Developing Intercultural Competence - Part I

Summary

In this insightful discussion, Amy Moreno, Director of Inclusive Culture at the University of Colorado Boulder, delves into intercultural competence, emphasizing its significance in fostering inclusivity. She outlines it as an ongoing process of learning about one's own and other cultures, shifting perspectives, and adapting behaviors. Moreno highlights the importance of cultural self-awareness, empathy, and flexibility in navigating cultural differences, connecting these concepts to broader themes of diversity and inclusion.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Intercultural competence is a passion for Amy Moreno, who directs Inclusive Culture at the University of Colorado Boulder's College of Engineering and Applied Science.
• 📚 There isn't a single definition of intercultural competence, but it generally involves understanding and adapting to cultural differences and similarities.
• 🔄 Dr. Mitchell Hammer's definition emphasizes the ability to shift perspectives and adapt behavior across cultures.
• 🤔 Understanding one's own culture is foundational to appreciating other cultures, as it allows for a deeper exploration of personal values and behaviors.
• 🌐 Recognizing and comparing cultural values, such as respect, can help understand how they manifest differently across cultures.
• 🌱 Intercultural competence is an ongoing learning process that involves self-awareness, cultural knowledge, and the development of skills like empathy and adaptability.
• 💡 Conflict can be a productive space for cultural learning, as it provides opportunities to reflect and discuss cultural differences.
• 🌈 Diversity is about who makes up a group, inclusion is about creating an environment where all diversity is valued and engaged.
• 🔗 Intercultural competence is crucial for leveraging diversity and fostering inclusion, as it helps create a sense of belonging.
• 📈 Darla Dierdorf's literature review highlights the importance of attitudes, awareness, knowledge, and skills in intercultural competence.
• 🌐 Culture is omnipresent and can vary greatly even within a single country, emphasizing the need for continuous cultural learning and adaptation.

Q & A

What is Amy Moreno's role at the University of Colorado Boulder?

Amy Moreno is the Director of Inclusive Culture with the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.

What does Amy Moreno consider her passion?

Amy Moreno is passionate about intercultural competence.

How long has Amy Moreno been in her current role?

Amy Moreno has been in her role for about four months.

What does Amy believe intercultural competence involves?

Intercultural competence involves expanding our knowledge, experience, understanding around attitudes, values, and beliefs of not only our own culture but others that we do not belong to.

Who is Dr. Mitchell Hammer and what does he say about intercultural competence?

Dr. Mitchell Hammer is a theorist often referenced by Amy. He defines intercultural competence as the capacity to shift our perspective and adapt our behavior across cultural differences and similarities.

How does understanding other cultures help us understand our own culture better according to Amy Moreno?

Understanding other cultures helps us understand our own culture better by sparking curiosity about our own cultural patterns, values, and beliefs, and by comparing and contrasting our values with others.

What is the connection between intercultural competence and diversity and inclusion according to Amy Moreno?

Intercultural competence connects with diversity and inclusion by leveraging diversity to create an inclusive environment, ensuring that all cultures are valued and create a sense of belonging.

What tool does Amy Moreno's campus use to measure intercultural development?

The campus uses the Intercultural Development Inventory as a prominent tool to measure intercultural development.

What are the key attitudes associated with intercultural competence according to Darla Dierdorf's literature review?

The key attitudes associated with intercultural competence include demonstrating respect, being curious, open, and wanting to discover many ways of knowing and doing in the world.

Why is cultural self-awareness important in the context of intercultural competence?

Cultural self-awareness is important because it allows us to understand our own culture, values, and beliefs, which is crucial for engaging productively across cultures.

How does Amy Moreno suggest we start understanding culture within our own environment?

Amy Moreno suggests starting by reflecting on our own values and beliefs, considering where they come from, and how they impact our daily behavior and decision-making.

What does Amy Moreno mean when she says culture is everywhere?

Amy Moreno means that culture is present in every aspect of our lives, including within classrooms, departments, or organizations, and it is important to understand the guiding values and behaviors that demonstrate these cultures.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Introduction to Intercultural Competence

Amy Moreno, the Director of Inclusive Culture at the University of Colorado Boulder's College of Engineering and Applied Science, introduces herself and discusses her passion for intercultural competence. She emphasizes that there isn't a single definition for it, suggesting it involves an ongoing learning process to expand our understanding of different cultures' attitudes, values, and beliefs. Amy explains that intercultural competence is about shifting perspectives and adapting behavior across cultural differences, as described by Dr. Mitchell Hammer. She also touches on how understanding different cultures can help us understand our own culture better.

