regions
and “culture” and – in order to use it generalized and to bring it into action – to treat it
emotional, cognitive and theory creating.
How Could That Look Like?
6
One could start with dealing of themes concerning changes, fear, stress-reaction,
encouragement and defense and thereby use experiences of neurology. In the
meantime it is evident that thinking and feeling cannot be separated, that both are
circular connected with each other and stand in steady interrelation (s. Ciompi 1999,
1997). Our feelings, affects and physical mood control our thinking and acting – and
vice versa. They form a filter by which we select our observation and concentrate
ourselves on the respective urgent and relevant appearing. Also here there probably
is still much to discover and to make useful for our work.
Furthermore one of course can work with the direct first hand experiences of
intercultural meetings. By experiencing, learning and working together we can learn
about different culture on the visible or getting perceptible points of fracture and
seam. Here I want to refer to a sentence from Z. Baumann at the beginning, namely
to the first essential to disentagle habits or in other words to forget the skills and want
to complete it by citing a little story of Mulla Nasrudin:
One day Nasrudin found an exhausted falcon sitting on his window. He never had
seen such a bird. ‘You poor guy’, he said, ‘how could it happen that you have come
in such a bad shape?’He shortened the clutches of the falcon, cut the beak and
trimmed the wings. ‘Now you even look more like a bird,’ said Nasrudin (Shah 1984,
109).
Resulting from a constructive systemic position and again from neurologic
experiences we have to assume that there not only exists “one” truth, no objectivity,
but in each case perspective truth of all participants. Accordingly there is no either-or,
except one decides oneself consequently for a hierarchic structure of power (what by
that way also has its release), but an as well as.
This is easier said than done. In intercultural cooperation resp. in an intercultural
intervision group (which is organized by ANSE) always the tendency can be watched
that the others or the other are understood in a way one knows itself. Questions often
have the tendency to get confirmed one’s own receptions and ideas. (That’s also the
same at you … or?) or to compare with the own (do you also make a triangular
contract at your tean supervision?). To find a similarity or an analogy would cause
much release in a situation of permanent insecurity (lack of language, knowledge and
so far) – at least this is the hope. More difficult because even more strenuous is it to
ask open expectant questions and then to listen to the answers with frankness and
curiosity. We all know comparable situations from supervision proceses in our own
well-known professional field. We believe to know all about it. And just there a special
attention is needed in the way of not knowing to express innocent, curious questions.
Inquiring, wishing to know, to explore the strange is very exhausting. Habits and
familiarity do have their good. One recognizes quickly the situation, the
circumstances, one can orientate himself and in accordance contribute, one knows
how to behave and to act. At least one believes that he knows it. We all know that
this perception not always is correct. But we have set up orientation and by that we
have achieved or kept a capability of acting. But we agitate in an old circle and this
will not last for ever. Also here some has to be explored and to find out.
Role, Attitude, Identity, Ethic and Professional Development
Here another important theme is the one of identity which social sciences eagerly are
concerned with. This discourse makes clear how vague meaning resp. understanding
7
of identity still are. Yet for all of us clearly noticeable is the increase of partial identy
(manifold roles) which have to be recognized and managed. As supervisors we
already bring along professional identity. But upon this basis we develop a further
new identity and profile as supervisor. This again we find worth to discuss in
nearness and limitations resp. coaching and organization counselling.
Handling these manifold identities and their management – which also implies
intercultural aspects, here ment at a level of professional origin and membership –
requires dealing with the own mental models, values, the professional growth and the
individual ideas and goals as well as working with the individual and specific
professional attitude based on ethic levels, with values and goals, with the inner and
the outer tasks. Here attitude, identity, ethic and professional development are
important and this means a steady development of profession.
Here culture of supervision and counselling, culture of supervision, education and its
intercultural comparison are a profitable field of inquiry.
At the end I want to refer to the keywords at the beginning: the way out from the
apparent loss of way out and the focus on the noticed loss of orientation only can be
overcome by a culture which reflection makes possible and improves it, i.e. the
introduction of the observer of 2. order or like H.v. Foerster says, of the cybernetics of
2. order. It is our task to discover again culture in the respective social or
organizational subsystem. Therefore concept, attitude and methodic of supervision
offer an essential basis.
Literature
Argyris, C. 1990: Overcoming Organization Defenses, I n: (1996a), S. (ed.): Das Fieldbook zur Fünften
Disziplin, Needham, Mass., Stuttgart, Allyn & Bacon, Klett-Cotta
Baecker, D. 2000: Wozu Kultur?, 3rd Ed. 2003, Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos
Baumann, Z. 2004: Flüchtige Moderne, in: Supervision Sonderausgabe
Ciompi, I. 1999, 1997: Die emotionalen Grundlagen des Denkens, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht
Ehmer, S. 2004: Dialog in Organisationen. UniPress Kassel
Harktemeyer, M./Harktemeyer, J/Dhority, F. 1999: Miteinander denken – das Geheimnis des Dialogs,
Stuttgart: Klett-Cota
Hofstede, G. 1993: Organisationsentwicklung in verschiedenen Kulturen, in: Fatzer, G. (ed.):
Organisationsentwicklung für die Zukunft, Köln, Edition Humanistische Psychologie
Morgan, G.1997: Bilder der Organisation, Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta
Peer, C. 2001: Was kann die OE von der Kulturentwicklung lernen?, in: Organisationsentwicklung
2/2001, 48-57
Schein, E.H. 1995: Unternehmenskultur, Frankfurt/Main, New York: Campus Verlag
Shah, I. 1984: Die fabelhaften Heldentaten des weisen Narren Mulla Nasrudin, Freiburg i. Brsg.:
Herder
Simon, F.B. 2004: Gemeinsam sind wir blod!? Die Intelligenz von Unternehmen, Mamagern und
Märkten, Heidelberg: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag
Trompenaars, F./Hampden-Turner, C. 1998: Riding the Waves of Culture, end Ed., New York:
McGraw-Hill
Wahrig, G. 2000: Deutsches Wörterbuch, Gütersloh/München: Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag GmbH
8
Dieter Goeschel
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OR CULTURAL
COMPETENCE? – EXEMPLARY POSITIONS TO THE QUESTION OF INTERCULTURAL
DIFFERENCE
The indicated problematic nature encloses several dimensions: it concerns the concept of culture, it
operates in a way that it deals with some kind of exchange between two or more cultures and it
deals with the competence thereto and the concept of communication, this means the attempt of
reciprocal information or understanding.
Culture and Intercultural Communication
In general the concept of culture is vague. Usual culture is understood as all what the human being
creates as species with his own energy and their possibilities. The concept normally is used in
contrast to nature, which is facing it autonomously, has its own rules and energy, which threatens
human being or bring him advantage. A common, in general acknowledged definition of culture is
not availabe. Traced from the Latin “colere” – to cultivate, to care, to till - can be understood as
some kind of culture how people shape their life with all products of their thinking and doing. One
can comprehend this concept valued, can apply it more to all mental products which then can be
understood as an expression of dinstinct thinking, values, views and creations. But as well it even is
often understood in a material sense, where the results of productive human energy is seen more.
One also likes to talk about civilization and means by that to be able to diagnose a progressive
development of human kind, the more civilized the better. Also in scientific discussions about
culture one desagrees on essentials about a precise definition of culture. Yet from the view-point of
cultural anthropology there exists somewhat like conformity in the basic attitude which means that
one understands a system of concepts, convictions, value orientation, attitudes by the phenomenon
of culture, which as well can be seen in the behavior and action of people as well in their mental
and material products. Brislin, an anthropologist himself, understands culture as
“… an identified group with mutual conviction and experiences, with feelings for values which are
connected with the experiences and with interest in a mutual historical background.”1
One can see that here Brislin emphazises the aspect that also culture always leads to participation
and identification of human beings with a certain group resp is necessary. Apparently people have
the requirement to belong to a certain culture. In this sense one can state that human beings ,
groups, nations not only have “one” culture, but that they themselves are a certain culture in
particular.
Richard H. Dana also sees in culture the essential which means to belong to a group, but yet he
makes differences from what means to be a person, to have a personality. By that he gives culture
1
Maletzke, G., 1996, Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Zur Interaktion zwischen Menschen verschiedener Kulturen,
Wiesbaden, Westdeutscher Verlag, p. 16
also an area in order to shape its own individuality. Besides that he recognizes the social entire
influence on the process of cultural shaping (acculturation and inculturation).2
In order to face the difficulties which arise, if a complex formation like a society or a nation or
another larger community shall be defined, the concept of such culture presents itself. It proceeds
from the imagination that the part-group of a larger society or group show its own culture, even a
subculture. Each subculture differs from other subcultures by specific characteristics, but combined
they integrate the subcultures into an overlapping united formation which represents the entire
culture. Each member of society can also belong to several subcultures at the same time.
A larger number of scientists are concerned with the phenomenon of culture.
Term
culture anthropology
social psychology
psychology
communication sciences
linguistics
Item
ethnology, ethnography, social anthroplology,
ethno-science, ethno-psychoanalysis and
others
relation between human beings, groups,
peoples, nations
connection of culture and personality;
dependence of the human being in his
consciousness, emotions, attitudes, behavior
etc. concerning the cultural shaping
information between cultures, personal,
individual by media, by mass-communication
language as cultural relevant phenomenon;
symbol value of language
“The human being” is a conceptual abstraction. Usually human beings only exist as individuals,
they differ individually by means that each human being exists once in that specific kind. But
obviously there are characteristics, kinds of behavior, capabilities or features which can be met at
human beings in all cultures. They are specified as so-called “cultural universals”. F.i. Maletzke
names here: marriage, phonems and morphems, counting; taboo of endogamy, respect to parents,
moral values as basis of institutions; music and drawing; personal names; sports; worship of devine
creatures; dream-interpretation; education; donation and many others.3 Of course statements about
those phenomena are very different and unsystematic, that there cannot be given importance to
them. Only as a hint that human beings cannot live without specific characteristics of culture due to
their anthropological constitution (as a scarce being with lack of flair).
The proportion between the individual to its culture can be understood as a complex system of
reciprocal action. On the one hand the human individual gets acquainted with the special cultural
particularities during his education (socialization) and is influenced by them fundamentally. This
process, the so-called enculturation, besides others encloses learning of basic human capabilities in
the social field, f.i. how to get social contacts, how to control the own behavior, how to handle
emotions accordingly, how to satisfy basic needs, how to see the world, how to communicate verbal
2
s. Dana, R. H., 1998 (originally 1927), Understanding Cultural Identity in Intervention and Assessment,, London
3
s. Maletzke, G., 1996, Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Zur Interaktion zwischen Menschen verschiedner Kulturen,
Wiesbaden, Westdeutscher Verlag, p. 22
or nonverbal with others, what one can expect from others, which roles are adequate for oneself and
what can be estimated as positively or negatively. On the other hand the individual influences
culture by his specific individual history and by the gained understandings and behavior.This means
culture always depends on the so-called cultural change.
Normally it is not conscious to the human being how his kinds of experiences and behavior are
determined by his own culture. Most people live in a certain natural attitude and naïve reality. They
proceed unreflected from the assumption that the world itself is how it appears them. Everything
appears them naturally. This attitude then becomes a problem when the human being meets
participants of another culture. Just now the ratio of the own cultural sphere, its system of reference
and interpretation becomes conscious, just now unproblematical things of everyday life become a
problem. In order to handle this problem, people have developed a pattern of mechanisms which
shall help to decrease arising insecurity. In cases in which the own culture is interpreted as
reflection .- then one talks about ethnocentrism – the particular other culture is degraded by
devaluation, is qualified as inferior, as abnormal, as immoral. By that the own ego is maintained
resp. is increased in a way that insecure instability is brought again into stability. Another variance
of this ethnocentrism is nationalism. Here a strong national feeling is developed by overidentification with norms and values of the own nation, which again leads to a feeling of superiority
about other nations. Nationalism becomes a glorification of the own and a devaluation of the other
nation.
Another variance of intercultural managing problems is the so-called culture relativism. Here in
some kind of counter-movement it is referred to superiority of thinking – connected with the
postulate of equality of the enlightement. Indeed cultures appear as differentiated from each other in
this perspective, but in no way considered comparable. By neglection of a valued consideratoin here
exists the danger that own reached standards will not be seen positively, indeed in some extent
positive achievements of culture are devaluated, at least will be relativated as non-obligatory.
