Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts in daycare. However, with intercultural competence, these challenges can be overcome. Learn how to avoid misunderstandings and build a positive educational partnership.
Intercultural communication
Intercultural communication is indispensable in today’s world. Especially as an educator, you often come into contact with different cultures and communication problems can quickly arise. It is important to know that it is usually not the original reason for the conversation that causes a conflict, but rather that problems in intercultural communication lead to misunderstandings, which then trigger discussions.
Example: A nursery school teacher wants to tell a parent of an African family who has been living in Germany for two years that she should please drop off their child on time in the morning. The reason given by the nursery school teacher is related to the daily routine at the nursery school. However, the parent in question might misunderstand the statement due to their different cultural background. This is because of different cultural influences in the past.
In order to deal with intercultural communication in more detail, one must have a basic knowledge of communication. This is because there are different levels to communication, which can be divided into verbal (pronunciation) and non-verbal (including facial expressions and gestures) areas. Likewise, so-called receptive and productive abilities are a basic requirement for communication. While receptive abilities include hearing and reading, productive abilities include speaking and writing.
With reference to the model of Schulz-von-Thun, there are further areas that affect intercultural communication. The levels of the information and relationship function as well as the expression and appeal function should be mentioned here.
A basic problem in intercultural communication lies in the misunderstanding and misjudgment of the behavior of the other person. Due to different experiences and cultural influences, there are differences between the communicating persons, since each person organizes experiences and knowledge in a culturally dependent way and stores them in the brain. Such communication problems are called interference problems in technical language. (cf. Grosch and Leenen 2000, p. 31ff)
Intercultural competence
Intercultural competence is necessary to be able to carry out intercultural communication without interference. Through intercultural competence, misunderstandings, resentments and ethnocentrisms can be overcome. Intercultural learning always has the goal that the conversation partner can act appropriately and effectively in intercultural communication.
But what areas does intercultural competence touch on and how do I deal with my conversation partner within an intercultural dialogue? In principle, intercultural communication touches on four dimensions:
- Conducive attitudes
- Cultural knowledge & intercultural skills
- Reflection on intercultural topics
- Constructive interaction
A person’s personal attitude towards interculturality fundamentally determines how much they engage with the topic and thereby acquire new knowledge. Respecting the other culture, which usually has different attitudes and norms, is part of the dimension of constructive interaction, which is intended to protect cultural rules. Through self-reflection after intercultural dialogues and constellations have taken place, the probability of an increase in intercultural competence can be enhanced.
It is important to know that every situation and every contact can evoke positive as well as negative experiences, which touch and influence the above-mentioned dimensions. Therefore, intercultural competence is a lifelong process that is constantly taking place and will never be completed. (cf. Boecker and Ulama 2008)
Intercultural competence can be achieved through intercultural learning, with the aim of achieving communication across cultures without interference. (cf. Grosch and Leenen 2000, p. 29)
In order to achieve the goal of intercultural competence, there is, for example, a 7-phase model of intercultural learning developed by Harald Grosch and Wolf Rainer Leenen, which will be discussed in more detail below.
Intercultural learning according to Grosch and Leenen
The 7-phase model of Grosch and Leenen is a detailed model of intercultural learning and is based on the so-called cultural centrism theory. The phases of the model build on each other, so that phase 1 must be completed in order to get to the other phases. The model does not provide for any disruptions or interruptions during intercultural learning. In the course of the learning process, the person acquires new qualifications to improve intercultural communication. These qualifications increase from phase to phase. (cf. Schulze 2010, p. 5ff)
After going through the learning process, the person has acquired the ability to enter into “constructive and mutually satisfying relationships” (Grosch/Leenen 1998, p.40).
The individual phases according to Grosch/Leenen are shown below:
The seven phases of the model according to Grosch and Leenen
Phase 1
Original statement:
Being able to recognize and accept the general cultural relativity of human behavior
Meaning:
Recognizing and accepting the cultural characteristics and desires of a person, even if you don’t like them yourself. Example: The other person in the conversation is listening to Balkan music. I don’t like it myself, but I accept his taste in music because he comes from the Balkans and probably associates home with it.
Phase 2
Original statement:
Being able to perceive patterns from a foreign culture as foreign without having to evaluate them (positively or negatively) (low degree of cultural centrism)
Meaning:
A Japanese person comes from a different culture than a person who grew up in the German culture. The Japanese person is embarrassed to address problems directly because of their culture. A German person recognizes this behavior, but does not evaluate it either positively or negatively.
Phase 3
Original statement:
Identify your own cultural standards and be able to assess their effect when encountering a foreign culture (own-culture-awareness)
Meaning:
Germans react differently to jokes or little fibs than people who have grown up in other cultural circles. For the latter, these activities can have a completely different meaning. In phase III, a person can recognize their own cultural standards and assess the likely effect on the other person.
Phase 4
Original statement:
Expand interpretive knowledge about certain foreign cultures; identify relevant cultural standards and be able to establish further-reaching contexts in the foreign culture
Meaning:
In phase IV, a person questions why something is the way it is in the other culture. This enables the person to recognize a larger context in order to better understand the other culture.
Phase 5
Original statement:
Being able to develop understanding and respect for foreign cultural patterns
Meaning:
A person in phase V develops understanding and respect for patterns that a person has because of their different culture. These can be, for example, different patterns in communication or behavior.
Phase 6
Original statement:
Expansion of one’s own cultural options:
- Being able to deal flexibly with cultural rules
- Being able to selectively adopt foreign cultural standards
- Being able to choose between cultural options in a situation-appropriate and justified manner
Meaning:
During intercultural communication, in phase VI a person selectively adopts foreign cultural standards or chooses different options depending on the situation in order to achieve the goals of intercultural communication.
Phase 7
Original statement:
Establishing constructive and mutually satisfying relationships with members of a foreign culture and dealing with intercultural conflicts in a practical way
Meaning:
A person in phase VII of the model can react constructively and situationally during intercultural communication so that both conversation partners build a satisfying relationship. The person also deals with conflicts practically and solves them.
Sources
- Boecker, Malte; Ulama, Leila (2008): Intercultural Competence – The Key Competence in the 21st Century? Bertelsmann Foundation and Fondazione Cariplo. Available online at https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/BSt/Presse/imported/downloads/xcms_bst_dms_30236_30237_2.pdf, last checked on December 30, 2020.
- Grosch, Harald; Leenen, Wolf Rainer (2000): Intercultural Learning. Tools for Political Education. 2nd ed. Bonn: Federal Agency for Civic Education.
- Schulze, Annegret (2010): Stage and Phase Models of Intercultural Learning. A critical examination of three models for the analysis of intercultural learning in the film “Stranger Friend”. Munich: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