05:01

🔄 The Dynamics of Intercultural Competence

Amy delves deeper into intercultural competence, highlighting the importance of empathy and adapting behavior across cultures. She discusses how conflict can be a place for cultural learning and emphasizes the significance of understanding one's own culture to appreciate others. Amy introduces the concept of cultural self-awareness and the need to continuously learn about other cultures. She also mentions the use of the Intercultural Development Inventory as a tool for assessing intercultural competence and presents a model that connects intercultural competence with diversity and inclusion, explaining the relationship between 'who' (diversity), 'what' (inclusion), and 'how' (intercultural competence).

10:02

🌱 Cultivating Intercultural Competence

Amy explores the concept of culture-specific knowledge, explaining how understanding the values, beliefs, and traditions of different cultural groups can enhance intercultural competence. She discusses the importance of recognizing the cultural influences on our daily decisions and behaviors. Amy encourages individuals to reflect on their own cultural values and how they manifest in their actions. She also stresses the need to engage with others to understand and appreciate cultural differences, suggesting that culture is omnipresent and not limited to international interactions. Amy concludes by emphasizing the importance of adapting evidence-based practices to fit the specific cultural context.

Keywords

💡Intercultural Competence

Intercultural competence refers to the ability to shift perspectives and adapt behavior across cultural differences. It is a skill that involves understanding one's own culture and those of others, which is crucial for effective communication and collaboration in diverse settings. In the video, Amy Moreno emphasizes the importance of this competence in creating inclusive environments within educational institutions, such as the College of Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.

💡Inclusive Culture

Inclusive culture is an environment that values and engages all individuals, fostering a sense of belonging. It is the goal of Amy Moreno's role as the Director of Inclusive Culture, where she works to create such an atmosphere within the College of Engineering. The concept is integral to the video's theme, as it is the desired outcome of enhancing intercultural competence.

💡Cultural Self-Awareness

Cultural self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand one's own cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors. It is a foundational aspect of intercultural competence, as highlighted by Amy Moreno, who suggests starting with self-awareness before engaging with other cultures. This concept is used to illustrate the initial step in developing intercultural competence.

💡Empathy

Empathy is the capacity to understand and share the feelings of others, which is a key skill in intercultural competence. In the context of the video, empathy is mentioned as a skill that allows individuals to experience the world from someone else's perspective, thereby enhancing their ability to interact effectively across cultures.

💡Diversity

Diversity refers to the variety of differences among people, including race, ethnicity, culture, and other characteristics. In the video, diversity is discussed as the 'who' of a group, emphasizing the importance of recognizing these differences as a starting point for creating an inclusive environment.

💡Inclusion

Inclusion is the act of creating environments in which any individual can feel respected, valued, and able to fully participate. It is the 'what' in the context of the video, where Amy Moreno discusses how to create an environment that values and engages diversity.

💡Cultural Differences

Cultural differences are the variations in customs, beliefs, and behaviors among different cultures. The video discusses the importance of understanding these differences to adapt behavior and communication styles, which is a key aspect of intercultural competence.

💡Adaptability

Adaptability is the ability to adjust one's behavior and thinking to different cultural contexts. It is a critical component of intercultural competence, as discussed in the video, where Amy Moreno explains the need to adapt one's actions based on the cultural context.

💡Conflict

Conflict, in the context of the video, is presented as an opportunity for cultural learning and growth. It arises when different cultures interact, and Amy Moreno suggests that understanding and navigating conflict can be a valuable part of developing intercultural competence.

💡Cultural Perspective

Cultural perspective refers to the viewpoint or lens through which individuals from different cultures interpret the world. The video emphasizes the importance of shifting one's cultural perspective to understand and respect other cultures, which is a key skill in intercultural competence.

💡Intercultural Development Inventory

The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) is a tool mentioned in the video that is used to assess and develop intercultural competence. It is a prominent tool on the University of Colorado Boulder's campus, used to help individuals understand and improve their ability to interact across cultures.

Highlights

Amy Moreno introduces herself as the Director of Inclusive Culture at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Intercultural competence is Amy's passion, and she is excited to discuss the topic.

Intercultural competence is defined as an ongoing learning process involving the expansion of knowledge and understanding of different cultures.

Dr. Mitchell Hammer's definition of intercultural competence is discussed, emphasizing the capacity to shift perspective and adapt behavior across cultures.

Understanding one's own culture is crucial for appreciating the complexities of other cultures.

Cultural self-awareness is key to recognizing how one's values and beliefs impact behavior.

Comparing and contrasting one's own cultural values with others can lead to a deeper understanding of cultural differences.

Intercultural competence involves active listening, empathy, and being adaptable.

Conflict can be a place for cultural learning and reflection.

Intercultural competence is connected to diversity and inclusion, focusing on leveraging diversity to create an inclusive environment.

Darla Dierdorf's literature review on intercultural competence is mentioned, highlighting attitudes, awareness, knowledge, and skills.