Supporters of this concept do have the difficulty that they are bereaved of orientational function of
culture, that means the belief in universal liability of own values.
Also the idealistic concept of multicultural personality, the concept of multi-culti-society has to face
this problem. The question arises if it might be possible that all or many people of a nation can
remain in a limited district of looking for orientation and thus are able to make it to a normal item of
their everyday life. Here the relief function of the own culture gets lost which normally is seen as
positive. If it is not the case, f.i. in the U.S., the danger exists, that individual subcultures fall back
into overacting nationalism with all its wild running and sometines even violent extremes. Or more
global mindes transnational actors can evolve who develop by loss of national or cultural formed
moral values and opinions into scrupulous power institutions (mafia, captalists, trusts) which
believe in doing without cultural pudent borders or threshold of obstacle.
When it is talked about culture, about meeting between cultures, about ethnocentrism and culture
relativism, about obviousnesses and superiority consciousness – then a simple impression underlies
these ideas and thoughts: namely the differentation from the inner (or at home) to the outer (or outdoor). Here inner means warmth, safety, security, it is the field of obviousnesses. This is faced with
the outer, the “strange”, what in some sense is attractive and fascination but at the same time cold,
threatening, dangerous, insecure. The stranger, the foreign country, the unfamiliar: all three are
manifold meaningful names for this pheomenon of the other. F.i. one can interprete the strange
as the foreign country outside territorial borders and define within the border as homeland;
as unfamiliar, as abnormal, improper, unsuitable, the own as normal, worthy, reasonable;
as the still unknown which is seen as explorable on principle, available to the own experiences, but
which is not known yet;
as the finally not visible which is staying outside for the own meaning sphere, as remaining
transcendental, what remains excluded from the possibilities of getting acquainted with;
as the unearthy which stands in opposite to confidence, which fears, which causes anxious emotions
of getting mixed up with own strange interests.
So the “going into foreign countries” always has also the significance to leave home, to get out of
the circle of obviousnesses, to expose oneself to a fascinating but also threatening unknown, to be
adventure but also temptation. Vice versa the stranger feels strange in a foreign country. That means
also for participants of the respective visited culture that the stranger is seen as threatening,
unknown, as obviousnesses putting in questions, as making insecure. A large field for intercultural
misunderstandings! The vehemence or power with which this problem of strangeness, of the
stranger appears depends on the so-called intercultural distance or cultural distance. With this
conception it is tried to express particular nearness or distance which exists between two different
cultures. If the particular part of mutual experienced cultural orientation is large then a certain
cultural nearness can be seen and vice versa. Differences in climate, in geographical, topographical,
economical circumstances and so on thereby can play an important role.
Maletzke has put together some important categories in which culture differ from another and
which form the specific profile of a culture in its structural whole, the so-called structural
characteristics. As such he considers besides others:
- National character, basic personality
With the concept of national character sciences – especially psychology, cultural anthropology –
have tried to gather differences of different cultures. This bases on the assumption that people of a
nation correspond to basic patterns of experiencing and behavior as well as in their personalities or
they might be rather similar and thus differ from people of other nations. The concept proved a
failure, too many abstractions arise in order to get any valid statements. Nevertheless it is still used
in literature, especially in the impressionistic – essayistic.
- Observation
Observation, today everybody knows it, is a complex process in which the human beein is involved
actively, productively and creatively. It is socially and culturally molded. This means: people of
different nations see the world under different aspects. Hereby all senses play an important role. As
well in seeing (visual perception) as in listening, smelling, tasting, feeling, on colour symbolic, in
addiction strategies and so forth human kind develops a culture of specific habits, mechanisms of
selection and preferences which again differ enormously from people of other cultures.
- Time experiences
People of different cultures develop different concepts of dealing with time. Especially between
Western and Far-Eastern cultures great differences exist. This not only refers to the handling of the
own speed with regard to punctuality or similar things, but especially to different interpretations
what time describes.
- Space experiences
Just like concerning time experiences great differences can be stated as well regarding space
experiences like dealing with spaces. For instance definition concerning private and public space
differs very much as well as spatial dealing with interpersonal distance or even only the spatial
shaping of homes, gardens etc.
- Thinking
Mentality of people of different cultures differ in essential dimensions, that is whether they think
logicalyl
inductively
abstractively
alphabetically
or
or
or
or
prelogically
deductively
concret
illiterately
Even with regard to the specific setting of thinking human being differs just like how they deal with
possessions of imagination like superstition, witchcraft, magic, humbug.
- Language
Language serves to reduce complexity by connecting abstract similarities, categories, classes, types.
It brings order into an endless variety of phenomenon. It is obvious, that language and universal
sight of a certain group of human being largely depend from another. On the one hand the kind and
mode how the world is seen highly influenced by language, on the other hand language forms itself
differentiated due to cultural specific needs, expectations and motivations. Also subculture develop
own language-codes. Language acquires a certain other meaning within a certain other reference
setting.
- Non-verbal communication
Although still not thoroughly researched today one knows about the importance of non-verbal
communication. People not only exchange words, but they inform themselves by kinesics,
proxemics, orientational angular, outer appearance (symbolic of dressing), posture, gesture of the
head, facial expression, gestic, focal contacts, paralinguistics and much more. These kinds of
appearance of human communication are cultural highly over-formed. By circumstances the one
and same form can mean the opposite in different cultures. So non-verbal communication becomes
susceptible to a high degree for intercultural misunderstandings. Even the meaning of silence can
vary specifically in the sense of culture.
- Value orientation
Values are yardsticks which with people regulate their values. They win acceptance for the total
human living. As standard volume about cultural specific value orientation Maletzke cites Florence
Kluckhohn and Fred Strodtbekc, 1961:Variations in value orientations: they proceed from three
thesis:
People from all centuries and nations had to find solutions for a limited number of named problems.
For each basic problem of people there exists only a limited number of solving possibilities.
For each problem all societies complete solving possibilities are available, but society gives
solutions an own significance. So cultural specific ranking of values is created: each society
presents its own profile in value orientation. Value change just is a change of ranking, not of the
values themselves.
Basing on these theses they develop a model of long-winded variety concerning principle
orientations
Orientatio Postulated Long-Winded Variety
n
human
bad
neutral
nature
mixture
of good
good and bad
humanbeing
time
activity
relation
changeable unchangeabl changeabl unchangeabl changeable unchangeabl
e
e
e
e
submission to nature
harmony with nature
domination of nature
past
being
uniformity
(tradition, family)
present
being in becoming
reciprocity
(social system)
future
doing, making
Indivudality
(autonomy)
- Patterns of behavior, cumstons, norms and rules
While value orientations are based on an almost general level, customs and norms cover the
concrete level of daily life behavior. As samples can be seen rites of wedding, sexual behavior,
acting behavior, patterns of education, shopping behavior etc. Of course also taboo behavior
belongs to this category.
Behavioral patterns which are set up to the individual by expectations of the group we call roles.
Even expectations of roles can vary strongly with regard to cultural specific.
- Social groups, social connections
Each society structures its different participants according totally different groups. Here f.i. are
understood family, relationship, classes, castes, elites. Hierarchy and status, prestige and authority
of the particular members often depend on cultural handicaps. Hereby not only criteria differ which
determine the status, but also the importance which is given to the particular status. Also the social
patterns of relations underly strong cultural deviations. For instance the kind and manner of
definition of personality varies highly. If this is seen as an individual process in Western countries
as a result of individual development and socialization, this is defined as being a member of the
group in Far-Eastern cultures and in African countries. F.i. China doesn’t know at all about
conception of personality.
These exemplary listed structural characteristics can be understood as components which just form
the structure of a total in their totality and their reciprocal relativity which we call culture.
From these structural characteristics – the so-called cultural objectivations – can be differentiated.
This means the result of mental and material productions as far as they replace their originators or
producers, enter into the cultural good of the specific culture by corresponding traditions or
maintenance and then is met in objects. “The spectrum of those objectivations is large and colored:
it encloses all what people think, produce, shape, beginning with philosophy over religion, arts,
music, literature, fairy-tales, myths up to things of daily life like dressing, jewelry, house, home,
househodf effects.” 4
2. Intercultural Competence
Always there have been meetings between people from different cultures. But regularly these only
lasted a short time and they were spatially limited. Just the increasing internationality and
globalization produces situations in the more recent past in which members of different cultures
have to deal more permanently with each other. This circumstance has encouraged several authors
4
Maletzke, 1996, p. 43
to deal with the question, how cultures can be compared and especially how cultural conflicts can
be interpreted if people of different cultures meet in the working field.
Edward and Mildre Hall developed a concept by which especially three dimensions play an
important role.5 Time, context and space. They differentiated:
dimension
time
monochrone culture
polychrone culture
context
high-context-culture
low-context-culture
room
nearness
distance
behavioral orientation
tied planning, time schedule is
preferred, interruptions are
disturbances,
time
is
expensive, also the private is
scheduled etc.
many things are donge
simultaneously,
human
relations are more important,
flexible
time
schedules,
spontaneous modification of
appointments, etc.
tight information network,
fast change of groups of
persons, working with the
most
actual
background
informations, sociability, etc.
less tight information, loose
contacts, orientation on files,
strong orientation on facts,
etc.
less distance to toher people,
hogh social meaning of
nearness, etc.
large distance to ther people,
high social meaning to
distance, etc.
A far reaching and to large fame achieved approach Geert Hofstede follows who has interviewed
117.000 IBM-employees in total within 66 countries concerning besides others the consciousness of
working situation and their values. Hofstede understands by culture the collective programming of
spirit, which decides members of a group or of category from people of another.
Hofstede filterings out five dimensions of cultural specific differences:
power distance
collectivism vs. individualism
male vs. female
long-lasting vs. short term planning of life
avoidance of insecurity.6
5
s. Hall, E., T. and M. Hall, 1985, Verborgene Signale, Studien zur internationalen Kommunikation. Über den Umgang
mit Japanern, Hamburg; Hall, E., T. and M. Hall, 1990, Understanding Cultural Differences. German, French and
Americans, Yarmouth, Maine
The so-called dimensions of culture enclose the total of behavioral norms and value orientation and
can serve as orientational matrix for recognizing the strange and the own quality. But they just can
be considered as orientational points which by no means may lead to undue stereotypes.
Alexander Thomas especially pointed out the aspect of intercultural competence at overlapping
situations between cultures. Starting from the cultural conception which describes culture as
emotion and action leading system of orientation, he designs the concept of so-called cultural
standards as basis for trainings in order to gain intercultural competence of action.
“By cultural standards are understood all kinds of consciousness, thinking, values and actions which
are considered personally from a large majority of members of a certain culture or from others as
normal, obvious, typical and binding. Own and strange behavior is estimated on the basis of these
cultural standards.”7
Intercultural competence is reached when cooperation partners are successful in coordinating their
particular orientational systems one by one. By that knowledge is asked about strange cultural
standards and their action controlled effects as well as the capability to personal and situational
consciousness, to behavioral rating and to situational experiences in the context of strange cultural
orientation systems.
All three desbribed concepts is in common that they investigate cultural differences on a national
level and equate culture with national culture. Cultures appear more or less as homogeneous, on
national territories limited units. Herewith a larger inner variety as well is neglected as the fact that
many countries are sorrounded by arbitrary traced borders and societies exist off national borders.
Cultural competence
In order to avoid accusation and to develop a perspective for an increasing globalized society Dirk
Baecker outlines another concept. Accordingly culture is not understood as the sum of present
social values like traditional culture theory wants it, but is understood as ambiguous in the sense
that it provides reasons which make possible that the same thing can be celebrated from one and
criticized from the other. A culture disposes of interpretation margins. It gains its identiy from
comparison with the other.Culture is a function of society – that is a steady watching the difference
between the own and the other culture. So culture becomes a function for an open future in making
commitments of cultural value decisions thematically. Category of the strange replaces the
difference of the own.
That means: Culture always is only the difference to other cultures. Before getting into contact with
another culture, it doesn’t know about its existence.
