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Cultural Awareness and Skill Building Instructor Kesia Loyd Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army
Cultural Awareness and Skill BuildingInstructor Kesia Loyd
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army
How do you see me?
How do I see me?
How do I see you?
Perspective
“Know Thyself.”
Pythia, The Oracle of Delphi
How do you see me?
American Cultural Characteristics
Personal control over environment; self interest
Change is good: link to progress and growth
Time controlled: planned, scheduled, and productive
American Cultural Characteristics
Interpersonal Communication
Competition & free enterprise
Future oriented
Equality:“We hold these truths to be self-evident …”
American Cultural Characteristics
Informal
Open, direct, honest
Practical and efficient
Action / work oriented
American Cultural Characteristics
Materialistic, industrious, innovative
Individualism / privacy: each individual unique; privacy valued; freedom of expression
Self-help: upward mobility; self-made worth
How can the application of any culturalmodel hinder our ability to communicatewith an individual of the culture?
An individual from a culture may not fit into the assessment of the culture.
Working individually, 1)Use the table on the handout to identify the importance of the listed Values in your daily life.2)Think of someone you know from a different culture or sub-culture and infer the importance of the same Values from their behavior.3)Share your findings with the class.
Cultural Analysis QuestionSo, here I am: a salesperson working to close a new car deal with happy husband and wife. We’re on the lot next to a beautiful new family vehicle. I talk vehicle specs to the man and I put the woman in the driver’s seat. How did the salespersons prejudice effect the salespersons strategy?
The prejudice toward what is necessary to make the sale.
Impediments to Observation
Bias and Prejudice
Impediments to Observation
Cultural Bias “The Bowling Ball effect”
Cultural Prejudice “The Halo or Horns effect”
Validates Selfby
diminishing Others
Encode
The Message
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army
From the worksheet:
Determine how each of the characteristics serves as a barrier to effective cross-cultural communication.
Determine how you can apply some of thecharacteristics to enhance communication.
Summary
I cannot say “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”