Cultural self-awareness involves understanding one's own cultural patterns and their origins.

Building cultural specific knowledge is essential for engaging with individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

The importance of recognizing that culture is everywhere and can vary even within a single institution is discussed.

Reflecting on one's values and how they guide behavior is a part of cultural self-awareness.

Engaging with others and discussing cultural values and behaviors can enhance intercultural competence.

Adapting evidence-based practices to fit different cultural contexts is crucial for intercultural competence.

Transcripts

today we have Amy Moreno talking to us here about intercultural competence and

I'll let Amy introduce herself thanks so much so yes my name is Amy

Moreno and I am the Director of Inclusive Culture with the College of

Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder and

intercultural competence is actually one of my passion so I'm very excited that

we're spending the time kind of diving into this topic and so thank you mate oh

I'm gonna really appreciate you keeping us on point and tasks because I could

talk about this for days so thanks so much for having me well thank you thank

you it's it's it's really great to hear from you and it's really cool to hear

that the College of Engineering has a position like yours oh absolutely it's

an on girl so I've been in the role for about four months and so yeah the

college really is trying to put a lot of effort and emphasis really on creating a

more inclusive environment for a student staff and faculty yeah cool so maybe we

could start talking about what intercultural or cultural competence is

wonderful and often times what you will find is there's not one set definition

so that's important for folks to recognize and understand and even

spending some time looking through multiple definitions can be a great

strategy and so I'm going to use intercultural and cultural competence

kind of interchangeably as well because depending on who's defining or who the

theorist is they may use one or the other so just keep that in mind I tend

to use intercultural competence just to really try to emphasize kind of like

kind of back and forth between different individuals cultures and communities and

so to define first to recognize that it is an ongoing learning process so

intercultural competence really involves us expanding our knowledge experience

understanding around attitudes values beliefs of not only our own culture

which is kind of at the heart of it but others that we actually do not belong to

as well and dr. Mitchell hammer so a theorist

that I utilize and reference quite often talks about intercultural competence

being the capacity to really shift our perspective and really adapt our

behavior across cultural differences and similarities and so really unpacking

that a little bit it's understanding our own culture understanding others we do

not belong to really understanding how it impacts our behavior and then how do

we engage productively you know both effectively you know across cultures and

within our own so understanding a different culture does it help us

understand our culture better does help does understanding our culture help us

understand other cultures you know do they help each other how does that work

oh I love it I think they do help each other I often times when I'm coaching

you know in educating the intercultural space I really talk about at the heart

of it really recognizing and understanding our own culture our own

cultural patterns you know our values and beliefs kind of where they came from

you know how they're reinforced and how they really impact our behavior and the

reason I like starting there actually is because then I talk about how once we

can really be in tune with our own culture and understand the complexity of

ourselves we're really able to experience all sorts of complexities all

around us and so sometimes it can you know feel a little bit more comfortable

you know spark a little bit more curiosity to learn about ourselves right

the you know the the dynamics and you know the different individuals that

really you know impact and even in our own development throughout our lives you

know and really reflecting there and you know another component is as you

experience and really generate those quality relationship with other folks

and really learn about differences we can also then compare and contrast how

might that value right let's say of respect that's a common one how might

respect really play out in your life they don't in my because often times we

may find some similarities and I can imagine some differences and so we kind

of go through a process of even comparing and contrasting

our own beliefs and values with others so they are complimentary absolutely and

so we need to spend you know just as much time not only learning about our

own culture but others as well because we really will engage with folks that

are from all sorts of cultures throughout our lives so as again just

emphasizing and it's an ongoing process that's that's really cool could you

could you repeat dr. hammers definition again because it kind of derailed the

conversation a little bit oh no problem so it's really the

capacity to shift cultural perspectives right so and I like adding in really

being able to demonstrate the skill of empathy right to really you know

experience the world from someone else's worldview you know and then also then

our ability to adapt our behavior across those cultural similarities and

differences because in this component we're not going to be able to just show

up right and behave right and take actions in the same way in every single

context or with each individual and and oftentimes where I see this kind of

playing out and folks are surprised and unsure what to do is actually run

conflict a lot of times folks don't recognize that conflict is a great place

for cultures that come together and to be able to reflect and talk through that

piece as well and so it really does play out you know in all aspects of our work

environment educational environment so again just the capacity to shift our

perspectives and adapt our behavior across cultures Thanks

so right now we're talking about what it is right and how that fits a broader

perspective on diversity equity and inclusion why expand on that a little

bit more - for you and then actually if you want to share a screen and show a

couple different slides as well so just give me a moment here to

transition there we go all right you should be seeing a blank screen that is

my hope is that correct yes all right so I do want

to really connect intercultural competence with diversity and inclusion

a little bit and so when I give different talks and I'm doing workshops

I will present and utilize this slide it can be really helpful for folks that

kind of recognize you know that connection so first and foremost to

really recognize that diversity is our who right who is making up the group

right whether that students faculty you know colleagues you know in various

settings so you can oftentimes think you know the very differences that we have

our backgrounds our culture's as well as let's connect that with inclusion so you