“Nothing defines the own more reliable than the strange from which it differentiates itself.
Therefore culture is a kind of managing the problem that there also exist other cultures.”8
6
s. Hofstede, G., 1993, Interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit. Kulturen – Organisationen – Management, Wiesbaden
7
s. Thomas, 1996#1614, p. 112
8
Baecker, D., 2000, Wozu Kultur, Berlin, Kadmos Verlag, p. 17
Hence cultural contact is less getting in touch with two living types than more the production of
behavioral manners which this contact makes possible at all.
Cultural competence is the competence in order to identity a repertoire of marks and to handle them
by which resulting communicational problems can be solved or intensified.
In the globalized society cultural contacts are no more contacts at the (national) border of society
but contacts within society. Culture gets a meta-culture which doesn’t fix living styles, customs and
habits but on the contrary gives information how culture depends on social structures, individual
behavior and collective patterns of thinking. (Situational culture, sensational culture) yet sentations
unfold their cultural sense only distinction between other sensations.
European culture traditionally is colonial, that means it is founded on violent differentiation. Global
society withdraws normative expectations and prefers communication. Global society becomes (or
has to become) more eager to learn.
Baecker proposes the concept of “cultural competence” instead of “intercultural competence”.
Culture – and also contact between two or more cultures – has to develop open hearted in the future.
Following the phase of interculturality a new culture has to develop. Not the sight to the origin is
asked but the “arising of the new”. Of course the new also can show up in delimitation.
Therefore Baecker’s concept of culture is constructivistic since he presents a concept of second
order. Culture is: observation of cultural differences and statements of the difference. No culture
escapes the qualifying sight.
“Who is asking for culture is already confronted with the excluded part.”9
In the globalized world the reference to culture oscillates between local horizons and global
contexts. Function of culture is:
to show (to protect) its threat
to show (to vary) its changeabless
The culture of the new can be recalled but has not to be recalled, i.e. the outcome remains insecure.
This ambivalence already Adorno/Horckheimer had stated in “Dialectic of Enlightenment. Here it
was concerning the danger of falling back into the myth as soon as enlightenment has reached
(hegemonial, colonial) power. Also Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Baumann stated an ambivalence of
the modernism. So more culture renounces on power, the better it can handle learning processes in
order to catch up with its possibilities.
In the traditional understanding culture is concerned about the difference which oneself keeps under
control and which is seen as fate, as circumstance, as requirements, God’s grace or gift. When
Nietzsche says: “God is dead”, then he also means, that the human being has to take his fate into his
own hand (as a purpose to power). Baecker:
“In the human being the animal tempts; in the human being God tempts. But to be neither the one
nor both, it makes him to the human being.”10
9
ibid, p. 35
10
ibid, p. 46
Baecker sees historically three stations:
- antiquity
- modernism
culture of something
culture
as
such
(civilization);
intellectual
as
cultural
worker
- post-modernism
culture
of
irritation;
network of codifications
Culture is a specific operation of objection to excluded possibilities against noticed possibilities.
This requires (sociologically seen) that the excluded is taking along the so-called latency. Therefore
culture is contingent. But this also means: Culture must exclude. Baecker sees in using this cultural
concept three advantages for society:
Society can be watched as producer of definitions.
Different societies can be compared within it (i.e. how they produce those definitions).
A feedback of cultural theory can be undertaken into a general social theory.
Culture is produced be cultivation, by adoration, by comparison and by performance, and that
together also in one unit of all these moments.
Baecker mentions the organization culture as an example. It is talked about it when order,
coherence and sense establishment in organizations are concerned. It is produced horizontally and
vertically along loose couplings. By that enterprise organizations answer to hectic gotten markets
which not only have to be watched from the head of the enterprise but have to be observed from all
levels and from all places which therefore makes informational treatment necessary crosswise
through enterprises.
This not always happens with pleasure or with enjoyment on self-presentation. But it is necessary in
order to constitute culture. Culture is a constitutional experience. And in principle it always appears
in two variants:
celebration of the constituted, provision of security, confirmation, curtsey and sealing.
Criticism of the constituted, violation, doubts, injury, discomfort, rejection.
Therefore by cultural competence is meant that society or organizations have the capability to
steadily go through this process, to watch themselves and looking to the background of possibilities
to warrant even once made decisions but also to keep open their alteration.
Literature:
Baecker, D., 2000, Wozu Kultur, Berlin, Kadmos Verlag
Dana, R. H., 1998 (orig. 1927), Understanding Cultural Identity in Intervention and Assessment, London
Hall, E., T. and M. Hall, 1985, Verborgene Signale. Studien zur internationalen Kommunikation. Über den Umgang mit
Japanern, Hamburg
Hall, E., T. and M. Hall (1990), Understanding Cultural Differences. German, French and Americans, Yarmouth, Maine
Hofstede, G., 1993, Interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit. Kulturen – Organisationen – Management, Wiesbaden
Maletzke, G., 1996, Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Zur Interaktion zwischen Menschen verschiedener Kulturen,
Wiesbaden, Westdeutscher Verlag
Schmidt, S., J., 1987, Der Diskurs des Radikalen Konstruktivismus, Frankfurt, Stw
Zuzana Havrdova, Charles University Prague, 2006
IS THERE ONE CULTURE IN SUPERVISION?
In 2005 there started international cooperation between universities from the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Austria and Germany that provide supervision programmes. During the same period an
ANSE intervision group also developed, where supervisors from the same four countries
participated. Both experiences provoked a vast amount of questions. One of these forms the focus
of this paper. Is there one culture in supervision?
Our aim is not to find a highly grounded scientific answer to the question , which would require
extensive research, but to discuss ideas which could lead to clarification and further discusion of the
topic.
1. The concept of culture
The previous president of ANSE, Louis van Kessel, stated in his presentation at ANSE-Summer
University 2003 (Louis van Kessel, 2003, p.7) on culture in supervision:
„This concept is:
- on one side represented in prescriptions how to behave in specific situations and role structures;
- on the other side it implicates the specific customs, tastes, preferences, opinions, values,
behaviour, way of experiencing, and expectations and perceptions – the so-called mind-set - we as
members of a cultural group have in common.“
It is quite a difficult task to find out what features members of a cultural group have in common and
it becomes more complicated as various aspects of culture are modified and influenced by
membership in all kinds of subgroups. We all are members of many cultural subgroups “as these
groups are formed also by ethnic backgrounds, gender, disability, class, age, profession, religious
backgrounds and other.“
Let us focus now on supervisors in the middle Europe and Great Britain where we have the most
experience and let us try to relate some bits of experience to theoretical assumptions on supervision.
In the intervision group we have reflected that our mutual expectations and our pre-conception
about each other are marked by the power position of our own country in Europe (historical,
political, economic, stage of development in supervision, status of the academic field). However
we have also observed that most differences in behavior and decision making among us seem to
be dominantly related to our economic situation (also related to power, sense of freedom and
autonomy, possibility to influence things, difficulties which must be overcomed etc.) and to our
idiosyncratic choices (how we deal with stress and challenge, how openly we communicate, how far
we seek safe and structured situations or challenging and non-structured situations, what preunderstanding of life situations we have). This corresponds to Coleman´s perspective (1999), that it
is important to understand how normative assumptions about a group become reality through
idiosyncratic choices made by individual members of the group. These choices are probably partly
related to our family background and values, but we can also speculate that choices relate to stages
of personal growth, to age, personality features etc.
It is evident that nowadays the networks of „culturally similar“ people in Europe develop even
across nations or religions, which are less and less bound to „big“ cultures as nations or religions,
and more to idiosyncratic characteristics.
When the important obstacle of different language is transcended, the differences between
supervisors who come from various countries in central Europe seem to be rather bound to such
subtle „subcultures“, which are expresssed in human interactions and ways of coping with various
life and professional situations.
As we see there are a lot of factors influencing perceived cultural differences, which are in reality
often mixed together and make the communication about culture confused. The concepts of culture
and subcultures in supervision suggest various levels of meaning. It seems to us necessary to make
a distinction in these levels - otherwise it is becoming very unclear about what we speak when we
say „culture in supervision“
What we try to do is to start with differentiation in the context of supervision. Supervision as a
professional activity is always bound to the context in which it takes place. The features of the
supervision cultural context might be interrelated with the culture of supervision itself. Hopefully if
we can draw the line between various levels of distinction in the context, we can abstract the factors
which are diversely influencing the culture of supervision as a professional activity in each
level/aspect of the context. Next step would be to see if we can find some view which contains all
the necessary and sought varieties in the culture of supervision as professional activity, and which
characterises some common features/processes in the culture of supervision as a profession. We
suppose there are some such features- otherwise we can hardly speak about one „ profession“.
Are we able to track such common features/processes, which transcend all levels?
2. Levels of distinction in the “context of supervision“
levels of disctinction in context
Examples of features influencing culture in
supervision as a professional activity
supervision as a profession
?
topic of supervision
aiming at: clarity of feelings, competence building,
team building, and others
stage in the development of
Self-centered,client-centered,process-centered etc.
supervisee
norming, forming, learning basics vs. prevention of
burn/out
individual styles and preferences of supporting, prescribing, cathalytic, educational, warm
supervisor
and personal, informational etc.
models and methods chosen
cathartic, self/actualizing,conditioning, skill building,
awarness building, consensus building,problem solving
etc.
theoretical approach of
psychodynamic, systemic, TA, Gestalt, andragogic, OD
supervisor/supervisee
etc.
organisational context of
profit x nonprofit, leadership x management, learning
supervision
org. vs. conservative, starting vs. grown , goals etc.
professional context of supervisee
rich or poor supervision/coaching field, economic vs.
health vs. social vs. educational etc.
form of supervision
external vs. internal, managerial vs. clinical, individual
vs. group vs. team, project vs. case vs. developmental
etc.
streams in the helping profession
from which supervision has
historically developed (and
professional background of
supervisors)
socio/cultural frameworks
European space relationships
between countries and relations to
other countries outside Europe
therapeutic, mentoring, groupwork, teamwork, personal
management, OD
power (authoritative/democratic leadership etc.),
dominant values in the society like: individualisation vs.
collectivity, secularity vs. spirituality, humanisation,
antidiscriminative attitudes, level of corruption and
trust, openess of communication, language, emotional
expressiveness vs. restraint etc.
Status of each country =historical, political, economic,
knowledge base and educational tradition, tradition in
the academic field,approach to various resources(bound
also to language and economic power)
In the left hand column of the table are some identified levels in the context, which we see as more
or less distinctive- therefore we are able to name them. Each of these levels more or less influences
the culture in supervision setting, which is created both by supervisor as well as supervisee. In the
right hand column are specified some examples/ options/important alternatives, which are
genereally known as related to the level of context (left), and have, as we think, direct or indirect
impact on the culture in the supervision session. Most of these features we are however not able to
name or describe- it would require a focused research. However from the matrix we can become
aware how many diverse cultural features must be expected in supervision activity, as supervision is
bound to the context and must sensitively react and cope with it.
The questionmark in the first row expresses our basic question - are there any common crucial or
core elements in supervision as a profession across all the mentioned levels and differences of
context? Or - is there a view on supervision which contains all differences and characteries cultural
uniqueness of supervision as a profession?
3. Tracking the common view
Supervision is seen in Europe as a professional activity aiming at better quality of professional
work. Often it is also seen as a form of further education and support of employees, while it has
been explained by means of various models of learning (e.g.van Kessel and Hahn, 1993).
As Killminster and Jolly 2000 stated in their review on supervision in various professional fields,
most definitions of supervision emphasize the aim of promoting professional development and
ensuring patient/client safety. Also important is the „experiential learning cycle“ (Schmidt et al
1990). Killminister and Jolly (2000) while summarizing various authors argue that reflection has
a central place in supervision. They characterise the goal of reflection in supervision as to
examine any experience to identify its essential features. Heath and Freshwater (2000) argue
that reflection of supervisee is present in each existing model of supervision except that of a real
novice who should learn the profession by more directive instruction. They suggest to differentiate
supervision from the preceptorship for the real novice who might need a lot of direction and less
reflection. This view would centre the core trait of supervision around the possibility and use of
reflection. The central position of reflection can be found even in the definitions of supervision in
the German speaking countries, where reflection is accompanied by the expression „counselling“ reflexive Beratung or reflexive Begleitung ( J.Sauer 2002, K.Buchinger, 2002, Hege 2002 etc).
