Four Skills of Cultural Diversity Competence Chapter 2, Skill One: Understanding Culture as Multilevel

Skill 1: Understand culture as multilevel (contd.) Definition of Culture: Human Ways of Life Culture Includes: Ways of thinking and perceiving - Such as values, beliefs and norms -A group’s meaning system -Relates to language use Ways of doing -Such as behaviors, lifeways, customs and material objects

Skill 1: Understand culture as multilevel (contd.) The ways of thinking, perceiving and doing of any specific group: Are learned, shared and generally transmitted to their children’s generation Influence the thinking and actions of individual members

Skill 1: Understand culture as multilevel (contd.) Culture has two broad components Culture is subjective and objective: it is invisible (norms, values, beliefs, assumptions) it is visible (patterned behaviors, customs)

Skill 1: Understand culture as multilevel (contd.) Culture’s second broad component Culture is multilevel and dynamic Culture exists at the Micro level -personal and interpersonal levels Meso level – group, mid-level agencies/organizations Macro level-the institution , whole society level Culture is dynamic because it is continuously shaped and reshaped by policy decisions (at the meso and macro levels) and by our daily decisions (at the micro level)

Skill 1: Understand culture as multilevel (contd Skill 1: Understand culture as multilevel (contd.) Aspects of Culture: the following categories are designed as a thinking tool for cultural observation and understanding: 1. History 2. Social Status Factors 3. Social Group Interaction Patterns: Intra-group & Inter-group 4. Value Orientations 5. Language and Communication: Verbal & Non-verbal 6. Family Life Processes 7. Healing Beliefs and Practices 8. Religion 9. Art and Expressive Forms 10. Diet/Food 11.Recreation 12.Clothes

Aspects of Culture: the following categories are designed as a thinking tool for cultural observation and understanding: Worksheet # 3, page 29 Purpose: To practice identifying and thinking about Aspects of Culture Film Analysis

Skill 1: Level One Culture at the personal level As individuals grow up, each develops a personal identity, a personal system of meanings which underlie behavior

Skill 1: Level One Culture at the personal level One's personal identity is formed through interacting within one's social group (for example, interacting within one's family, neighborhood, school, work).

Skill 1:Level One Culture at the personal level, contd. Personal identity changes during one’s lifetime Ethnicity is one influence on personal identity. Other influences include age, race, gender, ableness, physical appearance, religion, sexual orientation, and social economic position

Skill 1: Level One ASPECTS OF PERSONAL CULTURE: EXAMPLES One's personal culture or meaning system is comprised of various aspects, with some aspects being more conscious than others- To name a few: Verbal Communication -voice loudness and inflection -degree of directness -topics perceived as appropriate for conversation Nonverbal Communication -one's orientation to space and time -facial expressions -eye contact -use of silence Values Family Life Processes: Decision-Making Style, Work Habits and Behaviors Religion: Spiritual Beliefs and Practices Food and Eating Habits Dress and Appearance

Skill 1: Level One Personal Culture Change and Sociocultural Awareness Different stages of sociocultural awareness surface in the identity change process Stage 1 Conformity (blindsight) Stage 2 Resistance (no, it can’t be) Stage 3 Redefinition (self-reflection and practice competencies) Stage 4 New Identity (yes, it can be and this is what I can do) Stage 5 Diversity Competence (this is the way it is and this is how to deal with it)

Skill 1: Level One : Culture at the personal level (contd.) Worksheet # 4, pages 33-34 Experiencing Personal Culture Purpose: to provide an experience of your personal culture

Skill 1: Level One : Culture at the personal level (contd.) Worksheet # 5, pages 35-37 Identifying the Aspects of Personal Culture, Part 2 Purpose: to provide an experience of your personal culture

Skill 1: Level Two Ethnic & Racial Group The term ethnic or culture group refers to the cultural heritage a group shares that relates to the Aspects of Culture: language, values, family life processes, religion, etc. and their associated beliefs and customs. The beliefs and customs associated with each Aspect are generally learned from one generation to the next.

Skill 1: Level Two Ethnic & Racial Group The term racial group is also relevant. As a result of historical social developments among groups in the United States, “race” is a 500 year old belief that ascribes differential status to groups of people within the society based on surface physical differences (skin color, eye shape) Although race is defined, perceived, and believed to be a biological classification of human groups based on heredity and genetic differences, it has no scientific base Humans are the most homogenous species There is only one race of humans and it is the human race

Skill 1: Level Two Ethnic & Racial Group Worksheet # 6, pages 39-41 Aspects of culture as applied to an ethnic group Purpose: to demonstrate an ethnic/culture group’s aspects of culture

Skill 1: Level Three Mainstream (National) Culture of the USA The United States society is composed of a mainstream or national culture and many subcultures, such as Irish American, Mexican American, African American, Korean American, Navaho American, Thai American, Samoan American, Filipino American, Luiseno American Mainstream culture, originally based on the core culture of England, is commonly referred to as "dominant" because it is institutionalized in all major organizations and institutions (see Aspects on pages 121-122)

Mainstream (National) Culture of the USA Skill 1: Level Three Mainstream (National) Culture of the USA Since the United States is multicultural, all of us are to some extant members of ethnic groups although we may not personally identify with our membership.

Skill 1: Level Three Mainstream (National) Culture of the USA Worksheet # 7, pages 43-44 Purpose: to demonstrate an aspect of U.S. Mainstream culture in relation to time orientation (a value and a nonverbal form of communication)

Monochronic and Polychronic Time

Skill 1: Level Three Mainstream (National) Culture of the USA Worksheet # 8, pages 45-47 Purpose: to demonstrate aspects of U.S. Mainstream culture.

Skill 1: Level Four Organization Culture Organization culture refers to the policies, procedures, programs, and processes that organizations employ. Within each of these organizational policies, procedures, programs and processes we find deeply embedded Aspects of Culture and their beliefs, assumptions, and customary ways of behaving and doing

Skill 1: Level Four Worksheet # 9, pages 49-51 Aspects of Organization and U.S. National Culture Worksheet # 9, pages 49-51 Purpose: to demonstrate the congruence between aspects of organization culture and U.S. national culture

Skill 1:Level Four Worksheet # 10, pages 53-55 Understanding Aspects of Culture/Ethnicity in an Organization Worksheet # 10, pages 53-55 Purpose: to demonstrate the need for cultural understanding in daily life (at work, etc.)