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Confronting Ethnocentrism:
The Key to Developing Cultural
Competence
Dennis White, Ph.D.
This presentation is available on line at www.yeoresources.org
• A complete program that teaches the concepts of culture and culture shock using the film Outsourced is available on Drop Box
• Send me an email at:
This presentation is available on line at www.yeoresources.org
• A 45 minute training DVD on Understanding Cultural Differences (about 10 copies) for sale from NAYEN
• Two short YE promotional videos (10 minutes each) for sale from CSRYE
a. Recruiting Exchange Students
b. Recruiting Host Families (also with Spanish
subtitles)
The key to a successful exchange program is
understanding culture
The key to understanding culture is understanding
ethnocentrism
The keys to understanding ethnocentrism are: 1. Actively looking for cultural differences 2. Accepting those differences and3. Adapting to differences, without judgment
CultureAn integrated system of learned behavior patterns that are characteristic of any given society.
It refers to the total way of life, including how people think, feel and behave.
Any given society refers to any group to which we belong that teaches us how to behave.
Examples include: • Nations • Ethnic sub-groups• Religious groups• Geographic regions• Families• etc.
Why does culture matter?
The vast majority of failed exchanges have at their base the inability to understand and adjust to cultural differences
Why does culture matter?
But the reasons are often seen as something else – “personality differences” lack of interest from the hosting Rotary Club, “rude school classmates”, etc.
Why does culture matter?
Our inability, as YEOs, to understand and adjust to cultural differences can interfere with every aspect of managing exchanges
Why does culture matter?
• Selection
• Placement
• Orientation
• In-country problems
• Early returns
The best preparation I know is to try to understand the concept of culture and the idea of cultural differences
Think of culture as the lens through which you view the world
If you are color blind, you cannot see certain colors, no matter how hard you try
If you are “culture blind”, you cannot see many dimensions of other cultures, no matter how hard you try
Ethnocentrism:
The universal tendency for any culture to see its own values and practices as natural and correct.
Versailles
Ethnocentrism:
The universal tendency for any culture to see its own values and practices as natural and correct.
• In some ways, all people are alike
• In some ways, people are like others in their group
• In some ways people are unique
• Universal• Cultural
• Individual
The most common ethnocentric assumption is that we can translate literally from one language to another, which leads to both humorous and serious mistakes.
What do they mean?
• On the door of a Moscow hotel room:• If this is your first visit to Russia, you are welcome to it.
• Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop:
Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
What do they mean?
• The Minister unveiled the church's new tithing (giving) campaign slogan last Sunday:
"I Upped My Pledge (increased my promise to donate money)
- Up Yours."
• This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church.
Children will be baptized at both ends
• In Mexico it was translated as “The Rebel Novice Nun”
• The Sound of Music• In the Czech Republic it was translated as
“Santa Is A Pervert”• Bad Santa• In China it was translated as “One Night,
Big Belly”
• Knocked Up• In Venezuela it was translated as “Vaselina”• Grease
At the very minimum, confronting ethnocentrism teaches us that there is almost always more than one way to see something.
This is readily demonstrated in optical or visual illusions
• Universal• Cultural
• Individual
Example: Eating Food
• Everyone eats – Universal
• Different groups eat different foods – in different ways – Cultural
• Some people don’t eat the way most of the people in their culture eat - Individual
Normal Distribution of Any Cultural Trait
Frequency
Amount of Trait
Comparing Two Cultures (on any given trait)
In this example, there is some overlap, but the two cultures are mostly different
Think of culture as the lens through which you view the world
The Cultural Iceberg
1/8th above the surface
7/8ths below the surface
Conscious behaviors
Unconscious beliefs and
values
• Universal• Cultural
• Individual
Dancing
Ethnorelativism:
The acquired ability to see many values, beliefs and behaviors as cultural rather than universal.
Universal vs. Cultural
• Greetings are universal• How we greet is mostly cultural
Shake hands
Wave
Bow
Hug
Kiss – One, two, or three times…
Universal vs. Cultural
• Greetings are universal• How we greet is mostly cultural
Shake hands
Wave
Bow
Hug
Kiss – One, two, or three times…
Wai
How high should one Wai
when greeting a Thai?