Elaboration of the concept of reflection has been effectively introduced into the literature on
helping professions by Donald Schon in 1983 and 1985 and since that time it has been widely
discussed in the relation to learning (Kolb,1984, Jarvis,1987, Mezirow 1990 etc.) and to supervision
by many authors (CH.Jons,1998, D.Freshwater, 2000 and others).
Although there are many different definitions of reflexion itself, what we consider as common is
stopping at some confusing, conflicting or emotionally significant moment in the past, present or
expected experience, focussing on it while at the same time stepping out of a usual flow of
thinking, feeling and acting (letting go, attitude of „not knowing“), and opening for ( developing an
attitude of expectation) emergence of „something“ new and unexpected. This process can be
individual as well as social (in a group, team etc.). We think the above mentioned components
together form what we call reflection. Reflection itself just creates space for emergence of new
creative patterns and generating new meaning.
It is however not clear from where comes the energy and bits of information which form the new
meaning. There are also various opinions about the nature of it. Some authors stress the importance
of tacit knowledge of practitioners, which they start to reflect when they focus on their practice.
Other authors mention the significance of grasp of the wholeness of the situation including one
self when the fragmented perception of „expertness“ (assesment, planning etc.) breaks down.Yet
other authors mention the transformative aspect of such experience and consider emancipation from
various pre-conceptions (from the feminist point of view) or even spiritual sources here (
e.g.glimpse of wisdom through Holy Spirit).
Conditions supporting reflection has been studied in various settings. Havrdova summarises four
such conditions :
Four key conditions for reflextion (Havrdova, 2006)
Personal dispositions (reflective abilities, containment, etc.)
Safe atmosphere (including positive relationship, trust etc.)
Experience with positive results of reflection ( trust into learning experience through reflection)
Supporting stucture for induction of reflection (helping to externalize problems, guiding reflection)
Also group support and organisational suport is considered to be important.
Bond and Holland (1998) give five different tools which may be utilized to deepen reflections,
including problem solving and emotional learning frameworks. Provision of supporting structures
for reflection seems to be an important source of cultural diversity in supervision.
We think it is also within the notion of deepened or provision of supporting structures for reflection
when other authors mention the importance of externalizing problems, finding unique outcomes,
and deconstructing problem-saturated systems in supervision (Jeffrey K. Edwards, Mei-Whei
Chen 1999). The same authors express the idea that in regards to supervision, coconstruction or
cocreation of a new reality may be the most important aspect. Edwards and Nejedlo (1988) used
the expression advancing new meaning and knowledge, for which a collaboration in a significant
professional relationship seems to be a condition. In this point, Johns’s ( Ch.Johns 2000, p.61)
„framing perspectives“ (philosophical framing, role framing, theoretical framing, problem framing
etc.) come into picture which are again a source of many cultural differences.
So if we want to find some core traits in the culture of supervision we think they must be centred
around the concept/process of reflection, externalizing problems and advancing new meaning in the
framework of experiential learning in professional practice.
We have to accept that all this cannot be only a spontaneous process (which we would not call
supervision), but that the framework of supervision is an intentional organisation of the opportunity
for reflection, externalization of problems and advancing new meaning.
Common features of supervision- suggested summary
Supervision as a profession means a professional field of activities which primarily intentionally
organises opportunities for reflection as a social process, based on safe professional
relationships.
Supervision takes place in many different settings with the aim to improve quality of professional
work. Each setting must however assure conditions, which enable reflection.
The core focus of reflection in supervision is on job/service experience in a general sense. The way
it is concretised in each setting is bound to the context and goals in supervision.
The methods of supervision have common aims to externalize the individual, group or team job
experience and its various aspects to enable reflection.
Reflection is followed by generating or deepening meaning-this can be manifested as new
knowledge, behavior, attitude, relationship, assesment or emotion or all of this.The way the
meaning is generated or deepened is bound partially to the context in which supervision takes place
and concrete goals.It can vary from externally (normatively- as in mentoring) directed to highly
internally (autonomously, creatively- as in art therapy supervision) emerging meaning
The whole process of setting conditions for reflection, reflection itself and generating meaning is
taking place in a framework of experiential or action learning.
Part of this framework is usually common goal(task) setting and evaluation of the process.
From this formulation of what is typical for supervision we try to come to typical common
features of culture in supervision as a profession.
4. Culture in supervision as a profession
Each culture has its heros. Let us start to look for „supervision heros“ and their journey to win.
To describe the journey we shall focus on the inner meaning of reflection in the life of the hero.
We think the best expression can be found by O´Donohue,1997- „ reflection offers a sacred space
for creativity each new day brings“.
Reflection helps practitioners focus on things which matter to them and thus take responsibility for
their new discoveries and for getting rid of old structures in their mind and in their context, which
do not do anymore. This helps to maintain a vivid contact with the present situation in their jobs, to
develop an actual situated contextual cognition and understanding of their practice in context and to
act creatively.
Who is the hero?
We think that the characteristics of the hero in supervision stem from the aim and conditions for
reflection in supervision.So our suggestion is as follows:
Hero is a practitioner who is able to reflect on his practice and himself more deeply than others and
generate new complex meanings of it in such a way that it helps to encourage himself and others
and work better (transformative experience). She/he is able to share his/her understanding
sensitively with others and unfolds creatively the situation in such a way that he/she in not
disturbing the safe atmosphere and enables the reflection for others too.
This behavior contributes to develop experience that reflection matters and brings results.He/she is
open and sensitive to many kinds of interpersonal and situational stimuli and at the same time
contains many differences - this enables him/her to integrate more contradictions than others into a
new holistic meaning which has transformational potential.
Cultural traits of supervision
Hawkins ( in Hawkins, Shohet 2000) has developed a model of five levels of culture itself, which
involves motivational roots , emotional ground, mind-set , behavior and artefacts (symbols, rituals),
where each level is a ground for the other level.We suggest following elements of the culture in
supervision according to these five levels.
Cultural traits of supervision as a profession
motivational
roots
emotional
ground
behavior
mind-set
wish/belief in
change is
stronger than
fear
commitment to
good practice
by supervisee:
externalization of own
experience
and sharing it
thinking
positively
curious about
practice
commitment to
pay attention to
experience
focussing on
practice
reflection
certain ability to generating meaningreflected conflict contain
new attitude leading to
between
contradictory
transformed action
desirable
emotions
action/situation
by supervisor: creating
and real
certain level of
climate for selfaction/situation trust in
disclosure (time, depth,
relationships
mutuality)
seeking personal and
negotiating focus and
knowing by
communication goal
reflection of tacit
managing supervision
behavior in
readiness to
process
context
releasing the
balancing challenge and
energy tied up in support
negative feelings framing
giving feedback
relating meaning to
action
seeking
congruence
between
various levels
of the context
including self
artefacts
(symbols,
rituals)
rituals at the
beginning of
the session
which help to
set the
climate
giving
positive/enco
uraging
feedback at
the end of
each session
to see
contradiction as
fundamental
learning
opportunity
looking for
creative
reaction to
challenge
Our suggestion of the common cultural traits is speculative and open for any other suggestions and
discoveries.We hope some intercultural research in supervision might help to develop the line of
thinking about culture in supervision.
Summary
We tried to find out if there are any common crucial or core elements in culture of supervision as a
profession across many cultural differences which are bound to various levels of its context. We
described the levels of the context and suggested some factors influencing the culture in each level
of the context.
We have argued that there is a view in which all differences in supervision as a professional activity
might be contained and that it is the view attributing crucial importance of reflection and inference
of new meaning of practice for all supervision activities.
We have looked for the characteristics of the hero in supervision and constructed it on the bases of
conditions enabling reflection. We also suggested some typical cultural traits of supervision which
we think are present in each different supervision context.
Literature:
Coleman,H.L.K.:Training for multicultural supervision. In Holloway E.,Caroll,M.(eds.): Training counselling
supervisors.London.Sage,1999
Bond,M., Holland,S.: Skills of Clinical Supervision for Nurses. Open University Press, Buckingham,1998
Edwards, J. K., & Nejedlo, R. J. : Excellence in supervision—Preparation for counseling excellence: About the issue.
The Quarterly, 1988. 111, 2-4.
Hawkins,P.,Shohet,R. Supervision in the helping professions. Second edition.Open University Press, Buckingham
2000.
H. Heath and D. Freshwater: Clinical supervision as an emancipatoru process: avoiding inappropirate intent. 2000
Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(5), 1298±1306 1299
Havrdova,Z.: Supervision in social and health organisations. Textbook FFUK, in press
Freshwater, D.: The role of reflection in practice development. In Handbook of Practice
development. Clark,A.,Dooher,J.Fowler,J.Eds.Quay,London, 2000, pp.70-76
Jeffrey K. Edwards, Mei-Whei Chen , Strength-Based Supervision: Frameworks,Current Practice, and Future
Directions. The family journal:Counselling and therapy for couples and families, Vol. 7 No. 4, October 1999.pp. 349357
Johns,CH.: Illuminating the transformative Potential of Guided reflection.in Johns, Ch., Freshwater, D.:Transforming
nursing through reflective practice.Blackwell Science Ltd.,Oxford 1998,pp.78-90
Jarvis,P.: Adult learning in the social context. New York:Croom Helm,1987
Johns,Ch.: Becoming a Reflective Practitioner. Blackwell Science Ltd. Oxford,2000
Kessel, Louis van: Culture in Supervision. ANSE-Summer University 18-10-2003, p. 7-8
Kessel, Louis van, and Dinie Haan: The Dutch concept of supervision. Its essential characteristics as a conceptual
framework. The Clinical Supervisor, 11 (1993) 1, 5-27.
Kilminister SM, Jolly BC: Effective supervision in clinical practice settings:a literature review. Medical Education
2000,34:827-840. Blackwell Science Ltd.
Kolb,D.A.: Experiential learning.Englewood Cliffs,NJ:Prentice Hall,1984
Mezirow, J., Brookfield, S., Candy, P. C., Deshler, D., Dominicé, P. F.,Gould, R. L., et al.
Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to transformative and emancipatory learning. San Francisco: JosseyBass, 1990
O´Donohue,J.: Anam Cara:Spiritual Wisdom from Celtic World. Bantam Press, London 1997
Schmidt H.G.,Norman,G.R.,Bostwitzen,H.P.A.: A cognitive perspective on medical expertise:theory and implications.
Acad.Med.1990, 65 (10),611-21
Schön, D.A.:The reflective practitioner.Avebury Press, Aldershot,1983
Schön, D.A.:Educating the reflective practitioner.Jossey Bass, San Francisco,1985
SOKRATES Curriculum Developement
“Supervision, Coaching und Organisationsberatung in interkultureller Perspektive”
2004 - 2006
About Analysis of Culture (following Edgar Schein)
Edgar Schein’s concept of analysis of culture mainly is understood as guided self-analysis of
organization. But with this attempt he keeps distance from usual investigations which alone cannot
adequate realize the complexity of organizations. Especially phenomena which are not conscious to
the staff or organizations at first sight cannot be achieved by reserved technique of inquiry but need a
mutual research process in face-to-face settings.
The analysis is set up in the way that one proceeds from the actual problems, inquiries or partial
systems of an organization in order to get generalized statements. Facts which f.i. are gathered by
interviews, by combination of outer facts of an organization (organization of structure and issue) and
by observation have to be brought into connection with the official programs and conceptions.
Following Schein analyses concerning the culture of enterprises have to be done by deepened,
interactive researched connections and reasons of the collected phenomena from time to time.
With this method of feedback of facts and its deepened research in interaction processes Schein stands
in the tradition of action research as one of the essential basis of organizational development. Schein
has developed his approach to analysis of culture from his double-bind identity as researcher and
counsellor.
The Levels of Culture and the Procedure of Analysis
Schein approaches to the complexity of the theme culture from the concept of three cultural levels,
which have to be outlined resp. investigated one after the other and by doing so to make a headway
possible to a deeper understanding of cultural organizations.
