22 November 2013 at 9:00 am
Cultivating Intercultural Capability
A pilot workshop on building cultural competence was held at the University of Otago recently for those involved in international education.
Intercultural capability was identified by the sector as a need to support growth in international education, and the University of Otago, with the support of Education New Zealand (ENZ) and Otago Polytechnic, invited experienced practitioner Taruni Falconer of Intercultural Dynamics Pty to develop and deliver a programme.
The programme comprised two workshops – one for graduating international students looking to improve their understanding of New Zealand culture with a view to enhancing their social lives and job prospects in New Zealand; and the other was for teachers and staff involved in international education at the tertiary and school level in Dunedin.
The workshops were well-received and considered to be of real value. Participants in the teachers’ workshop said they found the session “practical, down to earth and highly relevant” and appreciated how simply the ideas could be implemented. The workshop highlighted the importance of cultural self-awareness, with one participant commenting, “We focus so much on analysing and understanding the culture of our students, but often in isolation to the impact our own culture brings to the interaction.”
Taruni explains her methodology – called Cultural Detective approach – in this way; “When it comes to cultural competence, there are some big gaps between knowing about, knowing how to, and actually developing and applying the skills to manage ourselves in real situations. One of the consistent comments I hear from clients is that, through the workshops and coaching, they develop ‘muscle memory’ to respond to real situations in their work and in life. So, it’s about translating knowledge into behaviour and acquiring the habits that make us good at it. We benefit and so do our organisations and the people we serve.”
ENZ was pleased to co-fund this workshop as an initial pilot and is considering running further workshops of this nature as part of its professional development seminar programme.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Adele Bryant at adele.bryant@enz.govt.nz or on 04 830 0810.
