LESSON 1.7 BEING-DOING

Recap and Warm-up During this lesson you are required to draw on the lessons you have studied so far in relation to the following: meanings of culture, individualism, collectivism, time, nature, and power distance.

Essential Question What does it mean to be a “being culture” or a “doing culture”?

ACTIVITY- Answer the following: What are your plans after you finish your diploma or degree? Do either of your parents have the same career that you are planning? What or who will determine what you do after you graduate from school? How much influence does your family have on what you do in the future? What does this have to do with culture? Consider:

Drawing connections Individualism/collectivism (Is it the individual alone who decides? Is it based on your interests or on the needs of your family?) Power Distance (Are you comfortable with your parents deciding what you do? What if a teacher or college counselor told you what you should do? Is your decision based on you think is possible given your family’s social status?) Time (are your plans linear with set time goals or is there a great deal of flexibility in the timing of your goals?) Relationship with Nature (Do you feel that you can make your own decisions or will luck and fate determine what you do? Can you even answer this question?)

Common Groupings of Cultural Values Although all of the cultural dimensions are different and independent of one another, there are often some common groupings of the cultural values. Look back at all of the continua on the chart paper of countries and dimensions. Where are the countries plotted and are there any commonalities? For instance, are countries that are individualistic usually monochronic or polychronic? Ask students to work with a partner to decide which values are often grouped together.

groupings Individualism vs collectivism, Monochronic vs. polychronic Internal vs external Low power distance vs. high power distance

Being vs. Doing Think of what a “being culture” might value and what a “doing culture” might value. After 5 minutes, discuss as class.

Being cultures emphasize the humanistic attributes of a person. People are more likely to ask “Who are you?” when meeting someone new. People describe themselves in terms of their families and other personal affiliations. People “work to live.” Doing cultures emphasize action and task. People are more likely to ask, “What do you do?” when meeting someone new. People describe themselves in terms of the work they do or actions they have achieved. People “live to work.”

Characteristics of being cultures Status is built into who a person is. It is automatic and therefore difficult to lose. Titles are important and should always be used in order to show appropriate respect for someone’s status. Harmony should be maintained and therefore direct confrontation or disagreement is to be avoided. Saving face is highly valued. Relationships often take precedence over tasks. Much time is spent on greeting and farewell rituals or getting to know someone before agreeing to do business with them.

Characteristics of doing cultures Status is earned (e.g. the work you do in your job). It is not merely a function of who you are (e.g. birth, age, seniority). Status is not automatic and can be forfeited if one stops achieving (e.g. you are fired from your job or you quit your job). Great emphasis is placed on deadlines, schedules etc. Tasks take precedence over personal relationships in most cases (e.g. your family may not like it but they understand if you have to miss a family birthday party because you have work to do). People are supposed to have a personal opinion, which they are expected to verbalize.

Being vs. Doing continued Decide of the two groups of values (individualistic, low power distance, monochromic, internal control) and (collectivistic, high power distance, polychromic, external control) which would represent being and doing cultures. Doing Cultures Being Cultures Individualistic Collectivistic Low Power Distance High Power Distance Monochronic Polychronic Internal Control External control

Being-Doing Word Sorting Activity You have examined the broad characteristics of being and doing cultures and their values. Examine words to determine which ones might be viewed positively in being cultures or doing cultures or both.

answers Words with a positive connotation in being cultures: Harmony, face, sacrifice, family (in a symbolic sense), tradition, respect, father (as a title), older brother, younger brother, wisdom, protect, pleasing, honor, duty, loyalty, relativity, unstructured, loose, flexible, relation, gift, today, yesterday, tradition Words that have a positive connotation in doing cultures: Rights, negotiate, fairness, necessity, objectives, question, criticize, self, friendship, “do your own thing”, contract, litigation, self-interest, self-respect, individual, dignity, I, me, pleasure, adventure, privacy, truth, law, order, safe, predictable, tight, work, save, moderation, goal, permanent, future, economy, effort, invest, deadline, schedule

Being-Doing Cultures Research Activity Mark on the Being Culture – Doing Culture Activity Handout where you think their assigned country is on the continuum and explain the reasons for their decision. U.S. is a doing culture. Arabic-speaking World Egypt (pp ) Kuwait (pp ) Saudi Arabia (pp ) Chinese-speaking World China (pp ) Hong Kong (pp ) Taiwan (pp ) Spanish-speaking World Colombia (pp ) Mexico (pp ) Spain (pp )

reflections What does it mean to be a "being culture" or a "doing culture"?