“Decisive for investigation of cultures is the finding that artefacts can easily be watched, but can
hardly be decoded and thus the values possibly only point out rational explanations and idealistic
efforts. For the understanding of culture of a group it is unalterable to recognize its mutual basic
premises and the process of learning in which they are produced.” (Schein 1995, p. 34)
“Levels of Culture:
Artefacts:
noticeable structures and processes in the enterprise
(easily to watch but hardly to decode)
Declared Values:
strategies, goals, philosophy
(declared justifications)
Basic Premises:
unconscious, obvious opinions, perceptions, ideas and emotions
(starting point for values and actions.” (Schein 1995, p. 30)
Schein proceeds on the assumption that one only can come to the gist of a culture if it is possible to
find out some premises which give sense to the chosen artefacts and values and which can build up a
Arbeitsmaterialien, verfasst von Mag. Angela Gotthardt-Lorenz, Universität Salzburg
Projekt-Verantwortliche: Zsuzsanna Bán (HU), Prof.Dr.Susanne Ehmer (D), Dieter Goeschel (D), Mag. Angela Gotthardt-Lorenz
(A), PhD Zuzana Havrdova (CZ), Prof. Dr..Joachim Sauer (A), Erzsébet Seborn-Wiesner (HU)
1
SOKRATES Curriculum Developement
“Supervision, Coaching und Organisationsberatung in interkultureller Perspektive”
2004 - 2006
connection of the three levels. Tracing out some premises yet cannot bring up statements concerning
gist of culture of enterprises but the investigation of interplay of different premises.
Outgoing from the question whether the “declared values” can explain sufficiently the “artefacts” or
whethter there are perversities resp. obscurities, the research for basic fundamental assumptions can
begin. These can result in the special history of the organization, in the personality of the creator, in
the mentality of profession, in the shaping of the product – like Schein shows it in different examples,
and can show up reasons why obvious incompatible even fits together.
The research process which Schein describes, doesn’t represent the demand that paradigms can
consider the culture of an organization in its total. But cooperation of several remises can deliver
explanations for the behavior within enterprises and for the way of mastering tasks.
Attentation has to be paid that in organizations also subcultures can exist and organizational culture
not only is understood in just one cultural design. Subcultures also can find their expression in
different hierarchic levels of an enterprise which perhaps the dialogue makes necessary about the
different subcultural assumptions.
The Position of the “Researcher”
Edgar Schein explains his attempt of culture analysis from the position of a counsellor who is called
from enterprises because he shall assist at the treament of problems. When he discovers cultural
relevant connections his research on cultural analysis starts. For this context he can gathter
demographic data as far as the people to be consulted allow it. Besides possible single or group
interviews he gets his data from observation during a counselling process. Data from different
approaches can be combined by means of the procedure of cultural analysis.
Schein calls this procedure the “clinical” attempt. It provides “that culture doesn’t manifest itself
without further ceremony and that one has to interfere actively in order to determine the existing
rituals, the declared values and the mutual basic premises.” (1995, p. 37)
From this position as researcher he refers to the reserved position of a researcher who represents an
“ethnographic” attempt whereupon culture has to be researched in a way that one “watches it long
time enough and gets only little contact with it”. (Schein 1995, p. 37)
In the “clinical” attempt the inquiry is directed to the “insiders”, who work on decoding the culture of
their enterprise. “The most effective and perhaps the best founded method of decoding cultural
premisis lies in direct cooperation of an outsider with a group of motivated insiders from which
circulates a pattern of artefacts, values and basic concerns.” (Schein 1995, p. 140)
Culture Analysis and Management Leaders
Schein also describes the function which management leaders have in developing organizational
culture. They provide culture in the pioneer stage, they contribute to its embodiment and have the task
to bring a cultural change in the stage of maturity of the organizatin, in times of large outer and inner
challenges and even in the stage of the threatening decline.
Leaderships need the competence in order to decode cultures and subcultures. “A large part of the task
of leaders exists in a continuous dialogue of special premises of culture and in producing a concept
which uses constructively those premises or changes them in case of need.” (Schein, 1995, p. 315)
Arbeitsmaterialien, verfasst von Mag. Angela Gotthardt-Lorenz, Universität Salzburg
Projekt-Verantwortliche: Zsuzsanna Bán (HU), Prof.Dr.Susanne Ehmer (D), Dieter Goeschel (D), Mag. Angela Gotthardt-Lorenz
(A), PhD Zuzana Havrdova (CZ), Prof. Dr..Joachim Sauer (A), Erzsébet Seborn-Wiesner (HU)
2
SOKRATES Curriculum Developement
“Supervision, Coaching und Organisationsberatung in interkultureller Perspektive”
2004 - 2006
Schein starts from the assumption that “subculture of the head floor” represents an important starting
point for a self-analysis. (Schein, p. 226)
Typical Shapes of Enterprise Culture
In the second part of his book “Organizationskultur” (2003) Edgar Schein points out that enterprises
in different stages resp. situations show up specific expressions of enterprise culture, f.i.
at start-up enterprises
at change management
at mature enterprises (in midlife-crisis)
at associations of enterprises
Total Estimation
The culture analysis here pointed out doesn’t only include a description of phenomena but it advances
to “structure of deepness” by analysing basic assumptions. Working with phenomena reflection
however is not included in this attempt and not at all in the American features of organizational
development.
The pattern of cultural research even today is completely valid at all places where is worked with
different sights and interventions concerning organizations. Here attempts of counselling can
themselves“lean” upon when highly complex processes are managed.
Explosiveness, rapidity and unpredictability of economic globalization which can be seen in
organizations today, yet is less evident in this literature. But even that would be needed for a
differentiated analysis of cultural processes in organizations which on the other hand hardly (can) take
place.
Literature:
E. H. Schein (1995) Unternehmenskultur. Ein Handbuch für Führungskräfte, Campus, Frankfurt;
Original Edition (1992): Organizational Culture and Leadership. 2nd. Ed., San Francisco, C.A.:
Jossey-Bass
E. H. Schein (1996) Über Dialog, Kultur und Organisationslernen, in: G. Fatzer,
Organisationsentwicklung und Supervision, EHP Köln
E. H. Schein (2003) Organisationskultur – The Ed Schein Corporate Culture Survival Guide, EHP
Köln; Original Edition (1999): The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Arbeitsmaterialien, verfasst von Mag. Angela Gotthardt-Lorenz, Universität Salzburg
Projekt-Verantwortliche: Zsuzsanna Bán (HU), Prof.Dr.Susanne Ehmer (D), Dieter Goeschel (D), Mag. Angela Gotthardt-Lorenz
(A), PhD Zuzana Havrdova (CZ), Prof. Dr..Joachim Sauer (A), Erzsébet Seborn-Wiesner (HU)
3
Supervisie en Training
Gerian Dijkhuizen
Supervisor/teacher Supervision LVSC The Netherlands
Dramatherapist/grouptherapist
Kamer van Koophandel Gooi- en Eemland nr. 32088564
Kapelweg 72
3818 BR Amersfoort
The Netherlands
tel. 033 – 4613024/0031-647009986
ING 9121620
mail: Dijkhuizen100@zonnet.nl
Methods/Techniques Diversity in supervision
ʻDonʼt tell me, show me.....ʼ
The exercises are based on the principles of psychodrama. This theory was
developed by J.L. Moreno ( Bucharest 1889- New York 1974). His aim was to make
people active and to let them see their situation through the eyes of other people.
Important in Morenoʼs theories were the concepts of role taking, spontaneity,
creativity, empathy and catharsis. In the process of acting out conflicts and problems
in interpersonal relations, the actors gaines insight and is helped by the group
process to remedy problem behavior patterns and improve coping skills.
Psychodrama is essentially an existential encounter between a group of people. By
employing a social network to facilitate deep change, Moreno invited people to live
out the Golden Rule -- reversing roles and imagining what it may be like to be the
other person, promoting empathy, compassion, and self-reflection (Blatner, 2000).
Furthermore, psychodrama is unique in its attempts to go beyond the linear methods
of talk therapy to promote deep self-awareness and integration. Moreno's
methodology is a growth model emphasizing individual responsibility and the creating
of one's destiny. Unique to psychodrama is the use of primarily role play in therapy to
promote joy, enthusiasm, excitement, playfulness, vitality, deep feelings, sharing, and
the integration of these emotions with the greater spiritual self.
Techniques diverted from the Psychodrama principles that can be used for Diversity
in Supervision:
1. The Representation I
Make a representation as a supervisor of your supervisees by chosing objects
that
symbolises them in the differences you see. Reflect on this.
2. The Representation II
Make your supervisee create a symbolic set to his own family. Let him/her reflect
on differences or similarities.
3. Role reverse
Imagine you are your supervisee/client. Change roles. You are being interviewed.
The
Director focusses at diversity themes. Reflect on this.
4. The Chairs
Place different chairs for the diversity dimensions you chose to investigate.
5. The Double
Place (in a group supervision) a person from the group next to the protagonist and
let him mirror his/her bodylanguage. Let the double talk: what does he feel?
Think? Protogonist and double can discuss this.
6. The Chorus
Group supervision: place different groupmembers as a chorus behind the
protogonist. Let
them express different opinions of the protagonist. Protogonist reflects on them or
discusses.
Summary
Psychodrama techniques are very suited to use in supervision on the subject of
Diversity. They offer an ʻactionʼ beside the verbal parts in the sessions. In this way
it can give endless opportunities of reflection on items concerning diversity
(people, work, professional skills, socialisation etc).
October 6th 2009
Amersfoort
Supervisor/leersupervisor/supervsiedocent i.o. LVSC
Vaktherapeut drama, lid FVB
Lid NVGP
LEVELS IN REFLECTION:
TOWARDS TAILOR-MADE SUPERVISION OF TEACHING PRACTICE
Fred Korthagen & Angelo Vasalos
IVLOS Institute of Education
Utrecht University
P.O. Box 80127
3508 TC Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel. *31-30-2531723
E-mail : F.Korthagen@ivlos.uu.nl
Abstract
Reflection is currently a key concept in teacher education. The ideal reflection process
is often described in terms of a cyclical model. In the present article we explain how
such a model can be used for supporting student teachersʼ reflection on practical
situations they are confronted with and on their behaviour, skills and beliefs in such
situations. In some cases, however, more fundamental issues appear to influence
teachers functioning in practice. For example, the self-concept of a teacher can have a
decisive influence on the way he or she functions, or teachers may do what is expected
of them and yet not feel truly involved. In such cases a more fundamental form of
reflection is needed, which in this article we refer to as core reflection. The focus on
core reflection concurs with the recent attention in psychology for strengths in people.
1
LEVELS IN REFLECTION: TOWARDS TAILOR-MADE SUPERVISION OF
TEACHING PRACTICE 1
Treasures are people
who look into my eyes
and see my heart.
Rick Betz
Introduction
An example. A teacher educator complains to a colleague: “I must have had almost a
dozen supervisory meetings with Steven about his lack of contact with the class. We've
looked at all sorts of approaches, each time using the reflection circle, but we're still not
getting anywhere. I have a feeling the problem goes deeper, that it has something to do
with the way Steven relates to people in general. But I don't know whether I'm the right
person to talk to him about the problem.”
In the professional development courses on the promotion of reflection that we give to
teacher educators and mentor teachers, situations regularly arise which resemble the
one sketched here. Teacher educators have to deal with many cases in which the
reflection process aimed at appears to be ineffective and something “deeper” seems to
be involved. However, most teacher educators have neither the desire nor the ability to
act as therapists .…
In the present article we examine this problem, and demonstrate that often a form of
reflection is needed which does go deeper and which we call core reflection. This form
of reflection, however, does not entail delving into a person's private life, but it can lead
to profound changes. Moreover, it is possible to train educators to reach these more
deeply rooted aspects.
