CULTURAL DIVERSITY

I live in Holland, a kind of home away from home for me. I work at an International school, where my three sons also attend. My colleagues come from all over the world, Australia, England, America, South America, and Holland. There is a combination of woman and men, Caucasian and black African. There is a lovely mix and Dutch and English spoken between people. A true melting pot of culture.

The assignment for this week is to analyze my interactions with the different people around me. This class has confirmed that I have been correct in the way that I communicate, in the sense that one adapts to different cultures. I know that when I speak to Japanese parents my communication is very different to when I talk to Latin American or Greek parents. By individually recognizing and adapting ones communication to suit different cultures I believe it shows respect and cultural awareness.

When I interact with the Japanese families at school I am aware to speak softer and quietly. I do not use too many hand gestures and always speak slowly. To bow one’s head is a sign of respect I tend to do that when I have an exchange with them. Each culture has different nonverbal gestures or actions that they use when communicating, it is important to understand them as they can be easily misinterpreted (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010).

I feel that it is important to communicate with respect for one another even if that means creating a third culture (Beebe, S. A, Beebe, S. J, & Redmond, 2011). There are colleagues that are closer to my culture, which is a more relaxed and outspoken culture. These colleagues I can be more casual with and less formal. When I am chatting to my Latin American colleagues they always greet with one kiss and some of my Dutch colleagues that are friends will greet with 3 kisses. The American like to hug hello, while formally with Dutch (even from a very young age) you shake hands. Age also plays a role in communication and the way that you speak to someone. I am more respectful when speaking to people that are older than myself.  When I talk to my Australian colleague who is younger me the interaction is much more playful and a lot of joking and laughing. This week’s reading has reinforced the importance of understanding other cultures and how we can learn from them and become effective communicators

          (O'Hair and Wiemann, 2012). I think the more one gets to know and truly understand other cultures the better you can communicate with them. Humor is another important factor in cultures and we all have such different forms of humor and what is acceptable and not. By being able to predict someone’s culture we can ensure that we have appropriate communication with them and find common group to relate to one another (Vuckovic, 2008).  I find it essential to understand the background of the learners, their families and my colleagues that I work with. I knowing their background I can ensure a meaningful interaction with appropriate communication.

References

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Vuckovic, A. (2008). Inter-cultural communication: A foundation of communicative action. Multicultural Education and Technology Journal, 2(1), 47–59.