can think of that as kind of the what as well so this is really creating the

environment in which all of the diversity really feels valued and

engaged having a sense of belonging as well so a

lot of times the focus is on the experience so you can see we now have

the who and the what right the important component is and where folks can really

struggle is the how and so this is what I really want to bring in intercultural

competence this is the focus on like that capacity it's really leverage

diversity and create an inclusive environment while keeping in mind all

the various cultures they really need to be valued right and create that sense of

belonging and on our campus so we actually utilize the most prominent tool

the intercultural development inventory which we can talk about that a little

bit more later yes so I'm hoping this really paints the picture of the

connection with intercultural competence connecting it with diversity and

inclusion cool it does yes great and then I also want to present actually

Darla Dierdorf so you know an intercultural is very prominent in the

field actually did a literature review so we can kind of focus a little bit

more to really recognize what are the attitudes the awareness knowledge and

skills that are really associated with intercultural competence sometimes this

can help us better understand the definition as well and so oftentimes and

we're talking about the attitudes really demonstrating respect

to be curious open you know really wanting to discover many ways of knowing

and doing in the world additionally as I mentioned that cultural self-awareness

really getting in tune with our own culture being able to describe you know

and talk with others about it as well as really building on our culture specific

knowledge of other cultural communities in which we do not belong as well so

we're constantly learning about others values beliefs and how they play out

various behaviors and decision-making and then there's a whole host of skills

that we can continue to build upon really that can aid in our intercultural

competence in the way that we engage with others as well so I'd mentioned

empathy which is on the list to really being able to actively listen you know

refraining from judgment and just really trying to understand and me curious

right really analyzing situations and interpreting what different behaviors

you know really might mean as far as beliefs and values and again that

ability to be adaptable and flexible so I'm hoping this kind of gives a

well-rounded picture really diving in a little bit deeper around what is

intercultural competence so when I look at the culture specific knowledge so I

worked with international students and that becomes very easy to identify so if

I have a student from Japan I have a student from China we we have these big

you know blocks of culture specific knowledge that I can talk about but I

think that we can have different levels of culture I could say within American

culture we have different cultures as well and in college we are dealing with

students coming from very different cultural backgrounds absolutely and you

know this is where even understanding recognizing you know what is culture

sometimes that's a starting point for folks so really recognizing and

understanding the values beliefs and traditions taught by the groups in which

we belong so oftentimes we may not recognize that when we're making a

decision writer behaving day to day how closely

tied it is to her culture so our our background our experiences really do

play a part in the way we navigate day to day and so sometimes it may be

helpful for folks to even start there and really start reflecting and thinking

about you know what I'd say my you know top three values are you know in the

workplace right or in the educational setting right and we can think of our

values of really what guiding us and what we deem is good right

really kind of help shape kind of where we're headed our goals for example and

you may want to then reflect where did I learn those values and beliefs you know

what settings whether that might be our educational settings you know art within

our families you know kind of exploring that piece and then reflecting about how

does my day-to-day behavior in actions really reflect those values and whatever

context that is whether that's the workplace or the educational setting and

so I think that's an important piece for cultural self and then again engage with

others right so it's really important to recognize that culture is everywhere

it's all around us there can be a culture within you know a certain

classroom that you're a part of a specific department or organization

there tend to be kind of guiding values and beliefs and really getting in tune

with the behaviors they kind of demonstrate those is pretty key in this

process so the more we can engage with other folks and reflect and even have

conversations about those values beliefs and behaviors I think that will help

enhance you know better understand that you know when we're talking about

culture or intercultural competence it does it goes beyond just engaging with

folks that you know from a global space in general so even like from college to

college we can say that there is a shift in culture absolutely right and so you

know and that's something to keep in mind if you are you know someone that

loves data and research like myself which I absolutely do

recognizing if you find evidence-based practices

you're likely going to have to adapt remember that definition I provided

you're going to have to adapt and really infuse some flexibility so that is

relevant for the culture and the people that will be engaging with that practice

cool that's that's a lot to think about it is yes absolutely that's great

questions and I think now this is a great starting point for folks to really

you know at this point as we're thinking of intercultural competence really

understand you know what is it you know how am I getting in tune with my own

culture as well how might I describe it to other folks as well and then that can

lead you into a little bit more about the why and then how do you keep engaged