This article is structured as follows. First we examine briefly the competence for
reflection, which is now stressed in almost all documents describing teacher
competences. The ability to reflect in a systematic manner is indeed of essential
importance for teachers if they are to learn from their experiences (Calderhead, 1989;
Schön, 1987). What we are referring to here is the ability to look back on an experience
in a structured manner, and to draw conclusions for future actions. Supervisors or
mentor teachers play an important role in promoting such reflection. The way in which
they may fulfil that role is described elsewhere on the basis of a phase model of
reflection (Korthagen, 1985; Korthagen et al., 2001). The next section contains a brief
summary of this material, and focuses on the process of reflection. Then we look at the
question of which aspects are the most relevant for the teacher to reflect upon, i.e. we
focus on possible contents of reflection. It is important that the supervisory process is
keyed to those aspects which are currently most relevant for the teacher (the concernbased approach), but often it is necessary to broaden the reflection. A model of levels
of change has proved beneficial in tailoring the supervision to a particular individual.
This model is described and theoretical support is presented. The concluding sections
examine the consequences for the supervision of professional development processes
in teacher education.
2
Theoretical framework: The reflection process
This article is based on an approach to reflection that has been published in many
previous publications. In this section we give a brief summary.
The approach starts from the assumption that by nature people reflect on their
experiences, but that systematic reflection often differs from what teachers are
accustomed to doing. If we look closely at the way teachers generally reflect, often
influenced by the specific school culture, we see that the pressure of work often
encourages a focus on obtaining a 'quick fix' - a rapid solution for a practical problem rather than shedding light on the underlying issues. While this may be an effective
short-term measure in a hectic situation, there is a danger that one's professional
development may ultimately stagnate. In some cases teachers unconsciously develop
standard solutions to what they experience as problems, so that the accompanying
strategies become 'frozen' (Schön, 1987). The teacher is no longer in the habit of
examining these strategies, let alone the analyses he or she once made of the
problems they are intended to address. Thus, reflection is important in promoting sound
professional development.
Skemp (1979) developed a theory describing the role of reflection in human
behaviour. His theory is an extension of the well-known TOTE-model of Miller,
Galanter, and Pribram (1960). TOTE stands for Test-Operate-Test-Exit. Miller,
Galanter and Pribram state that if a person experiences an incongruity between a
present situation and his or her needs (this is the first ʻtestʼ), that person can use a
plan for action. The term plan refers to all organised processes in the organism
which direct behaviour. Such a plan is based on an internal representation of the
outer world. Miller, Galanter and Pribram use the term image to refer to such a
mental representation of parts of the world. With the aid of the plan the person
operates, tests again the degree of incongruity, if necessary operates again,
operates again until the test shows congruity and then the operation is ended (exit).
mental
structures
In fact, we are talking about an elementary feedback loop, which makes it possible
for human beings to direct their behaviour. The process involved is pictured in figure
1 (a slight adaptation of a scheme introduced by Skemp).
effectors
receptors
action
information
E
N
V
I
R
O
N
M
E
N
T
Figure 1: The delta-one level: The process of interaction between a person and the
environment.
The rectangle in figure 1 represents what Skemp calls a director system. Such a
director system dealing with the interaction with the environment, is called a deltaone system (delta after the first letter of the term director system).
3
People can do more than just interact with the outside world. They can reflect on the
way they interact with the world and try to improve this interaction. To put it in more
theoretical terms, they then try to structure or restructure their internal
representations of reality or the way they are using these representations for
developing their plans or their actions. Skemp concludes that human beings have
internal second-order director systems (called delta-two systems) which seek to
improve the delta-one systems (figure 2). Skempʼs idea to distinguish between
director systems at two levels is in line with a distinction between two levels of
abstraction, made earlier by Piaget (1977).
(mental)
action
2
action
1
information
information
E
N
V
I
R
O
N
M
E
N
T
Figure 2: The delta-one/delta-two system.
For student teachers, who are still working out exactly how they want to function in the
class, systematic reflection and thus development of the delta-two level, is of great
importance. Otherwise, well known dangers are that they will reflect in a haphazard
way (today this problem, tomorrow that), or will fail to devote sufficient attention to the
way the pupils experience their lessons, reaching instead for instant solutions even
before they have a proper grasp of the problem.
Figure 3 shows a practical translation of the process described by the arrows in figure
2. It is called the ALACT model (after the first letters of the phases), and intended to
help prevent such obstacles to effective learning from practice. It is now used in many
countries as a basis for systematic reflection on practical experience.
Creating alternative
methods of action
4
Awareness of
essential aspects
3
5
Trial
1
Action
2
Looking back on
the action
Figure 3. The ALACT model describing the ideal process of reflection
4
Ideally a teacher will be able to go through the various phases in the model
independently. In practice, however, initial help of a supervisor or colleague is often
necessary. The latter will need to employ certain interventions. Figure 4 shows the
most important types of interventions, and the phase in which they are used. They are
based on Carkhuff (1969), Egan (1975) and Rogers (1969).
ALL THE PREVIOUS SKILLS + HELP
IN FINDING AND CHOOSING
SOLUTIONS
ACCEPTANCE
EMPATHY
GENUINENESS
CONCRETENESS
CONFRONTATION
GENERALIZING
UTILIZING THE
HERE-AND-NOW
HELP IN
MAKING THINGS
EXPLICIT
A SEPARATE LEARNING
PROGRAM (IF NECESSARY)
4
creating
alternative methods
of action
3
awareness
of
essential
aspects
trial
5
action
1
HELP IN
CONTINUING THE
LEARNING PROCESS
HELP IN
FINDING USEFUL
EXPERIENCES
looking back on
the action
2
ACCEPTANCE
EMPATHY
GENUINENESS
CONCRETENESS
Figure 4: Supervisor interventions related to the ALACT model
For the purpose of professional development courses in teacher education, all
interventions have been concretised for use in supervisory conferences with student
teachers. (For more information about these training courses for teacher educators in
Europe, see Korthagen et al., 2001, p. 239-253.) In the case of concreteness, for
example, the supervisor will ask the teacher about various aspects of the situation, and
will at least touch upon the dimensions of wanting, feeling, thinking and doing. Because
these dimensions are of influence for both teacher and pupils, it is important for
teachers to include all nine areas that appear in figure 5. By asking further questions
related to these specific areas, the supervisor can help the teacher discover how to
address them more systematically. Only then can we say that someone is truly learning
how to reflect.
0.
What was the context?
1.
What did you want?
5.
What did the pupils want?
2.
What did you do?
6.
What did the pupils do?
3.
What were you thinking?
7.
What were the pupils thinking?
4.
How did you feel?
8.
How did the pupils feel?
Figure 5: Nine areas relevant when concretising in phase 2
One example of a concretising question is: “How do you think the pupils felt when you
asked that question?”
5
Another important intervention in supervisory conferences is empathy, which has to do
with explicit understanding how another person feels, what he or she is experiencing,
and being able to put a name to what evoked those feelings (Egan, 1975; Carkhuff,
1969). An example of an empathic reaction could be: “I understand that you started
feeling a little unsure of yourself when the pupils said that that wasn't part of the
homework assignment?” This response also links two of the fields in figure 5 (namely 4
and 6), clarifying an essential aspect of how the person experiences the situation
(leading to phase 3). Only the person being supervised is in a position to say whether
such a reaction is truly empathic. This is the case when this other person has a sense
of being understood, and the response is appropriate to the overall context of the
conversation.
The above are just a few examples of the theory behind the cyclical model of reflection
(figure 3) and the accompanying interventions (figure 4). Readers who are interested in
more detailed discussion of the reflection model and other interventions from figure 4
are referred to Korthagen et al. (2001, p. 106-128).
The spiral model, together with the interventions, provides a framework for promoting
reflection in teacher education. However, the model describes the ideal reflective
process, but it doesn't tell us very much about the content of reflection: what does or
should the teacher reflect about? The following section will examine the possible
contents of reflection processes.
The contents of reflection
We will start with a case in which a student teacher, named Judith, goes through the
various phases of the cyclical model with the help of a teacher educator.
The ALACT process
Judith is annoyed about a pupil named Peter. She has the feeling that Peter is trying to
get away with as little work as possible. Today was a good example. In the previous
lesson she had given the class an assignment for the next three lessons where they
were to work in twos. The assignment would be rounded off in the third lesson with a
report. Today was day 2. Judith expected all the pupils to be hard at work, and during
this lesson she planned to answer questions from pupils about any problems they were
experiencing. Then she noticed that Peter was working on a completely different
subject. When Judith saw this, her response was 'Oh, so you're working on something
else... looks like you're going to fail this assignment too!' (Phase 1: Action)
During the supervisory meeting Judith becomes more aware of her irritation, and how
that irritation influenced her actions. When the supervisor asks her what effect she
thinks her reaction had on Peter, she realises that Peter may have been irritated too,
and that this may have led him to be even less motivated to do well in her class, which
is precisely what Judith is trying to prevent. (Phase 2: Looking back, making use of the
dimensions wanting, feeling, thinking, doing)
By means of this analysis she becomes aware of the escalation taking place between
her and Peter, and the fact that this process is leading nowhere. (Phase 3: Awareness
of essential aspects)
6
However, Judith sees no way out of the situation. Her supervisor shows that he feels
empathy with her problems with Peter. He also introduces small theoretical elements
concerned with
escalating processes in the relationship between teachers and pupils, such as the
pattern of 'more of the same' (Watzlawick, Weakland & Fisch, 1974) and the guideline
that says in such a
situation the best thing is to break the pattern, for example by means of an empathic
reaction, or by consciously making a positive remark about Peter. This is the beginning
of phase 4: Developing alternatives.
Judith compares this theoretical guideline with her tendency to become even stricter
and to put Peter in his place. In the end she decides to try out (phase 5) a more positive
and empathic
approach, which begins with asking Peter about his plans. She practices first during the
supervisory meeting: the supervisor asks Judith to think of examples of sentences that
she could use when talking to Peter. He then does a short exercise with Judith in the
use of words that express feelings,thus making her better able to respond empathically.
When Judith reflects on the results of the new approach to Peter, after trying this out in
the next lesson, phase 5 becomes the first phase in the following cycle of reflection,
creating a “spiral” of professional development.
The case shows the five phases in the reflection process and also illustrates that
reflection by teachers commonly focuses on the following aspects:
1. The environment: this refers to everything that Judith encounters outside herself. In
the present example, that means Peter and the way he behaves.
2. Behaviour: both less effective behaviour, such as an irritated response, and other possibly more effective - behaviour.
3. Competencies: for example, the competency to respond in a more constructive way.
4. Beliefs: perhaps Judith believes that Peter is not motivated or even that he is trying
to cause trouble. (Novice teachers often assume that pupils are trying them out.)
However, things may be more complicated. Beliefs are often deep-rooted and
persistent (Calderhead & Robson, 1991), in which case the supervisor cannot bring
about a change as easily as in the instance above. For example, following the
supervisory meeting, Judith tries to be more constructive in her contact with Peter, but
both the supervisor and the teacher herself suspect that this approach does not really
suit her. Perhaps there is more here than meets the eye. A significant underlying issue
may be how Judith sees her own professional identity, i.e., what kind of teacher she
wants to be. Or the problem may be even more complex: perhaps she is enthusiastic
about her subject, mathematics, and finds her inspiration there rather than in building
and maintaining a relationship with her pupils. And yet this does not necessarily mean
that Judith would do better to consider a different profession. The problem may be an
limiting self-concept which interferes with the development of a number of personal
qualities. If she were more receptive to the possibility that these qualities can be
7
developed, then the result might be a renewed sense of inspiration and enthusiasm for
the teaching profession. To get that process moving it is not enough to reflect on
environment, behaviour and competencies. And even reflection on beliefs does not go
to the core of the problem.
Levels of change
The model in figure 6 (a variant of the so-called Bateson model) provides a framework
for the problem sketched above (Dilts, 1990). It shows various levels which can
influence the way a teacher functions. The idea behind the model is that the inner
levels determine the way an individual functions on the outer levels, but that there is
also a reverse influence (from outside to inside).
In this model of levels of change, the levels of environment, behaviour, competencies,
and beliefs are expanded with two new levels: the level of identity and the level of
mission (for the latter Dilts (1990) uses the term ˝level of spirituality˝). Reflection on
the level of mission evokes such issues as 'why' the person decided to become a
teacher, or even what he sees as his calling in the world. In essence, this levels is
concerned with what inspires us and what gives meaning and significance to our
work or our life. This is a transpersonal level, since it involves becoming aware of the
meaning of our own existence in the world, and the role we see for ourselves in
relation to our fellow man. Whereas the level of identity has to do with experiencing
what makes us who we are, the level of mission is about “the experience of being
part of meaningful wholes and in harmony with superindividual units such as family,
social group, culture and cosmic order” (Boucouvalas, 1988).