The answer that comes at us
Is it depends on their status
Bhichai Rattakul, RI President,Thailand
2002-03
Nationally famous Australian cricket player Dennis Lilee, when introduced to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth simply, and sincerely stated:
G’Day, mate, how ya goin’?
The Australians are really quite naïve when it comes to greeting people.
They treat everyone exactly the same!
“The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being like you. They are unique manifestations of the human spirit ”.
Wade Davis
Developing cultural competence means confronting the experience of difference
Not the experience of similarities
But in a new culture, with differences that make us uncomfortable …
That is exactly what we do!
In order to feel comfortable we:
1. Focus on other Inbounds (the Inbound Syndrome), and 2. Maintain excessive contact back home (the Homebound Syndrome)
Hidden Values beneath the surface
• Respect for age
• Proximity (personal space – closeness or distance)
• Informality
Assumption:
Informality = Comfortability.
Reality: In some culturesFormality = Comfortability.
• Respect for age
• Proximity (personal space – closeness or distance)
Culture Shock
The profound sense of disorientation and discomfort that comes with extended travel or living in a foreign culture markedly different from one’s own.
Kalvero Oberg• Finnish Parents• Born in Canada• Studied in USA
• Led a career as a teacher and international aid expert – became US citizen
• Assigned for a time in Brasil• Gave a speech in Rio De Janeiro – August
3, 1954• First recorded use of the term “culture
shock”
Stages of Culture Shock:
• Initial enthusiasm and excitement
• Irritability and negativism
• Gradual adjustment and adaptation
• Integration and bi-culturalism
Culture Shock.doc The Middle Wave of Culture Shock.doc
Because Ethnocentrism is usually unconscious, it is rarely intentional.
That is we rarely start out trying to be ethnocentric
Culture Shock
The profound sense of disorientation and discomfort that comes with extended travel or living in a foreign culture markedly different from one’s own.
Culture Shock is stressful
Under stress we fall back to old behavior - Ethnocentrism
When are we most stressed?
• Hungry• Angry• Lonely• Tired
H.A.L.T.
These principles apply to any intercultural experience, not just Youth Exchange
• GSE Training
• World Community Service
• General Rotary Awareness
Examples of Irritability and Negativism
• If they mean “no” why don’t they say “no”?• Why don’t they just tell me what something
costs?• Why can’t anyone stand in line?• Why do they drive so fast?• Why are they always hugging? or• Why don’t they ever hug?• Why are their signs so hard to read?
Example: Floor elevation (uneven surfaces)
• In the USA and Canada – floors going between rooms are almost always on the same level
• In Thailand, and many other countries, this is not necessarily so.
Example: Floor elevation (uneven surfaces)
• In the USA and Canada – floors going between rooms are almost always on the same level
• In Thailand, and many other countries, this is not necessarily so.
• We expect the surfaces to be even, so we often trip or stub out toes on the small step.
• Ethnorelativism would tell us – it isn’t right or wrong – just different.
• But after stubbing my toe several times in one day after a long day of travel, it is difficult not to be critical.
Studying the concept of culture requires confronting Ethnocentrism – again and again
As H.A.L.T. increases
• Our tendency to think and behave Ethnocentrically increases
• Our ability to think and behave in a culturally sensitive and competent manner decreases
“Some travelers want to go to foreign places but are dismayed when the places turn out actually to be foreign.” Canadian author Margaret Atwood
When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.
Clifton Fadiman
No culture is static – all cultures are constantly
changing – from within and without
Once again, this is most apparent in food
But the changes can be more dramatic and important
• Slavery was once widespread and is no longer legal anywhere in the world.
• Northern Ireland is relatively peaceful.• The Berlin Wall has been gone for 23
years – longer than any of our current students have been alive.
But the changes can be more dramatic and important
• In 2004, RI President-elect Carl-Wilhelm Stenhemmar said:
"My dream is for every 17-year old to become a Youth Exchange Student. If we could achieve this, there would be no more wars."
Carl-Wilhelm Stenhemmar, Rotary International President 2004-2005
We are making a difference in the culture of the world – the culture of peace.
And you deserve to give yourselves a “well done”!
This is my prayer, oh God of all the nations
A prayer of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my heart lies,
Here lie my hopes my dreams like stars that shine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine
But other skies have sunlight too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh hear my prayer oh God of all the nations
A prayer of peace for their land and for mine