Getting in touch with the level of mission has a very practical significance. For example,
on the level of identity a beginning teacher may be so focused on surviving in the
classroom that he takes on the role of 'policeman'. This kind of teacher has quite a
different influence on the class from one who is always conscious of the interests and
needs of the pupils, and whose actions are sincerely rooted in a pedagogical ideal (on
the level of mission). Where the first teacher may 'invite' a power struggle, the second
often succeeds in creating an atmosphere of togetherness, so that the pupils also
consider it important to work together in a pleasant and productive atmosphere.
environment
behaviour
competencies
beliefs
identity
mission
Figure 6: The model of levels of change
8
Core reflection
When reflection extends to the two deepest levels in figure 6 (the core of one's
personality), we speak of core reflection. The ALACT model (figure 3) and the
accompanying interventions (figure 4) are no longer sufficient to describe the entire
process of core reflection and the role of the supervisor. However, the initial stages of
the process are the same as described in figure 3: there is an experience within a
concrete situation which gives rise to reflection. As a rule, reflection is triggered by
something which is still on the teacher's mind. This could, for example, be a sense of
dissatisfaction with what was accomplished during the lesson, or some incident that
affected the relationship with the pupils. This leads to phase 2: looking back. Here the
nine areas in figure 5 play an important role. In core reflection, the information brought
to light during the second phase is used to answer the following questions:
1. What is the ideal situation - the state which the teacher wants to bring about?
2. What are the limiting factors which prevent the achievement of that state?
The concept 'ideal situation' refers to an ideal the teacher is anxious to create. This
means that it is closely bound up with the level of identity or mission. During the
process of becoming aware of the ideal situation, it often emerges that the teacher's
difficulties in achieving it are not restricted to the present, but rather that they often crop
up other situations as well. In that case, it is important to address this extension of the
problem, since it forms an extra stimulus to tackle the problem, and also to look more
closely at possible limiting factors. Initially such a factor may be experienced as related
to the environment (a troublesome class or the school management which has failed to
take the necessary measures). However, what is important here, is to look at the ways
in which the teacher in question may be limiting herself. This could have to do with:
- limiting behaviour (for example, avoiding confrontations)
- limiting feelings (for example, “I feel powerless”)
- limiting images (for example, “the class is a mess”)
- limiting beliefs (for example, “this is something I have no influence over”).
The essential thing here is for the teacher to take a step backward, and to become
aware of the fact that she has a choice whether or not to allow these limiting factors to
determine her behaviour.
By formulating the ideal situation - together with the factors which are experienced as
limiting the realisation of that state - the person has become aware of an inner tension
or discrepancy.
As an example we can take a student teacher who is longing to feel secure as a
teacher (ideal situation: inner self-confidence in the classroom) and the limiting belief
that she - as a beginning teacher - does not have what it takes to exercise leadership.
Another example is the problem faced by someone who is striving with all his might for
appreciation and respect, but who constantly displays unsuitable - and thus limiting behaviour.
9
Actualisation of core qualities
How can these core qualities be
mobilised?
4
Awareness of
core qualities
What core quality is needed
to realise the ideal situation
and overcome the
limitations?
5
1
3
Experimenting with new
behaviour
Experience /
problematic situation
What problems did you encounter
(or are you still encountering)?
2
a. Awareness of ideal situation
What do/did you want to achieve or create?
b. Awareness of limitations
(limiting behaviour, feelings, images, beliefs)
How were/are you refraining yourself from achieving this?
Figure 7: Phase model of core reflection
There is an important difference between this process and a process of reflection which
involves only the outer levels of figure 6: often the formulation of the discrepancy
between the ideal situation and the limitations one is experiencing is enough to clarify
the problem which is at the root of many other problems on the levels of behaviour,
competencies or beliefs. One could say that this brings to light a core discrepancy, i.e.,
a tension that touches the very core of the individual. To follow up on the example we
gave in the previous paragraph: the student teacher in this case was made aware of
the area of tension lying between her ideal situation - feeling self-confident and relaxed
in the classroom - and her limiting belief that this is something which is only achieved
by very experienced teachers. By means of this process of awareness-raising, she
gradually realised that her nervousness in the classroom, the minor conflict she had
had the other day, as well as the uninspiring assignments she had devised for her
pupils, all had to do with that underlying tension. Because on the one hand, she wanted
to feel confident and relaxed, while on the other hand she was held back by the
conviction that this is something reserved for 'later', her stronger side - her core
qualities (Ofman, 2000) - could not be fully realised.
Examples of core qualities are trust, courage, creativity, sensitivity, candour,
decisiveness, spontaneity, and flexibility. By means of core reflection according to the
model in figure 7, such core qualities can be activated. The process of core reflection
begins with phase 2 (awareness of the area of tension and the choice of whether or not
to identify oneself with the limiting factor), which leads to phase 3 (awareness of core
qualities such as confidence, spontaneity, and autonomy).
Often the student teacher involved in the process of core reflection is suddenly aware
of such core qualities after phase 2. If that is not the case, there are several possible
strategies for a supervisor. The first is to trace relevant past experiences in which the
student teacher did succeed in achieving the desired situation. Thus the student in the
example can try to recall situations in which she was indeed self-confident and relaxed.
That might be a situation in a totally different context, for instance, an occasion when
she presided over a meeting at a student house.
10
By immersing himself in this past experience, she will realise that on that occasion it
required no effort to be spontaneous, at ease and autonomous. She realises - at least
cognitively - that she does actually possess those core qualities, but what is even more
important is that, by recalling the memory of that positive experience, she is able to
access the will to mobilise those core qualities. This will enable her to address the
question of how she could make use of those core qualities in a specific lesson the
following day. That is phase 4. Another strategy is to challenge the student who is
allowing her belief that she has no authority over the class to limit her, by asking her to
take the lead in a concrete, less problematic situation.
In this way the student teacher can come into contact with an inner potential - for
example, the core quality of self-confidence. Often limiting beliefs or images have
repressed important core qualities for so long that a stimulus from outside may be
necessary to activate them again.
Core reflection aims at more than just cognitive insight. Thinking, feeling, and wanting
are all important in coming to new action on the basis of a core quality.
Phases 3 and 4 of the model for core reflection ultimately result in a more fundamental
solution than would be possible if reflection were confined to the levels of behaviour,
competencies and beliefs. For one thing, the process leads to a redefinition on the level
of professional identity or mission. For example, the student in the example did not
initially see herself as a self-confident teacher but after the core reflection she did, or in
any case much more than before. We will now look more closely at the actualisation of
core qualities.
The actualisation of core qualities
The focus on core reflection is linked to a recent development in psychology, advocated
by people such as past president of the American Psychological Association, Seligman,
and called positive psychology. Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000, p. 7) state that
this movement is a reaction to the fact that for too long psychology has focused on
pathology, weakness and damage done to people, and hence on 'treatments'. They
emphasise that "treatment is not just fixing what is broken; it is nurturing what is best".
Hence, they point towards the importance of positive traits in individuals, which they call
character strengths. They mention as examples: creativity, courage, kindness, and
fairness (Peterson & Seligman, 2000). A central issue in positive psychology is how
these strengths mediate between external events and the quality of experience,
something that is directly relevant to teacher education.
Peterson and Seligman (2000) emphasise that although character strengths can and
do produce desirable outcomes, they are morally valued in their own right, even in the
absence of obvious beneficial outcomes: "Although strengths and virtues no doubt
determine how an individual copes with adversity, our focus is on how they fulfil an
individual." This illustrates that we can locate strengths on the levels of identity and
mission. Peterson and Seligman add that when people are referring to their strengths,
this correlates with a feeling of "this is the real me", that they show "a feeling of
excitement when displaying a strength", and - very important for our discussion - "a
rapid learning curve”.
11
The way Seligman and other psychologists within this new field write about strengths,
clarifies that they are synonymous to what we call core qualities. Ofman (2000) states
that such a core quality is always potentially present. He maintains that the distinction
between qualities and competencies lies primarily in the fact that qualities come from
inside, while competencies are acquired from outside. This is in accordance with the
model of levels of change: competencies such as the ability to take into account
different learning styles or to reflect systematically, are located at the level of
competencies, while core qualities are found on the deeper levels of change. Almaas
(1986, p. 148) talks about 'essential aspects', which he considers absolute in the sense
that they cannot be further reduced to something else or analysed into simpler
constituents. 2
It should be stressed that when someone comes into touch with a core quality, it is
important to help him or her take the step towards actualisation of that quality (the step
from phase 3 to phase 4). In other words, the supervision of teachers is about
facilitating the process whereby the inner levels of change influence the outer levels. In
the previous section we noted that it is crucial that the teacher is not only cognitively
aware of a core quality, but that he or she is emotionally in touch with that quality, and
takes a conscious decision to mobilise it, and then carries out that decision.
Example of a supervisory meeting focusing on core reflection, phases 3 and 4.
Supervisor: “How does it feel to get in touch with this quality of spontaneity?”
Student teacher: “Wonderful! It gives me a sense of freedom.”
Supervisor: “Yes, I can tell by looking at you! Itʼs great that youʼre in touch with it ... ...
What would it be like to build on that feeling when you go to your next class?”
Student: “Yeah, if I could ... ...”
Supervisor: “Just hang onto that great feeling.”
Student: “I know, I feel much more free. I feel as if I have more potential than Iʼve called
on up to now.”
Supervisor: “Is there something concrete that you would now do in the class where you
were
having problems?”
Student: “Iʼd be quicker to let the pupils know what Iʼll accept and what I wonʼt.”
Supervisor: “Exactly! Can you give me an example?”
Student: “Well, for one thing, Iʼd rein Sandra in sooner.”
Supervisor: “Letʼs make that more concrete. Suppose Sandra started calling across the
class again. Get in touch with the core quality spontaneity in yourself and that feeling of
freedom ... .. What would you say or do, on the basis of that feeling?”
Student: “That I want her to stop doing that.”
Supervisor: “Yes, good. That sounds firm! Now suppose that Sandra was here in front
of you, right this minute. Tell her that.”
Student: “Sandra, I donʼt want you calling across the class like that.”
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Supervisor:. “Good, I can tell that you have it in you to really mobilise that quality of
spontaneity! How does it feel?”
Student: “Itʼs a kind of relief.”
Supervisor: “It was great to see how you responded. Next time, how about if we talk
about how things worked out during the lesson?
Student: “Okay.”
In phase 4, an experienced supervisor who is accustomed to the process of core
reflection will often be able to help actualise a core quality. It will be clear from the
example that the necessary encouragement can be provided by a committed
supervisor who is convinced that the teacher has it in him or her to change and who
helps the teacher to realise that potential.
The supervision of core reflection
Among the most important skills of a supervisor wanting to promote core reflection are
the ability to recognise and promote the development of core qualities. The supervisory
interventions which appear in the outer circle in figure 4, remain important but acquire a
somewhat different significance in core reflection. Thus in supervising the process of
“looking back” (phase 2), it is important for the supervisor to focus on the ideal situation
as well as the limiting factors as experienced by the teacher being supervised, and to
show that empathy for both. Concretisation is another intervention which has a slightly
different emphasis here: the supervisor may focus on the level of identity or mission, by
asking questions like 'If you could make a wish, what would it be?', 'What do you hope
to have achieved a year from now?', or 'What is there inside you that lets you down
when you do that?'
Another important point is the fact that the supervisor can make use of self-disclosure
(Egan, 1975, p. 137). Here he or she puts himself or herself on the line by letting the
teacher see who he or she is, or where the supervisor draws his or her own inspiration
from.
Confrontation also deserves special attention when it is used to promote core reflection.
A supervisor can use this intervention type to help the teacher become aware of the
tension between the ideal situation and limiting factor or factors. Any form of
confrontation always needs some empathy, but this is even more important during the
process of core reflection, in order to ensure that the supervisory setting is experienced
as safe and supportive.
13
Is this something any supervisor can learn?
The above 'theory' on supervision may lead some readers to wonder if all this isn't
too difficult for the average teacher educator or supervisor. In our experience, this is
not the case. For some time, we have been giving professional development courses
for teacher educators, in which they learn to supervise reflection at various levels.
During these courses, it has become clear to us that when teacher educators are
introduced to core reflection, they have to make certain 'adjustments' to their
mindset. This is because, over the years, they have often become accustomed to
focusing on problems rather than possibilities; they have been more concerned
about providing suitable behavioural alternatives than about capitalising on the core
qualities present in the student teacher. But, we have also seen that the gradual,
stepwise clarification of a new approach often helps the participants to break out of
the old patterns, and that they are soon enthusiastic about the results they see in
their student teachers. In the box below, we give an example of this phenomenon, a
reflection recorded by a teacher educator after a day and a half of a course on
'supervising core reflection'.
A teacher educator reflects 3
Resolution:
In the time to come I will try to recognise core qualities in other people and will have
them identify those qualities themselves, because they are so important when it
comes to overcoming limitations.
Experience:
When talking with a student, he told me he was no longer enjoying the course. He
explained that there were too many situations he experienced as negative. As a
result, he was incapable of self-guidance, had a low sense of well-being, was lonely
and lacked purpose and decisiveness. During this talk, I asked him what it was he
wanted to achieve, and what he needed to make it happen. Eventually, he confided
to me that he hardly ever shared his
feelings with fellow students or his teachers, but that he now thought it might be good
for him
if he did. The core qualities of openness and vulnerability were mentioned. The
student confessed that our talk had had a 'liberating' effect on him: he had found
someone willing to listen to him, and to try to understand what was eating at him.
And when I said that openness and vulnerability were clearly present in our
conversation, he discovered he felt comfortable with that.
In the end, we agreed he would regularly email me about his positive experiences at
school. He said that perhaps he would now take other people into his confidence,
and share his emotions with them. He was convinced that this was how a form of
collaboration would ultimately take shape.
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Core reflection on myself:
The process followed the first three steps of the core reflection model. But since
offering to lend a helping hand, I'm now wondering if this isn't going to make the
student more dependent on me. What I really want is for him to take charge of his
own motivation, well-being, self-guidance, purpose and decisiveness. My question
now is: how to go on?
I took this question along to the collegial support group [small groups had been
formed during the professional development course in order to further facilitate the
teacher educators' learning], and discussed the situation with my colleagues. We
talked about how to tell whether a student is becoming dependent on you as a
teacher educator. By the end of the session, I had distilled a number of questions
and comments from the discussion to ask the student:
- Is the contact by email producing the desired effect? Do you now enjoy going to
class?
- Can you think of other ways to get the same results?
- Do you think you're on the right track now?
- Let me know when you've had enough positive experiences. Maybe there's
another question
I might be able to help you with?
- Which core qualities, or other qualities, are you using right now in your learning
process? Which ones would you like to develop further?
I think it's a good idea to go back and discuss with the student the behaviour he's
been experimenting with. After that, we can 'go around the circle' again. And I was
just thinking that it might be a good idea to bring along the list of core qualities
[handed out in the professional development course], and go over them with him.
That way, he can come up with his own ideas.
Although learning paces of educators may differ, it is our experience that, after the
first few days of a course, almost all of them have picked up the most important
principles of promoting core reflection. In our courses, they not only see the
approach demonstrated (which obviously is more effective than reading about it), but
they also experience its effects, since core reflection is also practised on them, first
by the trainers, then by other participants. This form of experiential learning has
proved effective as a means of reinforcing the transfer to the teacher educators' own
practice.
15
Participants discover that what we are presenting is actually a quite natural process:
finding the right manner of adjusting one's own qualities to the environmental
requirements is one of the most fundamental human processes. Unfortunately, in the
educational world we have become alienated from this process, because of the
emphasis on external behaviour norms (such as lists of teacher competencies….).
Resurrecting that natural process is almost like rediscovering your own natural way
of walking, after a period during which others have tried to subject the process to all
sorts of norms.
The difficulty of writing an article such as this is the fact that outcharting a natural
process quickly starts to sound complicated, just as the process of walking would, if
we tried to describe it in detail. For this reason, it may be more helpful to quote a
number of evaluative statements made by those participating in a brief course in
'core reflection' (lasting no longer than one and a half days).
Several evaluative statements at the end of a course on core reflection:
- My skills have been honed, and I now have a clear framework for delving deeper'.
- Excellent addition to the reflection model.
- I've gone to a deeper level in my awareness of my own approach and the things I
want to develop further.
- A good working method for getting the core qualities out into the open.
- More awareness of my own supervisory skills, awareness of new ways of providing
good supervision, the confidence to make use of those qualities.
- I am now able to supervise with less effort and more effect.
Two conditions had to be met for taking part in this course: the educators were
expected to be familiar with the ALACT model and to have had some experience as
supervisors. We felt that otherwise the step leading to core reflection could prove to
be a very big one indeed. We regard core reflection as the next stage in the
professional development of those supervisors who are already experienced in
promoting reflection. An additional - implicit - condition for participation was that
supervisors had to be willing to look for people's strengths and for ways to help
students use their inner potential to overcome limitations. In fact, we found that this is
considered important by all those taking part in our courses; we believe that it is
often for this reason that they find their work as supervisors enjoyable and satisfying.
Core reflection reminds them of this fact and encourages them to bring their
inspiration into line with their work and behaviour in concrete supervisory situations.
This illustrates that the participants in such courses often learn a great deal about their
own deeper levels (those of identity and mission). In fact, awareness of the role these
levels play in how they themselves function, is a precondition for the ability to
empathise with the quest many teachers undertake in the course of core reflection. It is
also necessary, if supervisors are to offer that form of authenticity which is created
when talking about their own learning process on the deeper levels, at present or in the
past.4
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Indications for the necessity of core reflection
A fundamental principle underlying the notion of reflection is the promotion of
awareness about the functioning of one's director systems. For example, the reflection
model in figure 3 and the nine questions in figure 5 are means to promote such
awareness. The additional significance of core reflection is that it broadens the person's
awareness even further, i.e. it helps to include the levels of identity and mission.
During supervision of reflection processes, supervisors regularly encounter problems
that cannot easily be tackled by means of 'ordinary reflection', i.e. reflection that is
limited to the outer levels. In such cases, core reflection seems necessary. This will be
clear from several examples drawn from our teacher education programme:
1. Phase 5 in the circle of reflection (trying out a new alternative) has been reached, but
the student teacher isn't happy with what has been achieved. It is as if the alternative
behaviour is not experienced as personally appropriate.
2. A specific problem has been the object of repeated reflection, and each time a
number of possible solutions were put forward, but the student teacher still hasn't
succeeded in applying them.
3. One problem after the other presents itself, but it is as if the essence of the difficulties
still hasn't been identified. One could go on forever, and still not find the solution. There
seems to be something behind all the problems that is more fundamental.
4. The same type of problem presents itself in various contexts, i.e. independent of the
other people who are part of the situation. (For example, someone is always unsure of
himself or always dominant.)
5. A teacher feels the need to delve deeper into himself or herself. This may happen
when the teacher is trying to attribute meaning to work, considering choice of
profession, etc. (for example when addressing the question, 'Do I really want to
be/remain a teacher?').
Cases like these are indications that processes of reflection that confine themselves to
behaviour, competencies or beliefs, remain too superficial. Core reflection may help to
go deeper.
From core reflection to behaviour
This article in effect makes a case for a tailor-made approach to supervising reflection:
our statement is that a professional supervisor should be capable of assessing the level
at which supervision is necessary or desirable. It may be confined to the level of the
environment (for example, one particular pupil).
Often, however, the reflection will proceed 'from outside to inside': something that is
experienced in one's own contact with the 'environment' (such as a conflict situation)
provides an opportunity to direct the process of reflection towards the more inner levels,
even as far as those of identity and mission.
17
In such situations the supervisor must ensure that the way 'to the outside' also gets
sufficient attention: in the case where a teacher has experienced a deeper contact with
what inspires him or her in teaching (the teacher's 'calling'), it is still important for that
calling to be translated into concrete behaviour in the environment in which the teacher
has to function, so that 'inside' and 'outside' come together. It may thus be necessary to
carefully look at the levels of beliefs and competencies.
In short, in our view a good supervisor is capable of switching back and forth between
the levels, in accordance with the needs of the individual being supervised. It is good to
keep in mind that an apparently insoluble or persistent problem on a particular level is
often an indication that it is time to examine a deeper level. This only works when the
person being supervised is also prepared to look at those levels. One cannot force
people to delve deeper: they have to feel the need to do so themselves.
Conclusion
In closing we can say the following. The ALACT model for reflection (figure 3) describes
the ideal reflection process. For this reason the model of levels of change (figure 6) is
an important addition, dealing as it does with the contents of the reflection process. The
model helps to determine at which level or levels the teacher's problems are located,
and by which level or levels the process can be deepened or broadened. The model of
core reflection (figure 7) is a supplement to the reflection model, because it is directed
towards promoting greater awareness on the levels of identity and mission.
Following on this brief summary, we would like to stress that in general the process of
core reflection is above all enjoyable: it is a rewarding experience to get in touch with
one's core qualities and to use them as a basis for action. In contrast to various
therapeutic approaches, core reflection does not require a deeper delving into a
person's past, with all the pain that this may entail, and yet the process goes deep. In
core reflection that depth is achieved when the teacher mines an inner potential for the
benefit of professional development. This is also a great advantage for teacher
educators who - quite rightly - draw a line between the students' private life and their
professional development as teachers.
Just as in ʻordinary reflectionʼ, the important thing is that teachers are finally able to
make use of core reflection autonomously, i.e. to go through the process without the
benefit of supervision. In ordinary reflection one of the main aims is to enable
experienced teachers to do so while they are actually teaching (reflection-in-action; see
Schön, 1987). The same is true of core reflection: ultimately teachers can learn to
activate the process of core reflection during their teaching, and in this way to make
contact with the core qualities which are of importance at that particular moment.
The theme of core qualities brings us to an area which up until now has received very
little attention from educators and researchers. Tickle (1999, p. 123) maintains: “In
policy and practice the identification and development of personal qualities, at the
interface between aspects of one's personal virtues and one's professional life,
between personhood and teacherhood, if you will, has had scant attention.” Tickle
mentions such qualities as empathy, compassion, love and flexibility.
These are indeed essential qualities for teachers, qualities which seldom appear on
official lists of important basic competencies.
18
Good teaching, in our view, is characterised by a proper balance between the various
levels. We believe that ideally a teacher education programme will focus on all the
levels of the model in figure 6, preferably keyed to the various phases in the
programme and the developmental processes the student teachers are undergoing.
Finally, directing attention to core reflection during their professional preparation can
help prospective teachers to be more aware of the core qualities of their pupils, so that
they will be better able to supervise these children, and help them mobilise their core
qualities, in school and in their future life. This is of particular importance in view of the
shifts which are currently taking place in the role of the teacher as a result of
constructivist views of learning. World-wide teachers have to develop a more
supervisory role, which means that they must be capable of developing the selfdirecting capacity of their pupils. To that end, such core qualities as curiosity,
commitment to the aim of learning, and self-confidence must be stimulated. In sum, we
feel that core reflection, like ordinary reflection, is of crucial importance for teacher
educators, teachers and pupils.
Notes
1. The authors would like to thank Bob Koster, Ellen Nuyten, Jeannette den Ouden,
Anke Tigchelaar and Heleen Wientjes for their comments on a previous version of
this article.
2. The approach described in the present article is to a large extent influenced by
Almaas' so-called 'Diamond approach' (see, for example, Almaas, 1986). He places
great emphasis on the importance of getting into touch with one's own 'essence', in
order to transform one's personality from inside.
3. We thank Patrice Verstegen, teacher educator at a Dutch institution for primary
teacher education for providing this text, which she wrote within the context of the
professional development course for teacher educators.
4. Walsh (1992, p. 30) says: ”State-dependent communication may be particularly
limited if the receiver of the communication has never experienced the state from
which the communication is coming.” See also Tart (1983).
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